The prevailing mood among parliamentary Labour members currently echoes Edgar's law. It affirms that the magnitude of every hardship can only be gauged against unknown future disasters. As the playwright lets the exiled child of the sightless nobleman of Gloucester say in the play: “The direst is absent, as long as we may declare ‘this is the worst’.”
A Succession of Worsening Crises
As per Edgar's law, you won't find any opinion poll so gloomy about the government that it can't be followed by one even bleaker; no fiscal forecast so bad that the Treasury can't aggravate it with contradictory signals regarding taxation; no doubts concerning the Prime Minister that can't be amplified by malevolent briefing regarding a contest for leadership.
Asylum Policy Announcement
In that context, the latest declaration of measures intending to restrict the quantity of asylum seekers granted entry to Britain, based upon an infamously harsh Danish system, was taken less badly with Labour MPs than predicted. There emerged flashes of parliamentary discontent however no blaze of opposition.
Tightening asylum rules is far from the government's preferred area, however the present arrangement is evidently broken while citizens are furious. The majority of representatives understand the position that open-mindedness and social unity are more readily developed if assurance exists that national frontiers remain protected.
Rising Unhappiness
Silent parliamentary rows can also be ominous. MPs have learned that each issue is discussable alongside a purposeless head with flexible principles. Current proclamations could be withdrawn tomorrow. There's no requirement to advance hastily if successes can be achieved via endurance.
A regular criticism concerns the Prime Minister is barely running the cabinet whatsoever, after assigning political judgment to his top aide. That isn't to say the prime minister misses managerial vigor, he merely chooses to refrain from intervening between ministry conflicts or engage in protracted arguments.
Leadership Style
The leader joined political parties at an advanced stage, originally joining the legislature at the age of 52. He misses understanding regarding party traditions – the body of past debates, initiatives, figures and traditional touchstones that connect a leader to the broader organization and its sense of common objective.
His innermost beliefs are a mystery to government members. As one senior party member states: “The Prime Minister is quite different as head of government through suggesting that his individual beliefs are not for public consumption.”
Electoral Repercussions
The product packaged representing the leader in the recent polling battle has also not delivered its promised advantages: administrative capability resulting in countrywide revitalization. Assuming Britain possessed a dual-party structure, the remembrance of how bad things were during Conservative rule might prolong patience with Labour.
It indicates a massacre among government contenders in council and regional polls in the coming spring. It shall represent a moment of extreme peril for the leader, provided he remains that long.
Leadership Questions
Not present within these calculations is agreement on the identity of a successor and how their programme may differ compared to present strategies. This weakness within succession arrangements is mentioned by the prime minister's defenders among numerous justifications to remain with the incumbent.
While restive MPs may flinch at those warnings, they likewise detect through them the well-known, empty ringing of low ambition that creates despondency at the status quo. It is the sound of lack of success to characterize the leadership as merely a set of methods for clinging on.
Concluding Thoughts
It remains challenging to summon loyalty for such an objective. Numerous parliamentarians have endeavored. They have stuck with official positions, defended it on the doorstep, obeyed the whips, accepted guarantees that their concerns were heard.
Regicide involves significant danger, but is it riskier compared to feigning that the current ruler possesses solutions regarding major issues which he doesn't identify? Edgar's law invites caution regarding the replacement of a sitting prime minister. The alternative might prove more disastrous.
“The weight of these difficult days we need to follow; Express genuine emotions, rather than expected statements.”
