Second EU referendum would not be 'wholly unreasonable' after Brexit, says Nigel Farage
Britain could hold a second EU referendum after it becomes clear how Brexit has worked out, Nigel Farage has said. The Brexit Party leader said another vote might not be "wholly unreasonable" once voters had had time to see the effects of the policy.
Striking images are used to represent tonight's formal exit from the EU. A photograph of Big Ben striking 11 o'clock is wrapped around the Times, alongside the message "Brexit - it's time". A remarkably similar Sun front page declares "Our time has come". The Daily Mail hails it as a "new dawn for Britain", echoing the address Boris Johnson will give to the nation tonight. For the i newspaper, today marks the "UK's leap into the unknown", as the "questions over trade and future relations with Europe and America are unresolved". Under the headline "small island" - and an image of a Union flag planted on a British beach - the Guardian calls it "the biggest gamble in a generation".
And there are souvenir editions and special pullouts aplenty to mark the UK's exit from the EU. Leading the way is the Daily Express, which carries an eight-page spread. With the front page headline "Yes, we did it!", the paper congratulates itself on winning its 10-year "crusade for Britain to leave the EU", calling it "the greatest campaign in newspaper history". The Financial Times says "the prime minister has ordered that there must be no triumphalism", adding that "although Brexiters, led by Nigel Farage, are planning a party in Parliament Square, Britain's departure will be a moment of profound sadness for half the country and takes place against an uncertain economic backdrop". The Daily Mirror urges people on either side of the Brexit debate to "put aside the bitter rifts" and conduct the journey ahead in a spirit of reconciliation and renewal.
As well as looking at how Saturday's newspapers are marking the UK's official departure from the EU late on Friday evening, we are also turning back the clock 47 years. In January 1973, the UK formally joined the EU, then known as the EEC (European Economic Community), but in January 2020 it officially left - and almost all of Saturday's papers splash the story of Britain's exit. "Rise and shine.... It's a glorious new Britain" declares the Daily Express, while the Guardian's masthead features a sad-looking bulldog under the caption, "missing you already". Below a picture of Brexit supporters celebrating in Parliament Square, the Daily Telegraph reports that Boris Johnson is preparing to impose full customs and border checks on all European goods entering the UK. It says the move is designed to "ramp up" the pressure on the EU ahead of forthcoming trade talks and marks a radical departure from pre-election no-deal planning that prioritised the smooth flow of goods from Europe. "Make leave... not war" is the Sun's headline highlighting what it sees as the underlying message of the Prime Minister's video address to the nation on Friday night.
The paper says that for many people "our independence - hard won and finally delivered - feels liberating and exhilarating. For others, this is a day to mourn", it says - and the paper issues a plea: "Now let's unite this kingdom". The Daily Mail also expresses the hope that what it calls the "stale leave/remain arguments" are now dead and buried, while acknowledging that they may not be resting in peace just yet. The Financial Times believes the end of Britain's "tumultuous" 47-year membership of the EU has dealt an unprecedented blow to the process of post-war integration on the continent.
The i weekend's headline "What Next?" is a question many are asking, and indeed the Telegraph devotes an entire 12-page supplement to the subject. The paper warns that Brexit is far from finished and has hardly even begun. As Britain wakes to a new era in its history, the FT warns Boris Johnson that it makes no sense to pursue a bare-bones trade deal with Britain's largest and nearest trading partner, the EU, in the hope of reaping benefits from a vaunted agreement with the US that may prove illusory. The tone of coverage in 2020 is, for many papers, in stark contrast to how Fleet Street reported the UK's ascent to Europe on 1 January 1973.
"Europe, here we come!" proclaimed the front page of the Daily Mail on the morning of 1 January 1973, when the UK joined the European Economic Community. The paper, which had campaigned for membership, asserted that "Britain's best and brightest future is with Europe". The Daily Telegraph reported that the move was "welcomed" in the capitals of EEC countries "as a first step towards a political union of Europe." It quoted Sir Christopher Soames, the UK's ambassador to France, calling for a "single [European] voice in world politics". The Daily Mirror went further as it covered the moment Great Britain went into "Greater Europe". Its coverage speculated about the possibility - "one day, perhaps a long time from now" - of a "United States of Europe". "Happy New Europe!" declared the Sun's front page. It criticised the Labour Party, which was in opposition at the time, for "clinging… to the pretence that history can be unmade" by "boycotting" the European Parliament. Its editorial argued that "changes that come in the long run will be mostly for the better".
