Will Brexit Break the Conservative Party?

In the Federal Trust's latest video, John Stevens points to Brexit and other divisions already tearing the Conservative Party apart. He argues that the Reform Party will be able to exploit these divisions, particularly if Nigel Farage becomes its leader. If, moreover, the Reform Party does indeed stand in all Westminster seats at the next General Election, it may well produce a catastrophic defeat for the Conservatives. The future existence of the Party would then be in question.

SPEAKERS:
John Stevens is the Chairman of the Federal Trust and a former Conservative MEP.

Brendan Donnelly is the Director of the Federal Trust and a former Conservative MEP.

ABOUT THE FEDERAL TRUST
The Federal Trust is a research institute studying regional, national, European and global levels of government. It has always had a particular interest in the European Union and Britain’s place in it. The Federal Trust has no allegiance to any political party. It is registered as a charity for the purposes of education and research.

Support our work:

#brexit #Conservativeparty #scottishindependence #brexiteers #nigelfarage #rishisunak #KeirStarmer #britishpolitics #jeremyhunt #uk #Reformparty #ukeconomy #labourparty #keirstarmer

[billyhughes]

People voted Brexit because they were told their lives would improve, do you think they voted to cater for 40% of the future global middle class that will come from India and China like Kemi Badenoch tried telling us? To deregulate everything? To pay the highest energy bills on the planet? To only have zero contract agency work as the only alternative to employment? And the answer is no which is why Farage won't get anywhere either. He wants to save something that has now been proven to have no long term benefits to the ordinary person whatsoever - the EU was never the problem, it is actually the tories who are ruining peoples lives - as we can see now with the EU out of the picture.

[Arthur_Pint]

The Tories are going to fall off (and get splattered) off every wall, and not just the Red one!

[vatsmith]

The Conservative party is finished because it is no longer conservative.

[Nils.Minimalist]

Brexit was wishful thinking. Wishful thinking because Britain was treated too "nicely" as a member of the EU. They thought they would get their "special treatment" even after leaving the EU. They thought they could go on cherry-picking. Fatal mistake!

[kerryburns]

Why on earth would the Europeans want the UK back in the EU ?

[saddoncarrs]

England, once the seat of a strong union and a mighty empire, has been on a long slow bumpy downward spiral since WW1. During this time the country has been thrown 2 lifelines - North Sea oil and the EU. Both these opportunities have been squandered but this historically appears to be the way the mindset often goes with leaders of dying empires.
I'd say England has a ways to go yet but, by all accounts, it appears to be heading inextricably towards a rather rocky bottom. There is no empire left, and soon no union.

[mkoschara]

Nigel Farage is the embodiment of the horror.

[benedictcowell]

I think it invidious, even, ethically insolent, for former European Imperial powers, or their peoples, to complain about immigration, given that they traipsed around the world, imposing their culture on the original inhabitant without any moral scruples and forced millions of Africans into slavery and reduced the aborigines of those lands to accept an inferior status in their own lands. We, in Britain and the USA, especially have benefitted from every wave of immigration, and still do so. The tendency of the British [probably because of a lob-sided historical education] to expatiate on their culture, love of Freedom and all the rest of this insular clap trap reveals an inability of the politicians and people to come to terms with reality, which explains Brexit. We live off our history but ignore those facets of history which are inconvenient to our legend of ourselves whilst we ignore our geography. One would not guess it [from our conceited view of our History] but peoples came to fight in wars which could hardly be of concern; Indians, Africans, Asians. I find it also rather depressing that people like Priti Patel, Sue Bravaman, and Rishi Sunak are in the vanguard of those trying to shut the door on immigrants given that their immediate forbears availed themselves of a facility which they deny to others.

[ParcelOfRogue]

Brexit carried every lie and impossible promise, many contradictory between different audiences, both from the Leave campaign, UKIP & government ministers, both then & now, even sweeping up a few Lexiters (left) & Greens.
Brexit was sold as free trade & protectionism, as nationalism & globalisation, as deregulation & as pro industry sectoral ( e.g farmers/Fishermen) or pro worker measures. As self sufficiency or openness to the world.
Brexit was the only change on offer after excessive austerity and if you had a wish or gripe, Brexit was there with an answer, a multiple choice of lies and complete cobblers.
It never added up, there was no manifesto to refer to and nobody agreed what it should have been. Meanwhile the Disaster Capitalist elites and public school boys cleaned up, shorting the collapsing pound, coining in Russian hot money and extending their exporting of tax free monies to the tropical islands.

[mickg]

Brexit will never be done because Brexit was never defined.

[indricotherium]

I dispute that the Tories need Reform UK to morph into the party of English nationalism. They're already well along that path and actually, they have nowhere else to go but to double down on it. It's a sad kind of chippy, mean-spirited nationalism too, in great contrast to the comparatively enlightened nationalism that's winning in Scotland.

[garygray]

There will never ever be such thing as progressive conservative?!

[Paul-ebjp]

I pray for the sake of our nation that the Tories are smashed out of existence, Reform are raving loons.

[benedictcowell]

I think this 'left behind' is a poor excuse. It is a despicable press, an abject education and the fact the electorate are ignorant, stupid, prejudiced and contemptible

[federaltrustevents]

That would be a particularly ironic outcome of Brexit.

[ParcelOfRogue]

Opinion Polls now show 2/3 of the public believe Brexit was a damaging mistake. Every poll now pretty much shows greater negativity towards brexit

[grahamdominy]

What are the possibilities of the Reform/Tory split letting in droves of LibDem MPs?

[MegaAndrich]

It is said that when the Tories came in, there was a note saying that there’s no money left. The next note would read, no money, the union is broken, the country is on its knees, don’t investigate how we got there cause no backsees.

[benedictcowell]

We should take the perspective of the New York Times seriously, and to dismiss it as 'useful idiots' is to confirm rather than refute that perspective. That a considerable element of English opinion [ and that the most ignorant and and paranoid ] considers that immigration is our problem is to rather confirm the views of the United Kingdom as immolated in an obsession that fails to understand how essential immigrants are for our services ad health service. Rather than pandering to this attitude politicians should devote their energies to educating the British Public before we become the standing joke of the informed opinion throughout Europe and the USA. We have serious economic problems for which immigrants are not responsible [and may play an essential part in our recovery]and our problems are compounded by a political party and a media are primarily responsible. On the whole the New York Times shares an attitude towards England which is alas only too accurate and only too wide spread amongst informed opinion world wide shares. Where the British People are responsible for our absurdity is in voting for a political party ad an absurd referendum which compounds the problem which is a nation that lives off its history and ignores its geography.

[stephennoble]

They have done a good job off Destroying themselves 🤔