Announcing a new contributor to our platform. Raj or “The Brexit Undertaker”, “The Brexorcist”, “The Dark Knight” or “Q-Anon” is a British Indian who is fed up with English passivity on Brexit and a whole slew of issues affecting our sceptered isle. He pulls no punches, taking out the mealy mouthed apologists, Remoaners, Starmerites, Gammon and keyboard warriors by name, without apology. Needless to say, I don’t agree with everything or everyone he chooses to take lumps out of, but I agree with his right to say it. He lives in the Brexity West Midlands under cover. This is his first article of a series entitled Bravery.
Click to view Brexit RIP.
Bravery
We live in a time where the PLP have full control over Parliament and were told by their mouthpieces that they’d do something about Brexit. We are still receiving false assurances from some of Starmer’s mouthpieces like Phil Moorhouse and Graham Hughes (Editor’s note, I personally think that Phil does a good job), although I hope that more people are beginning to ask questions, seek specifics and lobby their MP and influencers with copies of the book Brexit RIP : Reboot Britain. I wrote this on Remembrance day, the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, which led to the creation of our NHS but also the EU.
It was the 80th anniversary where we commemorate the brave men & women who fought against fascism at home and abroad. The NHS is an institution we all should cherish and be proud of. The memory of those who gave their lives to fight fascism is why we should fight with all we have to honour the sacrifices they made for us. Brexit and the current trajectory we are on of not undoing it risks the Reform party coming to power and the loss of our NHS. In order to honour their memory, we need to show something that each and every one of them showed- BRAVERY. There were also those who domestically fought against the allies of fascists in Oswald Moseley’s blackshirts. Our predecessors wouldn’t have tolerated him becoming PM, neither should we. Failure to fight and reverse Brexit will result in his heir, Farage, becoming PM.
BRAVERY is the 7 elements we should possess from a mental perspective to fight the fascists.
Brexit is the root cause of all the problems we face. Be it human rights, cost of living, fascism on the rise. See Brexit RIP : Reboot Britain for a sober evaluation of the opportunities we can grasp by Rejoining the EU.
Remember and Revere those who gave their lives to fight fascism by continuing their battle. Also remember whose actions & inaction led to the mess we are in right now- Corbyn & Starmer are both the enemy here, as are the Tories & Tarage. Corbyn’s three line whip, refusal to leave power and his own authoritarian moves have been used against him by Starmer against him.
Accountability and Actions Daily actions matter, not just waiting for the next election. Every MP who voted to trigger Article 50, every corrupt deal made during Covid, is likely to have committed Public Office Misconduct. This offence carries a potential life sentence. If Nonce Andrew lost his title as a Royal, anyone is fair game, especially MPs. This is the realm of legal activists and not something we currently have the legal muscle or finances to do. You can change that by supporting us.
Vision We need to be bold, think big and have a target in mind for what success looks like. See Brexit RIP : Reboot Britain Brexit is the root cause of our issues, it is something we need to remember and accountability is the desired goal by which we reverse this. The impacts are in the book and you can find our vision and five goals of how we’d spend what we’ve lost on improving people’s lives. Accountability for MPs who have committed crimes & those engaging in corruption needs to be part of it. See the Brexit iceberg for a simplified multiple cause and effect diagram.
The Brexit Iceberg. Read more at Brexit RIP. Click to read.
Epstein To deliver our vision, to have accountability, to remember who led us to this, we need a unified message. What better than Epstein – this ties Farage, The Royal Family, Trump and the Tories together. All are involved in this. People hate corruption and bringing down the corrupt is essential to bringing about the world we want.
Reclaim the narrative and language. We need to position ourselves as the patriots, the ones who love our country. This is done by explaining our vision, how rejoining will make our lives better, and through the gentle art and discipline of Brexorcism.
Read the book of Brexorcism.