The Daily Express front page read "We're in", and pointed out that the UK's entry was an understated affair, calling it a "straightforward formality without fanfare". The Guardian, too, noted that the moment passed without "any special celebrations" and that most people saw it as "a matter of course". Then-Conservative Prime Minister Ted Heath maintained an air of "hope and optimism", compared with opposition leader Harold Wilson's "head-shaking despair". Mr Heath hailed an "exciting, prosperous era ahead" as Britain joined the EEC, the Times reported. He spoke of the "exciting prospect for improving the standard of living for the British", it added.
This image hit the nail on the head and showed the absolute dichotomy between us and Europe; them showing class and integrity, us showing boorish, zenophobic gestures Especially with Herr Farage and his cronies on the final day of the EU parliament...makes one feel quite sad and ashamed
And let's not forget when it comes to us being shown in a bad light, we had that utter conman & buffoon Farage making us cringe with embarrassment every time he made a speech at the EU. At least we will be spared that now.
This image hit the nail on the head and showed the absolute dichotomy between us and Europe; them showing class and integrity, us showing boorish, zenophobic gestures Especially with Herr Farage and his cronies on the final day of the EU parliament...makes one feel quite sad and ashamed
And let's not forget when it comes to us being shown in a bad light, we had that utter conman & buffoon Farage making us cringe with embarrassment every time he made a speech at the EU. At least we will be spared that now.
We will, although I cant see him just disappearing, as he loves the limelight.
And let's not forget when it comes to us being shown in a bad light, we had that utter conman & buffoon Farage making us cringe with embarrassment every time he made a speech at the EU. At least we will be spared that now.
We will, although I cant see him just disappearing, as he loves the limelight.
He always disappears. Then comes back, with the same old schtick. That is why he would love yet another referendum. So he could pretend he is somehow relevant.
And let's not forget when it comes to us being shown in a bad light, we had that utter conman & buffoon Farage making us cringe with embarrassment every time he made a speech at the EU. At least we will be spared that now.
We will, although I cant see him just disappearing, as he loves the limelight.
I think most here agree which orifice he should disappear into.
Well we have now left, but the proper negotiations are just about to start.
For many people the last three and a half years have involved lots of head scratching.
Brexit coincided with my retirement.
I hadn't ever taken much interest in politics, but as I had much more time on my hands, I thought I would take some interest.
This was primarily because after listening to the arguments put forward by both sides, it was immediately obvious that both sides couldn't be telling the truth.
Both sides argued that we would be better off, if they won the referendum.
I don't want to rerun the referendum, because we have already done that to death on this thread.
Many members of the general public, that are less boring than me, seem unaware of the real choices that will have to be made. Although I am not setting myself up as some sort of Brexit expert, but I have been following the arguments.
We will know the truth this time next year, maybe.
The Brexit side have highlighted the benefits we could retain after leaving, while denying the obligations we would have to comply with in order to retain these benefits.
The EU have referred to this as cherry picking, or wanting our cake and eating it. They will not allow it to happen.
There has to be some backtracking on these claims, as negotiations are finalised.
Boris swore that he would never agree to a border in the Irish Sea, yet that is what he has done.
The amount of Single Market access we will be allowed, will be conditional upon how closely we stay aligned post Brexit.
Boris has now made it clear that the UK will diverge, rather than remaining aligned.
The more we diverge the less Single Market access we will get, and provide more friction at borders.
More friction at borders causes severe problems for our manufacturing. Some of the car manufacturers get 300 trucks per day delivering stuff. So any delays will cause havoc.
Boris spent the day in Sunderland yesterday. I wonder how the leave voters of Sunderland will feel about their leave vote when Nissan relocate, and they lose thousands of jobs. Maybe much the same as Swindon will feel post Honda, and Bridgend post Ford.
