I waste far too much of my time arguing with Brexiters on Twitter. I shouldn't do it. But it is enlightening. It doesn't take long before you get accused of not liking democracy. Well I do like democracy. And Brexit was on the point of being delivered democratically. Leave had won the referendum. This was decisive enough, but thanks to Mrs May's inability to pass up the chance for an historic election victory it was confirmed.
The Tories were not especially happy with the 2017 election result but they did manage to form a government. And their manifesto did contain the thing that was missing from the referendum result. It was an actual outline of what Brexit would mean in practice. I didn't like it much, but it was what people had voted for.
So far so good. Brexit was on its way and there was no argument against its democratic legitimacy. There wasn't anything for remainers to do but wonder about how to get back in again after we'd left.
And then the most unexpected thing happened. The deal that had been agreed couldn't get through the Commons. It was being blocked by the most hardline of the Brexiters. That they would risk their goal for any reason was surprising enough. That they would do so on the grounds of not accepting a more or less key necessity for making it a success - an arrangement that secured the Irish border - was barely believable. But interesting as that is, it does show that something is wrong with the system. Let's have a look at the problem in detail.
The block to the implementation was Conservative MPs who regarded themselves as the guardians of the true Brexit. They were in a position to do so because their local Conservative Parties had selected them. Their zealotry probably didn't seem like a problem back in the days when leaving the EU was unthinkable to all but the unthinking. So the internal democracy of the Conservative Party had thwarted the overall democracy of the country.
Is this a problem for democracy as our system of government? I really don't think so. The lesson is that Tory members need to take more care in who they select as their candidates. If they want Brexit they need to find people who will actually vote for it. Voters too need to be careful with who they cast their ballots for. There is always someone else to vote for, or failing that you can always stand yourself.
Has any long term damage been done? Well if people really want Brexit and they keep voting for pro-Brexit parties then the inhabitants of the Commons will have to come round. As it is I suspect that the Brexit moment has now passed. Polls show support gradually ebbing away from it. It didn't feel like it at the time, but it may well turn out that March 2019 was the last date it was possible to conceive of Britain actually leaving. The idea that even with their new tousle-charged leader bringing optimism and enthusiasm to the table there is no longer a clear route to Britain leaving.
Democracy is a good system because it adapts and changes with the times. The Conservative Party has always been the biggest player in British politics since the establishment of universal suffrage. But while its complete disappearance is pretty unlikely, it doesn't actually own the game. The party will go on quite happily without them. At the next election it is likely to face not just Labour, but a souped up Lib Dem Party appealing to remainers and the Brexit Party peeling off leavers. And without a Tory government you can say goodbye to Brexit.
Democracy on the other hand, will be with us for the foreseeable future.
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