I’m not sure how I feel about this. Credit to him for changing his mind but that he thought it was appropriate in the first place says a lot. To be clear, tory MPs are abstaining not to “move on from the drama” as he puts it, but because they are worried about how Tory members in their local associations will react if they vote in favour. This is tempered by concerns that in the upcoming election next year opposition candidates might use their unwillingness to vote against them.
The tory mess just keeps going and going.
I partly posted this because of how easy it was for Sangita to back him into a corner when he tried to do the ol’ “I’m very busy and important on defence stuff so won’t be at the vote” and he has just enough self awareness to take the hit and change his mind rather than do a Govey.
But also it shows the shitshow tory MPs still have to deal with in the background because their membership still love a bit of Boris and can’t acept he isn’t a (national)vote winner anymore; they don’t want to defend the report, or they lose half their membership, but they defend Boris and…they lose the other half of the membership.
No wonder 10% of Tory MPs aren’t standing next time around already, 18 months out form the actual election.