Many of my head scratching moments have occurred while watching members of the public doing Brexit interviews on the telly. News Night were in Melton Mowbray the other night. They voted 58% in favour of leaving. Yet they were interviewing Farmers who were suggesting that their business would be screwed if there were no EU Migrants to pick their crops. So why did they vote leave?
Even reporters seem to struggle, and start stuttering, when asked to illustrate likely improvements they expect to see in their own lives, post Brexit.
People go on about Sovereignty, but can never seem to refer to the specific laws that the EU have imposed on us.
We were members for 47 years, and along with France and Germany, played a leading role in shaping these laws. Many of which we can feel proud of.
The EU have been responsible for valuable legislation in many areas, including the environment, workers rights, animal rights, and improving our fish stocks.
Other head scratching moments occurred when Tory MPs that are questioned on Scottish Independence, comment that we are "stronger together", yet seem unable to apply the same argument to the EU.
I think that Brexit will cause the break up of the UK, at some point.
It will be interesting to see the actual results at this time next year.
There is a school of thought that suggest that a Boris Brexit will damage the economy so much that there will no money to spend Up North on those that have been left behind, the NHS, or many other projects.
Parliament Square was a knuckle-dragging carnival of irredeemable stupidity What makes Britain’s independence day different from those that have gone before it that its prize is a freedom nobody else wants
There they were, all gathered in one place. Not quite midnight’s children but 11 o’clock’s toddlers. Here, at the long-awaited end of dry January, was a once-proud nation coming together to wet its little trousers. Do the ghosts of revolutions past haunt the hallowed days of now? Could you hear the hooves of Simon Bolivar’s horse galloping up Whitehall?
Was that the sound of the workers singing the “Marseillaise” as Lenin’s sealed train rolled into the District and Circle line platform at Westminster station? Could that have been Haile Selassie, raising the standard of the Lion of Judah over the exit door of Caffe Nero?
Mahatma Gandhi really was here, as was Nelson Mandela, albeit both cast in bronze and standing as ever on the perimeter of Parliament Square. One man – topless of course – even injured his elbow on Madiba’s outstretched hand as he rose with carefree haste to exalt the soaring oratory of The Apprentice’s Michelle Dewberry. About the builder of the rainbow nation’s feet were three discarded cans of Strongbow Dark Fruit. No long walk to freedom is complete without a quick dash to Tesco Metro.
What on earth would those men have made of the occasion? Actual Great Britain, the cradle of empire once, roaring its pissy breath into the night air in phoney celebration of regaining an independence it had never lost?
Nigel Farage was there, obviously, calling it “the greatest moment in our nation’s modern history.” Well if it was the greatest moment in our nation’s modern history, it is a matter of public record that the best Farage could find to help him usher it in was a very strange man called Dominic Frisby, singing a very strange song called “17 Million F*** Offs.” The list of people “the British told to f*** off” was long indeed. “The IMF, the treasury, Tony Blair, John Major, Femi Weirdo, Jess Philips, George Osborne.” It went on and on and on. By the time it got to the end, the 17 million f*** offs may even have found themselves outnumbered.Whether, in fact the IMF, the Treasury, Tony Blair and absolutely everybody else will, in the end, turn out to have been right, and this lot wrong, is as close to a certainty as anything in politics can possibly be.
Before him there’d been Ann Widdecombe, fresh from marching out of the EU parliament two nights ago, saying it was “like storming up the beaches again”. She’s never stormed up any beaches. She’s only 72. Which is young enough, it turns out, to stand on a stage in Parliament Square and ululate away about “the glorious future that awaits us” – the one she has forced on the nation’s young entirely against their wishes.
There was Tim Martin of Wetherspoons, saying in all seriousness that “our victory is not a victory against the people of Europe. They are our friends. It is a victory over the institutions of the European Union”. Tim Martin, for the record, banned all European-produced drinks from his pubs. So there’s that. “At 11pm tonight, there is no such thing as leavers and remainers,” Dewberry told the crowd. “We are all leavers now.” I think the reply to that one comes in the form of a song you might call "16.8 Million F*** Offs."
(Later, they cheered arch Leave campaigner Tony Benn, then booed Jeremy Corbyn. That will have cut Magic Grandpa to the bone.)
