Professor Anand Menon recently published a paper for UK in a Changing Europe (UKICE) stating that there was no political advantage for Labour or Conservatives in focusing on Brexit as an election issue. I know Anand, having met and spoken with him at events on quite a few occasions. As a fellow academic, this gives me the right to challenge him. I’m sorry mate, but you have confused political expediency with political leadership. Let me explain:
UK in a changing Europe’s research states that neither the Conservatives nor Labour stand to gain much from focusing on Brexit. We know that the word Brexit has gone out of circulation, primarily because (a) hardly any of the political parties want to talk about Brexit and many have demonised party members from even uttering the word (b) the media has a virtual blackout on the word Brexit, preferring ‘global factors’ as a euphemism for the lived experience of the British Brexit people (c) many familiesandfriendcircles do not wish to reopen the toxic conversations that characterised the Brexit referendum. It’s a particularly English condition to sweep difficult conversations under the carpet. But, and it’s a very BIG BUT …
Not talking about Brexit does not make Brexit go away
Leaving the Brexit conversation undone is what therapists call ‘unfinished business’ or ‘closure’, rather like an angry boil that is left to fester. Unless the Brexit boil is popped, it will continue to haunt families with its puss for a generation. UKICE have of course published many fine articles and studies that point out that Brexit is far from done, with many further ‘bumps in the road’ to come. This is why a new conversation about Brexit and Europe is needed. Also why I advocate an active rather than a passive approach to difficult conversations about Europe and Brexit (a passive approach is simply waiting for granny and grandad Brexit to die). This is what I call ‘Brexorcism‘.
Whilst mentioning the B word may not be a vote winner according to Menon, all the ‘offspring’ of Brexit are being talked about as voter priorities. Like it or loathe it, all of the issues on our Brexit iceberg have their roots, fully or partly in Brexit.
All of these electoral issues have their roots wholly or partly in Brexit. Menon is wrong in his analysis.
Menon concludes ‘meh’. I conclude that this is sloppy analysis by UKICE.
Political expediency versus political leadership
Menon is right from UKICE polling data that it may not be politically expedient to mention Brexit. Expediency is not importance however. Two things occur to me:
Firstly and most importantly, political leadership is not about constantly responding to polls about the here and now. This is in effect driving through the rear view mirror. Leadership is about synthesising long-term decisions and short term actions to lead people towards better futures. OK, of course I realise that UKICE is not OK Magazine, but I feel that Menon has conflated expediency with leadership. As a leader, Keir Starmer et al. should be in the business of explaining the connections between our ‘Brexitberg’ elements (NHS collapse, cost of living, migration, UK stagnation, business collapse, lost trade, friction, food shortages, sector specific staff shortages, brain drain etc.) with Brexit. Starmer has stated that he wants to deal with root causes and not symptoms of our problems. Brexit is at the heart of Britain’s decline.
Secondly, snapshots are just that. A snapshot in time. I recall that Menon was first talking about this research at a UKICE event way back in 2022. The focus groups were conducted in Brendan Clarke-Smith’s constituency of Brexity Bassetlaw, Thurrock and Lee Anderson’s constituency of Ashfield !!! This knocks the qualitative findings out of the park in terms of validity. What possessed Public First aka Britain First in choosing these areas and not a mixed sample? And why did UKICE decide to use them for this research? The quantitative poll of 4005 people is now nearly 6 months out of date, so the dataset is also of dubious value. We are nearly at the point where 2/3 of the population accept that Brexit has failed and within striking distance of 70%
Bassetlaw, Thurrock and Ashfield are not representative !!!
Leaders synthesise long-term decisions and short term actions for better futures
Yes, people in Bassetlaw and Thurrock can argue that Brexit realities are the fault of the Tories not being Brexity enough (although I’m at a loss to understand how much more Brexity Johnson, Truss and Sunak’s puppet cabinet could have been), or that Remainers have ‘thwarted’ a true Brexit (I never knew I had so much power, having been ignored by MPs on all sides etc.). Nobody knows or agrees on what a true Brexit would have been and certainly an immediate exit via WTO would have left us with a 10-12% GDP deficit compared with the 4.5% we currently have. This would have been catastrophic. I predict that we will soon reach a point where 70% of people accept that Brexit has failed, even if the B word has been airbrushed out of public discourse. People are not stupid and, like it or not, Brexit and the offspring of Brexit will remain on or under the table as election issues, especially if people keep the conversation going about Brexit. Learn how to do it here:
Learn the skills of Brexorcism here.
Why this matters
In my humble opinion, Menon is feeding Remainers and Rejoiners a false narrative. Having met Anand quite a few times, I sense he is at best a fence sitter on the subject of Brexit in order to keep in with his politicos on both sides of the debate such as David Frost and others. Some tell me that he is a closet Brexiteer, which would explain his misleading conclusions from the research.
The not so secret Labour ‘promise’ to look at Brexit again in 2032 is also another unicorn designed to put Remainers and Rejoiners to sleep. See Faulty Towers for more on Labour’s disingenuous Brexit strategy. Sorry Anand, I expect better from a professor who should know the difference between political expediency and political leadership. I look forward to a conversation about the matter.
The Tufton Street gang have decided to genetically reformat Rishi Sunak to help him win an election. The ‘battleship grey’ Rishi 1.0 was at least built on the solid foundations of Sunak’s dull technocratic self to calm down politics. Rishi 1.0 had to deal with two crises:
Boris Johnson’s negligent killings of old people via his herd immunity fallacy, his “oven ready Brexit” deal which is burnt to a crisp, gross spaffing of our money on failed vanity projects, a tsunami of cronyism, gross lies and excuses and, of course, the Partygate scandals whilst people were forced to let their loved ones die alone, including the Queen.
Liz Truss’ wilful destruction of the economy in one weekend, adding thousands of pounds per year irreversibly to mortgages, billions to our national debt and a total loss of confidence in the UK plc on the world stage.
Cue Rishi 2.0, the radical reinvention from bland to ‘exciting’. Sunak’s ‘mum’ aka Akshata Murty launched Rishi’s reformatting at the Tory party conference, in order to curry favour from Tory faithful. With support from the warmup act Penny Morduant aka Alana Partridge, who managed the dubious accolade of saying “stand up and fight” 12 times in 80 seconds, although nobody was sure why, who with, when, where or with what.
Rishi 2.0 – What’s in store?
‘Radical Rishi 2.0‘ will be tough on society and tough on the causes of society. Fierce with the 99% of wokeists, leftists, left luggage attendents, left handed bankers, left leaning journalists, centrists, greenies, hippies, commies, liberals, snowflakes, members of the London Assembly, forins, doctors, train drivers, nurses, social workers, teachers, farmers, fishermen, firemen, train drivers, trainspotters, comedians, LGBTQIA+, judges et al. In fact everyone that does not sign up to the Tory fascist agenda. Here are some of the policies which Rishi 2.0 will likely hint at in the coming months, slightly exaggerated for fun. Of course he will actually do nothing about any of them:
Rishi 2.0 Part I.
Running through some of the Rishi 2.0 bullet points above:
On Thursday Sunak aligned himself with Italian fascist Georgia Meloni, to build a desperate consensus around his “Stop the Boats” campaign. However, Brexit Britain will be regarded as international pariahs if we leave the ECHR as a piece of Brexit grandstanding. Twinned with North Korea and Russia.
