Tuesday 28 June 2016

Brexit.

I've not posted on here for a long, long time, but need somewhere to vent other than Facebook to avoid pissing everyone off with a constant barrage of random witterings about the EU referendum... So here goes.

I’m sick of being told, “You lost, get over it, move on!” or “You’re a sore loser!” This isn’t a game of football, and I for one will not shut up and move on. There's far too much at stake, and we know without doubt that if the boot was on the other foot, the Leavers would be kicking up a fuss and saying that it wasn't over. Farage said as much himself that if it was a 52-48 in Remain’s favour that it would be “unfinished business”, and he was whining about the extended registration period when he thought he was going to lose just after the polls closed. It’s also amusing to see the man who started that petition for a rerun was apparently a Leave voter from the English Democrats who is now trying to say it shouldn’t be allowed even though it meets his criteria of turnout and margin! It’s by-the-by anyway, as I don’t think we should rerun the vote straight away, if ever. It just looks like we are undemocratic and childish if we keep pressing for it. We can’t blame anyone for voting Leave. They had legitimate reasons based on what they believed and what they’d been told. No, leave it for the people who are to blame for this whole mess – the politicians - to take the heat if they decide to fudge things or kick the issue into the long grass.

Even so, the minority (by 4% it should be remembered) should not be ignored, and I don't think we will be, as they rightly wouldn’t if it was the other way round. The politicians aren't completely stupid. They know it would be political suicide. If we keep making our voices heard, I'm hopeful they can come up with some kind of compromise to try and keep a bigger majority happy, like some kind of Norway / half-in, half-out deal. Maybe a second but differently framed referendum might happen in the long-term, learning the lessons of this first one, making it legally binding if it meets certain criteria and maybe having multiple options rather than IN or OUT. It’s not a binary / black-and-white issue for me…I’m just thinking aloud now!

People are also talking about the need for unity and moving forward together to make it work. Well, we need to unify, I can’t disagree there. There is a major schism in the country, even if the Leavers voted on a plethora of reasons. What we can surely agree on is the fact that the political class and establishment have lied and screwed us all over. The Leavers and their media lied about what they could do in terms immigration and extra money for the NHS while the Remainers exaggerated the wrong things and failed to address the issues that really concerned people, unable to admit that the government’s austerity programme has contributed to overstretched public services.

Still, what is becoming crystal clear is that there is no unified plan for Brexit. It was a coalition of disparate factions and no one seems to be ready to take the reins…or take control as they were so desperate to do. We’re in a driverless car heading over a cliff and they’re all looking at each other and contradicting each other as well as backtracking on the promises they made about NHS funding and immigration. It’s as if they didn’t have a plan other than to make a play for the leadership of the party… Whatever. They’ve made their bed and in they need to lie. They need to do something…tell us their plan, bring about some stability and fill the void that could be exploited by extremists if we’re not careful.

So, yes we lost and we will get over it*, but let’s turn it round now: You won, now get on with it!


*eventually ;)