Robin Tilbrook Chairman of English Democrats has shared his views on the possible snap elections in the UK.
Sputnik: Despite being less than 24 hours since parliament agreed to a December election; what do these fears from Conservative MPs and the potential of a Conservative/Brexit Party electoral pact represent?
Robin Tilbrook: Well, it's a strange one isn't it? Basically, Boris and the team around him, are clearly determined to use Brexit as an issue that helps them electorally, in other words, they are not willing to share that at all - they've been very clear that they're not going to enter into any sort of proper pact with the Brexit Party. Whereas individual conservative MPs, of course, are worried about the chances of getting reelected, and if they are Brexitiers, they are quite naturally asking if they could get the Brexit party to stand down.
So we're going to have quite a slightly confused picture till we can see exactly where the Brexit Party is willing to stand down and where it isn't. My suspicion is that they may not be willing to stand at all if there isn't an overall pact.
Sputnik: On the back of Boris's botched Brexit in name only deal; what's the possibility of this electoral pact going through? Will Nigel Farage abandon his voters 'No Deal' desires, to prop up Boris Johnson's Conservative government?
Robin Tilbrook: The Brexit party is a special case because it is actually a limited company which Nigel fully controls. So unlike most parties where the leader might not be able to get his way entirely, this is a policy where he can get his way. If he decides that he's not going to allow any candidates to stand in particular places, then they won't be able to stand.
However, as things stand at the moment, it does look like they've got candidates selected for these various seats that the Conservative MPs that we were talking about are getting worried about. Part of the problem here is that we've tended to think of Boris as being a Brexitier here. Whereas I do think David Cameron helped clarify that in his book, by pointing out that actually up until the moment that he declared Brexit, everybody in the high ranks of the Conservative Party, who had known Cameron since school days, thought that he was an enthusiastic Europhile and keen on the EU.
We are sort of thinking that he's a Breixiter when in fact, in his long-term history he's been a somebody who's very keen on the EU project.
Sputnik: How will Conservative Party members react to this hardline electoral pact between Boris Johnson's Tories and Farage's Brexit Party?
Robin Tilbrook: I think ordinary Conservative Party members who are more concerned about getting things done, than about getting hold of a political position- they are much more inclined to support Brexit, and a substantial proportion of Conservative Party voters are pro No-Deal Brexit. In fact, they're so pro No-Deal Brexit that actually the latest opinion polls are saying that quite a large proportion of them would be happy to shed the entire Union of the United Kingdom to get out [of the EU].
So you are talking about people who are very keen on Brexit. If they thought that a pact with the Brexit party was going to help deliver as clean a Brexit as possible, well then I think a lot of them would be in support of it. But, that is not the objective of the leadership of the Conservative Party - who are much more concerned about their own careers and the opportunity to run the government.