I’ve listened back now to the sound on my dictaphone that records Britain’s moment of liberation and it goes exactly like this: “Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven! Six! Five! Four! Three! Two! One! FREEDOM!!!! YEAAAASSSS!!!! F****** FREEDOM!!!! WE F****** DID IT!!! F****** FREEDOM!!! F****** DO ONE!! F****** DO ONE!!!!”
It seems as worthy a catch phrase of the moment as anything else. F****** do one! Who exactly? Absolutely everyone. It doesn’t matter. Just f****** do one. Put that, as they say, on the side of the bus.
“At 11pm tonight, there is no such thing as leavers and remainers,” Dewberry told the crowd. “We are all leavers now.” I think the reply to that one comes in the form of a song you might call "16.8 Million F*** Offs." What next then? Come together? Move on. You can close your eyes and hope for it, but you’ll not find any evidence that it can actually be done.
Brexit’s ultimate tragedy is that it has broken the very thing it imagines itself to have restored: national identity, national cohesion. There is none at all. There are just two huge tribes set against each other, and the mutual loathing is as fierce as ever.
What happens, say, when another huge financial crisis hits, lives and livelihoods damaged? Half the country will blame the other half for the vast economic growth squandered to Brexit. We won’t move on. We can’t.
The prime minister urges healing – but he is the disease, not the cure. What do we do next? Are we to accept defeat, make peace, all the while knowing that, were the shoe on the other foot, Farage and company would be doing absolutely nothing of the sort? Are we really expected to get on board with this farce? To look upon this absurd, imagined liberation and try to see the good in it when there is simply nothing good there?
With his final words, as well, Farage hinted at the next chapter of the story. Urging other countries to follow Britain’s example, to leave the EU, to become “free nation states, trading, co-operating”. Go back to the old days, in other words, and try to ignore that the old days are absolutely drenched in blood. That preventing the old days ever coming back is the precise reason the EU came into being. These people really do think it’s 1989, or the Arab Spring, that Frisby is their Vaclav Havel. They think the blue touchpaper has been lit, except for the fact that our neighbours are not rising up but glancing up to look upon us with embarrassed pity at our own crushing stupidity. There is simply no way anyone of good conscience can make peace with being so very clearly on the wrong side of history. Come together? Sorry, but no thanks. The long walk back to sanity starts now. Who knows, it might even be a surprisingly short one.
And let's not forget when it comes to us being shown in a bad light, we had that utter conman & buffoon Farage making us cringe with embarrassment every time he made a speech at the EU. At least we will be spared that now.
His fans?
A racist ‘Brexit Day’ poster demanding that residents speak the “Queen’s English” has been posted on “every floor” of a Norwich tower block.
Comments
Britain could hold a second EU referendum after it becomes clear how Brexit has worked out, Nigel Farage has said.
The Brexit Party leader said another vote might not be "wholly unreasonable" once voters had had time to see the effects of the policy.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/brexit/second-eu-referendum-would-not-be-wholly-unreasonable-after-brexit-says-nigel-farage/ar-BBZruUx?ocid=spartanntp
Striking images are used to represent tonight's formal exit from the EU.
A photograph of Big Ben striking 11 o'clock is wrapped around the Times, alongside the message "Brexit - it's time". A remarkably similar Sun front page declares "Our time has come".
The Daily Mail hails it as a "new dawn for Britain", echoing the address Boris Johnson will give to the nation tonight.
For the i newspaper, today marks the "UK's leap into the unknown", as the "questions over trade and future relations with Europe and America are unresolved".
Under the headline "small island" - and an image of a Union flag planted on a British beach - the Guardian calls it "the biggest gamble in a generation".
And there are souvenir editions and special pullouts aplenty to mark the UK's exit from the EU.
Leading the way is the Daily Express, which carries an eight-page spread. With the front page headline "Yes, we did it!", the paper congratulates itself on winning its 10-year "crusade for Britain to leave the EU", calling it "the greatest campaign in newspaper history".
The Financial Times says "the prime minister has ordered that there must be no triumphalism", adding that "although Brexiters, led by Nigel Farage, are planning a party in Parliament Square, Britain's departure will be a moment of profound sadness for half the country and takes place against an uncertain economic backdrop".
