So here's the thing - I completely get why Jeremy Corbyn wants to support triggering Article 50. He's seen the polls and done the electoral maths and concluded he'd rather not see a fresh election called. Fine. That's rational.
The problem is, this is a totally shameful abandonment of the interests of the very people he claims to care so much about, made more shameful by the fact that if Labour organised properly, there is at least some chance that Article 50 would be prevented or at least delayed. This isn't just symbolic. Without Labour, Brexit is a certainty.
But why is it so shameful to represent the clearly expressed views of (many of) his constituents?
Well, because among all the sturm und drang over Brexit, one fact has got lost - the people who will lose most from this are the poorest and the most vulnerable - the people in post-industrial Northern constituencies that Paul Nuttall wants to con.
Shortly after Brexit, a few British workers had their livelihoods quite publicly put at risk. The bankers of Canary Wharf? Lawyers in the City? The Private Equity industry?
No. It was the 6,500 or so Nissan workers in Sunderland. Suddenly, their entire economic model was rubbished. I am permanently astonished at how quickly their heads were on the block and how few people seemed to notice that the axe was falling far away from the experts and the evil capitalists. On 23 June 2016, the workers of Sunderland went from working in a productive plant, more or less with their fate in their own hands, to being at risk. Their jobs were saved by still undisclosed promises from the government. Fantastic. They are now dependent on the goodwill of a Tory government.
If you were a Northern industrial worker, would you trust the Tories with your job?
There is, I admit, a certain amount of self interest in this. I don't want to leave the EU. I think it will end badly for this country and I am, frankly, embarrassed by the parochialism we are collectively showing to the world.
There is a scenario in which Brexit could work. But that almost certainly involved quite high levels of immigration (good) and preventing that is the only thing the government really wants.
But here's the thing - chances are, Brexit won't hurt me that hard. My job isn't dependent on British clients and it it moves to Paris, Frankfurt or Madrid, I'll probably move with it. I'll be gutted to leave London and gutted to see the city of my birth reduced to a backwater but in the grand scheme of things I won't suffer that much.
When Jeremy Corbyn votes in favour of Article 50, as surely he will, he won't be screwing over me (though I'm sure he'd like to), he'll be screwing over the people he claims to care about because ultimately, he cares about their votes more than he cares about their livelihoods. And for that, he should be ashamed of himself.
The problem is, this is a totally shameful abandonment of the interests of the very people he claims to care so much about, made more shameful by the fact that if Labour organised properly, there is at least some chance that Article 50 would be prevented or at least delayed. This isn't just symbolic. Without Labour, Brexit is a certainty.
But why is it so shameful to represent the clearly expressed views of (many of) his constituents?
Well, because among all the sturm und drang over Brexit, one fact has got lost - the people who will lose most from this are the poorest and the most vulnerable - the people in post-industrial Northern constituencies that Paul Nuttall wants to con.
Shortly after Brexit, a few British workers had their livelihoods quite publicly put at risk. The bankers of Canary Wharf? Lawyers in the City? The Private Equity industry?
No. It was the 6,500 or so Nissan workers in Sunderland. Suddenly, their entire economic model was rubbished. I am permanently astonished at how quickly their heads were on the block and how few people seemed to notice that the axe was falling far away from the experts and the evil capitalists. On 23 June 2016, the workers of Sunderland went from working in a productive plant, more or less with their fate in their own hands, to being at risk. Their jobs were saved by still undisclosed promises from the government. Fantastic. They are now dependent on the goodwill of a Tory government.
If you were a Northern industrial worker, would you trust the Tories with your job?
There is, I admit, a certain amount of self interest in this. I don't want to leave the EU. I think it will end badly for this country and I am, frankly, embarrassed by the parochialism we are collectively showing to the world.
There is a scenario in which Brexit could work. But that almost certainly involved quite high levels of immigration (good) and preventing that is the only thing the government really wants.
But here's the thing - chances are, Brexit won't hurt me that hard. My job isn't dependent on British clients and it it moves to Paris, Frankfurt or Madrid, I'll probably move with it. I'll be gutted to leave London and gutted to see the city of my birth reduced to a backwater but in the grand scheme of things I won't suffer that much.
When Jeremy Corbyn votes in favour of Article 50, as surely he will, he won't be screwing over me (though I'm sure he'd like to), he'll be screwing over the people he claims to care about because ultimately, he cares about their votes more than he cares about their livelihoods. And for that, he should be ashamed of himself.
