and this will all end…

“In dreams we remember what was, we think about what is, we imagine what might be, what can be, what will be” (Eva-Jane Gaffney speaks Sarah Coffey’s words in “The Pheonix”). These words are taken from a really beautiful Irish Covid-19-inspired video about love, loss, hope and strength (if you haven’t seen it, I suggest you do so by clicking here).

The video manages to captures many of the emotions we’re all feeling at the present time… the sense of gratitude; the kindness shown by others; the awful suffering; the amazing heroes; the precious lives lost; and the enormous strength shown…

We probably all have our ‘wish lists’ of the things we will treasure when all this ends. Those MANY things that perhaps some of us have taken for granted… those simple pleasures… those things that help to make us who we are.

We will never ever forget it and we will never ever let go again.

And this will all end…

But before we get carried away by it all, it’s VITALLY important that we also never allow the people in power to forget the things that they got SO wrong and at such cost:

• The Prime Minister is very good at putting a ‘positive gloss on things’, but conveniently fails to acknowledge that the death toll in the UK is amongst the highest in the world; that NHS staff and other healthcare workers have not had the protective clothing and equipment they needed and would have expected; that the government could have increased testing, tracking and tracing capacity weeks earlier than the current timetable; and that care homes have been woefully under-protected.
• The Prime Minister skipping five crucial meetings on the virus (as reported by The Sunday Times on 19 April, in its massively-critical assessment); when he did attend in early March, it was almost certainly too late (the virus was already upon us) - failings in February probably cost thousands of lives; calls to order protective gear were ignored and scientists’ warnings fell on deaf ears (check out this week's 'Panorama' programme if you think I'm being unfair).
• The Home Secretary making disparaging remarks about low-skilled workers (when it transpires that the majority of people employed by the sector are low-paid care workers - who are responsible for providing daily help to older and disabled adults in care homes and the community).

Writer Philip Pullman doesn’t hold back in his criticisms of the existing system (in an essay in ‘Perspectives’ for Penguin Books): “It’s all got to change. If we come out of this crisis with all the rickety, fly-blown, worm-eaten old structures still intact, the same vain and indolent public schoolboys in charge, the same hedge fund managers stuffing their overloaded pockets with greasy fingers, our descendants will not forgive us. Nor should they. We must burn out the old corruption and establish a better way of living together… And let’s reform the voting system. At the very least, let’s do that without delay. It’s no wonder that people feel disconnected from politics when most of us live in safe seats, and might as well not vote at all. We must be able to see that our opinions are accurately reflected in the composition of our government, not completely disregarded as they are now. So it might lead to coalitions: excellent. Discussion, compromise, working together are exactly how to run a decent country”.

And when this will all end, you’ll ask me dance.

And I will say, yes, let’s dance.

I desperately hope that we come out of it all determined to make the world a better place.

I desperately hope that we remember the people and the jobs that make our day-to-day lives worth living.

I desperately hope that we truly decide to care for our planet.

I desperately hope that we can move away from the old world of greed and power, of the haves and the have-nots. My fear is that some will have very short memories and revert back (if ever they budged) to lives governed by wealth and influence.

I desperately hope that such individuals and corporations are overwhelmed by the voices of those who know there’s a better way.

We’ve learnt so much from this awful coronavirus experience. Let’s use what we’ve learnt to make the world a better place.

And this WILL all end…

We will cry… oh we will cry!

Photo: Banksey’s ‘Girl With Pierced Eardrum’ gets a Covid-19 facemask.

the people’s government?

Yes, the ‘people’ have spoken. Sadly, under the present ridiculous first-past-the-post voting system, this is what constitutes democracy.
But, under such a system, my voice is not heard. It doesn’t count.
Yes, one might say that people whose voices haven’t been listened to in the past, have now had their voices heard. Sadly, I fail to understand how such people believe that Mr Johnson is the answer to their prayers… but what do I know?
Perhaps, at the next General Election, I’ll be part of a group of people who feel passionately that THEIR voices haven’t been listened to… and suddenly, at long last, have their voices heard?
I live in hope.

So, after 9 years of abject Conservative government (my personal view, of course!) and abject Opposition from the Labour Party (ditto), we now find ourselves with the Tories re-elected with their largest majority since 1987.