You This is aimed at some Caucasian readers, who love to deny the systemic nature of bigotry, by saying that they can’t be racist because they don’t use the N Word. Looking the other way, while abuse of this nature is inflicted upon those who aren’t part of the In group (not white) are abused, often illegally. How much do you want to succeed, to deliver this vision and achieve accountability by reversing Brexit?
Editor’s note: I’m not a member of this group, but English passivity and culture lie at the root of this issue. Changing culture is not a five minute job. You are encouraged to read my books on OD and culture change.
I have long advocated the need for “Mass Brexorcisms” on an individual level, to heal the divides brought about by Brexit disinformation. I developed the proven methodology in our book Reboot Britain – Changing tired minds on Brexit. Sadly, my advice largely fell on deaf ears. Admittedly a “Brexorcism” requires vast supplies of skill, patience, empathy / UPR and time, lots of it, spread out over time, to be effective. But we must gradually talk people down from “Farage’s fictional mountains” of myths, mythinformation and downright lies. Brexorcism is therefore very effective but also very inefficient, as a way to change the minds of the masses.
Brexorcism summed up.
So, we must move from individuals to groups and whole communities. Although I have dealt with social groups, operating at scale for whole communities is not within our capacity. However, it IS within reach of political parties seeking to restore trust, truth and confidence in our politics. This will deflate the “dogwhistle” variant favoured by the populists and fantasists.
A National Conversation
To this end, I propose a nationwide series of town hall type events and a sustained campaign to restore truth and trust to politics. Better Britain events will combine notable speakers and experts with the crucial element of actually listening to the lived experience of those who would normally not get involved in politics via expertly facilitated small group sessions. In doing so, we will tease out a common vision of what would constitute a Better Britain. I’m under no illusions as to just how important it will be for this to be designed properly. I am available to help political parties do the necessary groundwork from my other side of life as a management / organisation and change consultant.
Who will do this?
I favour a coalition of progressive parties, such as the Lib Dems and Greens to engage communities. However, it it is clearly Labour and The Conservatives who have the most skin in the game to deal with people who believe that Reform UK is the only answer to our problems in Britain. We offer the idea to anyone who wishes to put an end to the populist rot that is infesting our nation.
Reboot Britain
If people wish to support a pilot scale event, to show the political parties what it looks like, I am happy to mount such an event with funding. Please go to Support Us, if you would like to see a better Britain.
I have written many times on the fragmentation of the Remain / Rejoin organisation and likened our movement to that of Indonesia (17 000 islands, many with just a few inhabitants etc.). For more detail on the OD issues, see Reasons to be Helplessand Indonesia. Last week I attended the so-called Brexit reset summit to meet a few colleagues. In passing, I made a trip down memory lane and it was good to catch up with a few friends. Although this will grate a little with some of you reading this, I was not impressed with the organisation of the event, save for the Three Million, who at least had thought about some level of coherence.
Shouting at the wind
Steve Bray dominated the protest with his SODEM fan club. It was the usual bad karaoke punctuated by occasional shouting. In case of doubt, I helped to start the street activism that became SODEM (Stand of Defiance European Movement – itself a two fingered salute to The European Movement). Some of you may therefore see my critique as being based on jealousy. It is not. The trouble with the SODEM protest is that it fails to provide any meaningful content or substance to journalists. Instead they use it as a colourful backdrop to their own stories, which is widely regarded as a joke by critics.
Photo backdrops may please those that appear in the pictures but it means that Remain still has no a credible voice in Mainstream Media – See objective 2 of our five goals. Where I live in Brexit Central, leave voters think that Steve Bray IS the sum total of our movement. It’s very hard to push back on this view.
Style and substance
Some Remainers still don’t understand the need to balance substance (content) with style (delivery). I made several attempts to get Steve a regular podcast with Jon Snow of Channel 4 some years back. I also gave several other suggestions to professionalise SODEM’s work, such as making the compilation video interviews. However, the C4 opportunity was disregarded out of hand and I (and Jon) were shouted down by the mob. Our protest at Parliament remains literally a one man show with a loud hailer and an amplifier. This is a far cry from the diverse and more inclusive offerings of previous incarnations.
