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We’re in the unusual position of two parties at civil war. Each with an appetite for destruction.
Both parties are now turning on themselves over their respective obsessions: Europe and the bomb.
Whilst the public and media are focused on Brexit, Labour is focused on nuclear disarmament. Corbyn spent last Saturday at a sparsely attended CND rally in Trafalgar Square. Anti-Trident Shadow Defence Secretary Emily Thornberry’s review into the deterrent is set to be finalised in the summer. With effective but often controversial Damian McBride joining her team as an adviser this week things could get difficult for Trident supporters in the party.
Trident, while of course important, isn’t something that many people mention unprompted when asked about issue of concern to them. But Labour is now not just in the Westminster Bubble, they are a bubble within a bubble. Happily fighting amongst themselves in a political zorb tumbling down a hill, over a cliff, eventually landing on some very sharp rocks.
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The issue reveals a Parliamentary Labour Party in sync with the public but seriously out of step with the Labour leadership and membership. The role of the unions will be crucial. As will be potential options eventually presented. The farcical idea that Trident submarines could be used as troop carriers has reached the surreal with the suggestion this week that missiles would need to be replaced with lumps of concrete to ensure the subs have the right ballast.
Helpfully, the Tories are scheduling votes on the Trident renewal for later in the year, so it doesn’t get in the way of their row over Europe.
While Europe is undoubtedly more important to the public than Trident, the debate may turn out to be equally coma inducing to them.
As is usual with referendum campaigns once the key arguments are in place much of the media coverage will focus on mudslinging, which set off at a pace this week.
This is all very exciting for Eurosceptic and Europhile political nerds, not so much for everyone else. But the debate continues, in fact, it must. Every claim and counter claim will be repeated in a grimly ad nauseum manner in the hope of getting through to an electorate that intelligently ignores the everyday ins and outs of politics. It could become hellish for those who follow things closely.
This week’s row over the so called ‘dodgy dossier’ put together by government officials is a case in point. Very much a Westminster Village issue that will have little cut through and do little to swing the referendum either way. Both sides have been accused of being Project Fear, both want to be seen as Project Fact, when they are both things at the same time.
Luckily for the Tories, their splits over Europe at least mirror public ambivalence towards Europe. Labour on the other hand are taking a hipster like interest in a niche issue, and nobody likes a hipster.