It was billed by some as the most important election of our lifetime… and I think that’s probably true. The sad fact remains that one in three (yes, a third of the electorate) chose NOT to vote… and, of course, why would any winning Party choose to change a voting system that clearly worked for them?

Despite everything, I’m determined to try to be positive:

a) Who knows, this election might really be the time when one-nation conservatism genuinely comes to the fore and the Party reveals a compassionate side?
b) Who knows, this election might really be the time when Momentum ceases to have such decisive influence on Labour Party policies… and that a wise, charismatic Labour Leader emerges to take the Party forward.
c) Who knows, this election might really be the time when individual MPs from all Parties come together in an urgent ‘Green Alliance’ for the sake of the environment (and other stuff) for the common good?

I desperately longed for a ‘hung parliament’ in the perhaps naïve hope that all political Parties would finally realise that they needed to work together (I was opposed to a General Election in the first place). I desperately didn’t want Brexit to happen, but now it seems that I’ll just have to accept the inevitable (even though there were more people who voted for pro-Remain Parties than who voted for the Tory and Brexit Parties)…

So, yes, today I’m feeling close despair.
I’m feeling very sad.
Tomorrow is another day and bitterness is a debilitating and ugly force.
But it’s difficult.

despairing of politics…

Look, at my age*, I know that my voice counts for nothing (oh, how I wish the same could have been said of all those other ‘old’ people who were allowed to significantly influence the outcome of the 2016 Referendum!).
I no longer matter (well, at least that’s how I feel)… in 10 years’ time I may no longer be around.
But, in 10 years’ time, all my six grandchildren will be eligible to vote.
Sadly, I fear for what our nation might have become by 2030.
Actually, it’s more than fear…
It’s despair.

We have become a nation dominated by bitterness and division (surely the most divided in my lifetime) – largely as a result of the farcical (in my view) decision to hold an ill-defined referendum on EU membership (to placate Mr Cameron's divided Conservative Party). Home Office figures show there has been a sharp increase in racially and religiously motivated hate crime since the 2016 EU referendum. Where the UK used to be regarded as a beacon for stability, we have now become something of a laughing stock around the world.

Two days from now, the UK electorate will have cast their votes and, as things stand (if you believe opinion polls – but, these days, who does?), it would appear that the Tories will be forming the next government with a parliamentary majority of perhaps anything from 20-70 seats?

They will be introducing (virtually unopposed) measures that will include a speedy no-deal Brexit (after going through vague motions of trying to negotiate a last-minute deal with the EU and, of course, failing) together with lots of policies that will benefit the ‘haves’ against the ‘have-nots’. The pre-election ‘promises’ will no doubt be ‘clarified’, but are unlikely to prevent the ongoing privatisation of the NHS, the continuing deterioration of public services and the like.
In Scotland, the SNP is likely to see that the only way for them to remain in the EU is to opt for independence. The Tory UK government will publicly wring its hands at such a prospect, but privately punch the air in celebration (because it will serve only to increase their own power in Westminster).

After nearly a decade in Opposition (and at a time when it should have been only too easy to win arguments against a succession of weak Tory governments), the Labour Party has abjectly failed in its task. There are lots of intelligent, gifted politicians (of all parties) who have the experience and desire to change things for the ‘common good’, but their voices are lost behind Political Party smokescreens. They count for nothing.

Sadly, our political system does not work. Democracy is something of a farce. As things stand, given our ridiculous first-past-the-post electoral process (and where I happen to live), my vote doesn’t count. And, of course, any Party in power certainly won’t want to change a system that ‘works for them’!
Sadly, there seems very little prospect of things changing over the next 5 (or even 10) years.

Even if my vote did count, any chance that my own MP would be able to influence her Party’s political stance on individual issues is something of a pipedream, so what chance do I have? At the same time, we have right-wing biased newspapers/media in this country (and, sadly, I now also feel unable to trust the impartiality of the BBC).

So, like many people, I’m left feeling utterly isolated… and as if I live in a separate ‘virtual’ world where 95% of all my friends have similar views to my own… and yet, there’s clearly another virtual world out there that thinks completely differently… and, frustratingly, that’s the one that counts.