Even Steve himself has done better. For example, when he used to intercept politicians with his Socratic questioning style. These were often deeply penetrating pieces rather than “shouting at the wind”. Whilst the loud hailer was amusing for a while, Steve’s act has not changed and it grates with professional journalists trying to do their job. Sadly, this is what many people see as our public face. We can and have done much better.
No more heroes
I’m told that Steve has made several millions from his protests. People love to support lone heroes and this satiates their own guilt, allowing them to do nothing. We have always needed distributed leadership and not heroic leadership – see the academic literature on these terms.
Pressure groups … not
I was astonished to see that the “real” European Movement made a claim on Linkedin that their own pressure had led to Keir Starmer’s reset. In fact, the elements in the so-called reset were included in the Labour 2024 Manifesto. Having once been a leader of an EM group, I’m afraid to say that they are not leaders, not even fast followers but laggards, in terms of being a pressure group. The leader of the Rejoin Party nailed the point:
“The purpose of a pressure group is to apply pressure, NOT to align themselves with one party’s manifesto commitments.”
Brendan Donnelly, former MEP.
Illogical incrementalism
It was Andrew Adonis, EM Chair, who sold the Remainers the false narrative of “step by step” aka logical incrementalism.
Hardly stretch targets. Just Labour Policy or opportunistic asks (defence).
Leadership is needed
I make these remarks in the hope that this prompts some continuous improvement in both areas. Labour will move only if they see considerable political advantage in doing so. Influence comes from both “push” and “pull” communications’ strategies. SODEM’s voice is an extreme form of push communications and is no longer very persuasive. EM’s voice does not push or pull our leaders to action at all, being totally in the pocket of their intended audience. “Creative tension” is always needed between leaders and their intended audience, rather than corrosive tension or no tension at all. See Peter Senge for more on creative tension and leadership of change.
Reset or Reboot and Rejoin?
It is clear that the only good Brexit reset is a dead Brexit. Read more by subscribing to our newsletter (free). Labour must find more courage. Rejoin won’t wait until 2032 as the damage of Brexit will be largely complete, much of it irreversible. The only piece of solace from the Brexit reset is the agreement to dynamic alignment. Still this is thin gruel. Starmer has managed to upset both ‘sides’ of the Brexit debate. Labour are banking on the belief that the Remainers are more forgiving. We shall see ….
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.
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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 some Mondays 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.
Charles Radley is mounting a campaign to persuade some MPs to change to a pro-EU party (e.g. Lib-Dem, Green, SNP, Plaid Cymru). First we are targeting those Labour constituencies where the MP is known to be pro-EU and where a pro-EU party came second in 2024. But we plan to do much more in terms of lobbying MPs across Britain with books and other resources. Can you help? Please fill in the questionnaire at this Google forms link so we can organise our campaigning most effectively. Thanks !
Here is our review of the Rejoin EU debate in Parliament on 24 March which found that Brexit was overwhelmingly a disaster. You can read the full transcript here.
Rage Against The Brexit Machine
There was unified Rage Against The Brexit Machine from right across the political spectrum save for the Tory party and Reform UK, who were too scared to attend. This rage even included Labour, who came as close as possible to being censured by the Labour party machine. Stella Creasy, in particular, gave an excoriating account of the damage being inflicted by Brexit, but, of course, stopped short of calling for Labour to reverse it, putting party before country. They will pay for this in support as I understand from inside sources that people are leaving Labour in droves. Is she waiting for her moment to unseat Starmer? We shall see. Here is an excerpt:
“Brexit is a disaster. It is a disaster by anybody’s metric, not least those according to whom it was purported to be a route to the promised land. The pandemic spared some of the blushes of those who still try to claim that we have got some elusive sovereignty as a result of leaving the European Union, but we can see the damage. Our constituents can see the damage.
