The internal civil wars that both Labour and the Conservatives are currently facing over Brexit prove why this toxic issue needs to be put to bed once and for all. Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn both face unenviable tasks of uniting their parties behind their 'hard' Brexit approaches. Mr. Corbyn was forced to sack three shadow ministers for failing to support Labour's position on leaving the EU and the Prime Minister is being forced to listen to Chancellor Philip Hammond read out speeches urging the Government to support a 'soft' Brexit. Yet if either party chooses the latter option, they would be betraying those voters who supported them last June.
'The Government must prove UKIP wrong.'
The Labour Party reaped the benefits of a collapse in the UKIP share of the vote in June, achieving their largest vote share since 1945. The Conservatives also prospered as a result of UKIP supporters flocking the Eurosceptic party in favour of Theresa May. These are electors who have not trusted the main parties for a considerable period of time due to their failure to take the issue of Britain's EU membership seriously. It would be deeply cynical of the Government in particular to trample on these voters' hopes that only the Tories can deliver a Brexit that they have desired for a while.
Many commentators predict that UKIP will be finished altogether soon.
Whether or not this is a foolish aspiration, they haven't disbanded altogether yet because they anticipate the Tories will betray their voters on Brexit. UKIP intends to win scores of seats off both main parties if they do this. The Government must prove them wrong.
