Some Labour party comrades are very exercised at present over how the party should vote in a division that might never happen. What should the parliamentary party do in a vote which has not been called on a deal which does not yet exist?
I confess I find it hard to care about an issue which will change absolutely nothing. Indeed if there was a possibility that a deal was to exist and be voted down in the House of Commons then I think no-one would be in any doubt about what the PLP should do. Voting against is not an option because the party is united in wanting a deal.
The choice between voting Aye or abstaining is purely symbolic. I find it hard to explain rationally the energy being expended on this hypothetical, gestural, procedural choice. I suspect no one outside of the bubble of political obsessives will even notice. The famous red wall voters have better things to think about.
The decision will have no impact on the real world. Not one person will be made better off; not one patient will receive treatment any sooner; not one homeless family will be housed; crime rates will not fall; the dole queue will not shrink.
I put quite a bit of effort into politics. I do so because I want to see change, real change, not to feel better about myself or to signal that I'm a right thinking member of the right tribe. There are enough real issues to keep us busy - climate change, poverty in the midst of plenty, corruption at home and oppression overseas.
Our representatives are worrying about the wrong thing and need to regain a sense of perspective. Forgive me if I don't care how you vote. Frankly, my dears, I don't give a damn.
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