This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/oct/03/tories-brexit-manchester-conference
The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| The Tories are playing peek-a-boo. But we can see them. And their failure | The Tories are playing peek-a-boo. But we can see them. And their failure |
| (4 months later) | |
| Contact author | |
| Tue 3 Oct 2017 19.29 BST | |
| Last modified on Mon 27 Nov 2017 16.00 GMT | |
| Share on Facebook | |
| Share on Twitter | |
| Share via Email | |
| View more sharing options | |
| Share on LinkedIn | |
| Share on Pinterest | |
| Share on Google+ | |
| Share on WhatsApp | |
| Share on Messenger | |
| Close | |
| Children under the age of five struggle with the difference between seeing and being seen. They cover their eyes and suppose that they are invisible. Brain development eventually corrects that error, but some mental residue lingers. Confronted with a stressful task we retain the psychological urge to cover our faces and pretend that the problem, once obscured from view, has gone away. | Children under the age of five struggle with the difference between seeing and being seen. They cover their eyes and suppose that they are invisible. Brain development eventually corrects that error, but some mental residue lingers. Confronted with a stressful task we retain the psychological urge to cover our faces and pretend that the problem, once obscured from view, has gone away. |
| I have been to dozens of political conferences in my life and never have I seen a party fasten its hands determinedly over its eyes the way the Conservatives have done in Manchester. There is an infantile game of hide-and-seek going on, with delegates and MPs imagining that the desire not to be examined can defer the examination. But in this version of the game there are two seekers, two teams who will settle the Tories’ fate: the British public and the European Union. The party is unnerved by their inquiring looks. | I have been to dozens of political conferences in my life and never have I seen a party fasten its hands determinedly over its eyes the way the Conservatives have done in Manchester. There is an infantile game of hide-and-seek going on, with delegates and MPs imagining that the desire not to be examined can defer the examination. But in this version of the game there are two seekers, two teams who will settle the Tories’ fate: the British public and the European Union. The party is unnerved by their inquiring looks. |
| The proximate cause of insecurity is the election. Conservatives were disoriented by the loss of their majority, then spooked all over again by the exuberance of Labour’s gathering in Brighton last week. One Conservative MP predicted that footling European matters would be a low-order concern in Manchester. “There is a feeling that Brexit will get sorted one way or another,” he told me. “We’re much more worried about Corbyn.” | The proximate cause of insecurity is the election. Conservatives were disoriented by the loss of their majority, then spooked all over again by the exuberance of Labour’s gathering in Brighton last week. One Conservative MP predicted that footling European matters would be a low-order concern in Manchester. “There is a feeling that Brexit will get sorted one way or another,” he told me. “We’re much more worried about Corbyn.” |
| That forecast was vindicated by Philip Hammond’s lugubrious speech yesterday, consisting almost entirely of reasons to fear socialism. The chancellor covered the period 1977-87 at great length. The period from 2017 onwards not so much, except to note that it would be tricky. This, too, is a first in all my years of conference attendance: a chancellor leaving the podium without having described his economic policy. | That forecast was vindicated by Philip Hammond’s lugubrious speech yesterday, consisting almost entirely of reasons to fear socialism. The chancellor covered the period 1977-87 at great length. The period from 2017 onwards not so much, except to note that it would be tricky. This, too, is a first in all my years of conference attendance: a chancellor leaving the podium without having described his economic policy. |
| Hammond knows his job is to limit the damage Brexit can inflict. He worries about investment, skill shortages and the absence of a budget cushion to absorb economic shocks. He was trying to transmit sobriety to the rest of the party, which prefers repeat visits to the punchbowl on offer in the fringe meetings, where Brexiters dole out crackpot cocktails by the ladleful. | Hammond knows his job is to limit the damage Brexit can inflict. He worries about investment, skill shortages and the absence of a budget cushion to absorb economic shocks. He was trying to transmit sobriety to the rest of the party, which prefers repeat visits to the punchbowl on offer in the fringe meetings, where Brexiters dole out crackpot cocktails by the ladleful. |
| They were queueing round corners to hear Jacob Rees-Mogg compare Brexit to Agincourt and Waterloo. “And Trafalgar!” one heckler helpfully chimed in. The UK would defeat the nefarious continentals (isn’t that our heroic destiny?) by forgetting the need for a deal, unilaterally adopting zero-tariff trade, and slashing red tape. | They were queueing round corners to hear Jacob Rees-Mogg compare Brexit to Agincourt and Waterloo. “And Trafalgar!” one heckler helpfully chimed in. The UK would defeat the nefarious continentals (isn’t that our heroic destiny?) by forgetting the need for a deal, unilaterally adopting zero-tariff trade, and slashing red tape. |
| We needn’t pay tribute to Europeans because the rest of the world will come to us. What if an influx of antipodean lamb and chlorinated US chicken undercuts British farmers? Well, yes, some kind of protection must be offered (but not protectionism); standards can still be imposed (but never regulation). And the border? If the EU wants a wall, let them build it and Ireland can pay – an elegant variation of the Donald Trump school of diplomacy. | We needn’t pay tribute to Europeans because the rest of the world will come to us. What if an influx of antipodean lamb and chlorinated US chicken undercuts British farmers? Well, yes, some kind of protection must be offered (but not protectionism); standards can still be imposed (but never regulation). And the border? If the EU wants a wall, let them build it and Ireland can pay – an elegant variation of the Donald Trump school of diplomacy. |
| That isn’t government policy, but Theresa May lacks authority to confiscate the hard Brexit booze. She can only hope that her EU negotiating counterparts won’t take seriously what a serious number of Tories believe. What happens in Manchester stays in Manchester, right? | That isn’t government policy, but Theresa May lacks authority to confiscate the hard Brexit booze. She can only hope that her EU negotiating counterparts won’t take seriously what a serious number of Tories believe. What happens in Manchester stays in Manchester, right? |
