The existing atmosphere within the party's representatives nowadays echoes Edgar's law. This states that the extent of any misfortune is only assessed in comparison to yet-to-come catastrophes. As the Bard lets the banished son of the visionless lord declare within the tragedy: “The most terrible is not, as long as we are able to utter ‘this marks the bottom’.”
A Succession of Intensifying Difficulties
As per this principle, there is no survey so gloomy regarding the party that cannot be followed by another more depressing; no economic projection so poor that the exchequer won't exacerbate via contradictory signals about levies; no misgivings regarding the leader that can't be amplified via hostile communications about a leadership challenge.
Asylum Policy Announcement
Against this backdrop, the latest revelation of strategies intending to limit the number of displaced persons granted entry to Britain, patterned after a famously strict Scandinavian model, went down better with Labour MPs than might have been expected. There emerged flashes of MP frustration however no blaze of rebellion.
Strengthening refugee regulations is not the party's natural territory, however the present arrangement is obviously flawed and the public is enraged. Most MPs grasp the reasoning that acceptance and intercommunal harmony are easier to cultivate when there is confidence that the country's boundaries are secure.
Increasing Dissatisfaction
Silent parliamentary rows might likewise signal ominous. MPs have learned that each issue is discussable with a directionless leader with flexible principles. Today's declarations could be withdrawn tomorrow. There's no requirement to advance hastily when victories can be won via endurance.
A frequent grievance concerns the Prime Minister is hardly managing the administration in any meaningful way, following the transfer of political judgment to his chief of staff. However, this doesn't mean the leader is without administrative energy, he merely chooses to avoid arbitrating in departmental disputes or undertake extended discussions.
Management Method
The Prime Minister entered party politics late in his career, first entering parliament at the age of 52. He lacks instinct regarding party traditions – the body of former discussions, drives, figures and cultural references that bind a head to the wider movement and its feeling of collective mission.
His most personal values are a mystery even to the cabinet. As one senior Labour figure puts it: “The Prime Minister is quite different in his role through suggesting that whatever he personally thinks is none of your business.”
Electoral Repercussions
The product packaged representing the leader in last year's election campaign has also not delivered its promised advantages: executive proficiency leading to countrywide revitalization. If Britain still had a binary political arrangement, the memory of past problems during Conservative rule may continue patience with Labour.
This foreshadows a massacre of Labour candidates in municipal and national assembly contests next May. It would constitute a time of great danger for the leader, provided he remains that long.
Future Considerations
Absent in these calculations appears unity on the identity of a replacement and how their programme might contrast with existing administration plans. This weakness regarding changeover preparations is mentioned by those backing the incumbent as part of various arguments to stick with the existing prime minister.
Even as unhappy parliamentarians may flinch at those warnings, they similarly perceive in them the familiar, meaningless sound of modest goals that creates despondency regarding present circumstances. It signifies the tone of lack of success to describe the approach as anything more than a sequence of tactics for maintaining position.
Concluding Thoughts
It proves difficult to inspire faithfulness for such an objective. And most Labour MPs have tried. They have followed official positions, supported it during canvassing, heeded instructions, trusted promises that their worries were considered.
Prime ministerial ousting contains considerable peril, yet, might it be more dangerous than pretending that the present leader possesses solutions regarding major issues that remain unmentioned? The literary maxim invites caution when removing a sitting prime minister. The replacement might prove more disastrous.
“The burden of this sad time we must obey; State true sentiments, rather than expected statements.”
