The Cooper amendment did not pass because the fucking Labour front bench and nearly 2 dozen Labour MPs either voted against or abstained. All the Tory rebels that needed to sign all ALL TURNED UP. The Tory's are lost, that is beyond doubt, but the group of rebels that needed to turn up to out vote the government didn't disappoint.
The fact that so many Labour MPs voted against or abstained including front benchers without a single one of them being sacked is appalling.
Labour's front bench are actively facilitating Brexit because 1. Corbyn is a conspiracy theorist and cretin (beyond doubt now) 2. They somehow think they can profit from the disaster that will result.
I think this discussion was played out when the Cooper Amendment came up the first time, but it's ignorant to pin the blame solely on Labour and the leadership as if somehow they'd be immune to the societal divisions of Brexit, when it's possibly the most fractious issue this country has ever seen and doesn't exist on traditional party lines.
When even the Liberal Democrats, who stand heavily on a pro-Europe platform and barely have enough MPs to enter double digits, have someone resigning the whip because his constituency voted Leave, do you really believe Labour would (or should) be able to put on a unified front to support what the
right wing tabloids tried to portray as them killing Brexit? Do you also think they should willingly tender themselves to a spate of front bench resignations and sackings at the worst possible time?
Call it self interest of MPs and the party, or maybe even simply respecting the view of their constituents, but Labour aren't some magic cavalry who can ride in to save the day. I don't know why they're expected to be the party with zero conflicts of interest on Brexit when they hold seats in some of the strongest Leave voting areas of the country, it simply ignores reality.
Getting the Cooper amendment through is going to need more than an unrealistic vision of Labour having a totally rock solid position on Brexit, it's going to need the remaining Labour and Conservative MPs on the fence to get the fuck off it. The votes against will probably remain that way, and the abstentions could go in either direction, but as it gets down to the wire - things
will change. Caroline Spelman throwing herself behind the resurrected Cooper amendment is just one example of things changing:
Caroline Spelman, the Conservative MP who tabled the non-binding amendment rejecting a no-deal Brexit that was passed by MPs two weeks ago, has said she will back the bill. She did not vote for the Cooper amendment two weeks ago and her endorsement is significant because it suggests Cooper's new amendment will get more Tory support than her previous one, which was backed by 17 Tories.
Don't bang on about the Tory rebels showing up when it's clear the mine of opinions sympathetic to the Cooper amendment has not been exhausted yet.
That Tory rebellion will happen any moment now...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RaGLtJaZjs
We live in hope.
Terrible, depressing hope.
