by Robert Williams
So, we’re approaching the endgame of the Brexit disaster part 1 (the next 10 years or so will make up part 2), and it’s worth a recap. We have a government that wants to renegotiate its own deal and backstop inserted because of its own red lines.
We have a Labour opposition that still cannot describe what, exactly, its policy is. When it does say anything, it is the same unicorn based fantasies of “negotiating a better deal”.
Let’s not delude ourselves. The Long Night of the Amendments in February was a total disaster for anyone who voted remain and thinks leaving the EU is madness. The Spelman amendment is non-binding and means nothing.
In January, MPs’ put their terror of telling the truth to their constituents ahead of the needs of the country by not backing the Cooper amendment. They were cowardly and spineless. What we got instead was the Brady amendment – fantasy-based, and a waste of time when we have precious little left. Since then nothing. It makes a no deal Brexit significantly higher. There seems to be no prospect of a second referendum. Not enough MPs support one. Not enough MPs support anything that might make them think and make decisions that are based in reality.
What we saw, what the world saw, was that almost the entire political class in the UK are a pathetic, cowardly disgrace.
There are exceptions, but they are few. 11 MPs from the Conservatives and Labour have quit their parties and set up the “Independent Group”.
However, if you believe that leaving the EU will be a disaster, diminishing Britain permanently and wrecking our economy, those you should have real contempt for are the “moderates”, not the delusional brexiters of the ERG or the disastrous disaster socialists on the far left.
These centrist MPs, who make up the vast majority of the Labour Party, and still a sizeable chuck of the Conservative Party, still meekly and pathetically accept that we will, in some form or another, indeed leave the EU. With lamentably few exceptions, they never make the case for Britain’s membership of the EU.
If they were truly concerned about their constituents, these same “moderate” MPs would be doing everything in their power to explain, very, very clearly that the country was lied to in a fraudulent, (non-binding) referendum, and that Brexit will mean economic devastation and poverty like nothing they’ve ever experienced before.
Backbenchers like Dennis Skinner (the Beast of Bolsover and Toast of Rees-Mogg land), Ronnie Campbell and Graham Stringer, think the “will of the people” to self-harm is more important than the wellbeing of the country. Then again, members of the regressive left Socialist Campaign Group have always been opposed to Britain’s membership of the EU, which it regards as a neo-liberal capitalist club..
It cannot be stressed enough that the Brexit referendum was utterly flawed and based on nothing but lies and fantasy. Young people between 16 and 17, most affected by the decision, were excluded from the vote. British expats were excluded from the vote. EU citizens living and working in the UK were excluded from voting. It was a non-binding referendum, won by a flimsy majority, following a campaign based on outright lies, misrepresentation, distortion, funded by extremely dodgy sources and with likely malign influence of American billionaires and Russian cyber bots.
The 2016 referendum was the most shameless example in British history of our democratic deficit.
And this was just the process. As events have developed the never- ending stream of bad news about our economy, our credibility, our ability to take control of anything at all should be enough to make a sane and rational MP, to think again.
But nothing. Parliament seizes every opportunity to do nothing, not take back control, to be weak and unstable and to demand unicorns that do not, have never, existed.
Most Remainers recognise that the EU is far from perfect, but at least we are aware that no modern country can go it alone in today’s increasingly interconnected world. But now we have a government and opposition making policy based on the fantasies of ultra libertarians and free marketers, who exploited the ignorance and prejudices of the least well-informed sections of society to vote leave on a lie.
The government, together with the craven Labour opposition, are about to take away our rights to live, love and work in 27 other countries. It is entirely possible that we will have to have a visa to cross the Channel. If you’re a scientist, an academic, a student thinking of learning a new language while working in a bar in Italy, these opportunities will soon be denied to you.
