Talked Of

"Two MPs often talked of as potential Leaders of their respective parties," gushed Robert Peston as he introduced the peripheral figures of Nicky Morgan and Jess Phillips. Talked of by whom? By Robert Peston, Nicky Morgan and Jess Phillips, I suppose.

Most Conservative and almost all Labour MPs are barely members of their respective parties. Ideologically or even socially, they have little or no connection to the organisations that appear alongside their names on the ballot papers.

The Conservatives are now predominantly a party of Brexit Party voters who would welcome Nigel Farage as their own Leader, who would welcome Scottish independence for the sake of Brexit, who would welcome a United Ireland for the sake of Brexit, who would welcome the collapse of the economy for the sake of Brexit, and who would welcome the dissolution of the Conservative Party for the sake of Brexit.

Meanwhile, 80 per cent of Labour Party members have joined specifically in order to support Jeremy Corbyn, although he won the Leadership before most of those had signed up, so the true scale of his support is considerably larger even than that. Two thirds of members support Chris Williamson, which is not the position of any other MP.

Today's speculation about 70 Labour deselections does not ring true. But what if there were indeed, as is being suggested, a move to deselect Laura Pidcock? The Constituency Labour Party here at North West Durham did used to be a bastion of the Right, if it could have been described as having and political position at all. But it nominated Andy Burnham in 2015 and Jeremy Corbyn in 2016. A CLP that nominated Corbyn might be moving to remove Pidcock. Think on.

Jeremy Hunt and Boris Johnson are both well on the way to conversion to Modern Monetary Theory even if they do not yet realise it, and the DUP's pork-barrelling is hilarious when set alongside the emotional investment in them on the part of certain old Thatcherites whom they have in fact hated for 30 years. But the SNP's austerity programme in office is far worse than that of the Conservatives, while both candidates to lead the Liberal Democrats are pro-austerity and pro-war, which is a ludicrous position in itself, but which is the position of most Labour MPs and of most or all Conservative MPs.

Another hung Parliament is coming, however, and we need our people to hold the balance of power in it. A new party will be registered before the House of Commons rises for the summer recess, even if I have to pay for it myself, ongoing lawfare or no ongoing lawfare. And I will stand for Parliament here at North West Durham even if I can raise only the deposit, which I could do by going pretty overdrawn, although that was not how I was brought up. I would still prefer to raise the £10,000 necessary to mount a serious campaign, but I am no longer making my candidacy conditional on having done so. In any event, please email davidaslindsay@hotmail.com. Very many thanks.