The Daily Mirror urges people on either side of the Brexit debate to "put aside the bitter rifts" and conduct the journey ahead in a spirit of reconciliation and renewal.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-51320408
As well as looking at how Saturday's newspapers are marking the UK's official departure from the EU late on Friday evening, we are also turning back the clock 47 years.
In January 1973, the UK formally joined the EU, then known as the EEC (European Economic Community), but in January 2020 it officially left - and almost all of Saturday's papers splash the story of Britain's exit.
"Rise and shine.... It's a glorious new Britain" declares the Daily Express, while the Guardian's masthead features a sad-looking bulldog under the caption, "missing you already".
Below a picture of Brexit supporters celebrating in Parliament Square, the Daily Telegraph reports that Boris Johnson is preparing to impose full customs and border checks on all European goods entering the UK.
It says the move is designed to "ramp up" the pressure on the EU ahead of forthcoming trade talks and marks a radical departure from pre-election no-deal planning that prioritised the smooth flow of goods from Europe.
"Make leave... not war" is the Sun's headline highlighting what it sees as the underlying message of the Prime Minister's video address to the nation on Friday night.
The paper says that for many people "our independence - hard won and finally delivered - feels liberating and exhilarating. For others, this is a day to mourn", it says - and the paper issues a plea: "Now let's unite this kingdom".
The Daily Mail also expresses the hope that what it calls the "stale leave/remain arguments" are now dead and buried, while acknowledging that they may not be resting in peace just yet.
The Financial Times believes the end of Britain's "tumultuous" 47-year membership of the EU has dealt an unprecedented blow to the process of post-war integration on the continent.
The i weekend's headline "What Next?" is a question many are asking, and indeed the Telegraph devotes an entire 12-page supplement to the subject. The paper warns that Brexit is far from finished and has hardly even begun.
As Britain wakes to a new era in its history, the FT warns Boris Johnson that it makes no sense to pursue a bare-bones trade deal with Britain's largest and nearest trading partner, the EU, in the hope of reaping benefits from a vaunted agreement with the US that may prove illusory.
The tone of coverage in 2020 is, for many papers, in stark contrast to how Fleet Street reported the UK's ascent to Europe on 1 January 1973.
"Europe, here we come!" proclaimed the front page of the Daily Mail on the morning of 1 January 1973, when the UK joined the European Economic Community. The paper, which had campaigned for membership, asserted that "Britain's best and brightest future is with Europe".
The Daily Telegraph reported that the move was "welcomed" in the capitals of EEC countries "as a first step towards a political union of Europe." It quoted Sir Christopher Soames, the UK's ambassador to France, calling for a "single [European] voice in world politics".
The Daily Mirror went further as it covered the moment Great Britain went into "Greater Europe". Its coverage speculated about the possibility - "one day, perhaps a long time from now" - of a "United States of Europe".
"Happy New Europe!" declared the Sun's front page. It criticised the Labour Party, which was in opposition at the time, for "clinging… to the pretence that history can be unmade" by "boycotting" the European Parliament. Its editorial argued that "changes that come in the long run will be mostly for the better".
The Daily Express front page read "We're in", and pointed out that the UK's entry was an understated affair, calling it a "straightforward formality without fanfare".
The Guardian, too, noted that the moment passed without "any special celebrations" and that most people saw it as "a matter of course". Then-Conservative Prime Minister Ted Heath maintained an air of "hope and optimism", compared with opposition leader Harold Wilson's "head-shaking despair".
Mr Heath hailed an "exciting, prosperous era ahead" as Britain joined the EEC, the Times reported. He spoke of the "exciting prospect for improving the standard of living for the British", it added.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-51335251
Especially with Herr Farage and his cronies on the final day of the EU parliament...makes one feel quite sad and ashamed
^^^^^
@madprof
Well said, & I agree 100%.
And let's not forget when it comes to us being shown in a bad light, we had that utter conman & buffoon Farage making us cringe with embarrassment every time he made a speech at the EU. At least we will be spared that now.
For many people the last three and a half years have involved lots of head scratching.
Brexit coincided with my retirement.
I hadn't ever taken much interest in politics, but as I had much more time on my hands, I thought I would take some interest.
