The prevailing atmosphere within Labour MPs these days echoes Edgar's law. It affirms that the scale of every hardship can only be gauged against yet-to-come catastrophes. As Shakespeare makes the banished son of the visionless lord state in King Lear: “The worst is absent, as long as we may declare ‘this marks the bottom’.”
A Succession of Deepening Problems
According to this principle, there is no opinion poll so dismal regarding the party that cannot be succeeded by another more depressing; no economic projection so terrible that the finance ministry won't exacerbate it with conflicting messages on tax; no doubts regarding the leader that won't be heightened through malicious leaks about a leadership challenge.
Immigration Rules Announcement
Considering this situation, the recent revelation of strategies that aim to reduce the amount of asylum seekers admitted to the United Kingdom, modelled on a famously strict Nordic approach, was received better with Labour MPs than might have been expected. There appeared glimmers of backbench anger but no conflagration of dissent.
Hardening immigration policies is not Labour's comfort zone, however the present arrangement is evidently broken while citizens are furious. The majority of representatives grasp the position that tolerance and intercommunal harmony are simpler to foster if assurance exists that the country's boundaries are safely guarded.
Rising Unhappiness
Silent parliamentary rows may also represent foreboding. Parliamentarians have realized that each issue is discussable with a directionless leader of adaptable beliefs. Today's declarations may be unannounced tomorrow. There exists no necessity to advance hastily provided triumphs can be secured by attrition.
A regular criticism concerns the Prime Minister is barely running the government in any meaningful way, having delegated political judgment to his chief of staff. That isn't to say the head of government is without administrative energy, he simply favors to avoid arbitrating between ministry conflicts or undertake extended discussions.
Management Method
The leader joined political parties during later professional life, first entering parliament at the age of 52. He lacks instinct for Labour lore – the body of historical arguments, initiatives, personalities and traditional touchstones that bind a head to the larger group and its sense of shared purpose.
His most personal values stay concealed including to ministers. As one senior representative explains: “Keir is highly unusual as head of government in giving the impression that whatever he personally thinks are not for public consumption.”
Electoral Repercussions
The image presented as the Prime Minister in last year's election campaign has similarly not produced its claimed rewards: executive proficiency leading to national renewal. If Britain still had a two-party system, the memory of past problems with the previous government may continue patience with Labour.
This foreshadows a devastating defeat of Labour candidates in council and national assembly contests next May. It will be an instance of significant risk for the leader, provided he remains until then.
Leadership Questions
Missing from these assessments is agreement regarding the person of a replacement and their proposed policies might contrast compared to present strategies. This weakness in the transition plan is cited by the prime minister's defenders as part of various arguments to continue supporting the current leader.
While restive MPs might recoil from those warnings, they likewise detect through them the recognizable, hollow knell of modest goals that induces despair with current conditions. It is the sound of lack of success to describe the approach as merely a sequence of tactics for maintaining position.
Final Considerations
It is hard to inspire faithfulness for such an objective. The majority of representatives have tried. They have followed the party line, supported it during canvassing, obeyed the whips, believed assurances that their worries were considered.
Leadership removal is fraught with risk, yet, might it be more dangerous than pretending that the present leader possesses solutions regarding major issues which he doesn't identify? The Shakespearean principle recommends carefulness regarding the replacement of a current head of government. The replacement could always be worse.
“The weight of this sad time we must obey; Express genuine emotions, rather than expected statements.”
