Daily Mail, Friday, August 16, 2019 Page 17and on that I am in agreement
with him because it is some-
thing that is going to have such
a catastrophic impact.’
Tory figures last night urged
caution about working with Mr
Corbyn. Backbencher Michael
Fabricant said: ‘It is remarka-
ble that given that the Lib
Dems think this offer from Jer-
emy Corbyn is a big joke, some
of my colleagues are taking it
seriously. As a former govern-
ment whip, I hope that their
action will not be forgotten.’
Former minister Greg Hands
added: ‘Corbyn only became
Labour leader because his MPs
didn’t think it could actually
happen. Now he could become
Prime Minister because a Con-
servative MP makes the same
mistake.’ Jon Conway, a mem-
ber of Mr Grieve’s local Toryassociation in Beaconsfield
who has been leading efforts to
remove him, said that it was
wrong for him to be fighting Mr
Johnson’s Brexit pledge just
weeks after the Prime Minister
won the overwhelming support
of the party membership.
He said: ‘People in the con-
stituency are appalled that he
still claims to represent us.’
Comment – Page 18LOFTY CLIQUE
WHO’LL DO
ANYTHING TO
OBSTRUCT
DEMOCRACY
B
orIs Johnson caused a
stir this week with what
some felt was incendiary
language when he
denounced the ‘terrible
collaboration’ between the EU
and the anti-Brexiteers.
But inflammatory though the
phrase may be, the sentiment
behind it is understandable. The
fanatical gang of Tory remainer
rebels, led by the ‘other
Dominic’ in the Brexit saga –
Grieve rather than Johnson’s
right-hand man Cummings –
have just signalled their will-
ingness to work with Labour
leader Jeremy Corbyn in an
attempt to thwart a No Deal
Brexit.
It is hard to imagine a greater
betrayal of their own party
and of British democracy than
this shameful move by
Grieve’s group, whose
number also includes former
minister oliver Letwin, ex-
Tory chairman Caroline
spelman and semi-detached
Grantham MP Nick Boles.
In their eagerness to undermine
Johnson’s Government, they are
willing to consider installing in Down-
ing street a Marxist agitator whose
entire political outlook is the very
antithesis of Conservatism.
Corbyn is not fit to be a school care-
taker, never mind a caretaker premier,
yet this is the role that the zealous
Tory Europhiles seem to be contem-
plating for him.
showing more sense than Grieve’s
gang, the Liberal Democrats have dis-
missed Corbyn’s proposal that he
should form ‘a time-limited govern-
ment’ to secure another delay in Brexit
and a general election.
The Liberal Democrat leader, Jo
swinson, rightly argued yesterday
that not only is Corbyn too widely
despised at Westminster to command
a Commons majority, but also he is
too extreme to be prime minister.
But such concerns seem lost on
Grieve and his fellow Tory pro-EU die-
hards, who wrote to Corbyn to tell him
they ‘should be happy to meet with
you’ to discuss ‘our common priority’
of defeating a No Deal Brexit. In its
obsequiousness, this letter illustrates
the depths of ideological fervour to
which Grieve & Co have sunk.
support for a hard-Left revolution-
ary, who sympathises with terrorism
and wants to overthrow capitalism,
should never be part of any Conserva-
tive MP’s activity.
Yet, within the Grieve clique, wor-
ship of Brussels has warped their judg-
ment, destroyed their moral compass,
obliterated their party loyalty and
shows utter disdain for the people
they serve.
The pro-Corbyn manoeuvre is justthe latest in a pattern of conduct
designed to bring mayhem to the
Brexit process through endless proce-
dural wrangling in Parliament, partic-
ularly through the use of wrecking
amendments.
spelman, an unimpressive former
minister, has co-operated tirelessly
with Labour MP Jack Dromey to
undermine the Government, as have
Letwin – who has gone from Thatcher-
ite loyalist to serial trouble-maker –
and Boles, whose anti-Brexit postur-
ing led to a fall-out with his local
constituency association.
But by far the biggest figure is Grieve
himself, the barrister and former attor-
ney general who has appointed him-
self the keeper of the holy flame for
the remain cause.G
rIEvE once described himself
as ‘a bit of an old-fashioned
Conservative’, but in reality
he is the smug voice of the mod-
ern pro-EU Establishment which,
behind all the lawyerly courtesy, has
nothing but contempt for the referen-
dum decision. That is why he has
spent the last three years dreaming up
ever more complex plots to block the
will of the people.
Astonishingly, this is the same
Dominic Grieve who, in the 2017 gen-
eral election, declared that ‘the deci-
sion in the referendum must be
respected’.
He justifies his U-turn by saying he is
putting Britain’s national interests
first, but what could do more damage
to our country than the advent of a
Corbyn government?
Grieve, who was awarded the Legion
d’Honneur for his services to British-
Franco relations – is often lauded for
his cleverness. But his apparent faith
in Corbyn’s good intentions seems
dangerously misplaced.
The lesson from history is that once
revolutionaries seize power, they rarely
let go without conflict.
Grieve’s antics have already alien-
ated a large section of his constitu-
ency association in Beaconsfield,
where he recently lost a vote of confi-
dence. He has vowed, however, to
‘continue as before’.
And that is the problem. The zealous
remainer stance, which has now
descended into collusion with Corbyn,
will only provoke further disillusion.
Beaconsfield was once the home of
the great 19th century prime minister
Benjamin Disraeli, one of the archi-
tects of democratic Conservatism.
How ironic that democracy is pre-
cisely what Grieve appears to have no
regard for whatsoever.By Leo
McKinstry
THE former attorney general Dominic
Grieve is one of the most vocal opponents
of Brexit to be found in the Commons.
He is the President of the Franco-British
Society and a fluent French speaker whose
maternal family is French.
The Tory MP for Beaconsfield, 63, is also a
QC and has sought a legislative route to
oppose Brexit, claiming it will bring chaos
to the UK. He has previously tabled anumber of Commons amendments to try to
prevent the UK leaving the EU. He is facing
the threat of deselection by his local party.
Mr Grieve was sacked from the Cabinet by
David Cameron in 2014, claiming this was
because of his support for the European
Court of Human Rights.
He has been outspoken in his opposition
to Boris Johnson and his adviser Dominic
Cummings, whom he branded ‘arrogant’.QC leading Remainers’ charge