It sounds frivolous to suggest that model railway company Hornby should run the railways, but clearly a Government that does not know whether the rail link has been built to Manchester airport is not fit to commission rail projects using £ billions of our taxes. The HS2 fiasco has cost £91 billion of taxpayers’ money.
Check out CPC 2023 by clicking on Thomas.
As with Johnson, the devil is in the detail with Sunak. Having announced that HS2 will go to Euston at CPC 2023, the truth is that this will only happen with private investment to build the line from Old Oak Common to Euston. If I were an investor at this point in the cycle I’d not be up for investing in a railway that could be cancelled in a few years’ time after an election.
Rishi 2.0 Part II.
The distraction of a new British educational qualification almost literally concretes over the problems of crumbling schools. Rishi is trying to gaslight us away from the problems of RAAC by introducing the ABS (Absolute Bullshitter Sunak / Advanced British Standard) qualification to replace A and T Levels. You fool no-one Rishi.
Gillian Keegan – concreting over education problems.
Will Rishi cancel the triple lock for pensioners as the new hard man of the Tory party? Time will tell. So far, it is more of the same with Jeremy Hunt targeting the most vulnerable with his next set of cuts. But the pensioners could well be next as a new cash cow. After all, I guess that Lee Anderson would ask what is the point of them being alive if they won’t vote Conservative? In any case, I guess Anderson believes that pensioners can live on 30p a day.
Levelling up proves to be a project about levelling roads, with 25% of the £36 billion ‘windfall’ from HS2 going to fill potholes. This may help to fill election leaflets in MP constituencies but is hardly a demonstration of Rishi Sunak’s so-called claim of “long term decisions for a brighter future“.
Clearly the Tories love the distraction of XL Bully dogs to stop people thinking of more important matters. Nonetheless I doubt we’ll see The Police employing them to patrol the streets, but anything is possible given recent lies about meat tax and 15 minute cities.
Finally, Robert Jenrick has suggested that we must breed more children to cope with the need for more carers for old people. I imagine that Boris Johnson is ready as CIO (Chief Insemination Officer).
Will Rishi 2.0 succeed?
Highly doubtful – Tufton Street have no idea about personality change, as they are people without personalities. Leopards and spots etc. Rishi Sunak’s speech to CPC 2023 was pretty much his usual “Blue Peter” style of delivery and the excitement of all the promises has been shown to be a pack of lies within a day. CPC 2023 looked like a wake for a dying brand. I guess Tufton Street could tell Sunak to work on his image rather than his content. Perhaps some pink flashes in his hair, flairs to give him more appeal to youth or at least trousers that reach his ankles? Or maybe a beard to make him look a bit more radical / risky?
The only thing stopping us from joining the EU anew is political will. That said, stasis and entropy are massive obstacles to sending ‘the application form in’ !! Parliamentary paralysis has defined the Zombie Brexit Government since 2016. It also defines the Zombie opposition with the exception of Gina Miller’s True and Fair party, The SNP, Sinn Fein and the Green Party / Plaid Cymru, to some degree.
Instant gratification
Markets are perfect as we saw in 2016 when the pound was almost instantly revalued (downwards) after the Brexit referendum. So, any application of intent to join the EU anew would be accompanied by a dead stop of the Brexit carnage in pure economic terms. For example, the car industry could say with certainty that they could remain in UK alongside other industries affected by rules of origin constraints. The slow brain drain of financial services staff from Britain would cease with impacts across the financial world. Smaller enterprises could plan to trade with Europe without friction and additional costs again. Future inward investment would begin to flow again as confidence in UK plc began to pick up and many other adjustments would take place, some instantaneous, others as the process unfolds.
So what matters most is starting the process of rejoining, not so much when it is finished. Doubtless there would be many hurdles to deal with but the main thing is to have the intent to join anew.
Preconditions
I am quite sure the EU would want to see the removal of the remaining Brexit culture carriers from power before they would be happy to accept our application, but that, of course, can happen along the way in the forthcoming elections. It has become clear that many safe seats are likely to fall in an election, especially if Labour and the Lib Dems stop fucking each other up. The EU would also be wise to wish to see a supermajority of opinion in the public for rejoining – we are close to 2/3 who believe that Brexit has failed.
Theatrics of joining anew
I would expect a guarded and bureaucratic and ‘flat’ receipt from the EU of an application rather than a joyous and instant response. This is all part of the theatre of resetting the relationship. The theatrics of an application may also mean that we might be pushed behind Ukraine to give that time and a sense of not jumping the queue. Again, this would give time to make the various resets, but the key thing is starting the process. Gina Miller explains something of the process to rejoin in her article for The Independent. We concur that joining anew won’t be easy, but then again Brexit wasn’t easy either.
Beware of the myths
Read our Bylines article Myths and Riffs of Brexit to deal with the Brexiteers who are now operating project fear by suggesting myths such as having to have the Euro, Schengen etc. Do not fall prey to such myths.
Don Adamson writes from his Barnsley Brexit bunker.
This week’s homework
One – Discuss the following statement
I have been criticised for ‘conflating’ (whatever that means) Russell Brand’s support for Brexit with his alleged criminality. Brexit is evil, rape is evil. A person who is capable of one is perfectly capable of the other. Does it come as a surprise that the ‘freethinkers’ who have come out in support of alleged team rapist include: Andrew Tate, Elon Musk,*Ucker Carlson, Laurence Pox, Stickyfinger Pansey Lenin (Alias Tommy Robinson, Alex Jones and the Telegraph’s Allison Pearson.
Two – Walking from Park Lane to Parliament Square on 23 September we passed the Saturday afternoon shoppers. We encountered hostility and abuse from older people who failed to notice that their precious Brexit has become a catastrophe rather than the earthly paradise we heard so much about not so long ago. Younger people, by contrast were vocal in their contempt for Brexit and support for our pro Rejoin activities. One poll after another indicates increasing opposition to Brexit and increasing support for Rejoin. One poll after another indicates that >> 60% of the general population is pro Rejoin and anti Brexit. Meanwhile more than 80% of people under the age of 25 are anti Brexit and pro Rejoin. Sooner or later that is going to translate into votes at elections. Richy Scumbag, Keith Starmer and Ed Davey continue to insult our intelligence with their assurances that they will ‘make Brexit work. Does this mean a) that the major parties are fishing for votes in a body of water that is rapidly evaporating? b) that support for Brexit i) ruins your eyesight? or ii) is a symptom of early onset dementia?
After the speeches we made our way along Milbank to the rendezvous. The coach arrived some time after we did. We loaded the banners and placards into the cargo compartment then we piled aboard. We made good time on the road. I got a text to say that William’s dad would meet me at the rendezvous and drive me chez nous. Apparently that was William’s idea. I am very lucky in my grandchildren, sometimes. Do you wonder that I devote so much time and effort to finding them a future that Brexit is denying them?
On arrival as the rendezvous I found that Rob was rendering assistance to a drunken woman in difficulties. He dislikes Leeds city centre at night. Strange things happen. I told him that in the old days I used to avoid taking the last train out of London on a Friday night. Things go boisterous. The men were bad enough. The women were worse.
This particular woman took a dislike to my Bulwarks to Brexit cap and whacked me across the shoulder. I had been expecting that all day in London but not in Leeds.
Three – Is there any truth in the rumour that Laurence Pox has been suspended for inapparopriate comment? What on earth did he say that Gammonite Balderdash News would deem offensive? Was it along the lines of: The sun rises in the East and sets in the West?
