Bit of a random collection of thoughts here!


I posted here many months ago that I thought Labour's policy on addressing Brexit was mature and intelligent, but unfortunately completely 'unsellable' on the doorstep. I forget who it was but some famous author - Samuel Johnson, perhaps - said when writing you needed to do in such a way:

Not that it can be understood by those who want
But that it must be understood, whether they want to or not

The policy certainly met the first criteria, but failed dismally at the second. Now, there was actually a faint chance it could have succeeded if it was argued strongly as that grown up position, but time and again - even in Corbyn's articles after the result - that is was necessary because Labour's base straddled Leavers and Remainers.

That presents it, not as a sensible idea, but as a squalid attempt to get maximum advantage for the Labour party, with the wishes of the actual constituents of secondary importance. [Out of interest, this was when I left the Labour party. ]

So yes, I do see Labour's Brexit policy as the biggest reason why they lost so badly. This is not to excuse Corbyn, who basically showed no enthusiasm or ability to think on his feet. He was presented with no end of open goals during PM's Questions, but almost always ignored them, sticking to his pre-prepared notes. Then in the election period the one time I thought 'Yes! This is the Corbyn of 2016' was at the launch of the manifesto: the fire and passion was there. But it was missing from all the televised debates and interviews.


But as I and many others have said, we are not 'getting Brexit done':   just taking the first step. So whoever becomes the next Labour leader will still have Brexit on their plate. Not Leave/Remain, of course, but how close to the EU we remain. And I think we might well see interesting things happening in the new Parliament on that front. A constant cry of the Remainers was that "people voted to Leave the EU: They did not vote to be poorer and lose their rights." Given his majority, especially in the red wall constituencies, I find it plausible that Johnson seeks a deal that is very 'BRINO' according to some people. I don't think we will see signs of that in the immediate cabinet, but after the bigger shuffle predicted after 31 Jan, we should see clues one way or the other.