This was primarily because after listening to the arguments put forward by both sides, it was immediately obvious that both sides couldn't be telling the truth.
Both sides argued that we would be better off, if they won the referendum.
I don't want to rerun the referendum, because we have already done that to death on this thread.
Many members of the general public, that are less boring than me, seem unaware of the real choices that will have to be made. Although I am not setting myself up as some sort of Brexit expert, but I have been following the arguments.
We will know the truth this time next year, maybe.
The Brexit side have highlighted the benefits we could retain after leaving, while denying the obligations we would have to comply with in order to retain these benefits.
The EU have referred to this as cherry picking, or wanting our cake and eating it. They will not allow it to happen.
There has to be some backtracking on these claims, as negotiations are finalised.
Boris swore that he would never agree to a border in the Irish Sea, yet that is what he has done.
The amount of Single Market access we will be allowed, will be conditional upon how closely we stay aligned post Brexit.
Boris has now made it clear that the UK will diverge, rather than remaining aligned.
The more we diverge the less Single Market access we will get, and provide more friction at borders.
More friction at borders causes severe problems for our manufacturing. Some of the car manufacturers get 300 trucks per day delivering stuff. So any delays will cause havoc.
Boris spent the day in Sunderland yesterday. I wonder how the leave voters of Sunderland will feel about their leave vote when Nissan relocate, and they lose thousands of jobs. Maybe much the same as Swindon will feel post Honda, and Bridgend post Ford.
Many of my head scratching moments have occurred while watching members of the public doing Brexit interviews on the telly. News Night were in Melton Mowbray the other night. They voted 58% in favour of leaving. Yet they were interviewing Farmers who were suggesting that their business would be screwed if there were no EU Migrants to pick their crops. So why did they vote leave?
Even reporters seem to struggle, and start stuttering, when asked to illustrate likely improvements they expect to see in their own lives, post Brexit.
People go on about Sovereignty, but can never seem to refer to the specific laws that the EU have imposed on us.
We were members for 47 years, and along with France and Germany, played a leading role in shaping these laws. Many of which we can feel proud of.
The EU have been responsible for valuable legislation in many areas, including the environment, workers rights, animal rights, and improving our fish stocks.
Other head scratching moments occurred when Tory MPs that are questioned on Scottish Independence, comment that we are "stronger together", yet seem unable to apply the same argument to the EU.
I think that Brexit will cause the break up of the UK, at some point.
It will be interesting to see the actual results at this time next year.
There is a school of thought that suggest that a Boris Brexit will damage the economy so much that there will no money to spend Up North on those that have been left behind, the NHS, or many other projects.
What makes Britain’s independence day different from those that have gone before it that its prize is a freedom nobody else wants
There they were, all gathered in one place. Not quite midnight’s children but 11 o’clock’s toddlers. Here, at the long-awaited end of dry January, was a once-proud nation coming together to wet its little trousers.
Do the ghosts of revolutions past haunt the hallowed days of now? Could you hear the hooves of Simon Bolivar’s horse galloping up Whitehall?
Was that the sound of the workers singing the “Marseillaise” as Lenin’s sealed train rolled into the District and Circle line platform at Westminster station? Could that have been Haile Selassie, raising the standard of the Lion of Judah over the exit door of Caffe Nero?
Mahatma Gandhi really was here, as was Nelson Mandela, albeit both cast in bronze and standing as ever on the perimeter of Parliament Square.
One man – topless of course – even injured his elbow on Madiba’s outstretched hand as he rose with carefree haste to exalt the soaring oratory of The Apprentice’s Michelle Dewberry. About the builder of the rainbow nation’s feet were three discarded cans of Strongbow Dark Fruit. No long walk to freedom is complete without a quick dash to Tesco Metro.
What on earth would those men have made of the occasion? Actual Great Britain, the cradle of empire once, roaring its pissy breath into the night air in phoney celebration of regaining an independence it had never lost?
Nigel Farage was there, obviously, calling it “the greatest moment in our nation’s modern history.”
Well if it was the greatest moment in our nation’s modern history, it is a matter of public record that the best Farage could find to help him usher it in was a very strange man called Dominic Frisby, singing a very strange song called “17 Million F*** Offs.”
