House of Cowards – now we are in a new era of crisis – SUNDAY EXPRESS COMMENT – Express

Instead, with the self-indulgent obstinacy that has become their hallmark, they decided to plunge Westminster into more turmoil by refusing to approve the agreement.Yet again, the House of Cowards showed that it prefers irresponsible procrastination to decisive action. The euphoria that Boris Johnson generated on Thursday with his heroic diplomatic triumph at the Brussels summit has now evaporated, replaced by a mood of uncertainty and despair. By their failure to back him, our foolish politicians have demonstrated their contempt for democracy and the national interest.

Yesterday was meant to be a historic occasion, one that could herald a new era for our country and pave the way to national independence.

Instead, the first weekend sitting of the Commons since Argentina's invasion of the Falklands in 1982 descended into a miserable anti-climax as the depressing stalemate continues.

In 1936 Winston Churchill condemned the feeble National Government as "decided only to be undecided, resolved to be irresolute, adamant for drift, solid for fluidity, all-powerful to be impotent." That is a perfect description of the current paralysed House of Commons, which, as the Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay put it yesterday, "says no to everything".

The public, already exasperated by these antics, will only feel fury at this new twist in the Brexit saga. Yesterday's vote was just the latest in a lengthening catalogue of cynical manoeuvres designed to thwart the will of the people.

Rather than breaking the present deadlock, the majority of MPs decided to embark on a new period of chaos by backing an amendment put forward by the maverick Tory turned Independent MP Sir Oliver Letwin. His destructive proposal required that the House should withhold its approval for the new deal until all the necessary related legislation - which could be amended - has been passed.

In practice, that almost certainly means more delays, with the Prime Minister legally forced to ask Brussels for a further extension in Article 50, the process which governs a member state's departure.

The step was typical of Letwin, who has developed a reputation as an energetic but bumbling plotter, infused with his own self-importance and his belief in his own unorthodox cleverness.

"A golden rule of politics," wrote one leading commentator yesterday, "is that anything involving Oliver Letwin is a total mess. "The twin justifications for his move were both to allow more Parliamentary scrutiny of Johnson's deal and to prevent Britain "crashing out" of the EU if the Commons were to reject the legislation that gives effect to his agreement.

But these look like thin excuses.

The real impulse of most MPs who voted for the Letwin amendment is stop Brexit altogether. Their rhetoric is a sham, their motivation dishonest.

As the former prime minister Theresa May pointed out in a powerful intervention yesterday, Westminster had declared its willingness to accept the referendum result by voting for Article 50. "If Parliament did not mean it, then it is guilty of the most egregious con trick on the British people."

A con trick is exactly the term to describe the Parliamentary shenanigans.

What makes the stance of MPs particularly absurd is that they keep telling us that they want to implement an orderly Brexit, yet whenever they are presented with a workable deal, they vote against it. The House is like a stuck gramophone record, repeatedly playing the same negative tune. Four times now they have dismissed the chance to back a withdrawal agreement. In the case of Boris's deal this week, the rejection was badly misguided, for the Prime Minister had pulled off a masterstroke at Brussels.

Against all the predictions of doubters, he secured significant concessions from the EU, came up with a practical compromise on the question of the Irish border, gave us the freedom to negotiate our own trade deals and ended any future control of Britain by Brussels.

Forged by his own charisma and resolution, his deal deserved a better fate than the stubborn antipathy of the Letwin backers.

Indeed, its rejection seems only to have fed the arrogance and intransigence of the Remainers, many of whom gathered in central London yesterday on their march to demand a second referendum or so-called People's Vote.

In ugly scenes at Westminster yesterday, several leading Tories were subjected to ferocious abuse by elements of the pro-EU mob. Jacob Rees-Mogg and his family even needed a police escort home. But such bullying cannot hide the fact that the Brexit wreckers are without a principle and without a democratic case.

That shone through the Parliamentary debate on the deal, where the pro-Government speakers were far more effective.

In a statesmanlike, emollient performance in which he eschewed his usual knockabout style, Boris Johnson set the tone.

He was matched by the impressive Mr Barclay, who displayed a rich grasp of forensic detail, and by Michael Gove who, in his usual eloquent way, warned that faith in British democracy would be shattered if the referendum were overturned. In contrast, most of the opposition contributors were dire.

Jeremy Corbyn, the worst Opposition leader in history, lived down to dismal expectations, but even worse was the SNP's Ian Blackford, whose speech was so aggravating that MPs on all sides were begging him to stop.

The threadbare arguments of the anti-Brexiteers for supporting the Letwin amendment encapsulated their dishonesty.

They shrieked that more time is needed for debate, when in reality Parliament has done little except discuss Brexit for the last three years.

They wailed about the supposed threat to workers' rights from EU withdrawal, even though the Government has given a commitment that such rights will be protected.

Moreover, when national sovereignty is restored under Brexit, it will be up to Parliament to decide on further safeguards if that is what the British people want.

One of the most offensive sights yesterday was to watch Labour MPs line up to pose as defenders of the Union with Northern Ireland.

"The Tories are putting the Union at risk," moaned one, while another declared that Johnson had "sold the people of Northern Ireland down the river".

Such rhetoric is nauseating from members of a party that is led by Corbyn and John McDonnell, two ideologues who have been fervent in their support for violent Irish Republicanism.

Just as grotesque was the pretence from Labour MPs that they backed Letwin to avoid no-deal.That is an insult to our intelligence.

In truth, the only way to avoid no-deal is to back a deal, which is precisely what Labour MPs refused to do yesterday.

It was the brave Labour backbencher Caroline Flint, one of the more sensible voices in the party, who saw through this charade.

Describing the Letwin scheme as "a panic measure", she said that the sole object of the amendment was "to delay Brexit and stop it".

Even though her own side did not like this truth, she was absolutely right.

Her conviction is borne partly of representing a constituency, Don Valley, that voted for Leave. Unlike most of her colleagues, she respects the democratic wishes of the electorate.

Although he endured a serious setback yesterday, Boris Johnson was magnificently undaunted. As a result of Letwin amendment, he has been forced legally to ask the EU for an Article 50 extension but he is still determined to push his deal through Parliament.

That is why the legislation to enact the agreement will come back to the Commons early this week. Boris may have lost the battle, but with his optimism and force of personality, he will still win the war.

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House of Cowards - now we are in a new era of crisis - SUNDAY EXPRESS COMMENT - Express