Many Members have already cited some of the relevant figures; let me cite some more. As a result of Brexit, 1.8 million fewer jobs have been created in our economy, and that number is likely to rise to 3 million by 2035. Some 16,500 small businesses have stopped exporting to Europe all together. Those of us who were part of the parliamentary delegation last week had the pleasure of listening to Lord Frost trying to argue that up was down, but we know the truth for our constituents. We have seen the damage.
To me, the Brexiteers are like those people—we all have met them on a night out—who join the group, start a fight in the club and get everyone kicked out, but who still maintain, three hours later, as they are walking everyone around a completely empty industrial estate somewhere, that they know a great club that everyone can get into.”
Stella Creasy
Former Labour MP Rosie Duffield extinguished the notion that Labour had made an election promise NOT to reverse Brexit, by pointing out the many election promises already broken by Labour.
“The people now in charge were campaigning, with those of us who were here then, against Brexit several years ago, and I would like them to stick to that.”
Rosie Duffield
Creasy chose a particularly pathetic excuse to justify why Brexit could not be ended, by stating that it would be “difficult”. FFS, this is the job of politics and politicians, to do difficult things to make the world a better place!! Brexit was difficult, so stating the obvious as a reason to do nothing was possibly one of the ludicrous reasons to let Brexit continue that I’ve heard. This fits in with Paul Cawthorne’s list of reasons to do nothing articulated by Remoaners on an almost daily basis.
Friends Reunited
The debate was very cordial and was a model example of the kind of democratic behaviour we can return to when the Brexit nightmare has been put into a grave. It gave a united voice to the many Lib Dems who spoke, the SNP, Plaid Cymru and Independents. Impressive stuff from all. Here’s a few highlights:
“We can see from the number of Liberal Democrat contributions that this subject is very important to our party. My hon. Friend the Member for Tunbridge Wells (Mike Martin) talked about the impact on defence, and my hon. Friend the Member for Stratford-on-Avon (Manuela Perteghella) talked about higher education. My hon. Friend the Member for Lewes (James MacCleary) spoke about youth mobility and the Pan-Euro-Mediterranean convention, while my hon. Friend the Member for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe (David Chadwick) talked about the impact on farmers.
My hon. Friend the Member for Bath (Wera Hobhouse) gave a very personal reflection on her own journey, for which I am grateful, and my hon. Friend the Member for South Devon (Caroline Voaden) talked about fishing. My hon. Friend the Member for Wokingham (Clive Jones) spoke eloquently about barriers to trade. My hon. Friend the Member for Wimbledon (Mr Kohler) gave a polemic, which I really enjoyed, and my hon. Friend the Member for Melksham and Devizes (Brian Mathew) made a particularly interesting contribution about health co-operation, for which I thank him.”
Sarah Olney
“I encourage Labour Members to pursue this issue and keep on taking it to their Government—to argue with passion and conviction that they want the UK to be back in the European Union. That is the only thing that will satisfy the petitioners, because that is what they want. As has been rightly said, the UK public are way ahead of the House on this issue; some 60% of them now want the UK to rejoin the European Union. We should look at what they want. If one of the parties—just one—were to say, “We are totally committed to full EU membership,” that would be immensely popular; it would go with the grain of public opinion throughout the United Kingdom.”
Pete Wishart
“The Government must do what is right for the British public and not just run scared of the hon. Member for Clacton and the rest of his quarrelsome rag-bag of little Englanders and cheerleaders for Trump and Putin. We are part of Europe, and I have no doubt that one day we will rejoin the EU and regain our position at its heart, just as Winston Churchill advocated. Until that day, we must work tirelessly towards fostering ever closer co-operation by breaking free of the red lines in which this Government have bound themselves so unnecessarily.” Paul Kohler
“The end of January marked five years since the UK left the EU. Although a majority of people in the UK, and indeed in Wales, voted to leave the EU at that time, the majority do not think it was a good idea any more. Polling shows that 55% of Britons now say that it was wrong for the UK to leave the EU, with just 11% seeing Brexit as more of a success than a failure. Let us also not forget that young people voted decisively to remain.”
