The existing atmosphere among parliamentary Labour members these days follows Edgar's law. It declares that the scale of every hardship is solely assessed relative to yet-to-come catastrophes. As Shakespeare has the exiled child of the sightless nobleman declare in King Lear: “The direst does not exist, so long as we may declare ‘this represents the lowest point’.”
A Series of Deepening Problems
According to this principle, there is no survey so gloomy about the government that won't be succeeded by another more depressing; no budget prediction so poor that the exchequer cannot worsen it with contradictory signals regarding taxation; no reservations regarding the leader that can't be amplified by malevolent briefing concerning a bid for power.
Asylum Policy Declaration
Against this backdrop, the latest revelation of strategies intending to limit the number of displaced persons allowed into Britain, modelled on a notoriously mean Scandinavian model, went down better by representatives than might have been expected. There were sparks of MP frustration but no conflagration of opposition.
Tightening asylum rules is not Labour's comfort zone, but the current system is evidently broken while citizens are furious. Numerous parliamentarians grasp the reasoning that acceptance and social unity are simpler to foster when there is confidence that the country's boundaries remain protected.
Growing Discontent
Quiet backbenches can also be threatening. MPs have learned that everything is negotiable alongside a purposeless head with flexible principles. What is announced today may be unannounced tomorrow. There is no need to advance hastily when victories can be won via endurance.
A common complaint involves the leader is scarcely operating the government whatsoever, having delegated policy decisions to his chief of staff. However, this doesn't mean the leader lacks executive dynamism, he just prefers to avoid arbitrating between ministry conflicts or participate in extended discussions.
Management Method
The leader joined political parties during later professional life, originally joining the legislature at the age of 52. He lacks instinct about movement history – the collection of historical arguments, drives, figures and cultural references which link a chief to the broader organization and its feeling of shared purpose.
His deepest convictions are a mystery even to the cabinet. According to an experienced representative explains: “The Prime Minister is quite different as a prime minister through suggesting that his private opinions are not for public consumption.”
Governmental Outcomes
The persona marketed representing the leader in the recent polling battle has also not delivered its promised advantages: executive proficiency leading to national renewal. Assuming Britain possessed a binary political arrangement, the remembrance of past problems under the Tories may continue tolerance for the party.
It indicates a crushing loss for party representatives in municipal and national assembly contests next May. It shall represent a moment of extreme peril for the Prime Minister, provided he remains that long.
Succession Concerns
Missing from these evaluations appears unity concerning the individual of an alternative leader and how their programme may differ from the current government's agenda. This flaw in the transition plan is referenced by those backing the incumbent as part of various arguments to stick with the existing prime minister.
While restive MPs could hesitate regarding those warnings, they also hear within them the familiar, meaningless sound of limited aspiration which causes hopelessness with current conditions. It is the sound of lack of success to describe the approach as simply a sequence of tactics for holding power.
Ending Reflections
It is hard to inspire faithfulness to such a cause. And most Labour MPs have attempted. They have followed official positions, defended it on the doorstep, heeded instructions, believed assurances that their issues received attention.
Leadership removal is fraught with risk, but is it riskier than pretending that the present leader has answers regarding major issues that remain unmentioned? The literary maxim invites caution in ousting a sitting prime minister. The alternative might prove more disastrous.
“The burden of these difficult days we must obey; State true sentiments, not what we ought to say.”