Four – Russell Brand is up on rape charges. Laurence Pox has been suspended for inappropriate comment. Does this mean that this country is slowly regaining its sense?
This week’s quotes
Nadine Dorries has become such a political liability that Tory MPs are actively celebrating her resignation in constituency literature
… North Wiltshire MP James Gray writes …’ There is something rather tragic about politicians who become so fixated by themselves that they lose touch with reality. Nadine Dorries is not the sharpest tool in the box, and the authoress of some of the worst novels I have had the misfortune to read. She laboured in cheerful obscurity until Johnson thought she would make a good cheerleader, pom poms, frills and all…
The latest vehicle of the Faragists, styles itself as the champion of the hard pressed working people struggling with the cost of living crisis, but you would not think it from the party’s forthcoming conference to be held at the Hilton’s London Metropolis Hotel. Supporters are urged to buy tickets for a gala dinner where they can mingle with party luminaries such as Richard Tice, his partner Isabel Oakeshott and Ann Widdecombe. Tickets are priced at £125.
After the Tories sacked him for comparing the COVID Vaccine programme to the Holocaust MP Andrew Bridgen joined Laurence Pox’s right wing Reclaim Party which is bankrolled by investment tycoon and culture warrior Jeremy Hosking.
The viewing figures may be mediocre but in one respect GB News is thrashing all comers – the amount it is splurging on MPs … a staggering £44313 … compares to just £55000 spent by Rival Talk TV …an enormous £149,121 dished out to Jacob Grease Bogg …
The Sun’s pisspoor sister station
TalkTV currently enjoys the eyeballs of a stunning 0.12% of the viewing public for an average of ten seconds per day…
Last week a report from ‘UK in a changing Europe’ showed how state backed investment in infrastructure and energy had collapsed since 2020 …
when the European Investment Bank ceased funding projects here … four domestic banks that have taken over the role are now lending less than a third of what the EIB was pumping into offshore wind, … meanwhile the architects of hard Brexit are staring doom in the face. In his Telegraph column Lord Frost laments not only Labour’s plans to collaborate and align with Europe over environmental and migration policies, but the explicit buyers’ remorse that has emerged in the Tory Party – with Richy Scumbag’s deal to Rejoin the Horizon science collaboration project as a straw in the wind …’All too many people in the parties think Britain’s future is to retrace our steps and get closer again to Europe.’ Writes the man who designed the disaster…. Johnson framed hard Brexit as the opportunity for Britain to ‘do its own thing in the Indo Pacific region … In return Biden has pointedly excluded Britain from the project … Britain’s exclusion from this great game is self inflicted…. the UK is on the sidelines …. The UK will be forced to align with the EU or sit like a pariah state between EU and the USA … so when Keith Starmer says there is no case for Rejoin I remain sceptical … Brexit was a long term projected boosted by the Russians fundamentally designed to make Britain a low tax playground for 5the super rich … Brexit has failed because globalisation is failing. It is around that fact that all policy towards the EU now has to revolve…
With IT set to be at the heart of Richy Scumbag’s plans to modernise the NHS tech tycoon Frank Hester has made a timely £5M donation to the Tory Party
… what went unmentioned was that his healthcare business, Phoenix Partnership has joined with other contractors in a combined £41.2M of public sector deals … TPP lists 19 government contracts on contract finder, government database … records show TPP donated £11,300 to the Tories in February and £145,000 in March…
The late Queen’s relationship with Johnson was over before he came to office
… she had not been amused by the way his then sidekick, Michael Gove dragged her into the EU referendum by telling the Sun that she backed Brexit. Gove has always disputed the fact but Gove’s relationship with Murdoch leaves little doubt about what happened…
Richy Scumbag has not proved especially keen to do in depth TV interviews
… but his aides have been putting out feelers to get him on BBC’s the One Show and ITV’s Good Morning Britain’ … these are scarcely forums for in depth political discussions but the idea is to try to endear the PM a bit more to the under 40s who are deserting the Tory Party in droves. Party leaders have long found connecting with youth challenging … one thinks of Thatcher and Ed Multiband doing broadcasts with Jimmy Savile and Russell Brand…
Thick Lizzy and her mates are desperate for her to get a foothold in the US public speaking market
… It will therefore dismay Team Truss that the swanky Lincoln Lodge Bar in Chicago is selling Liz Truss cocktails (gin, Earl Grey, lemon, sugar and soda at $12 a time – selling briskly)
Russell Brand is not a martyr and the claims against him are not a conspiracy
… Brand was once the darling of the left he is now categorised at ‘alt right’ … some of the guests on his show ‘stay free with Russell Brand fit that description … In July *Ucker Carlson granted Brand his first interview after being fired by Fox News … Carlson was also one of the first to rush to Brand’s defence, along with Andrew Tate, Stickyfinger Pansey-Lenin alias Tommy Robinson, Elon Must, and deranged info wars host Alex Jones … the key to Brand’s ideology and cosplay has been the airtime he has given to conspiracy theories… during the pandemic he embraced anti vax propaganda .. as wildly irresponsible as this has been it delivered what Brand wanted – a devoted online base … he loves to posture as the voice of the powerless, a persecuted Techno Jesus … all absurd … it is time we stopped treating Brand and his idiots as rebels. They are the establishment…. he grasped long ago that conspiracy theories tend to lure in disciples … presenting somebody gripped by conspiracy theory with the facts frequently reinforces their4 beliefs no matter how absurd … it is alarming that this sort of garbage gets any traction at all … ‘’’ kohl eyed menace and narcissism of the most toxic kind …
The utter dysfunctionality of the Tory Omnishambles…
It is easy to spend money … you can commission loads of personal protection equipment, some of it from friends, then find you have frittered £9B on kit that was never fit for purpose … successive administrations have wasted fortunes on attempts to computerise he NHS … defence procurement has become a byword for criminal waste … irresponsible extravagance is not going to be an option for Keith Starmer … Britain requires not more spending but better spending … Starmer might be wise to approach reform from the perspective of what needs to be done… relationships between ministers and administrators are beyond fraught … talent has been haemorrhaging … clearly needs drastic rethink … eschewing all the embarrassing rhetoric about ‘world beating ….
Stephen Fry is right
… we know that Brexit has failed … Johnson has a distant relationship with truth … Lord Frost confessed that he and Johnson knew the N Ireland protocol was unsatisfactory … and hoped they would have to renege on it … this statement is astounding … three quarters of British companies reported that the trade agreement has made it difficult. Across the NHS Brexit has compounded widespread existing problems … business investment is slowing across every sector … overstretched services and higher costs … reality is finally dawning on Richy Scumbag … Brexit is seriously harming our food and farming sectors … we are stronger and safer when alongside our nearest friends and neighbours … Brexit has made our country less resilient … There is little that Tories will not sacrifice on the altar of Brexit … the facts are plain to an increasing number of the population … negligible Brexit benefits …. it is time to start the road to Rejoin … polling shows that Rejoin is now the will of the people … every major party is cowering…. Brexit is far from settled in the minds of voters…
Don Adamson Pip Pip Medway Delta (Retired) Brexorcist and Saboteur First Class
You are invited to support Gina Miller’s True and Fair party in the Mid Beds by-election. True and Fair are the only serious professionally run party in England that has a clear position on Brexit and Rejoining the EU standing in this by-election with all the other main parties running scared of the word for fear of upsetting voters. More importantly, True and Fair also have exceptional policies on parliamentary and political reform for a better Britain. Plus all the usual policies that you would expect from a serious political party, except that none of them are ‘usual’. Check their policy platform out at policy toplines.