Liz Savile-Roberts
“Speaking of the architects of the botched Brexit, where exactly is the hon. Member for Clacton (Nigel Farage)? According to Hansard, he has mentioned Brexit just twice since his election in July. Surely, if this Brexit deal was the monumental success that he and others promised, he would be reminding us no end of times. His silence speaks volumes. Even he seems aware that this supposed triumph is best quietly forgotten.”
James MacCleary
I do not think that anyone in this Chamber, or the petitioners, expects the Labour party to lead us back into the EU tomorrow. What we want to hear from this Labour Government is a commitment that that is their objective and that is what they will work towards.
Pete Wishart
“I urge the Government to move away from warm words—at the PPA, we all exchanged warm words about our new relationship—towards action and results. Otherwise, we will be talking about a reset for many decades. We need action from the Government now.”
Wera Hobhouse
“I still wholeheartedly believe in us rejoining the European Union—that is our future—and debates like this are part of that process. People need be under no illusion that this issue is going away; as the petitioners and those supporting them prove, this debate is ongoing in the country. There is also strong support, as the polling evidence shows, that the public believe that we made a mistake.”
Tim Roca
We cannot afford to wait 10 years to address some of the very real challenges that we face as a country. Practical, tangible steps can be taken to help to build a stronger and closer relationship with the EU.
James Naish
“What is it about enriching young people’s lives that frightens this Government so much?“
Liz Savile-Roberts
Several Labour MPs went further than I had expected them to go, whilst sticking to red lines, red lines made largely irrelevant and inappropriate by redneck Trump and his Russian sponsors. We have also received some gratifying replies from Labour MPs.
To absent friends …
Save for a couple of swivel headed Unionist loons talking vacuous BS about fish and democracy, the debate was devoid of the Brexit Culture Carriers. No Nigel, Tice, Johnson, Mogg, Braverman, Duncan Smith, Truss, Sunak, Patel, Redwood, Davis, Failing Grayling, Chope, Coffey, Whittingdale, Francois, Hoey, Steve (beardy wierdy) Hardman Baker, Jenkyns, Fabricate, Leadsom, Gullis, Mordaunt, Hayes and many more. When people tell me that now is not the right time to end Brexit in case we end up in a hokey cokey Brexit, they seem to forget that Brexit has no cheerleaders. Nigel F has mentioned the word just twice since taking up office in his constituency of Washington and adopted the easy lie that Brexit was in fact perfection but it was just executed extremely badly by the hard Brexit cabinet. One would have thought that if Brexit was so good, then Brexiteers would have been lining up in their thousands to extol its virtues at the event. No one came. This speaks volumes. Even the Tory Gammon MP for Fylde said that Brexit had provided many benefits, but was unable to name ANY in his summing up. And the party line offered by Labour MP for Thamesmead was lacking in substance and delivered in such a robotic style that I began to wonder if AI had arrived sooner than expected.
It ain’t over
The motion passed. Sadly that does not mean anything other than the debate was held. If we want anything to happen, we must make it so … So, the job is not finished ….
I was delighted to receive over 30 positive replies from MPs due to our mass mailing of our book Rejoin EU: Reboot Britain to MPs, the work of 60 people, including former Labour MEPs, a KC and subject experts across many fields. This nearly involved my detention in parliament due to taking 30 kg of book in a suitcase for a meeting there !!
We have about 300 Labour MPs / journalists and influencers still to mail with books and are hatching a plan to form a “coalition of the willing and able” to meet with Sir Keir Starmer directly. We will need around £4000 to undertake these tasks (£1500 for books, a meeting in London for 20 people and associated costs). If you can help, please send us some support via WISE, BACS, Go Fund Me etc.
