How did the ERG go from hating any Brexit deal to loving Boris Johnson’s? | Phil Burton-Cartledge

The Spartans’ intransigence was legendary – but a volte-face may have been encouraged by aligned financial interestsIt has been a week for screeching U-turns. No matter how he likes to dress it up, Boris Johnson has been forced to apply for an extension to article 50 which the EU will decide on whether to grant in the coming days. Clearly, no ditches were available. Yet Johnson wasn’t the only one compelled to backpedal on previous commitments. The self-styled plucky warriors of the European Research Group have traded in noisy opposition for relatively mute quiescence – gone are the days of Steve Baker and Mark Francois angrily stomping through the corridors of Westminster. As shown by last night’s vote, the ERG are now cheerfully cantering through the aye lobbies instead.Their earlier intransigence had the makings of a legend, to be handed down from one generation of dwindling members to the next, on slow evenings in the local association bar. Of principled, plucky honourable members who sacrificed ambition and career to free the UK from Brussels’ tyrannical grip, and then courageously resisted the efforts of the remainer prime minister bent on hiving off parts of the country to placate the socialist monster across the Channel. They withstood the pressure of the whip’s office and the full weight of liberal opinion – and prevailed. Theresa May then gave up the ghost and our self-regarding Spartans, for the most part, rallied around Johnson and helped deliver the Tory grassroots votes to whichever door he was living behind at the time. Continue reading…
Via: How did the ERG go from hating any Brexit deal to loving Boris Johnson’s? | Phil Burton-Cartledge