Click to view policy toplines. T&F offer a clear and refreshing difference.
In case you are not aware, Nadine Dorries finally stood down this week and this means that a by-election will be held. If you live within 40 miles of Nad’s constituency I invite you to join us for doorstep campaigning, street events and any other help you can provide on the ground or via social media. Some of you will be asking why it is both safe, effective and incredibly sensible to support Gina’s party. Here is a Q&A to help you decide:
What’s up for grabs here?
The Tories won with 39 000 votes in Mid Beds in 2019. Given that Nadine Dorries has shamed her party and her constituents, it’s quite likely that the vast majority of these votes will go elsewhere in this by-election. Votes for other parties were fairly split in 2019 – Labour 14 000, Lib Dems 8 000, Greens 2.5K. With up to maybe 30 000 to distribute, it seems unlikely that the Tories will pull off a victory this time. Both the Lib Dems and Labour are running vigorous campaigns based on the same old hubris that they can win. Whilst it is likely that one of them will win, if they don’t, it will be a failure entirely of their own making and not because of a small challenger party. Labour are already saying that Gina’s party will allow the Tories back in – the usual bullying tactic. In Jurassic Park terms, this is the equivalent of the Veloceraptor (Tories), T.REX (Labour) and Triceratops (Lib Dems) trying to blame a Gecko (T&F) for allowing the Veloceraptor to prevail. It’s entirely safe to vote for truth and fairness in our politics at this by-election. See the candidate’s views on the matter.
Who are The True and Fair Party?
Gina Miller founded The True and Fair party to improve our politics. I’d imagine that some of you will not know who Miller is. She gained a reputation for upholding truth when she took the Westminster government to the Supreme Court to demonstrate that Britain had always had sovereignty as a member of the EU. She won her case. Of course, the government ignored the Supreme Court judge. You may more likely know Miller from the tabloid gutter press who vilified her for winning the case. The result of this was various vile threats of beheading and gang rape. All this for upholding the truth, fairness and the rule of law. Some people must have felt truly threatened. If like me, you believe that truth and trust matters, please vote for Alan Victor and The True and Fair party.
Miller’s position on Brexit is unequivocally clear, compelling, and concise. The Brexit experiment has failed. We both ‘can’ and ‘must’ rejoin the EU. She confirmed that this can be done within three years and that “there must be no half measures and mealy-mouthed compromises*. What matters most is starting the process rather than ending it.
“In terms of joining the single market and customs union option, we are not supporters as this would mean the UK doffing our cap and accepting existing and future rules and regulation without any vote or voice. The only viable option is to re-establish our membership of the EU and return to the top table once again. After seven years of failure, now we need to pull the rip cord, and start the process of re-establishing our membership of the EU, as the benefits far outweigh the costs.”
Gina Miller
Who is Alan Victor?
Alan stood as an independent candidate in 2019 gaining a respectable 812 votes. You can find Alan’s profile here. Alan decided to join the True and Fair party because he was fed up with the current state of UK politics and mainstream political parties hijacking our democracy, promising the world and failing to deliver. A multiple of 4-8 times his current vote would ensure that his deposit is returned and also that the True and Fair party are considered a serious challenger to our broken politics. If you can help in any way (on the street, online amplification of social media posts etc.), please e-mail me at reboot@brexitrage.com or write to Alan direct at alan@trueandfairparty.uk
Why is it safe to vote for the True and Fair party?
It would be a miracle if Alan Victor won the seat … yet miracles do happen in our disruptive politics. However, a significant increase on his vote share from 2019 would send an important message to Labour and Lib Dems about their myopia over Brexit and other matters. Brexit has failed. It is no longer the will of the people. Waiting longer will prolong the carnage. Just a single voice in Parliament would significantly disrupt the parliamentary paralysis that gave us Brexit and many other things. Read more at Truth and Fairness on Byline Times. Don’t just take my word for it. Read the candidate’s own answer on vote splitting:
The vote splitting narrative is:
1. Anti-democratic because it intends to withhold candidates from the election, reducing the choice that voters deserve. In Mid Bedfordshire, for example, I am the candidate with the most lived experience, transferable skills and commitment to the constituency with 32 years living in Bedfordshire and over 30 years working in the constituency.
2. Unbalanced because it is ok for Labour, LibDems and Greens to split the vote with much larger effects but not new and smaller parties.
3. Lazy armchair politics. If you want voters to vote for a particular candidate, get off your backside and campaign for the candidate in question. Don’t expect good candidates to give up because you call them names.
4. Irrelevant in by elections in general and specifically in this by election. No matter who wins, it will not change the government. We have another year or so before the General Election and the winner this time will have to defend their seat then. It is a chance for voters to send a message to Westminster that might be suppressed in a GE.
5. Just plain wrong. It is highly likely that the smaller parties will take votes away from the Tories because so many Conservative voters have had enough of this government but would in no way vote for Labour or even LibDems. You need other candidates with different offers that Conservative voters can migrate towards.
6. In the specific case of @VoteTrueAndFair we are making a unique offer to the voters to change the systems that govern our democracy , not just the party who tells your MP how to vote. I am specifically appealing to the 50% of voters who probably won’t vote because they see all politicians as in it for themselves. It’s my challenge to convince voters that changing the system will mean more MPs will do more of the right things that will lead to better government and better outcomes.
What can one person achieve?
A great deal. Just remember that Nigel Farage got us Brexit without ever getting elected to the UK parliament. Then there is Caroline Lucas who has achieved great things from a single platform. Stephen Flynn and his colleagues at the SNP do a fine job for Scotland. Just 12 DUP assassins held the Tories and the country to ransom over Brexit. I am not approving of Nigel or Arlene Foster’s politics at all, just that one person or twelve in the case of the DUP can make a big difference.
Might the Tories win?
It’s possible but quite unlikely. The local Tory candidate is a departure from the Nadine Dorries’ cult. However, if the Tories win, it will be because Labour and Lib Dems are refusing to stand aside and NOT because of the True and Fair candidate. Both Labour and Lib Dems are trying to block out all other parties by saying that the little parties will spoil the vote. Perhaps they should look a little closer to home, especially Labour and their mealy mouthed capitulation to the Tories on Brexit, Climate Change, environmental damage, ULEZ, electoral reform, taxation and so on. A Tory victory at this point, however small, will force Labour and the Lib Dems reconsider their election strategy on Brexit. After all, it’s only a by-election. If they don’t, I myself will be campaigning against the Tories AND Labour by standing an independent candidate in my area for 2024.
Don Adamson writes in his unique style from his Brexit bunker in Barnsley just before the day of the march to Rejoin the EU.
This week’s homework
One – In the 1960s young people all over the world protested (sometimes violently) at the mess the older generation made of everything they touched. Barbara Cartland (the Romantic Novelist) was rarely thought of as a young radical. She was quoted as saying that in the 1920s young people of her generation absolutely hated the older generation that had sleepwalked into a terrible and unnecessary war. How long will it be before British youngsters develop an incandescent hatred of the scoundrels, liars and charlatans who inflicted this Brexit FUBAR on us?
