Politics is undergoing a profound change caused by Brexit. Following the disastrous election result the Conservative party is thinking about which leader will replace Theresa May. The Conservative Home website carried out a survey (HERE) about who members prefer and given a choice, the winner by a narrow margin was Daivid Davis but "none of the above" was second. This tells us something about what the party members think of the present leadership. Davis got 24.7% while none of the above received 23%!
The Labour party is led by Jeremy Corbyn, a lifelong opponent of the EU, which he thinks is a right wing conspiracy, with huge support from his half million members and at the moment the top 28 safest seats in this country are Labour seats (HERE). He has a lead in the polls at the moment and many think he will be the next prime minister.
Either way, whichever of the main parties are in power we are proceeding to leave the EU. And yet a good majority in the House of Commons are opposed to it.
This morning James Chapman was on The Today programme suggesting both main parties had been captured by their extreme fringes and I believe this is the case. The traditional view of left and right is useful but does not quite indicate reality. In reality, politics is circular with left and right meeting round the back of the circle where extreme socialism and fascism join up. After all who could detect a practical difference between Hitler and Stalin?
Mr Chapman has called for a new centre party (and claims two cabinet ministers have contacted him) to stop Brexit which, like us, he thinks will be a disaster.
The problem is the lack of leaders. Conservative members cannot see one in their own ranks and Labour members are fully committed to Corbyn who might be many things but a leader he is not. No one is either prepared or able to produce strong, convincing arguments to counter the lies put out by the leave campaigns. At least that was the case. As the impact of Brexit begins to be felt and the lies revealed to be just that, I hope a leader will emerge to channel the wishes of the growing majority and explain to the fanatics why Brexit is not the answer.