So, at a time when the Climate Change Crisis should be at the very TOP of its agenda, we’re likely to have a new Tory government who will frankly be paying little more than ‘lip service’ to the environment and are far more focussed on cutting taxes (at a time, in my view, when we need to increase taxes to help pay for the NHS, education, mental health, welfare and other ailing public services). I could give you a long list of lies and concerns relating to statements from Tory ministers (although other Parties are hardly innocent bystanders)… but I won’t bother (unless pressed to do so!).

In a recent article in the New York Times (entitled “Britain’s Dirty Election”), one voter admitted that she “was voting for Boris Johnson precisely because he is a proven liar. It shows, she said, ‘he’s human’”.
THERE ARE NO WORDS.

So, yes, I despair. I despair for my lovely, intelligent, articulate children… and I despair for their children (and their children). In 10 years’ time, when my grandchildren can vote (some of them will actually be able to vote within the next 5 years… and who knows, the voting age might have even been reduced to 16 before then?), they will find that their opportunity to influence a world that they love and feel passionately about is in fact absolutely tiny. I can only hope that they will be able to find and encourage others who have similar passions and beliefs…

I live in hope. x
Photo: from Antony Gormley’s “Blind Light” exhibition at the Hayward Gallery, 2007.
PS: * I must stress that I have a number of very lovely friends who are ‘somewhat older than me’… and who remain VERY active and resourceful and who contribute brilliantly to making all our lives worth living… so apologies for the rather negative ‘spin’ regarding my own ‘aged’ status! They’ll probably never forgive me! 

referendition... my 'poem' for resonate

Referendition…

 Let’s ask their permission

Consult the population

Pose them a question

Call it democratisation

Powers of persuasion

Lies and distortion

Blame immigration

Avoid any retraction

Keep raising the tension

Use manipulation

 

 Art of discretion

Another edition

Evil collusion

Special adviser’s deception

He’s no relation

Self-gratification

Don’t stop for reflection

Congratulation

Lack any compassion

Stand to attention

 

 Shun all contrition

Do you want an election

Face annihilation

No constitution

No negotiation

No retraction

Don’t even mention

Prorogation

Don’t tell the nation

Slow realisation

 

 Abject depression

Hopeless position

Utter dejection

Bring revolution

Time for some action

Ignore apprehension

Discover restitution

Seek reconciliation

Achieve restoration

Let’s find a solution

 



magic money tree?

Mr Johnson has just announced that schools in England are to be given over £7 billion more in spending over the next three years. That’s brilliant news. Many of us have been pressing for extra funding for education over recent years and, suddenly, it’s actually going to happen.

Mr Johnson has also pledged nearly £2 billion for hospitals.

Mr Johnson has also indicated that over £1 billion will be allocated to provide extra police officers.
Mr Johnson has also promised some £2.5 billion for extra prison places.
Mr Johnson has also pledged funds for “fantastic new road and rail infrastructure and full-fibre broadband” (the cost for these is somewhat vague – figures of up to £40 billion have been cited).
Mr Johnson has pledged £300m of new funding for the expansion of Growth Deals across Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Mr Johnson has allocated an extra £2.1 billion in the event of a no-deal Brexit (on top of the £4.2 billion already ‘set aside’).
Mr Johnson is also going to REDUCE taxes (by raising income tax thresholds).

Do you get a nagging feeling that Mr Johnson might be preparing for a General Election?

Call me politically and financially naïve (and I’d be the first to accept that this might well be the case!), but how is all of this going to be paid for?
Is there a Magic Money Tree?
Or is Mr Johnson simply relying on squirming out of paying the £39 billion EU divorce bill previously agreed and accepted by Mrs May’s government… because he doesn’t think this would apply in the event of a no-deal Brexit?
Asking for a friend…
Photo: BBC.com

optimism over despair…

"We have two choices. We can be pessimistic, give up, and help ensure that the worst will happen. Or we can be optimistic, grasp the opportunities that surely exist, and maybe help make the world a better place”.
The above words were on the cover of Noam Chomsky’s book “Optimism Over Despair”. Given my own current sense of desperation and hopelessness about what’s currently going on in our world, I (obviously) thought: This book is for me!