| May, peeping through interlaced fingers, would ideally gloss over Brexit the way her chancellor did, but for different reasons. She still thinks her time in Downing Street might encompass another agenda: the one she set out on the day of her accession, when she pledged to confront “burning injustices” that leave many British people feeling that the system is rigged against them. | May, peeping through interlaced fingers, would ideally gloss over Brexit the way her chancellor did, but for different reasons. She still thinks her time in Downing Street might encompass another agenda: the one she set out on the day of her accession, when she pledged to confront “burning injustices” that leave many British people feeling that the system is rigged against them. |
| She can’t say how, but she knows this is her crusade. It is the pilgrimage to Jerusalem that, like Shakespeare’s Henry IV, she will make just as soon as rebellious barons have been tamed. (Spoiler: a battle-weary King Henry never makes it to the Holy Land.) | She can’t say how, but she knows this is her crusade. It is the pilgrimage to Jerusalem that, like Shakespeare’s Henry IV, she will make just as soon as rebellious barons have been tamed. (Spoiler: a battle-weary King Henry never makes it to the Holy Land.) |
| Rees-Mogg is right about one thing. He describes the notion that May can be remembered for anything other than Brexit as “absurd”. Enacting the referendum result is the historical chapter she is writing. Every other policy is subordinate, because if Brexit goes wrong there will be no money to do anything and, when the electoral verdict comes in, no Tory government to do it. | Rees-Mogg is right about one thing. He describes the notion that May can be remembered for anything other than Brexit as “absurd”. Enacting the referendum result is the historical chapter she is writing. Every other policy is subordinate, because if Brexit goes wrong there will be no money to do anything and, when the electoral verdict comes in, no Tory government to do it. |
| European leaders know this too. They saw the scale of the task before May did. That is why, immediately after the referendum, there was doubt in Berlin especially that Britain would actually attempt anything so dangerous. There was suspicion (and hope) that the horse would refuse the impossible jump. But once it became clear that May was serious, the EU position shifted to bafflement at a UK government that did not even seem to be working up speed in the run-up. | European leaders know this too. They saw the scale of the task before May did. That is why, immediately after the referendum, there was doubt in Berlin especially that Britain would actually attempt anything so dangerous. There was suspicion (and hope) that the horse would refuse the impossible jump. But once it became clear that May was serious, the EU position shifted to bafflement at a UK government that did not even seem to be working up speed in the run-up. |
| In recent weeks EU leaders have been encouraged by reassurances, public and private, that the prime minister has become more pragmatic, as indicated by her Florence speech and commitment to a period of transition resembling the status quo. But May’s voice is not the only one they hear. | In recent weeks EU leaders have been encouraged by reassurances, public and private, that the prime minister has become more pragmatic, as indicated by her Florence speech and commitment to a period of transition resembling the status quo. But May’s voice is not the only one they hear. |
| Rees-Mogg is right to describe the notion that May can be remembered for anything other than Brexit as “absurd” | Rees-Mogg is right to describe the notion that May can be remembered for anything other than Brexit as “absurd” |
| British newspapers are read by continental ministers. They saw David Cameron boxed into a corner and knocked out by his party’s Eurosceptic ultras. They see no strategy in his successor to avoid the same fate. What happens in Manchester is available online in Brussels. | British newspapers are read by continental ministers. They saw David Cameron boxed into a corner and knocked out by his party’s Eurosceptic ultras. They see no strategy in his successor to avoid the same fate. What happens in Manchester is available online in Brussels. |
| British diplomats mutter that this makes the negotiations tougher. It isn’t a question of trust, they say, but of confidence. The EU side believes that May speaks in good faith, but cannot be sure that she is strong enough, or will last long enough, to uphold her word. | British diplomats mutter that this makes the negotiations tougher. It isn’t a question of trust, they say, but of confidence. The EU side believes that May speaks in good faith, but cannot be sure that she is strong enough, or will last long enough, to uphold her word. |
| Many British voters feel the same way, doubting not the prime minister’s integrity, but her capacity. It is not uncommon to hear people say that they feel sorry for her; to say that she looks like a hostage. | Many British voters feel the same way, doubting not the prime minister’s integrity, but her capacity. It is not uncommon to hear people say that they feel sorry for her; to say that she looks like a hostage. |
| Mark Twain said that ridicule was a politician’s deadliest foe, but pity is no less debilitating. May has endured both. But the Tories cannot know their predicament or avoid calamity without seeing themselves as others see them, and they can’t look in a mirror with their hands over their eyes. | Mark Twain said that ridicule was a politician’s deadliest foe, but pity is no less debilitating. May has endured both. But the Tories cannot know their predicament or avoid calamity without seeing themselves as others see them, and they can’t look in a mirror with their hands over their eyes. |
| They cannot hide from failure in plain view of the British public and the rest of the world. It is almost upon them. The countdown approaches zero. Ready or not, here it comes. | They cannot hide from failure in plain view of the British public and the rest of the world. It is almost upon them. The countdown approaches zero. Ready or not, here it comes. |
| • Rafael Behr is a Guardian columnist | • Rafael Behr is a Guardian columnist |
| Brexit | |
| Opinion | |
| Conservative conference 2017 | |
| Conservatives | |
| Conservative conference | |
| Theresa May | |
| European Union | |
| comment | |
| Share on Facebook | |
| Share on Twitter | |
| Share via Email | |
| Share on LinkedIn | |
| Share on Pinterest | |
| Share on Google+ | |
| Share on WhatsApp | |
| Share on Messenger | |
| Reuse this content |