The existing atmosphere within parliamentary Labour members currently adheres to Edgar's law. It affirms that the magnitude of every hardship can only be assessed against unforeseen calamities. As Shakespeare makes the banished son of the sightless nobleman declare in King Lear: “The direst does not exist, so long as we are able to utter ‘this is the worst’.”
A Chain of Worsening Problems
Per this principle, there is no opinion poll so pessimistic regarding the party that cannot be coming after one even bleaker; no fiscal forecast so terrible that the finance ministry cannot worsen via conflicting messages on tax; no misgivings concerning the Prime Minister that cannot be intensified through malicious leaks about a leadership challenge.
Refugee Measures Declaration
Against this backdrop, the recent declaration of measures designed to reduce the amount of asylum seekers allowed into Britain, modelled on a famously strict Nordic approach, was taken better among party members than might have been expected. There were sparks of MP frustration yet no wildfire of opposition.
Strengthening refugee regulations does not represent Labour's comfort zone, but the current system is clearly failing while citizens are furious. Numerous parliamentarians understand the position that open-mindedness and community cohesion are simpler to foster if assurance exists that the country's boundaries remain protected.
Growing Discontent
Quiet backbenches can also be ominous. MPs have learned that all matters are debatable with a directionless leader of malleable conviction. Current proclamations could be withdrawn tomorrow. There exists no necessity to rush over the top when victories can be won by attrition.
A frequent grievance concerns the Prime Minister is barely running the administration in any meaningful way, following the transfer of policy decisions to his top aide. This doesn't imply the prime minister misses managerial vigor, he merely chooses not to mediate between ministry conflicts or participate in extended discussions.
Management Method
The leader joined organized political activity at an advanced stage, originally joining the legislature at the age of 52. He has no feel regarding party traditions – the body of past debates, initiatives, personalities and social allusions that connect a leader to the broader organization and its feeling of collective mission.
His innermost beliefs are a mystery to government members. As one senior representative explains: “The leader is remarkably distinct as a prime minister in giving the impression that his private opinions remain personal matters.”
Electoral Repercussions
The image presented representing the leader in the recent polling battle has also not delivered its promised advantages: managerial competence leading to countrywide revitalization. If Britain still had a binary political arrangement, the memory of previous difficulties with the previous government may continue tolerance for the party.
That presages a crushing loss for party representatives in municipal and devolved elections during the upcoming vote. It shall represent a moment of extreme peril for the Prime Minister, provided he remains until then.
Leadership Questions
Absent in these assessments is agreement regarding the person of a replacement and their proposed policies may differ from the current government's agenda. This flaw in the transition plan is referenced by those backing the incumbent as one of many reasons to stick with the current leader.
Even as unhappy parliamentarians might recoil from those warnings, they similarly perceive within them the familiar, meaningless sound of limited aspiration that creates despondency at the status quo. It is the sound of failure to describe the approach as anything more than a sequence of tactics for maintaining position.
Concluding Thoughts
It proves difficult to generate allegiance for such an objective. Numerous parliamentarians have attempted. They have followed established policies, justified it to constituents, obeyed the whips, trusted promises that their worries were considered.
Regicide involves significant danger, however, does it present greater hazards versus acting as if that the current ruler holds responses about important matters that he never even names? Edgar's law invites caution regarding the replacement of a sitting prime minister. The alternative may turn out poorer.
“The weight of this troubled period we must obey; State true sentiments, not what we ought to say.”