I’ve previously read various articles by Chomsky (born in 1928) and had also watched bits from a couple of his lectures on YouTube, but this was my first book of his. He is a hugely impressive man. The book was published in 2017 and represents his interviews with CJ Polychroniou from late 2013 to early 2017 (originally published in ‘Truthout’)(so barely touches Trump’s time as president).

Chomsky has been described as “America’s moral conscience” (even if, according to the book’s introduction, “he remains unknown to the majority of Americans”).
It’s an absolutely fascinating, thought-provoking book… BUT, in the end, I felt that I’d been hood-winked. I think I would probably have a good case under the Trades Description Act, 1968.
The book consists of 196 dense pages of text – essentially focussing on the USA. They provide insights into the consequences of capitalist globalisation. They analyse the state of the planet. They tell us how we got here. They explain the motivations of those on the world stage… BUT they do NOT inform us why we should feel optimistic rather than desperate. Indeed, the quote at the top of the page is the ONLY reference to ‘optimism over despair’ in the entire book… and it comes at the very end of the book (ie. the final paragraph of P196!) in response to the question: “Are you overall optimistic about the future of humanity, given the kind of creatures we are?”… and, in fact, the quote is not complete – because Chomsky added five more words at the end of it: “Not much of a choice”! In fact, this concluding chapter was written in February 2016 – nine months before Trump’s election – so who knows if he still thinks there’s a case for optimism today?
Did the book make me feel better informed about the ways of the world, unfettered corporate expansion, the effects of unmitigated climate change, illegal wars? Yes, of course I did.
Did the book make me feel less desperate and more optimistic? Absolutely not (indeed quite the reverse – and it was published before Trump had settled into his new ‘role’ and before the ramifications of Brexit here in the UK had begun to unfold).

It would be foolhardy of me to try to summarise Chomsky’s views on the incredibly wide-ranging number of issues covered in the book, but I’ll leave you with just a few extracts (apologies for their great length, but they include some interesting stuff in my view!):

·         “It is well established that electoral campaigns are designed so as to marginalise issues and focus on personalities, rhetorical style, body language and the like. And there are good reasons. Party managers read polls and are well aware that on a host of major issues, both parties are well to the right of the population – not surprisingly; they are, after all, business parties”.

