The Conservative Party has discovered a new political strategy: accuse your opponents of cowardice for the exact same thing you’re about to do. Labour refused to cancel the summer parliamentary recess to drag Andy Burnham before MPs for questioning. The Tories, outraged at this display of spinelessness, immediately booked their own two-month break.
The logic is airtight if you don’t think about it. Delaying summer vacation to grill a regional politician is apparently the height of parliamentary accountability. Refusing to do so is ‘running scared.’ The fact that the Conservatives had no intention of staying either—they just wanted Labour to stay first—is irrelevant to the outrage.
What actually happened: the Tories demanded Labour extend the parliamentary term specifically to embarrass Burnham over some transport funding rows. Labour said no. The Conservatives responded with the political equivalent of ‘you’re scared,’ then packed their bags for the Cotswolds.
Neither party will face any consequence for this. Parliament will recess. Everyone involved will take their vacation. In September, they’ll reconvene and accuse each other of the same cowardice all over again. The machinery of accountability grinds on, powered entirely by selective outrage and short memory.