BREXIT PARTY RIDES STORM OF POLITICAL CHAOS.

The difference between the organisation of the Brexit Party and the chaos of 'Change UK' can hardly be more stark, while the others aren't much better either.

The Brexit Party came into existence only a few weeks ago and yet has caused a bear-tsunami in British politics. Coming first in the elections for the European parliament and almost winning the Peterborough by-election, it has terrified both of the main parties which have seen support haemorrhage. Some have complained that The Brexit Party has no manifesto, but the fact is that it has a clear purpose; it stands for leaving the European Union, restoring national sovereignty and democracy, and ending the complacency and smugness of our erstwhile political leadership. 

Set against that, Change UK is a disparate group of disaffected Members of Parliament with large egos but little following. The oily Chukka Umunna and acid tongued Anna Soubry, plus an assortment of others, seemed to believe that anyone would care what they said; in this they were very wrong. Of the 11 who stood under the 'Change UK' banner in the Euro elections, 6 have had enough and gone off to sulk together in a corner, Heidi Allen and Sarah Wollaston having fallen out with fellow Tory, Soubry, and Chukka Umunna having probably come to realise that he'd made a horrible miscalculation by initiating this ludicrous grouping of opposites in the first place.

The Conservatives are embroiled in internal ructions over the choice of a new leader as well as what to do about Brexit. Labour have been dragged to the far left by a cabal of Marxists led by Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell, and have no idea what to do about Brexit either. The Liberal Democrats may have experienced a minor resurgence in recent weeks but that is largely a consequence of the failings of the 2 main parties; they, too, are in the middle of a leadership election with the aged and increasingly dotty Vince Cable on his way out and either Ed Davey or Jo Swinson about to take over - real heavyweights there, then.

The Green Party is the only other voice of any note and from an interview with a co-leader of this bunch of woolly hatted, and headed, loons on the BBC this morning, it's pretty clear that they are fanatics who will claim almost anything in order to grab headlines. Today the claim is that so-called austerity, which has never really existed, has resulted in 130,000 deaths; despite being pressed by the interviewer, Sian Berry produced no evidence in support of this outlandish claim and, instead, just ranted on about whatever came into her head, which resulted in a mish-mash of nonsensical drivel. 

The somewhat shocking result of all of this is that there is currently only 1 political party in this country which has any organisation and knows what it's about, and that party has only existed as an electoral option since the 5th February 2019. Perhaps I should include the Liberal Democrats as knowing what they want which is, of course, the diametric opposite of the aims of the Brexit party = that is, continued membership of the European Union, surrendering evermore of the little sovereignty which remains to us, giving up on democracy altogether and maintaining the complacent and cosy little worlds of Westminster and Brussels out of which they profit.

Who will emerge to save us from all this ? Where is our Drake, Nelson, Wellington, Churchill or Thatcher ?

LABOUR, LIBERALS AND UKIP IN TURMOIL.

Following the surprise election results of last week, the losers have been tearing themselves apart while the winners, the Conservatives and Scottish Nationalists, are simply rising above it all. While Cameron and Sturgeon are appearing in statesmanlike mode, Miliband and Clegg have gone and Farage has gone and returned in the space of a few hours; Labour, the Liberal Democrats and UKIP are all in turmoil.

The departure of Miliband was inevitable after his party failed so miserably. A number of his former colleagues and supporters have come out of hiding and clearly laid the blame for their poor showing fairly and squarely on his shoulders; even his brother has had a dig and left the question of his return to British politics very much open. While he stays in his well paid job in New York, the Labour party is desperately looking for a replacement for young Ed, and has a pretty poor bunch to choose from. So far, the declared runners, Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper, Liz Kendall and Mary Creagh, hardly inspire excitement. Very curiously, a much stronger runner, Chukka Umunna, announced his candidacy, was declared the bookies' favourite and then withdrew from the race a couple of days later. That Umunna was seen as the front runner must be a comment on the paucity of available talent and one can only wonder what the outcome of the leadership election will now be. For what it's worth, I'd be inclined to look to an older and more experienced hand, such as Alan Johnson, to take the reins for an interim period while one or 2 younger candidates are developed for the future, unless, of course, Miliband major can be enticed back from the USA.

While Labour simply has a paucity of talent and experience, the Liberal Democrats have almost no one left from whom to choose a new leader. The obvious candidate must be Tim Farron but he's not exactly set the world on fire in the past. However, he has only 7 possible opponents, the party having been all but wiped out at Wesminster, and none of them is any sort of 'Big Beast'. Whoever gets the job, it's likely to be a miserable experience for years to come.

While Labour and the Liberal Democrats at least know what the position is, UKIP have made a pigs' breakfast of the whole leadership issue. Having said that he'd resign if he failed to win a seat at Westminster, Nigel Farage did just that, only to have his resignation rejected by the party's national executive; consequently, he's remained as leader but has been subjected to a barrage of criticism and comment from certain party members and supporters. It does seem strange that he didn't argue his corner with the executive and at least push for an election to test the feelings of his party; that the executive, which is only partly elected itself, has denied the membership the opportunity to confirm, or otherwise, it's support for Farage seems wrong. Regardless, UKIP is now in a state of civil war which is doing it no good at all.

Somehow, Natalie Bennett, the hopeless leader of the Green Party, has avoided being sacked and seems likely to remain on our screens for a while yet, as does Leanne Wood, the leader of Plaid Cymru. Whether they or Farage will be around at the next General Election in 2020, is for the future to decide, but we do know that Cameron has said he won't be and we know that Labour and the Liberals will both have new leaders; the only survivor from this time around may well be Nicola Sturgeon - there's a thought.