There are no “positives”, as Corbyn claims, in leaving the EU. The trade deals that failed Cabinet ministers like Liam Fox claim will more than compensate for what Britain is losing do not exist. Brexit is a monumental, self-inflicted wound, delivered by the attempt to build an imagined Thatcherite utopia and “global Britain” that are undeliverable fantasies. But in less than 60 days, Britain will crash out of the EU and be left to sink in a mire of its own making.
Our “moderate” MPs are too cowardly to do anything apart from sit at the margins of cult like group fantasies. They are betraying the future of Britain.
Most know very well that there is no deal as good as our current one. They know we will lose influence and be a diminished country. They know that our rights and opportunities will be removed. They know we will be worse off. And they still do nothing.as we plod to disaster.
Robert Williams works in public affairs and as a journalist
I wonder if it is anti-semitic to portray Mike Gapes as a Dutch-American with a blinky
http://www.private-eye.co.uk/pictures/strips/indepeanuts/1491.gif
This clap trap has been pedalled every month since the result. I’ve wasted another few minutes reading this again today. Try engaging with those that voted for Leave to understand their rationale.
You will be surprised by their responses if you can take your head out of your arse for 5 minutes.
You will also notice that Leavers have a backbone, sadly you can’t buy these!
Keep moaning, keep wallowing in your own self pity if you think it is helpful. Or strap on a pair and think what you might be able to achieve in a new era. Good luck to you.
You are right. The moderates with whom I’ve always identified are increasingly cult-like and marginal. Many will go off and join Chuka’s new Tory-lite vanity project. But I’m not one of them!
This is complete and utter nonsense.
One can only assume you don’t live up north and have no idea what is going on up here.
Allow me to inform you. Take Yvette Cooper in neighbouring Castleford – she may as well find another job. Her CLP is disgusted with her Remain antics as are the Labour electorate there. If she isn’t deselected she will lose the seat = and it’s like that all over the North.
You aren’t listening. All you are trying to do is keep things the same when ordinary people up here do not want more of the same. You aren’t offering anything.
While you piss about down in London and work out ways of throwing spanners in the works up here Farage’s The Brexit Party are highly active in the workplace and the pubs. Leave Means Leave stickers and badges are becoming more and more commonplace and politicians at all levels that support Remain are finding it increasingly difficult to even walk down the street without people barracking them.
Wondering why the Tories are now 9% ahead of you in the polls but TIG doesn’t erven account for half of that?
Here’s a novel thought. If Labour wants to keep the north, how about representing working people the way they want representing and not the the pitiful Brussels lick-spittle way that you are trying to do.
When you said you would honour the referendum result, were you wilfully lying or telling the truth.
Working people are leaving you in droves up here – you are worse than useless amd are not only not listening to them, you speak over them and tell them they are wrong. Pig ignorant and arrogant is all you are and you serve no purpose at all – you aren’t even of any use as a scarecrow stood in a field – you’d even bollocks that up.
It’s over. The genie is not only out of the bottle but the bottle has been smashed.
You’ve made a mistake, you’ve put, by Robert Williams when you should have put, by Titiania McGrath
It is hard to believe how out of touch Labour has become and this article just highlights this even more.
This type of hand wringing drivel is exactly the reason the party is (incredibly) behind in the polls against what is surely the most hopeless government in living memory.
The working class voted Leave and the working class are what will put Labour into government. Not a bunch of poncy university educated idiots in London that represent the latest identity politics and virtue signalling.
Why on earth would a political party side with the losers and minority in a referendum shows a total lack of understanding of normal people.
This article is just more of the same nonsense and if this author represents the party view then it’s no wonder Labour is in it’s death throes.
Tafia here is bang on the money and both the main parties in this country are in for a shock at the next General Election and they are so far out of touch they don’t even realise it. If the Tories don’t take us out of the EU ASAP they are doomed and Labour look unelectable at the moment.
These types of posts make me happy to have cancelled my DD to the party
Oh, the downright arrogance!
