Given recent events, it is clear it is the arrogance of the Brextremists which has played a huge part in the way Brexit has played out in the House of Commons and the country. Is it an own goal by them? I think it might well be. I was passed this piece of writing on this question by one of my campaign friends who asked me to edit it and publish and I think it is very well worth a read.
The Arrogance of Brexit.
Written By Joel Josephson
Edited by Pilar Gomez
Brexit was conceived in arrogance and is failing because of arrogance. From the day the ERG wing of the Tory party pressured Cameron into holding a referendum their very arrogance started undermining their own position. They pushed the terms of the referendum into a binary choice, two options leave or remain. The advisory referendum is allowed in the constitution. Rees Mogg is known for his great understanding of parliamentary procedure and the constitution. By making it advisory, they could avoid any worries about super majorities or minimum turnout rates, knowing full well that if they won, they could call out that the result was the will of the people, even if the majority was razor thin. And if they lost, by a similar small majority the argument could be replayed in the near future using Farage’s pre referendum message that if it was as close as 52/48 remain, that was too close and they would try again.
Believing that the majority they won would be enough to get their Brexit, they have miscalculated badly though, as they forgot, or hoped to make irrelevant, that our constitution also cares about the will of the losers . This is a fundamental part of our democracy.
If they had used a super-majority, as a constitutional change of this magnitude merited, the opposition would have been swept away and, possibly, the EU would have made further concessions to Cameron as the government would have had a much stronger mandate. They also, I believe, did not predict that Cameron, an accepted leader, would go quite so quickly, hence the rather stunned and stressed initial reactions of Boris Johnson and Gove to their victory. You definitely got the feeling of “What do we do now?” in those first days. Instead rather hastily, the unsuitable and ineffectual for the task required Theresa May was put in charge, while everyone else stepped back and let someone else take responsibility.
The arrogant Brexiters, knowing their case was a dream with no real benefits to either the country or ordinary people with no factual basis, cooked up a media storm of lies and unicorns that would get the easily duped and gullible salivating and hating. It was enough for the referendum, but over the last 3 years, promise after promise, lie after lie, has unravelled and many who were duped have had their eyes opened and no longer want to take a chance on a worse future now knowing the promised sunlit uplands are not going to happen.
The next step in their arrogant miscalculations was in refusing the best deal that the EU could make with us. This may have been their cardinal mistake in achieving brexit, and it was manifestly obvious that they couldn’t offer any other plan at all. In fact the EU told them multiple times in the plainest language, there is no other deal. May for all her faults knew this, pleaded with them and put the deal to the vote 3 times, but the Brextremists chose to vote against May. Why[U3] ? We well know why. It was not extreme enough for them and although it left the UK in a reasonable trading position In May’s opinion, we would still be under the necessity of abiding by the rules of the EU standards and regulations. Had they already decided they wanted to force No-Deal? Or were they simply so arrogant that they believed that the nasty foreigners would roll over and give them anything they wanted? Cherry-picking was the ERG’s favourite pastime. Was it their English exceptionalism borne of an inflated sense of their own importance and superiority? “We are important, our trade is important, and I am a public school educated, superior and I know best”. Rather ironically they lost their best chance for Brexit with their own votes.
So, to the final and biggest act of arrogance, they elect the king of fools, known for his moral ambivalence, his lies and his incompetence to take the helm. He brings in Mr Dominic Machiavelli who is basking in the success of how he conned a nation into narrowly voting for brexit, he knows it all, does Dom. Cummings lays his plans and Johnson does his bidding.
These two will prorogue parliament to stop debate, pretend to threaten the EU with no deal as a negotiating ploy (the EU see right through them, as we all do) by planning for no deal. In their arrogance they don’t consider what will be their biggest miscalculation that parliament and the country consider closing parliament as a step way too far. They attempt to dress it up in nonsense, queen’s speech, 3 years, blah blah. They treat the country as fools, and all who offer up the lie have tarnished themselves for life. But the reality of no deal slips out from their own government lips and that scares the bejesus out of most of us. We know there is nothing being done to negotiate anything. We know the desired Johnson destination is No-Deal.
Their strategy simply unites the opposition around two points that they all can agree on, irrespective of political hue;
- To stop the closing of parliament or make it irrelevant,
- To stop no deal as a disaster for the country.
Even Corbyn, often accused of sitting on the fence over Brexit, knows these two points are a step too far. Now 21 MPs have been ejected from the Tory party for defying the whip, a travesty, and a weakening of their own hand. I don’t recall May removing the whip from Johnson for voting against her. Dom and Bozo should have foreseen this that the nation in times of emergency comes together for the common good, it’s how we survived two wars, for all our differences the opposition are not traitors to this country.
How this national humiliation will play out over the next days, can only be guessed at, by the time this article’s ink is dry the story will have moved on. We do know that the arrogance of the Eton elite has seriously miscalculated what this country is today and how democracy in our country operates. We can see that the Tory party has damaged itself, perhaps irreparably, and that will be much worse if they go into an election with Johnson still leading.
Our country’s leaders sorely need to do some listening; they need to face up to who our country is, that the public-school elite can no longer mismanage the country for their own ends and personal gain. They were taught in arrogance but the people have majesty and we will prevail.
Write to Speak 
That’s a great article, thank you.
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