PARLIAMENT returned this week and any hopes that a new year might bring about some sensibility and clarity to politics saw their hopes quickly dashed and flung in the bin.
It was interesting on Monday morning to hear pundits discuss how the Prime Minister’s reshuffle was designed to be a show of strength for her as the leader of the Tories and how she was going to take back control of her party. I think it was around 11:00am when that all fell apart … accidental Tweets, people refusing to be reshuffled and people refusing to be sacked really showed that Theresa May is starting 2018 even weaker and wobblier than she was after last year’s General Election.
While the Prime Minister was continuing her non-reshuffle reshuffle mess, SNP Westminster group leader Ian Blackford was hosting a summit with the leaders of the opposition parties where they joined together to oppose a hard Brexit. At the summit, the parties agreed to work together to prevent the absolute disaster that would be leaving the single market. All of the opposition parties turned up except, of course, Labour.
Since the result of the EU referendum was announced it has proven more and more difficult each day to keep up with Labour’s position. Rarely a day goes by without their position changing, and frankly this has always left me a little perplexed. I understand that Jeremy Corbyn must fear alienating leave voters that voted for Labour in the last General Election if they take a stance for remaining in the single market, and I understand that he must fear that stating he wants to follow the Tories over a hard Brexit cliff edge would put off the other voters who are clinging to the belief that he will fight against Brexit if elected to be Prime Minister. But surely this jumping to a fro is unsustainable and is actually misleading many voters?
It is entirely disingenuous for any person or party to claim they are standing up for working people while they allow Scotland and the rest of the UK to be dragged out of the EU and the single market.
What is worse than doing nothing on Brexit however, is what David Mundell has been doing. Initially, the Secretary of State for Scotland, promised that all powers that returned to the UK Parliament as a result of Brexit would automatically pass straight to Holyrood.
The rest of the Government ignored him and said that wouldn’t happen. Then he promised that the Bill would be amended at report stage to appease people’s concerns about a power grab and then didn’t bother to table any amendments. Unbelievably, it will be the unelected House of Lords who will be looking at the legislation. The Scotland Office is a shambles, and this is a huge betrayal to the people of Scotland.
And as all this was going on, Parliament debated the Tory Trade Bill. The Trade Bill is part of the Governments preparations for Brexit and, like everything else involving Brexit and this government, there was no detail or substance, not to mention a Eurovision-themed Prime Ministers Questions.
It is hard not to be utterly dumbfounded at the mess Labour and the Tories are making of Brexit.
Not all hopes for 2018 have been dashed, however. Those, like myself, who had hoped that the new year will bring about further discussion around the issue of sexual harassment will have been happy to see the events that took place during the Golden Globe Awards earlier this week. I’m not normally one to care about award shows, but like everyone else I was curious to see how the event would tackle the huge scandal that broke from Hollywood at the end of last year.
Seeing the actors ditch their dates to bring activists and campaigners was a great surprise. The founder of the #MeToo campaign, Tarana Burke, which shined a light on how widespread and shockingly common sexual harassment and assault is, was brought along as well as many other inspiring women.
Oprah Winfrey, in her acceptance speech for the Cecil B DeMille award, said: “For too long, women have not been heard or believed if they dared to speak their truth to the power of those men. But their time is up. Their time is up,” and so long as brave women continue to tell their stories she is right.
Unfortunately, as it stands, 2018 isn’t shaping up to be any less daft than 2017, but it’s early yet.
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