Brexiteer anger at the Tory rebels makes it painfully clear they don’t have a plan

From the Daily Mail front page to calls for deselection, the response to Wednesday’s vote shows that hardline Leavers are rattled. This is why

by Alex Dean / December 15, 2017 / Leave a comment

Nadine Dorries MP posted on Twitter saying her Tory colleagues who voted with the opposition should be deselected. Photo: PA

On Wednesday, Theresa May’s government suffered its first defeat in the Commons, on an amendment to the Brexit withdrawal legislation. Parliament will now in effect be given a “meaningful vote” on any final Brexit deal the government eventually returns with from Brussels, before it is ratified.

The fury the next day was grimly predictable, most of it directed at Conservative MPs who had defied the party line, and who stood accused of trying to undo the result of the referendum. “Proud of yourselves?” asked the Daily Mail, under pictures of the offending MPs. The similarities with the Telegraph‘s “Sabateurs” front page a few months ago were obvious. This is the humiliating fate that awaits anyone caught subverting “the will of the people.”

It wasn’t just the papers; prominent Conservative commentator Tim Montgomerie called for the rebel Tories to be deselected. Nadine Dorries, currently a sitting MP herself, joined him. The anger failed to dissipate as the day went on and come 10pm, Isabel Oakeshott was attacking “sanctimonious” Remainers on Question Time, and making the case that in voting to give themselves a say, MPs were trying to undermine the principle of democracy.

Tonight, the Tory rebels have put a spring in Labours step, given them a taste of winning, guaranteed the party a weekend of bad press, undermined the PM and devalued her impact in Brussels. They should be deselected and never allowed to stand as a Tory MP, ever again.
YOU'VE HIT THE LIMIT

You have now reached your limit of 3 free articles in the last 30 days.
But don't worry! You can get another 7 articles absolutely free, simply by entering your email address in the box below.

When you register we'll also send you a free e-book—Writing with punch—which includes some of the finest writing from our archive of 22 years. And we'll also send you a weekly newsletter with the best new ideas in politics and philosophy of culture, which you can of course unsubscribe from at any time

Email

Prospect takes your privacy seriously. We promise never to rent or sell your e-mail address to any third party.
You can unsubscribe from the Prospect e-mail newsletter at any time.

DEBUG messsage: regular

Why aren't Remainers winning the argument?

Alex Dean / February 21, 2018

As the Brexit disaster unfolds, pro-Europeans should be clearing up. Here's what they're...

Diane James: Nigel Farage is wrong to consider a second EU referendum

Diane James MEP / January 11, 2018

We’ve had the vote and it’s been ratified in parliament. A rerun would be...

Comments

R_HITCHMAN
December 16, 2017 at 18:41
The rage of Caliban regarding his own face in the glass
Peter F.
December 24, 2017 at 11:41
"the economic forecasts look grim". Not enough of them. There are still enough bright spots to sustain an optimistic brexiteer. Remember how much longe it takes to re-condition a Pavlovian-conditioned dog than it took to condition them in the first place. So Brexiteers are a poor target for opinion-changing. And we're still in the EU. So there are residual benefits. Only when it's too late and we've left will conclusive proof of the inadvisability of Brexit be available for the mentally-slow.