The seismic shock of Brexit will change the UK’s politics for ever | Rafael Behr

Party politics is sailing into a constitutional hurricane, where many things will be thrown overboard – policies, MPs, leaders

Parliament’s verdict on Theresa May’s Brexit deal is struggling to match its billing as a “meaningful vote”, since no one can say what the prime minister’s defeat would really mean. It is especially unpredictable because the battles to come will not run along party lines. Many MPs decided long ago that their Brexit choices transcended attachment to a red or blue rosette. They might have party whips on their backs, but they feel history’s eye on them more keenly.

One Labour veteran, witness to many a parliamentary rebellion, describes loyalties in the Commons today as the most fluid since the repeal of the corn laws 172 years ago. That tussle over tariffs brought down a prime minister, split the Conservative party and created a new Liberal one.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2DMuQYo