·         “A recent IMF study attributes the profits of the big banks almost entirely to the implicit government insurance policy (‘too big to fail’), not just the widely publicised bailouts but access to cheap credit, favourable ratings because of state guarantee, and much else”.
·         “But the big banks, which were responsible for the latest crisis, are bigger and richer than ever. Corporate profits are breaking records, wealth beyond the dreams of avarice is accumulating among those who count, and labour is severely weakened by union busting and ‘growing worker insecurity’, to borrow the term Alan Greenspan used in explaining the grand success of the economy he managed, when he was still ‘Sir Alan’ – perhaps the greatest economist since Adam Smith, before the collapse of the structure he had administered, along with its intellectual foundations. So what is there to complain about?”.
·         “JP Morgan Chase has just been fined $13billion (half of it tax-deductible) for what should be regarded as criminal behaviour in fraudulent mortgage schemes, from which the usual victims suffer under hopeless burdens of debt… The inspector-general of the US government bailout programme, Neil Barofsky, pointed out that it was officially a legislative bargain: the banks that were the culprits were to be bailed out, and their victims, people losing their homes, were to be given some limited protection and support. As he explains, only the first part of the bargain was seriously honoured, and the plan became a ‘giveaway to Wall Street executives’ – to the surprise of no one who understands ‘really existing capitalism’. The list goes on”.
·         “Democrats have to face the fact that for forty years they have pretty much abandoned whatever commitment they had to working people”.
·         (Reference to Goldman Sachs ‘surging stock price’ following Trump’s election and…): “Other big gainers are energy corporations, health insurers, and construction firms, all expecting huge profits from the administration’s announced plans. These include Paul Ryan-style fiscal programme of tax cuts for the rich and corporations, increased military spending, turning the health system over even more to insurance companies with predictable consequences, taxpayer largesse for a privatised form of credit-based infrastructure development, and other ‘normal Republican’ gifts to wealth and privilege at taxpayer expense. Rather plausibly, economist Larry Summers describes the fiscal programme as ‘the most misguided set of tax changes in US history which will massively favour the top 1% of income earners, threaten an explosive rise in federal debt, complicate the tax code and do little if anything to spur growth’. But great news for those who matter”.
·         “Prestigious and influential positions in Congress used to be granted to on the basis of seniority and perceived achievement. Now they are basically bought, which drives congressional representatives even deeper into the pockets of the rich. And the Supreme Court decisions have accelerated the process”.
·         “On November 8 (2016), the most powerful country in world history, which will set its stamp on what comes next, had an election. The outcome placed total control of the government – executive, Congress, the Supreme Court – in the hands of the Republican Party, which has become the most dangerous organisation in world history… The party is dedicated to racing as rapidly as possible to destruction of organised human life… The winning candidate, now president-elect, calls for rapid increase in use of fossil fuels, including coal; dismantling of regulations; rejection of help to developing countries that are seeking to move to sustainable energy; and, in general, racing to the cliff as fast as possible”.
·         “One of the difficulties in raising public concern over the very severe threats of global warming is that 40% of the US population does not see why it is a problem, since Christ is returning in a few decades”.
·         “It is an astonishing fact about the current era that in the most powerful country in world history, with a high level of education and privilege, one of the two political parties virtually denies the well-established facts about anthropogenic climate change. In the primary debates for the 2016 election, every single Republican candidate was a climate change denier, with one exception, John Kasich – the ‘rational moderate’ – who said it may be happening but we shouldn’t do anything about it”.
·         “Concentration of wealth leads naturally to concentration of power, which in turn translates to legislation favouring interests of the rich and powerful and thereby increasing even further the concentration of power and wealth… It’s a vicious cycle in constant progress. The state is there to provide security and support to the interests of the privileged and powerful sectors of society, while the rest of the population is left to experience the brutal reality of capitalism. Socialism for the rich, capitalism for the poor”.
·         “Trump supporters include much of the white working-class. One can understand their anger and frustration, and why Trump’s rhetoric might appeal to them. But they are betting on the wrong horse. His policy proposals – to the limited extent that they are coherent – not only do not seriously address their legitimate concerns but would be quite harmful to them. And not just to them”.
·         “Since oppression and repression exist, they are reflections of human nature. The same is true of sympathy, solidarity, kindness, and concern for others – and for some great figures, like Adam Smith, these were essential properties of humans. The task for social policy is to design the ways we live and the institutional and cultural structure of our lives so as to favour the benign and to suppress the harsh and destructive aspects of our fundamental nature”.
·         “There are two grim shadows that loom over everything that we consider: environmental catastrophe and nuclear war, the latter threat much under-estimated, in my view”.
Much food for thought… and very little of it feeling suitable for consumption.

trump state visit?

I am utterly APPALLED that Trump has been invited on a state visit to the UK in June…
You will probably be aware that a state visit is a formal visit by a head of state and is normally at the invitation of the Queen, who acts on advice from the government. Were we, the electorate, consulted? Of course not.
Frankly, it beggars belief.
When Trump visited the UK in July last year, he avoided coming to London (“he did not particularly want to come to the capital if he was going to face protests”!). Even so, the bill for policing Trump’s visit was £18million. State visits usually include a procession down the Mall in front of Buckingham Palace (where the Queen would normally host a banquet for around 150 guests “in Mr Trump’s honour”) and, if this were to happen, you can be sure that the police bill will be FAR MORE than £18million! I can only imagine what measures the US security people will insist on being adopted (armed forces? extensive/excessive kettling of crowds?).
It seems that the visit has been arranged to coincide with the 75^th anniversary of the D-day landings and number10 has indicated that the event would be “one of the greatest British military spectacles in recent history” and would include a flypast of 26 types of RAF aircraft and at least 11 Royal Navy ships in the Solent.
I, for one, don’t want to mark the occasion in such a blatant militaristic way.

At a time when the world is failing to come to terms with Climate Change and the UK is struggling with Brexit (not to mention dire funding issues in education, welfare, health and a host of other issues), it’s as if the UK government has decided that a visit from Trump will deflect our attention from such matters.