“The 2016 referendum was the most shameless example in British history of our democratic deficit.”
Ignoring the fact that the people of the UK had an EU constitution rammed down their throats under the disguise of changing ‘constitution’ to ‘treaty’.
Whilst we outside the London bubble were fighting for a democratic vote on a treaty that we had been excluded from, the Labour front bench in OUR Parliament were rolling around laughing in our faces.
The shame lies with you, Mr Williams – shilling for an anti-democratic, corporate, authoritarian construct that is intent on a United States of Europe with no mandate from the people.
Just look at your EU positives – all trivial self-absorbed selfishness: Me, Me, Me.
Away with you – and look after yourself; it seems the one thing that you are good at.
I agree with this article. Margaret Beckett is also correct when she said on question time it is totally irresponsible when people say ‘just leave.’
The amount of money that has been wasted on this Brexit project is a total disgrace. We have Minister like failing Grayling who has wasted billions while head teachers are having to clean toilets because they can not afford to employ cleaners – it is a disgrace – really and truly a disgrace.
They have indeed shown the courage of their convictions – they have no convictions and no courage.
Anne ,you did hear Margaret hodge receive a large booing in question time
I saw a great quote from Nick Cohen resounding to Suzanne Moore’s view of the fact the northern wotking class don’t hold the middle class London elites view on Remain
Cohen saying what Moore had put
“You’ve let the labour party down, but most of all you’ve let yourselves down , by voting brexit”
Love the responses so far. especially “anon” Oh, the ignorance with added stupidity. I suggest a thorough read of this https://europa.eu/european-union/about-eu_en
Vern, I have no idea what you’re blathering on about. You might have a spine, but you seem to have a very small brain.
And Tafia, i have no desire to “honour the referendum”. To be clear, I don’t. It would have been illegal if it wasn’t advisory.
You have no argument for Brexit other than that some mythical “will of the people” – actually 37% of the electorate with millions excluded should be eneacted. this is despite the bleeding obvious that nobody could possibly have know what they were voting for. The government still does not know what it wants.
So, you have really angry northerners, determined to have a deal that will make them poorer.? I don’t believe you. And, if it were true, they would be wrong. Any brexit will make them poorer. Jobs will disappear. this is not “Project fear” It is Project Everyday it gets worse reality. So cheers, but listening to people who are profoundly wrong and “respecting” their choice is not something I’ll bother to do.
Do toddle off and matyr yourself if you wish. But you will not be allowed to take the country down the pan with you.
Even now only 17% of Leave voters expect any adverse economic consequences for themselves or the country following Brexit. This sanguine view, based on no economic models or theory whatever, is why support for Leave is still running at over 40%.
The dangerous period for all political parties will be in the years following brexit when the voters realise that they have made a terrible mistake, will they blame themselves, brexiteer politicians, the EU, Remain?