And you can still mail your MP with our letter and a hard copy of the book – get the template here and the book on Amazon. Bulk orders at 60% author discount direct via e-mail at reboot@brexitrage.com
Debate Rejoin NOW
“The EU is a pragmatic project, but at its core it is also an idealistic one. It is a project grounded in ideals, and in the idea that the nations of central Europe should never go to war again. It succeeded in that mission, making it one of the most successful political projects ever in mankind’s history. When we are making the argument for rejoining the European Union, let us use the language of idealism, not just rationalism. Unless we build a case for the UK to rejoin the EU based on idealist language and get people to buy into the ideals on which the European Union was founded, we will not have long-term buy-in to the project among the people we need to convince.”
David Chadwick
“I fear that I am in danger of picking at the scars and wounds referred to by the hon. Member for Walthamstow (Ms Creasy)—a very learned Member—but I must reflect on these past nine years. On 23 June 2016, the people of Scotland voted to remain within the European Union by 62% to 38%. There was a majority for remain in every single one of Scotland’s local authorities. In anyone’s terms, that was decisive, and if the vote were rerun today, I suggest it would be even more decisive.”
This piece was first written in 2024. It’s still as relevant (perhaps more so) under the Brexit Labour Trump Government … The only good Brexit … is a dead Brexit … it has become painfully clear that Brexit has not delivered any of the so-called freedoms, nor solved any of Britain’s problems or opened up opportunities of equivalent or better value when compared with our previous membership of the ‘club’. Read Rejoin EU: Reboot Britain for more on this. Better still, mail copies of the book to MPs or support our project to do so.
Even the Financial Times find it necessary to court proven liars such as Matthew Elliot in their recent film on the subject. Elliot attempts to make the argument that Brexit has not delivered because our mainstream politicians are not willing to seize opportunities, but then fails to identify any. It’s a thinly disguised argument to invite the Brexit ultras to the table, and with it, full fat fascism to Little Britain. Watch the FT film at the end of this article. Before that, watch this two minute short piece which sums up what Brexit was really about. My film is devoid of academic references as these tend to need much more time, but the supporting facts and validation can be found at the accompanying article Populism will eat itself.
Music soundtrack by Peter Cook. Available on Bandcamp with all proceeds going towards our campaign.
Brexit has failed
The film has already produced a visceral reaction from a leave voter who has clearly been affected by the film’s dystopian machine-styled soundtrack (deliberate) and the speed / brevity of the messages. He appears to have been somewhat triggered by the experience, which is good. Sadly, ‘Alan the Hat’ has no collateral in terms of his own research, content etc. Nor does he have any followers on his You Tube channel. I aim to provide a good (free) service and admittedly packed a lot of text into two minutes. Alan clearly has problems reading big words and sentences that are more difficult than “the cat bit the dog”, so I have provided a summary of the points below so he may study them in greater detail.
Brexit in 2024 – a summary
Tory gaslighting on an industrial scale fuelled Brexit. It continues via a daily stream of dead cats to take people off the scent of Brexit. Examples incude the need to incarcerate legal migrants, identity politics, constant scandals etc.
Brexit delivered 4.5% GDP LOSS into perpetuity and a broken NHS which Boris Johnson promised to fix, with the fabled £350 million per week on the bus. Brexit has damaged our resilience as a nation and therefore our ability to settle strikes with public sector workers and so on. Growth is for the birds in such circumstances. We are once again the sick man of Europe.
Cost of living impacts have Brexit as a major contribution. Food inflation has reached 20% There are more to come once border checks come in later in 2024 … In the next 28 days we will see further inflation on goods imported from Europe and barriers to trade for exporters. See Brexit Inflation. The Brexiteers’ explanation of this is that Brussels are ‘punishing’ us. Get real, we are now no longer a member of the golf club hence there are associated costs and barriers. The Golf Club analogy I made in 2018 is prescient here:
We are now a third country. Membership had benefits.