Two – Russell Brand is an unrepentant Gammon. Does that explain his moral turpitude? It comes as no surprise to me that Brand is facing Nonce charges. Unrepentant Gammons do not remotely resemble the required standard in matters of moral fibre. Nigel Garbage meanwhile continues to complain that Coutts Bank declined to let him use their banking services. This just goes to show that perhaps they do have some standards at Coutts. Then there is the question of libel. I would say that somebody like Nigel Garbage does not have a reputation to lose so there will be no case to answer if Garbage brings a suit for defamation of character.
Now who’s laughing Nigel?
Three – The Tories have proved themselves unfit to govern. Labour has been AWOL since 2010 and flatly refuses to return to work. Keith Starmer is determined to be part of the problem and no part of the solution. Can it really be true that these useless and disgusting creeps are the best that either Labour or Tories can find to stand for election?
This week’s quotes:
Our water is full of crud. Does this remind you of anybody?
… Brexit is doing damage, thanks to supply chain difficulties getting the chemicals to we need to treat water … more fears that that more pollution will come thanks to Michael Gove’s plan to Brexit freedoms to duck out of EU nutrient neutrality rules…. all of the facts have been known to the industry and ministers for years. There is no excuse for either Gove or Coffey for allowing things to get so bad…. unlike the Titanic’s iceberg the Brexit poonami was visible far; far ahead … all we get when ministers are called to account is the verbal equivalent of the effluent that is flooding the waters….
The SS Brexit, nearly 2/3 now lies underwater and most people have abandoned ship. Click to view Brexit Freedoms.
… a crumbling understaffed and vermin ridden mess…. if you mess about for years imposing austerity the catastrophic consequences will be visited on you all at once …. Osborne claimed that the Tories fixed the roof while the sun was shining. The RAAC concrete scandal shows they literally did the opposite…. the whole country will pay the price…. the total liability will run into hundreds of billions … money that the stagnant economy can neither generate nor borrow…
We need a huge injection of emotional intelligence and a commitment to the facts with courage and humility
… we must as a matter of urgency acknowledge and tackle the problems that Brexit has created…. Tory leadership was too often preoccupied with incomprehensible political manoeuvring to engage sensibly with the business community … business community is let down by government … business leaders are not stupid … want to know how we will sort out irritations, skill shortages and myriad other problems created by Brexit …. The business community is dealing with fundamental problems …
Thank EU for the music
… a group of musicians angry about how Brexit has hurt the music industry…
Last night at the Proms.
Richy Scumbag the richest PM we have ever had has to pass round the begging bowl every time he travels
… £15,026 for a helicopter ride set back Tory donor Richard Harping £38,5000 from the mysterious Akhil Tripathi in April …. Taxpayer stumped up £871, 000 on Scumbag’s overseas trips
Campaigning in Cumbria I noticed that if a house was filled with books the occupant would not be voting Tory
… Tories are not open to talent, people with strengths in running departments…. incurious, uncritical, inept…
Theresa May is trying to portray herself as a sensible moderate who tried to secure a less damaging Brexit
…. May could have stopped Brexit … as much to blame for Brexit as those from whom she is now trying to dissociate herself … Tory Brexiters are Blackadders in search of a Baldrick … Check her interview with Brexit apologist Nick Robinson out.
Once rapid progress on decarbonisation is at risk of slowing
… one problem is studied lack of leadership on the environment from Richy Scumbag…..excessive nutrients in rivers were causing mats of green algae that damage protected areas and birds….
150 schools reported to have reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete or RAAC that make them unsafe
… the longer the PM is forced to suffer an embarrassing attack of metaphor made reality – fears over falling roofs that reinforce the idea that Britain is generally crumb ling … the crisis was the result of b botched job s and sticking plaster politics …. The language of the debate has been the kind that would get you sent to the head teacher…. a Scottish Nationalist bluntly accused Tories and Labour of being two cheeks of the same arse.
Red Brexit Blue Brexit
A British Parliamentary Researcher arrested in March on suspicion of spying for the Chinese
Richy Scumbag, British PM, said that attempts to undermine British democracy were ‘completely unacceptable,’ (Comment: that is hilarious from a Tory government that has been doing a FUBAR on Britain since 2010).
Far right parties full of zealous ideologues are prone to schisms marred by scandals
… their positions can be hazy…. the disconnect between genuine problems and farfetched solutions … policies tend to be illusory … incoherent or unachievable … they tend to be associated with misogyny and bigotry and to undermine the rule of law … populist right wing blocs impede countries from getting to grips with pressing problems …
… amateurism, obstinacy, arse covering by superiors and underlings … despairs at how Brexit was handled. Loathes Johnson who rose to power by half truths, full lies and low cunning … cynical politics is at the heart of Britain’s problems … divisive politics of Brexit … rubs against the stable politics that conservatism stands for … such stability was absent in the 1980s when Thatcher launched her war on One Nation Toryism. Johnson’s divisive politics was a return rather than an aberration …
Disasters made worse by dreadful governance …
Pip Pip Don Adamson Medway Delta (Retired) Brexorcist and Saboteur First Class
No doubt this will make me unpopular, but I cannot and will not vote for a Labour party who wish to maintain the illusion that Brexit can be made to work as Keir Starmer declared yesterday. By turning their backs on the greatest socio-economic, political, legal, ethical and environmental catastrophe of our age Labour are mortgaging our children’s futures, the very opposite of what Keir Starmer claims he wants:
From The Guardian – click the extract to read the article.
My Labour chums tell me “shh, Keir has a secret plan to rejoin in 2032“. I’m sorry, but this lacks any sense of pragmatism for three major reasons:
1. By 2032, nobody will know what Brexit was. Micro Pay as EU go deals by Sunak et al will mean that the number of people caring about Brexit will get smaller and smaller. The end losers will be 68 million people without rights to live and work in the EU.
2. The economic and social damage to UK will be deep and mostly irreversible like an irreversible chemical reaction. For example, the bleed of financial services away from UK. The final destruction of the UK car industry. Fishing. Farming. Scotland and Northern Ireland’s departure from UK. and so on.
3. Our divergence from EU standards will be so great as to make it much more difficult to join anew.
Other optimistic Labour colleagues tell me that “Keir is simply saying what people want to hear. Once he gets into power he will change his mind“. They cannot explain how the Mail, Express and Sun will not eat him for breakfast for being no better than Boris Johnson as a liar. None can explain the difference between a red and blue Brexit.
The only good Brexit is a dead Brexit.
Starmer’s proposal appears to be based on a fear of facing down a few red wall racists and maybe some of the remaining hard left in his party. He ignores the vast majority of his membership and of course 63% of the nation who say that Brexit has Failed. This is a morally and pragmatically bankrupt position and must not be rewarded by voting Labour in a General Election.
Labour ignores its membership. Click image to compare.
Granted, the Tories are awful, but one cannot put a cigarette paper between Starmer’s position on Brexit and Sunak’s. Politics is so often the choice between the lesser of two evils rather than something aspirational and pragmatic. This is why I shall be supporting Gina Miller’s True and Fair party and hoping that we reach a hung parliament, given that the Tories have already destroyed themselves. A hung Parliament with a rainbow coalition offers the best chance to end the Brexit nightmare and all of its products as represented by our Brexit iceberg:
The Brexit Iceberg. Keir Starmer says that he wishes to work on root causes. All of the issues and more above the water line have their roots partially or wholly in Brexit.
