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As the now near inevitable non-Brexit grinds towards whatever the opposite of a conclusion is, the pundits are having a field day as conspiracy after conspiracy is dreamed up and the succession of leaks, rebuttals, unofficial briefings and official denials muddies the waters beyond any comprehension. Anybody who dares to claim they understand what is going on is quickly challenged and effectively silenced. The rest of us have little option but to sit it out; we really don’t have a clue.
One thing is for certain; whatever the deal or no-deal, the backstop (what is ‘the backstop’, seriously?) the resolution of the hyped-up ‘Irish question’, the future customs arrangements and the unimaginably dull transition period, a post-Brexit Britain will remain a battleground. It is pretty clear now that the UK will not be leaving the EU in any meaningful way but Remainers will get their result in the most unpalatable way imaginable.
It will be like the tug of war for a cherished sale item which results in it being irreparably broken; or the simple favour for a friend which sparks a trans-generational feud. Cutting off a nose to spite a face will seem pale in comparison, for Britain is broken and neither side is prepared to admit that they broke it. I fully expect next year’s favourite Bonfire Night effigy to be Gina Miller, who did so much to stoke the fires and reveal the impotence of a supposed sovereign government. We, the people? There is no such thing.
Britain is fractured into tribal groups and shitstorm doesn’t begin to describe what is coming for decades ahead. One thing is for certain and that is that the Remain campaign, which has employed, by orders of magnitude, far more resources than the humble Leavers ever had at their disposal, will never stop until every last Leaver has died or recanted. And even then it is doubtful anything will be forgotten, let alone forgiven. Just as southern US states refer to their civil war as ‘the recent unpleasantness’ people will remember Theresa May’s non-Brexit with bitter irony and with blood in their mouths.
But there is a way – and that is to leave, just leave, take the hit, sit out the shit and get on with it. ‘It’ being the rebuilding of our country in OUR image, not that of the progressives who have – the world over – brought strife and division in the false name of equality and diversity. I want an unequal society, but not a cruel one. I want there to be gracious winners and losers who recognise that losing is quite normal, but also that winning is within the grasp of those who keep on trying.
The left talk about fairness, well the reality is that life is inherently unfair, but I do want the genuinely unfortunate to be cared for and yes, I believe the state has a major part to play in this provision. Defence, security, law and order, healthcare, education, transport and more should be under the purview of government, but until the government more closely reflects the governed this simply isn’t going to work. Before Parliament can work properly it must be demolished and rebuilt from scratch. And Brexit might just be the wrecking ball with which to do it.
But not by violence, although I think violence is coming, because the stirred beast of the voiceless majority will lash out and the more the current establishment tries to exercise restrictions on the freedom to speak out, the more it tries to render some debates off-limits, the more likely a physical response will arise. The left have much to fear in this regard, but until they recognise that their far-right bogeyman is a demon of their own making, there may be no other way of bringing them to the table than to make it come true.
There is a respectable view that Brexit, like Trump, like Le Pen, like Orban, has come about as a reaction to the sneering condescension of those who believe they know better. There is much evidence that higher levels of education produce deeper levels of indoctrination and confirmation bias. So maybe the time has come to purge the world of its current governance and let common sense have a go. And this could start by respecting the vote and letting us leave the EU without a deal and then all mucking in together to make it work. I’m not holding my breath.
This post was originally published by the author on his personal blog: https://batsby.blogspot.com/2018/11/tie-for-common-sense.html