There are people so obsessed with staying in the EU they were prepared to sacrifice labour losing elections, but weren’t prepared to sacrifice labour being destroyed forever
To the point their devotion to London not only alienated minority ethnic votes it, lost the working class Rural vote
And those battling for the party,to be a remain ine, the Peter mandelsin/Neil Kinnock/Michael Cashman- strand and the John McDonnell strand both know this
But not being prepared to see the party destroyed, are playing the long game,
John amcdonnell being a fan of Paul Embery/Maurice glasman, feels he can afford to lose Working Class northern n votes for one election, get them back for a second election with alaura Piddock as leader in 2026
While interestingly Mandleson and Kinnock attending atom watsons meeting where Watson was saying very Blue labour things, on social conservatives, while backing the Corbyn/Blue labour economic model, to see the identity politics corbynistas also latch onto being forgotten as, away of wrestling the party away from middle class university theologians who just because they’ve got a education and control the party, think, the poor will listen to them, to let them decide what’s best for them
I note the ERG Tories invited both Candace Owens and Nimco Ali to meetings on Monday, and are distancing them selves from Boris Johnson
The Tories are making great strides to distance themselves from Ukip,and the arrogance labour thinks it has the younger BAME vote, who aren’t interested in identity politics , would also play into Tom Watson /Blue labour saying as Maurice glasman had said to John McDonnell, we agree with you on. The economy, just don’t buy playing the victim card, Pre op trans get on all women shortlist twaddle
The thing that Tom Watson doesn’t get to influence is the “Jess Phillips” virtue signaling strand where middle class university educated, pretending to be working class parachuted MPs,like Yvette Cooper, Stella Creasy, Ellie reeves Emily thornberry, , go for identity politics, to think, if they shout just because they’re in working class sets they know how the working class think, and suffer and how , their education gives them the attitude to say they feel the poors pain, this has influence in the party, but no one outside the party , cares about their victim , pleas think of the children views, if Caroline flint who’s been moving with Gloria depiero and Melanie Omm away from this gesture politics could influence some of the more weight , card signaling ” status ” in the party they could influence Corbynistas to drop this metrolpolitan preaching of how Oxbridge privately educated academics can deliver them to the holy land.
just realised I put hodge instead of Beckett in the above quote, damn,typo’s
Thanks Rob Williams for maintaining the stereotype of the UK detesting Remainers. Straight in with the personal insults as per usual.
The future belongs to others now – not the spent!
Rob Williams, the only people that count are the ones that vote.
To start including people that didn’t vote as Remainers is frankl;y f**king pathetic – but not to be unexpected given the utter rubbish you wrote.
People voted to Leave the EU in the knowledge that that meant leaving the Customs Union, leaving the Single Market, leaving the jurisdiction of the ECJ and leaving all the EU apparatus. That was explicitly stated on the Government leaflet, explicitly stated in Cameron’s TV broadcast, explicitly stated by Remain in both leaflets and TV campaigns and explicitly stated by the official leave campaign. So that is exactly what leave meant.
As for it being illegal – unfortunately for you the Courts said otherwise last week – so you are a liar or they are. Take your pick.
And I can assure you – Labour’s vote is collapsing up north and quite rapidly (anther poll out today putting the tory lead at near 10%. the fourth in less than a week, different companies, different methodology, same lead.
And Cooper is definately finished in her Constituency.
@Rob Williams
Wow – so my ignorance vs your arrogance.
Your only reply to my comment was to leave a link to a Janet and John document on an EU website: a document worthy of a page out of an Orwell novel.
On the ‘rights’ of ‘EU citizens’: I have never given the EU permission to decide what rights I may or may not have; neither have I ever been asked whether or not I wished to be an EU citizen.
In a democracy these things are very important – we are not cattle to be branded and sold on: however benign the new owners believe themselves to be.
It comes down to the five very simple ideas on power espoused by one Tony Benn (I’ll leave you to find them yourself)
The problem with the EU is, that when it comes up against Benn’s five questions, it falls at the first hurdle; nobody has ever voted for an EU in the first place; it is a Potemkin-like structure.
For those of us old enough to know the real origins of our democratic and working rights, accrediting Brussels with those rights is a downright insult.
If you are going to preach to me on behalf of your beloved EU, don’t do so on the basis of a ‘Mom and apple pie’ propaganda sheet; argue with me on heartfelt democratic principles.
Oh – so it is alright for May to come back with her useless deal a third time or even a forth while the country is not allowed to have a second look at what is proposed. I do think that Labour should have backed the motion for a second referendum- even, at this stage, it was rejected.
I totally am against Teresa May giving the DUP another bribe to support her deal – this is taxpayers’ money and I totally object to this – it is totally unacceptable. This Govetnment is totally out of control. Please, please can we have a general election – we must, for the sake of the wellbeing of our country vote out this lot out – save Teresa May from herself let alone the country.
Rob Williams – How much poorer do people have to get after 44 years of EU membership .
