Jason MoorePalma21/01/2019 14:48
TW

What a week for British politics but was it a week when Britain demonstrated democracy at its best or at its low point? I would say that it was British politics at its best. There were some fine speeches made in the House of Commons this week underlining the quality of Britain´s Members of Parliament. It was also an exercise in democracy. In Spain, Theresa May´s Brexit deal would have sailed through parliament because all Members of Parliament would have towed the party line. A rebellion of the kind seen on Tuesday night in which 120 Members of Parliament voted against their own government is unheard of in Spain. It shows that MPs put their own views ahead of party politics.

So is Britain a laughing stock around the world? I think not. I think most people are rather bemused but at the same time the parliamentary debates and even the antics of the Speaker John Bercow have been heralded as “great television.” I think most countries would be amazed at the amount of debate which Brexit is causing but at the same time it is an issue of vital importance.

“You British are very strange,” I have been told by Spanish colleagues all week, who can´t really understand what is happening in Britain at the moment. They shouldn´t be concerned, I would say that most of the country is in the same boat. But perhaps this week, we saw something rather special, the Mother of all Parliaments in action; debating and arguing in the national interest. It may be all for nothing and Brexit is a nightmare but the world was watching I would say that British politics was at its best.