Blog 2023 Malcolm Blair-Robinson

The news that Michael (Lord) Howard, the  fourth Tory leader post Thatcher and the one who groomed Cameron and Osborne to lead the Tory party after him, has decided to join the out campaign comes as no surprise. He has always been eurosceptic and was one of the cabinet ‘bastards’ in the notorious live mike mishap which befell John Major during his turbulent premiership which ended in the long Tory night.

There will be more and they will make news.  It is no surprise for members of the governing party to support their prime minister and the fact of doing so is not news. But when one of them crosses over it is a media event. However the campaign lasts four months, the markets are growing jittery and sooner or later Leave has to come up with more than a roll call of supporters. At some point it will have to explain how it is going to manage the consequences of its recommendations, what its economic policy is, how it is going to negotiate trade deals and with whom and a multitude of other details which seem unimportant now, but which will tumble out of the crisis sack if they win.

Today’s proposal that if they win they will simply get a better deal and have another referendum is little short of barmy.

One is becoming increasingly tired of these endless inquiries led by elderly but distinguished judges, which find that bad stuff happened but the bosses, those with responsibility, senior management, did not know about it and therefore cannot be blamed. This is rubbish. The bosses, by definition, are responsible whether they knew about the problem, heard about the rumours or whatever. Because that is what senior management is. They should both be blamed and take the blame. To dump it all on line floor management may convince the increasingly discredited establishment and their cosy blame averse culture, but it convinces nobody else.