Ironically, given the state of UK politics at the present time, one is tempted to wonder who will actually be prime minister or in government by the time of Trump's visit!
I absolutely do NOT want to provide Trump with a centre-stage opportunity to share his bigoted, racist, narcissistic, ignorant, dangerous and fatuous opinions.  
It depresses me in the extreme.
This morning’s editorial in The Guardian got it absolutely right in my view:
"Rolling out the red carpet for a US president ought to be easier than this. Britain and America share a ‘special relationship’ which rests on a common language, histories and ideals. Yet Donald Trump makes building on this impossible. He is no friend of this country. The president has repeatedly attacked leading British politicians, singling out London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan. He retweets fascists. On the day news emerged that Mr Trump would be accorded a state visit to Britain, he was threatening to veto a UN resolution against the use of rape as a weapon of war. America has been taken over by a demagogue who sees Brexit as an opportunity for a rabble-rouser to rise here too. He is a dangerous liar whom racists and misogynists think of as one of their own. Mr Trump ought to be held at a distance, not invited for dinner with the Queen… Mr Trump is a media-savvy operator. He uses the world stage as a political advert for his brand of mendacious nationalism. Mr Trump did meet the Queen last year on a flying visit on the way to ceremonies in France to mark the 1918 armistice. Before he arrived, he had attacked Angela Merkel over the level of Germany’s defence spending at a Nato summit. On the day of his meeting with Theresa May he criticised her in an interview with the Sun while lavishing praise on her rival Boris Johnson. He then went to France and mocked the country for not fighting to the last man when under Nazi occupation. One shudders at the thought of headlines generated by a state visit which coincides with the 75th anniversary of D-day.
Mr Trump does not care what Britain, or any other US ally, thinks. He only wants them to know he does not care what they think. That is why Mrs May has failed to change Mr Trump’s mind on the Iran nuclear deal or the Paris agreement on climate change. It is why he rashly committed to withdrawing troops from Syria and Afghanistan without telling allies.
During his last visit, Mr Trump avoided central London due to the expected protests. He will have to endure them this time. John Bercow, the Commons Speaker, refused to offer Mr Trump an invitation to address parliament. He has previously said it was an ‘earned honour’ and not a right. Mr Trump has earned no such distinction. He engineered the most racially divisive US election in years, ranting about Mexican ‘rapists’ and promising a Muslim travel ban. In office his draconian border policy caged migrant children in isolation from their parents. Mr Trump gives the impression of destroying, not defending, democracy. Giving him a platform in Westminster won’t oil the springs of diplomacy. It will just allow another eruption from a fountain of dishonour”.
As I keep saying: “Not In My Name”.

“alexa… please stop brexit”… (placard at last week’s march)

So, another week of frustration ahead in Westminster… and that’s just for the politicians (obviously, they’re so focussed on Party Politics that what might be best for the nation or their constituents seems to come quite a long way down the list)!
I genuinely fear a ‘No Deal’ at the end of all this.
What an utter disaster that would be...

Back in December, I blogged: “After a week of utter chaos at Westminster and a time when confidence in UK politicians appears to have hit an all-time low (in my lifetime, at least?), we’re left with an apparent choice between Mrs May’s ‘deal’ with the EU or ‘no deal’”.

In January, I blogged: “It’s almost as though the powers-that-be are running down the clock to ensure that we end up with an ‘acceptable deal’ that is only marginally less disastrous than a ‘no-deal’”.
Interesting (and worrying) reading Margaret Beckett’s thoughts in today’s ‘Observer’: “The more I look and listen to this woman (the prime minister) the more I think she’s capable of doing literally what she says, driving us right to the last minute, and then saying ‘it is my deal or no deal’… I have become increasingly worried that the house could decide something which is so far away from what people thought they were getting when they voted to leave that it could cause serious ructions. Some very strong Leavers say they don’t think people should have a second opportunity to be consulted because they might have changed their minds. That seems to me to be incredibly dangerous as well as completely indefensible.”

With the country in absolute despair, there are those (including the Labour Party, obviously) urging Mrs May to call a General Election. Of course (but what do I know?!), it won’t happen because the Tories fear it would merely expose the HUGE splits amongst its ‘party faithful’ (as if people weren’t aware already!!)… and they’d lose the election (although, with the UK electorate, who knows?). Of course, they wouldn’t admit such things… instead, they would maintain that an election would exacerbate the Brexit crisis and that, for this reason, it wouldn’t be in the best interests of the nation!!

