Labour candidates will get splinters from sitting on the Brexit fence – Steve Cardownie

So the Labour Party conference has decided that if, or rather when, a general election is called (which might be even sooner than was expected given the Supreme Court Ruling) it will not state its preference for either Leave or Remain but will leave it for another day.

Len McCluskey addresses the Labour Party conference. Picture: AFP/Getty

So when prospective MPs knock at the doors in the election and are asked the question of where they stand on the most important issue of the day they will get a straight answer from candidates representing the SNP, Greens, Liberal Democrats, Tories and ahem, the Brexit Party. The Labour candidate, however, will have to sit on the fence and be non-committal.

Much to the consternation of many in the Labour Party witnessed at their conference, Jeremy Corbyn and his sidekick (or is it the other way round) Len McCluskey, General Secretary of the trade union Unite, got what they wanted and conference duly body-swerved the issue.

The inability or rather the unwillingness to adopt a clear and unequivocal position on Brexit says more about Corbyn’s natural hostility towards the EU than a well thought out tactical plan designed to win an election.

Now that that Johnson has been found guilty of acting unlawfully and that the Scottish Court of Session’s decision has been vindicated, in contrast to the High Court in England that said that it was none of their business, another nail has been well and truly been hammered into the UK Government’s coffin.

Westminster is in turmoil and week by week, hour by hour, minute by minute we are witnessing the unstoppable momentum leading to a second independence referendum the result of which should come as no surprise to anybody.