The list of people “the British told to f*** off” was long indeed.
“The IMF, the treasury, Tony Blair, John Major, Femi Weirdo, Jess Philips, George Osborne.” It went on and on and on. By the time it got to the end, the 17 million f*** offs may even have found themselves outnumbered. Whether, in fact the IMF, the Treasury, Tony Blair and absolutely everybody else will, in the end, turn out to have been right, and this lot wrong, is as close to a certainty as anything in politics can possibly be.
Before him there’d been Ann Widdecombe, fresh from marching out of the EU parliament two nights ago, saying it was “like storming up the beaches again”. She’s never stormed up any beaches. She’s only 72. Which is young enough, it turns out, to stand on a stage in Parliament Square and ululate away about “the glorious future that awaits us” – the one she has forced on the nation’s young entirely against their wishes.
There was Tim Martin of Wetherspoons, saying in all seriousness that “our victory is not a victory against the people of Europe. They are our friends. It is a victory over the institutions of the European Union”. Tim Martin, for the record, banned all European-produced drinks from his pubs. So there’s that.
“At 11pm tonight, there is no such thing as leavers and remainers,” Dewberry told the crowd. “We are all leavers now.” I think the reply to that one comes in the form of a song you might call "16.8 Million F*** Offs."
(Later, they cheered arch Leave campaigner Tony Benn, then booed Jeremy Corbyn. That will have cut Magic Grandpa to the bone.)
I’ve listened back now to the sound on my dictaphone that records Britain’s moment of liberation and it goes exactly like this: “Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven! Six! Five! Four! Three! Two! One! FREEDOM!!!! YEAAAASSSS!!!! F****** FREEDOM!!!! WE F****** DID IT!!! F****** FREEDOM!!! F****** DO ONE!! F****** DO ONE!!!!”
It seems as worthy a catch phrase of the moment as anything else. F****** do one! Who exactly? Absolutely everyone. It doesn’t matter. Just f****** do one. Put that, as they say, on the side of the bus.
“At 11pm tonight, there is no such thing as leavers and remainers,” Dewberry told the crowd. “We are all leavers now.” I think the reply to that one comes in the form of a song you might call "16.8 Million F*** Offs."
What next then? Come together? Move on. You can close your eyes and hope for it, but you’ll not find any evidence that it can actually be done.
Brexit’s ultimate tragedy is that it has broken the very thing it imagines itself to have restored: national identity, national cohesion. There is none at all. There are just two huge tribes set against each other, and the mutual loathing is as fierce as ever.
What happens, say, when another huge financial crisis hits, lives and livelihoods damaged? Half the country will blame the other half for the vast economic growth squandered to Brexit. We won’t move on. We can’t.
The prime minister urges healing – but he is the disease, not the cure. What do we do next? Are we to accept defeat, make peace, all the while knowing that, were the shoe on the other foot, Farage and company would be doing absolutely nothing of the sort?
Are we really expected to get on board with this farce? To look upon this absurd, imagined liberation and try to see the good in it when there is simply nothing good there?
With his final words, as well, Farage hinted at the next chapter of the story. Urging other countries to follow Britain’s example, to leave the EU, to become “free nation states, trading, co-operating”. Go back to the old days, in other words, and try to ignore that the old days are absolutely drenched in blood. That preventing the old days ever coming back is the precise reason the EU came into being.
These people really do think it’s 1989, or the Arab Spring, that Frisby is their Vaclav Havel. They think the blue touchpaper has been lit, except for the fact that our neighbours are not rising up but glancing up to look upon us with embarrassed pity at our own crushing stupidity.
There is simply no way anyone of good conscience can make peace with being so very clearly on the wrong side of history.
Come together? Sorry, but no thanks. The long walk back to sanity starts now. Who knows, it might even be a surprisingly short one.
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/brexit-nigel-farage-parliament-square-a9312436.html
A racist ‘Brexit Day’ poster demanding that residents speak the “Queen’s English” has been posted on “every floor” of a Norwich tower block.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/brexit/neighbours-horror-as-racist-happy-brexit-day-posters-put-up-in-norwich-tower-block/ar-BBZy9c2?ocid=spartandhp