Putting power before the people.
Write to your Labour MP or prospective candidate with this article. You may also wish to mention the Bylines piece Hard Labour and anything else you can muster. Demand a EU turn on Starmer’s position in exchange for your vote.
Help us make a stand in the Mid Beds by-election by giving Gina Miller’s True and Fair party a decent share of the vote. It’s only a by-election and it will make Labour (and the Lib Dems) think really hard about their position on Brexit. We need help on the ground with canvassing and social media amplification.
Don Adamson writes from his hollow in Barnsley where he contemplates everything from the Disney Longstocking prison ship to Boris Johnson’s sacking from journalism and beyond.
This week’s homework:
One – Some people would say that Chris Mullins was an under rated minister. He felt strongly about efficiency and economy. He would never make a decision until he was satisfied that the proposal was a) effective and b) economical. His staff officers complained that he sometimes took this to the point of diminishing returns. Sooner or later you come to the point where the cheapest thing you can do is sign the cheque and get on with it. Are there any ministers in this government who can be criticised for being over economical and over efficient?
Two – Trump faces 91 indictments. a) Will he score a century? b) Trump calls this a Which Hunt. Is that because he does not know which indictment is which?
Three – I looked in at the Iceland supermarket to buy provisions. The young lady at the checkout said she like my Bulwarks to Brexit cap; for which I thanked her. With the benefit of hindsight perhaps I should have told her that the people in charge of Iceland used to be ardent supporters of Brexit. We hear less of that nowadays. Do I understand that even the people who own Iceland have noticed that Brexit has not turned out to be the earthly paradise we used to hear so much about? Have even the people who own Iceland noticed that Brexit is doing a FUBAR on the British economy?
This week’s quotes:
Rupert Murdoch
… used to grant more audiences to Richy Scumbag than even his arch toady Johnson … passion appears to have cooled…
JCB Chairman Lord Bamford
… said in 2016 that UK was the fifth biggest economy in the world … last year UK dropped to 6th largest … Bamford in no way apologetic for his position on Brexit but wails ‘Isn’t our country in a mess now?’
Immigration no immigration dream of Brexiters lies in tatters
… no public acceptance of this by the government … compared with what we had before Brexit the system is costly, time consuming, badly run, wrapped in miles of red tape and is nothing more than a huge anchor holding the economy back … Brexiters are in full retreat. While publicly lecturing business on the need to conjure up new British employees out of thin air … privately lowering the thresholds under which foreign workers can come to Britain … quite a turnaround … foreign workers can come to Britain at great expense and bother to themselves … makes sectors of the economy look aghast at the government making their lives more difficult … hospitality…. government has come up with what in Blackadder would be described as a ‘cunning plan’ … a pathetic ruse to claim that immigration is not happening when in reality it is … an arrogant, ignorant fantasy … desperation leads the government to propose ridiculous policies like these … Scumbag’s team is torn between populist rhetoric it spews out and reality .. a moribund economy where growth is non existent … a disaster happening before our eyes … latest ruses make it harder for universities to recruit foreign students, even though they are the only thing keeping the further education sector afloat … At least in Italy the far right has woken up to reality … in our surreal politics government promises cuts to immigration knowing full well that it is neither in the national interest or possible…
Number Crunching
7.47M is the number of people on National Health Service waiting lists (up since Richy Scumbag pledged to reduce them). – 8% proportion of NHS budget spent transferring patients to private care … £318M cost of housing 500 refugees in cramped Bibby Stockholm barge for a year … £15.25M Cost of sending 500 refugees on a Disney cruise for a year.
Live scenes from the Disney Longstocking.
Hack watch
Nick Timothy, Telegraph correspondent … Britain faces multiple, complex crises … everything seems frozen by uncertainty, ignorance and fear. The understanding is not there, the ideas are not there … The challenges we face are truly enormous, yet our politics has never seemed smaller … Capitalism as we know it has failed. Not even the Tories can defend it…
Michael Gove told last month’s conference of Local Government Associations
… financially struggling councils were a handful of cases, the exception … six councils have declared themselves bankrupt since 2020 … several others could join them … Kensington and Chelsea (Conservative) …deficit of £47M by 2027 … Kent County Council (Conservative) … faces a deficit of £86M this year … Hartlepool (Conservative since 2019) …even with a 5% increase in council tax deficits could increase to 8M … Warwickshire (Conservative) … worst cases scenario of £106M deficit by 2028 … Guildford (Lib Dem since May previously Conservative) … £300M debts …
Coutts furore with Nigel Garbage
Coutts indicated the decision was not about politics but corporate image… Mad Nad Dorries is taking a break from her little watched show on Talk TV … less than 3,000 views on YouTube … has not spoke in Commons for a year … her constituency want her to resign for her lack of work … most MPs don’t give a toss about the public …
Richy Scumbag’s stance continues to baffle EU officials, UK universities and research community … haggling over pennies … Brexit Britain procrastinates while other countries queue to join, New Zealand is latest non EU country to apply for associate membership … Scumbag is determined to de-Europeanise education and research … Scumbag is committed to government’s own half baked Pioneer scheme …
Immigration legal aid lawyers in South West England have zero capacity to take on asylum seekers housed on Bibby Stockholm
… makes a nonsense of Deputy PM’s claims that the barge will make processing easier … Dowden also complained he did not hear howls of outrage of use of floating accommodation in other countries … Silya Europa in Netherlands has been controversial for the last year…
Lobbying by MPs government promised reform
… not much has changed … income from outside jobs up to £4.75M from £4M … Tory MPs … make multiples of their salaries … standards committee concluded that placing limits on outside work was too difficult … plenty of room at the trough …
Britain should rejoin … without further delay … British sciences face major obstacles … British scientists are clamouring to get back into Horizon … Richy Scumbag sees three arguments against … none stand up to scrutiny … Tories trumpeting planned Britain only project Pioneer … cannot match … Horizon … hard-line Gammons argued Britain could keep benefits of membership … difficult to find a better example than Horizon … Researchers and universities say delay over Horizon has cost the country … If Scumbag is serious about supporting British science he should stop dithering and sign up without delay ..
Brexit has failed
… London Stock Exchange looks increasingly moribund … Brexit has not made it easier to manufacture in UK … exporting has become more complicated … Britain is a diminished actor in export markets … failed to bring in investment … shrank by nearly half in 2022 … Britain is going backwards … Britain’s finance sector battered by Tories … workers have fared no better … raw sewage pumped into English waterways … failing health service… Brexit is a catastrophe for the country which those who campaigned for it claimed to love … Nigel Garbage now barely mentions the B-word … Johnson’s weekly Daily Mail column is largely a B-word free zone … no wonder Mail executives are ever more loudly asking each other ‘whose f*****g idea was this?’ … meanwhile true believer Richy Scumbag quietly drops, yet again, plans for new checks on imports from EU of farm produce … Who would have thought it, apart from those people who warned it would happen? … If Brexit was going well we would never hear the end of it…
Brexit has failed. Click to read our article from 2021.