Brexit has delivered broken businesses, broken promises, broken lives and broken livelihoods. It is not true to say that Brexit Breaks Britain as this implies that Brexit is done. It is not and I deliberately choose the phrase Brexit’s Breaking Britain as it is more accurate.
Brexit weaponised an increase in racial tension from Brexit extremists such as Patel, Braverman, Badenoch, Anderson, Gullis, Mordaunt, Mogg, Farage, Tice Truss et al. They are responsible for killing people seeking safety from warzones.
Brexit has meant broken promises to farmers, fishermen, police, teachers, social carers et al. As a small example, the British replacement for the Common Agricultural Policy does not compare in any way to what we had, faults and all. Listen to the farmer in the FT film below for more on his topic.
Perhaps one of the real reasons for Brexit is yet to materialise … ‘Singapore on Thames’ beckons, with the ‘sale of the century’ via SEZs and a return to a feudal society. If you want to understand what an SEZ is, read @EuropeanPowell’s explanation of what you are about to receive whilst you are being gaslit by tales of royal cancers and gender reassignment..
Extract from @EuropeanPowell’s work. Follow him on Twitter.
Brexit is not done per Boris Johnson’s lie of an ‘oven ready deal’. Impacts will continue for the next decade.
Liz Truss’ experiment in Brexonomics cost an uncool £70 billion and ruined young people’s hopes of home ownership in just 49 days. Just imagine what the Brexit hardcore could achieve.
Boris Johnson used COVID to literally ‘mask’ Brexit impacts … what I termed a ‘Britastrophe‘.
Johnson must have jumped for joy when COVID hit. It was an opportunity to kill 30 000 OAPs in care homes whilst operating as a mass distraction for ‘getting Brexit done’. Click the image for more on our Britastrophe.
Brexit means a loss of freedom of movement, student exchange scheme and more travel friction / costs. All of this is self inflicted as part of our so-called democratic referendum.
Both the Tories and Labour are presently engaged in distraction, distortion and dead cattery, in their attempts to erase the mistake of Brexit and secure votes. Brexit has so far claimed five Prime Ministers. It will also claim Keir Starmer.
Brexit will continue to break Britain unless we Join the EU anew. We can do this. The door remains open and even The Telegraph are now recommending it.
All the while, Labour are asleep at the wheel of Brexit misfortune. Keir Starmer cannot deliver his transformation without recovering our resilience.
‘Stop the boats’ has failed. It was yet another dead cat to channel people’s anger in the Daily Mail / Excess. In any case, better answers to migration are available. See our immigration algorithm.
The damage of Brexit is cumulative and much of it irreversible. Labour’s talk of rejoining from 2032 is therefore disingenuous and despicable.
We are essentially Sunakered. Listen to our dialogue with James O’Brien on this point.
Brexorcisms still needed
Do have a look at the FT film which overall gives a good coverage of the state of our Brexit nation. I am disappointed at the lack of fact checking of some of the statements by Matthew Elliot. Where the film falls short is in the area of leadership, preferring instead to look for incremental adjustments which will not address the elephant in the room. A few mealy mouthed journalists apologise for Keir Starmer’s “management by focus groups”. Peter Foster makes the error that, since nobody wants to talk about Brexit, it will go away as an issue dividing families. Perhaps he needs to study the psychology of ‘closure’ a bit more carefully. Sure, the word Brexit can be airbrushed out of public discourse and there has been a concerted effort by politicians on most sides to do so, but the ‘dark mark’ of Brexit will be left on society unless the issue is resolved. Resolution can come through a number of means and not just another referendum. As I said in 2019, “Let’s Talk About Brexit“, maybe the title of their film acknowledges this need. Martin Wolf comes out head and shoulders above the rest of the journos and politicos with an honest appraisal of the mess that we’re in. We do need to talk about Brexit. Conduct a Brexorcism today.