Just what has it done for areas that voted heavily to leave – nowt .
As Vern says pull your head out your arse and step outside your cafe Nero mentality and join the real world .
The blame for people voting to leave is entirely down to the EU , it’s a busted flush , and the UK leaving will be the first nail in its coffin, irrespective of whatever liberal progressive bullshit you you write
Despite all the differences Labour are ahead in the polls at the moment
https://voxpoliticalonline.com/2019/03/16/labour-steams-ahead-in-latest-poll-as-challenges-and-smears-come-to-nothing/
https://skwawkbox.org/2019/03/16/tories-fall-to-lowest-polling-for-3-years-while-labour-surges-amid-positive-campaigning-shift/
Goodness – what a turn out for Nigel Farage and his friends on the right – reported to be at least a 100 – let’s see how many turn up for people’s vote March in London on the 23rd March.
Anne I totally am against Teresa May giving the DUP another bribe
You are of course not thick, mentally ill nor mentally deficient. Therefore you know full well that he government CANNOT give money to the DUP, only to Northern Ireland and said monies have to be spent in a non-partisan way (ie nearly half benefits the nationalist community).
Now given that a drunken drugged-up halfwit knows this, how come you don’t.
You knew all this yes?
And Rob Williams, you overlook the fact that the majority of working people earn less than £9 per hour, They think the middle class are scum and the enemy and middle class beliefs, desires and values are actually the problem and the middle class thining they know best is the actual problem.
Anne – when Farages march gets to London it will be a lot bigger ( don’t forget, PV, who hail York as evidence of a desire for Ref2 conveniently overlook that desire for Ref2 there is lower than the Remain vote). Despite PVs claims of 750k on their London March, the Met – using the most sophisticated crowd monitoring software in Europe, say it was 150k-180k (way way less than the Premier League attendance for a weekend, and less than attend just in London on some weekends).
Anne you realise, that Kate hoey, was arntje March it wasn’t tne right, uscwevwin the referndum, it’ll only be if brexit is blocked we’ll kick off or retire from politics altogether, then you’ll see whole coastal towns turning their back in the rest of the country
You made a mistake , it’s not a people vote in 23rd it’s the, we didn’t like the result we want to over turn democracy, protest on the 23rd
Landless peasant labour have gone up in the polls due to the Tories poor record on crime, plus a bad week as Amber Rudd said ‘coloured’ and Andrea Leadson Bariness varsi said the islsmophobia abroadveasnt fur to foreign policy
Not because labour usvany good
And Not because anyone thinks there gonna be a election
Now the DUP want a seat at the table for the Brexit negotiations – this really is beyond it – this is unacceptable by any standards, and bye the way, if I were a Scot I would be absolutely furious – Teresa May has ignored the Scots requests for the last three years – they voted remain – as did Northern Ireland. Well, all I can say is the Tories and the DUP are supposed to be unionist parties but they have a very strange way of demonstrating it – if this goes ahead my prediction is the union will breakdown with Scotland voting for independence and the unification of Ireland not far behind. Mrs May will certainly go down in history as the PM who broke up the union. It just gets worse and worse.
Anne, It was a u.k referendum. the SNP wanted to reverse Brexit , they backed remain a the 2017 election they didn’t get Scottish independence
apart for 40% of SNO voters voted remain
the problem with the other parties, even Labour, being involved with negotiation is even though Labour stood on a platform to accept Brexit including leaving the SM and CUu, labour can now have a policy of a 2nd Ref, depending on what’s on the ballot paper ,or back the Cu ,if they wish
as such the tories formed the government they stood on a manifesto to respect the result , How could the tories bring other remain parties into negotiations when they don’t want what the government said they’d promise to deliver
the DUP have a important part in accepting the back drop and working with the government they back up, they were part of the NI assembly, its suspended at the moment ,SInn fein agree with them no hard border, so why wouldn’t they be part of negociations