Oh, thank you, thank you, oh wise ones!
I frankly don’t think that parliament (especially with the DUP ridiculously ‘calling the shots’) will be able to agree to ANY compromise deal within the required timeframe (and this after very nearly 3 years!)… and, although those annoying ERG oiks will pretend to shake their heads in quiet despair, they’ll actually be punching the air with glee… because a) the option of a second referendum will have been ‘kicked into touch’, b) remaining in the EU won’t happen and c) they can start making plans for ruling their increasingly small empires… and us.
Photo: Mrs May signing the Article 50 letter, March 2017

stupid, stupid brexit…

When Mr Putin – that demigod of democracy – tells us that the UK should not hold a second referendum and insist that Mrs May “should fulfil the will of the people”, you just know something is wrong.
After a week of utter chaos at Westminster and a time when confidence in UK politicians appears to have hit an all-time low (in my lifetime, at least?), we’re left with an apparent choice between Mrs May’s ‘deal’ with the EU or ‘no deal’.
Trust in politicians to deliver a good Brexit deal is collapsing and a growing number of voters want a second referendum, according to a new poll (published two days ago). The research, commissioned by Hope Not Hate and Best for Britain, showed 64% want a fresh vote to break the parliamentary deadlock. A majority (67%) also believe the government cannot deliver a deal. Nearly 80% of Labour voters said they would back a re-run of the 2016 referendum.

So, the Labour Party comes to the rescue? Well, no… not at all. In fact, according to an interview in today’s Guardian newspaper, Mr Corbyn is determined to stay with Brexit (“even if his party won a snap general election”) and that he would “seek to go to Brussels and try to secure a better deal – if possible, in time to allow Brexit to go ahead on 29 March”.

H E L L O??

Is the Labour Party living in the real world? Does Mr Corbyn REALLY believe the EU would simply change its view and accept a different deal? When the EU says “no”, does the Labour Party have a cunning Plan B? Does the Labour Party really think the electorate is stupid (oh, I shouldn’t use that word, should I!)?

What an utter, utter farce… and we think Mr Trump is a COMPLETE joke!
Whatever your personal views on Brexit, you must surely accept that the 2016 referendum vote was based on lies, myths, fears and a whole multitude of unknown factors. Whilst there still remain huge uncertainties, there can be no doubt that we now have a far better picture of the ‘facts’ on which to cast our vote. Remember, this wasn’t like a General Election – when you could change your mind in 5 years’ time – no this was a vote on behalf of this generation and subsequent generations.

Two weeks ago, on facebook, I quoted Polly Toynbee from an article in The Guardian: “Labour would finally have to resolve its conflict between Corbyn’s small coterie and virtually everyone else, Momentum included. A fudged ‘we will renegotiate’ will fall apart in the first week of any campaign. Of course Labour should stand as remainers against Tory Brexiters. Look how Caroline Lucas mocked them in the Channel 4 debate: ‘Brexit is a project for the right, by the right and why Labour would support it I just don’t understand’. But if, lamentably, that’s a step too far, then a Labour manifesto has to promise a referendum – letting the people solve their indecision is the only way to hold the party together”.

Nothing has changed… except that things have got worse!
In the same article, Polly Toynbee went on to say: “Every day, a referendum looks more likely – it would be the only escape from this car crash. ‘Hell will freeze over before May agrees,’ an ally of hers says – but it is now the last escape hatch from this hell. The Brexiters’ own ‘project fear’ has been to terrify the nation, threatening that any attempt to run another referendum would cause rebellion, mob-rule, riots on the streets. What are they so afraid of? It’s losing, now that the polls are shifting”.

Maybe a rebellion is the only answer? Are there sufficient brave MPs in parliament who are prepared to defy their Party Whips (in the case of Tory and Labour MPs)? It would be wonderful to think that there are… but I have a horrible feeling that it’ll all end in a whimper and that we’ll all be left shaking our heads – as individual MPs battle it out seeking their own personal ‘rewards’ and as they follow their ‘leadership aspirations’ and 'party ambitions'.

Don’t talk to me about democracy.