Worth 30 minutes of your time.
Don’t just take my word for it. Here’s Brexit in numbers from official Government figures and other trusted sources:
Some of our books. Click the image to check them out on Amazon.
I was astonished to learn that Reform UK supporters are actively backing killing immigrants who they believe to be paedophiles. Rupert Lowe, Reform UK MP for Great Yarmouth constantly posts disinformation about immigration and a host of other subjects on LinkedIn to trigger people who are easily swayed into believing him. This set of responses are possibly the worst I’ve seen, although they are not the only ones by far. Eugene seems quite happy to shoot paedophiles. He has fallen prey to the idea that there is a “paedophilia gene” and it resides exclusively within foreigners, when the vast majority of rapists in Britain are the “old English variety”. Eugene works as a business development manager at Future Optics in Lancashire. I’d be quite concerned if he is willing to kill people indiscriminately based on Rupert’s dogwhistle calls.
At various points, Rupert stokes the idea that not only are the rapists ‘foreigners’, but they are also ‘islamic’. This dangerous disinformation is poisoning our society and Eugene is an easy target for people looking for easy answers to complex problems.
In terms of incitement, here are some example of the kind of post that Rupert puts up. He posts this kind of thing several times daily, but never answers any comments. It is a persistent campaign of disinformation.
Please report disinformation and / or hate crimes. It helps keep the internet safe. False information and outright lies do not help to “Make Britain Great Again” as Nigel Farage would have you believe. They simply poison the culture and breed hatred, which is the basis of dogwhistle politics. And, in case you are wondering, better answers to immigration are available. See below. In case you also think we are “lefty losers”, think again. Yet it is always a mistake to pray at Donald Trump, Putin and Farage’s altar. Take courage Sir Keir Starmer.
Nigel Farage likes to suggest that there might be a “terrorist gene”. Of course, this is utter rubbish. He also implies that no terrorists are English in spite of compelling evidence to the contrary. This is how the far right take people for a ride …. But, if that’s true, then surely there must be an “upskirting gene”, since Nigel’s cousin was convicted of the sleazy crime of photographing women’s panties in a clandestine manner at the Co-Op in Orpington, just near to Nigel’s house in Downe.
This remake of a Sham 69 song tells the story of Nigel Farridge’s nephew who got a £572 fine for upskirting, when he should have had a two year jail sentence. There’s privilege in action for you!
I decided to write a song about it, choosing the Sham 69 Punk Rock song “Hurry up Harry” as the vehicle. Download “Hurry up Farridge” at Bandcamp to support our work. Here’s the video. I rated it 18 since it deals with the unsavoury subject of upskirting.
The Tory MP Kevin Hollinrake is moaning about giving worker’s rights. I suggested that he stop whingeing as he’d got his Brexit. Then “Dave Gilmour” entered the fray. No, not the brilliant Pink Floyd guitarist and singer/songwriter but Dave, cynic, affiliate at Mundo Cognito Ltd, author of “Privacy Architecture – guided by TOGAF®” according to his LinkedIn profile. The online conversation that ensued was comedy gold. Dave claims that he does not need any benefits or problems solved by Brexit and then goes on to pretend that he voted Remain.
Hollinrake’s original post.
Another prick in the mall.
Comfortably Numb.
Wish EU were here.
Angry Dave needs to chill.
Paul got no reply from Dave. Too busy promoting his new album I guess.
When you lose the argument, go for the gut. Very Trumpesque.
Dave makes a false claim that he voted to Remain but lets himself down with his grammar … “get over it”, “embittered losers” and so on are the ‘grammatical ornaments’ of Brexit extremists. I await the trial.
This rather reinforces the poverty of trying to influence people online. Brexorcism is a face to face discipline as I explain in Reboot Britain.
Don’t be like Dave. He just made a fool of himself in front of all his LinkedIn contacts.