Eurosceptics are Ecosceptics
This time they will wreck the plant … When you have done all you can to wreck the nation what is next? Answer: wreck the planet … two projects are two sides of the same ugly coin … striking membership overlap between the European (not much) Research Group and the Net Zero scrutiny Group … Lord Frost, former chief Brexit negotiator, claimed, extraordinarily that ‘rising global temperatures are likely to be beneficial’ … both ideologies involve a shocking indifference to evidence and data … distaste for ‘experts’ … same paranoid suspicion of ‘global elites and conspiracies’ … Nigel Garbage is the key figure moving further and faster than most Tory MPs are prepared to go … all horribly familiar … classic disruptive playbook, first devised by the tobacco industry and now the basis of most populist politics … put the frighteners on Keith Starmer … you might think that Brexit did more than enough damage …
… his Daily Mail gig likely to be no exception … Rothermere, mindful that Keith Starmer has promised to end non dom tax status, is less concerned that the column is desperately boring as its ceaseless digs at Richy Scumbag…
Don Adamson Pip Pip Medway Delta (Retired) Brexorcist and Saboteur First Class
This is just a video post for a change. Watch our latest film and listen to our latest music composition below. The film is described thus on our EU TUBE Channel. Please subscribe and share our independent work.
Rishi Sunak’s “Stop the Boats” programme SHAMES Britain.
Suella Braverman’s Rwanda scheme is ILLEGAL, IMMORAL, INDECENT, IMPRACTICAL and VERY EXPENSIVE.
Rishi Sunak’s Government does not WANT to solve the migration issue, because it feeds their racist BREXIT election agenda.
If Sunak wanted to solve the migration issue, I explain with the migration algorithm how he could do it …
But he must pray at the racist Brexit altar for his backers. Sunak is weak. Sunakered as I discussed with James O’Brien on LBC.
Some jarring comparisons are made between Sunak’s Government and “The Office” mockumentary. Except that running the country is not a comedy.
I construct these pieces in my studio. This piece began as an instrumental and was a creation from an operatic vocal melody. From that I wondered how it would sound with some very hard industrial drums. I thought this created tension. At that point I decided it should be a spoken word piece on the Brexit administration’s shameful approach to immigration. The Jonathan Pie video was very influential in guiding the final piece.
Opinions on the song and film vary. For the sake of democracy, I have included samples of both !! 🙂
Brilliant Peter! While people are upset about Saudia Arabia coming over on a visit and their misuse of human rights in their country the same thing is happening over here with how the people in small boats are being treated!
This article in The Guardian is being shared widely by Rejoiners at the moment. It is a good piece of academic analysis. Yet I have some problems with a couple of the points it makes (I guess that’s unsurprising!!). It’s a long piece, so buckle yourself in for a long ride. Here’s what I really like about the piece:
Consonance
The article correctly states that the Brexit mindset is a complex interwoven set of beliefs (coalitions within coalitions) that keep getting reinforced by our populist media. I articulated this via my ‘Brexit Brain’ model below. Quite why I coined the phrase ‘Brexorcism‘ to describe the complex quasi-religious mindset change process in the book Reboot Britain.
“It’s really hard. We see tremendous stability over very long periods of time. A choice like Brexit provides endless stimuli to feed that brain activity. It’s coalitions within coalitions within coalitions…” Darren Schreiber.
The Brexit Brain – Read more by clicking the brain.
Thus, normal approaches to change management are not valid: ‘Carrots and sticks; are often used to change simple levels of behaviour and performance at work. For example, if you pay people more, they might work harder for a while. Put them under threat, they may also work harder, go on strike, work less or leave the company etc. But changing Kwasi-religious beliefs such as Brexit is a whole different ball game. It’s not a rational choice as the Guardian article rightly explains.
Whole brained change
I advocate a blend of so-called left (more analytical) and right brained (more emotional) thinking to reach deep into the Brexit psyche of my ‘clients’, what is known as a ‘hearts and minds’ approach in business consulting circles. Using hard hitting emotional headlines to grab people by the heart and longer more analytical approaches to ensure that their heads fall in line with their hearts. The dual approach is epitomised in the book Private Eyelines, a book targeted at leave voters to help them understand how they were lied to. p.s. DO NOT buy the book on Amazon. I get a £2.00 royalty on a sale of £32.99 for six months work, as Amazon keep all the profits! Whilst I don’t write books as an income source, I also don’t write them to boost Amazon’s profits. If you wish to buy a copy direct at an author’s discount, talk to me direct via reboot@brexitrage.com. By the way the left-right brain divide has been questioned but the idea of whole brain thinking (analytical and emotional) is a handy notion to help us think about the need to reach head and heart.
“A man with a conviction is a hard man to change. Tell him you disagree and he turns away. Show him facts or figures and he questions your sources. Appeal to logic and he fails to see your point.” Leon Festinger.
Another truism in the article is the belief that all leave voters are unresponsive to dialogue, thick or closed. This reveals itself in oft quoted statements by some Remainers, who say things like “You can’t educate pork”, “I’ve tried everything” and “They are thick as mince”. Truth be told, some Remainers lack the skills, patience and time to conduct effective Brexorcisms. Also it really matters who you choose as your ‘client’. There really is no point working on a ‘Nigel Farage type hardcore Brexiters’ but many leave voters are not hard leavers. Selection of your targets is key, both in terms of where they sit on the Remain – Leave continuum and to what extent they are key opinion formers for others who follow their views.
“When you pathologise the other side, there’s no point in reaching out to them” Brian Hughes.
Relationship and rapport is key
The article goes on to say something terribly important. “If there is a way through this, he suggests, it is to break down the myths of us and them.” A successful Brexorcism only operates on the basis of a strong relationship and a basic bond of trust. If you are going to challenge beliefs, you need a massive ‘bank balance’ of relationship power to succeed. This is why Steve Bray and his cult have changed very few minds by ‘shouting at people’ in Parliament, upsetting sympathetic media people into the process. In case of doubt, I started on the street with Steve at No 10 Vigil. He quickly spotted that the real action was at Parliament instead of Downing Street and set up a splinter group. Later on, I tried to gain him a permanent platform with other figures at Channel 4 News which he rejected. Of course, Steve’s activities outside the House of Commons have other functions. However, his finest moments were when he quietly but firmly ask politicians difficult questions using a Socratic style and a ‘servant leadership’ approach. But everything counts. We need to use all the therapeutic communication styles as discussed by John Heron in Reboot Britain. Social settings such as cafes, pubs etc. are often more helpful than formal settings, hence my comments about the sauna below, although the sauna is not the only environment in which you can change someone’s mind about Brexit!
In the article, Carol Tavris confirms the view that ‘consonance’ or rapport is vital as a starting point for a successful Brexorcism. The conversation is a healthy mixture of what Comms people call ‘pull’ and ‘push’ strategies or what musicians and psychologists call consonance and dissonance. Finding some common ground is extremely important or giving away trivial wins in order to build a connection. One of the difficulties I notice in some activists is their fundamentalist need to ‘win’ all the arguments with leave voters. It’s better to let them have some small wins in the dance of Brexorcism.
“When we argue with somebody about their beliefs, the absolute crucial thing to avoid is making them feel foolish. If you say something like, ‘How could you be so stupid?’, that will almost always make your listener become even more committed to their belief. If you say instead, ‘Well, many of my own expectations turned out not to be the case too’, that might be a place to start.”
