The dreadful state of British politics

Conference season always shows our political parties at their worst. It would be a kindness if these things were not televised. These dungeons cannot withstand the intrusion of too much daylight. On the other hand, some things are evident. Chiefly, it is now beyond clear that Brexit has broken both parties. More than that, it has overwhelmed a hopelessly overmatched political class that plainly lacks the ability to make sense of the Brexit fiasco and, just as pertinently, the courage to look reality in the face.

This government – this hopeless government, I should say – is kept alive by only one thing: the impossibility of the opposition. In turn, this opposition is given hope by only one thing: the clattering uselessness of this government. A movable force meets a stoppable object and neither, remarkably, can defeat the other. This is the true state of Britain today: Theresa May cannot put Jeremy Corbyn away and Jeremy Corbyn cannot even defeat Theresa May.

The parade of grotesques at this week’s Labour conference will be matched by the ghastlies on full display when the Tories gather in Birmingham next week. In both instances, our two main parties operate on the presumption the electorate must be made up of fools.

The Tories’ Brexit wars are well-documented; the governing party’s inability to agree on a preferred course of action is crippling. But at least there is, if you will, a measure of innocent blundering here. Not so with Labour whose cynicism would be breathtaking if it were not so transparent. John McDonnell confirms what we all know; the Labour leadership supports Brexit. The very next day up-pops Keir Starmer to say that actually, a second referendum in which rejoining the EU is on the ballot remains possible.