Bagehot | Labour is unfit even to lose

摘要

THE aim of British elections is not only to produce a government. It is also to produce a plausible opposition. Its task is to provide a check on Britain's overmighty executive, a voice for the losers in the ruthless first-past-thepost electoral system and, by holding ministers to account for shoddy legislation and bad behaviour, to act as a spur to good government. A vigorous opposition is all the more important at a time when Britain is embarking on a revolution in its relations with the European Union on the basis of a narrow result in a single referendum.