If Stephen Lloyd were determined to back Theresa May because he believed in Brexit, I would not be pleased, but I would understand him.
But he is determined to do so even though he believes Brexit is against the national interest.
That is because, at the last election, he promised voters in Eastbourne that he would support the result of the referendum and not campaign for a second one.
I presume he did this because he thought it was the only way he would get elected.
That is not an approach to politics I admire, but it is his third promise that really gets me.
It seems he promised to support the deal the prime minister reached with the European Union, whatever its content.
But if you are not willing to hold the executive to account then there is no point your being in parliament.
I also note the comment of Isabel Hardman that his resignation of the party whip has:
baffled Lib Dems, not so much because Lloyd is stepping back from the most avowedly anti-Brexit party in the Commons. It’s more that he’s doing so to support a vote that no one thinks the government has any chance of winning.
When all's said and done, his position is about a hundred times more defensible than that of the Lib Dem MPs who decided in 2010 to break their promises to the electorate in the pursuit of an illusion of political power.
ReplyDeleteWhen Party MPs break personal pledges made to students over tuition fees, it ill behoves Party commentators to attack an MP for sticking to his pledge, even if it was misguided to make the pledge in the first place. I do not seem to remember any similar criticism of Norman Lamb when he abstained on the Article 50 vote, recognising that his constituency had voted heavily for Brexit.
ReplyDeleteIt is a perceived lack of integrity that damages the Lib Dem brand, not positions on particular policies.
I am increasingly inclined to delete anonymous comments of this sort.
ReplyDeleteThese are drive-by shootings. The commenters are not readers of this blog. If they were they would know, for instance, that I was critical of Norman lamb and the other Liberal Democrat MPs who abstained on Article 50.
I also note that both commenters think the Lib Dems should not have gone into coalition with the Conservatives but supportive of Stephen Lloyd's decision to back Theresa May's deal.
That is a strange demographic, yet I receive visits from two representative of it on the same day.
I suspect I have been visited by Brandon Lewis's new online army.