Brexit: taking us for fools

06/06/2017

The essential response to such outrages, as even this Prime Minister concedes, it that we should seek, as far as possible, to maintain "business as usual". That must include the media. Three attention-seeking murderers should not be allowed to hijack the campaign and dictate the agenda.

Not least, Prime Minister May needs to be called to account for the presidential style of this election, where we're seeing personal letters (illustrated) with no obvious reference to the Conservative Party, telling us (Mrs EU Referendum and myself) that "your local votes in Bradford South will decide who will be the Prime Minister to lead these negotiations on behalf of our country".

This is on the edge of trashing our constitution. In this country, we vote for our local representatives. The leader of the winning party becomes the prime minister and is given the opportunity to form a government. We do not elect our prime ministers, and the person in office remains only with the continued support their party.

The irony here is that, as did David Cameron resign, leaving Mrs May to take the premiership – with absolutely no involvement of the electorate – so too could Mrs May decide to move on. Alternatively, for a variety of reasons, she could be deposed, if not immediately at some time in the future, should the negotiations stall, or go in the "wrong" direction. In either event, we could end up with Mr Johnson.

If Mrs May want to campaign to change the constitution, creating the office of an elected prime minister, then we would be happy to assist her. After all, the third demand of The Harrogate Agenda calls for the prime ministers to be directly elected by popular vote.

We would have them, in the manner of American presidents, appointing their own ministers, with the approval of parliament. Neither our prime ministers nor their ministers should be MPs, thereby allowing Parliament to perform its proper function of scrutinising and controlling the executive, without being compromised by the "payroll vote".

But, without formal constitutional change, it is presumptuous of Mrs May to appeal directly to voters for a personal vote that isn't ours to give, and which she cannot rightly claim.

What she is, in effect doing, is setting herself above the system. In theory – if not practice – we go to the polls to elect a representative who will best represent the local interest, one who supports a party which meets with our general approval.

It has been a long time since this was true, and many voters go to the polls without knowing the name of the candidate they intend to vote for. They rely on the party identifications on the ballot papers.

That said, when we go to the polls on Thursday (those of us that can bear it), Mrs May's name won't be on the ballot paper. In this strongly-held Labour seat, though, both main parties - Labour and Conservative – are fielding women, both out of electoral calculus. Because one party does so, the other follows. This is not a game I care for. It is a further abuse of the electoral process and I am disinclined to vote for either.

Nor am I inspired by the latest Conservative leaflet, masquerading as an electoral communication. It devotes most of the space to Mrs May, who tells us that "making Brexit a success is central to our national interest".

She then tells us that she has ensured that "my government" has clearly set out our approach to Brexit, though her Lancaster House Speech, the White Paper, the Article 50 letter to the European Council and the Great Repeal Bill. But since the White Paper and the Article 50 letter simply reiterate the vague 12 points enumerated in her Lancaster House speech, the lady is taking us for fools. Her approach to the negotiations is anything but clear.

Sadly, though, the legacy media has gone AWOL. Its single-issue incontinence has virtually driven Brexit off the agenda, while it indulges itself in its orgy of coverage on the latest terrorist atrocity. And while one would not expect coverage on this matter to be slight, one sees in the media people who welcome the distraction and the excuse not to cover a topic which they find overly challenging.

Thus, we have the worst of all possible worlds. Supposedly a "Brexit election" with the prime minister claiming a personal mandate, we have gone through this entire campaign with attention directed at anything but Brexit, now to finish off the final few days with focus on terrorism and related issues – such as police numbers and Mrs May's record in the Home Office.

It has always been the case though that general elections are very poor vehicles for pursuing specific issues. They are, primarily, a mechanism for choosing governments. For Mrs May to use it to define her mandate is an abuse of process.

Arguably, she should have set out her approach and put it to another referendum. After all, in terms of voter participation, there is no difference in the effort required: in both cases we go to the polling station and mark pieces of paper with crosses.

With a single issue referendum, there would have been no distraction from what are – despite their seriousness – extraneous matters. And had the mandate been rejected, then Mrs May could have resigned or sought a general election. But at least, for the time of the campaign, we would have been discussing the thing we are supposed to be voting on, rather than have politicians and media avoiding it.

Sadly, though, tradition, habit and bovine conformity will have obedient citizens lining up to vote – even if probably the vast majority of people regard this election as a charade. That, most likely – and probably more than anything – accounts for the volatility and variability in the polls. Most people may not know the details, but they can sense when they are being taken for granted or manipulated.

And when it comes down to it, it probably doesn't make much difference who is at the helm during the negotiations. Although many people – and some who should know better – seek to personalise the process, it is quite remarkable how little depends on personalities and negotiating style.

Almost all the details are resolved at official level – the famous "sherpas" - with the outcomes determined by reference to pre-determined "positions" which can only with difficulty be changed. And since the EU has very much the whip hand, most of the process will be one of conceding a series of technical points to the "colleagues".

There will be few high-level meetings, involving heads of states – and in the tradition of such events, the outcomes will be decided upon before the parties agree to meet. The process itself, is always theatre.

Given that, and my own very personal dislike of the local electoral manipulation, I am not prepared to give Mrs May a "blank cheque" for a mandate, the nature of which she has not specified – while she compounds the insult by pretending she has.

On the other hand, while the Labour pitch might be better, one can have even less confidence in the ability of the Labour team to deliver – notwithstanding that there will be little to choose between the end result, if the "colleagues" are able to drive events.

In common with many, therefore, I am struggling to decide where to place my vote. If there was a "none of the above" option, that would be my preference. Failing that, a spoiled vote is beginning to look enormously attractive.

But the one thing one must do is vote. Spoiled votes are counted, and a high proportion would send a message. And if Mrs May wants an elected prime minister system, I would be very happy to vote for that. All we need is another referendum.