Dissonance
The Guardian article suggests that we must fully convert people to become Rejoiners. This is akin to a religious conversion or what I call a 360-degree Brexorcism. This is fundamentally incorrect. All we need to deliver as a ‘MVP‘ (Minimum Viable Product” is to move people from the idea that Brexit is a good idea towards ambivalence or doubt about the value of Brexit, a 180-degree Brexorcism. This is a much easier task. This converts in behavioural terms to people not voting in another referendum / General Election to support a Brexit party or possibly voting for a pro-Rejoin party to balance out their previous vote. Obviously a full conversion to the cause would be a much stronger position but, as the article points out, it is much more difficult. This is like trying convert a moderate Christian to Islamic fundamentalism when we only need to go as far as agnosticism, not even atheism.
Our approach to Brexorcism has validation from low-profile approaches to change which were reported on by the BBC some while back. A Brexorcism blends ideas from psychology, sociology, anthropology and therapeutic interventions. People who tell me that you cannot change the minds of Brexit voters simply have not understood the fundamentals of Brexorcism which requires large doses of skill, patience and time. I’m offering a free masterclass on the topic for North Hertfordshire for Europe on Sunday November 19th at 5.00 pm via ZOOM. Contact me to reserve your place. I am also willing to give keynotes and masterclasses on our UK tour to develop a cadre of Brexorcists. This is vital if we are to move the dial faster on Brexit regret by a General Election.
.
Brexorcism
The will of the people has changed
My other major beef with the article is that it suggests that “though there is some anecdotal and polling evidence that there has been a shift in sentiment, and that remain might now prevail, the same polls show very little appetite to reopen the question.” This is incorrect on two levels:
There has been a seismic shift from 4% to 24% of people that believe that Brexit has failed. By 2024 it is quite feasible that 70% of people will believe that Brexit has failed. At that point politicians will no longer be able to look the other way.
Whilst it’s true that there is currently no appetite to reopen the Brexit question, this is merely a feature of where we have got to in the cycle. Also, of course, a sense of foreboding that another referendum would re-open all the family feeds / social angst and so on. However, another bloody referendum is not the only way to settle the matter. It is also quite certain that not opening up the difficult question will mean that the wounds of Brexit will remain with us for generations to come. Some kind of healing could actually take place with a grown-up recognition that Brexit has failed and that rejoining the EU is both possible and desirable. There is an embedded assumption that we MUST do this via a referendum. It ain’t necessarily so. See this article for London for Europe and Reboot Britain on the choices we face.
Myths and Riffs of Brexit
I note that the last remaining Brexiters are putting forward a number of myths to silence debate. Sadly some remainers also buy into these myths due to learned helplessness. For example:
‘Learned helplessness’ on the part of Remainers plays into a passive acceptance of the idea that Brexit is done and it cannot be undone. This is the belief that we don’t deserve to join anew as it might be considered anti-democratic etc. However, a referendum won through fraud, fake social media ads and which was judged illegal by the Supreme Court had it been mandatory is not the high-water mark of democracy. Leavers were not satisfied by a super majority (67.2% on a 64% turnout) in the initial referendum to join the EU in 1975. Nor should we.
Learned Helplessness summed up. We must not subscribe to it.
Indonesia– our structural deficit
Learned helplessness prevails in a vacuum of leadership and a lack of coherent strategy. Whilst the Remain movement was relatively united in the summer of 2019 after a number of victories, the 2019 election fragmented people again along political party lines. There are now as many proposals on how we rejoin as there are pundits. I describe the organisational structure of the Remain movement as being like Indonesia i.e. 17 000 islands and a few bigger ones. But all operating independently. The bigger beasts such as the European Movement compete with other actors such as Best for Britain. Others prefer to plough their own furrow. Some have been asleep at the wheel, calling for Remainers to make the most of Brexit. Yet, the only good Brexit is a dead Brexit. The consequence of being ‘Indonesia’ is that we find it hard to do things at scale. Fragmentation of strategy / structure and poor leadership also mean that we spend as much time arguing internally about strategy as we do in acting on Brexit and Rejoin. I set out five goals which we coalesce around on a monthly basis. It ain’t perfect but we do our best to provide clarity and collaborative leadership across a group of people from Europe. Join us on the first Wednesday of each month at 8 pm UK time via ZOOM. See also our article on Strategies to Join EU anew.
17 000 islands. A few bigger ones.
Five goals to join anew.
Not fade away
One specific point in the article which is not quite correct is the mention of BBC Question Time’s Brexit special event in Clacton. The journalist stated that the audience was made up entirely of those who voted leave. He went on to suggest that this was presumably to ensure the debate would not simply descend into an all-too familiar slanging match. We actually attended the event and talked with people on the street in Clacton. Levels of ‘Bregret’ were widespread in Brexity Clacton outside the event. They were also quite easy to get from people who realised that they had been taken for fools. The Brexit voting audience were also happy to speak with us after the event and many were of the view that Brexit had failed and that they were lied to. It is therefore a mistake to assume that all Brexiters attending BBC QT are now fully committed to Brexit.
This was mirrored in Brexit voting Deal the other week and on BBC Any Questions in Tory voting Southend on 17 August 2023, where the audience failed to applaud any of the statements made by the Tory panel member. Having been at the centre of some extreme nastiness by Brexiters, including the ex Met Policeman who issued threats of violence, spray painted my house and attended with a knife, I observe from Brexit voting Kent that the slanging matches have largely subsided. However, the article is correct when it infers that the products of Brexit won’t go away by not talking about it. See our Brexit iceberg below. Like it or loathe it, Brexit is the smelly dump and stain in the toilet bowel of life that won’t flush.
The Brexit Iceberg.
Brexit will continue to traumatise a generation if we do not burst the boil of Brexit one way or another. I believe in facing problems rather than sweeping them under political carpets. Labour in particular will be culpable for assisting the tragedy of Brexit if they continue to look away. Much in the way that the vast majority of good German people were silenced through fear during Hitler’s populist uprising. Fence sitting on Brexit is assent.
“The Tories will crow about Brexit being done. The Labour frontbench will solemnly observe that past tense, and avoid the B-word, as if it is a triggering trauma for the party and the country, best left undisturbed.”
Brexit is the smelly dump and stain in the toilet bowl of life that won’t flush
Lost consonance
As an aside, I found the opening paragraph about ‘Brexit hard man’ Steve Baker an unusual lead into the Guardian piece. I saw Mr Baker’s attempt to draw sympathy from the public to be a calculated attempt to humanise him as a piece of electioneering and not a window on his tortured Brexit soul. No decent Christian would agree with the human principles on which Brexit is founded. Like everything else with Brexit, it’s just another set of illusions. For example, The European Research Group (ERG) does no research. The weaponisation of asylum seekers to appeal to racists and people with feeble minds is not what Jesus would have done. and so on. Baker uses his faux Christianity as a shield and has now turned into a snowflake to gain sympathy from his constituents using the Brexit confessional box. Baker’s so called mental illness, beard growth and acne were mobilised as excuses. Krishnan Guru-Murphy’s analysis was correct when he pointed out that Baker was a C…nt.
Baker explained “I felt repugnant, hateful, to blame for all of the troubles that we had, absolutely without any joy, constantly worried about everything to the point of mental torment. A constant state of panic attacks and anxiety”. So he should, for all the pain he has inflicted on our children and those having anxiety, depression and lost careers / jobs / livelihoods due to Brexit. In fact, Baker should be in jail alongside Rees-Mogg who promised us cheap training shoes, Farage who promised a boom in fish and chips and Johnson who said that Brexit would make my wife’s breasts bigger. I’ve checked several times. They haven’t.
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