In is New Years day 2021. The UK has been totally out of the EU for a few hours now. We are a sovereign nation once again and I am equally delighted to say our democracy as held together (despite a horrid and shameful attempt by some sitting MP's in the last parliament, many journalists and a minority of citizens to deny it.) The last 4 1/2 years have been dominated by Brexit issues. Now it has at last been done here are my reflected personal thoughts.
REFERENDUMS - should only be used when there is a binary decision to be made. Yes or no - in or out. The Brexit referendum was exactly that - leave or remain - yes or no. Indisputedly the vote while close (52% to 48%) was to leave the EU. This became the democratic imperative.
However the lesson to be learned from the Brexit referendum is while everyone accepted and understood before the actual ballot that a vote for leave meant taking back control of our borders, money, laws and the terms on which we trade - that was not enshrined in the question.
Consequently those that did not agree with the decision felt they could argue the Brexit leave decision could mean something else - for instance - half leave - the so called soft brexit.
DEMOCRACY - we glibly claim to be a democracy. We assume it is our bedrock and something to rely on. The Brexit referendum eventually confirmed we are still a democracy but it was touch and go for a while. Democracy hung by a thread while people who should have known better played fast and loose with the brexit referendum result. Democracy requires the principal of "losers consent" - for the result to be respected by everyone and for it to be implemented.
However this did not happen. What did happen is many losers (Remainers) either claimed the referendum result was just advisory only (legally but not morally they were correct and morally was far more important), tried to water it down (BRINO - brexit in name only), tried to stall it - in the hope it could go away or be overturned - or claimed the public had been duped and people did not understand what they voted for - and there should be a confirmatory 2nd referendum!
In the end for me and many like me fully implementing the brexit decision became more important for the reason of preserving our democracy than for any other reason. Imagine the situation our nation would have been in, if a precedent had been set which in effect allowed a democratic decision to be ignored because some did not like the outcome of the vote. It would potentially undermine all future votes. Our democratic system would have been compromised for ever and the thin democratic thread that exists is the only thing that holds our fragmented society together. (shame on those who tried to thwart the implementation of the democratic brexit decision. Personally I find it hard to forgive - especially if they were MP's who should have known much better.)
FACTS - the brexit debate was an assertion of "facts". Definition of a fact - a thing that is known or proved to be true. So much of the debate was in reality not based on actual facts - it was based on assertions, best guesses - opinion informed or otherwise ! Keep stating a guess or opinion - and shouting it loudly does not make it a fact ! No one could/can know with certainty how brexit will work out over time. What many remainers failed to understand or accept is leavers fully understood that and were prepared to take the risk.
PROJECT FEAR -looking objectively the remain side over played their hand. Bringing in Obama for instance, to say the UK would be placed at the back of the queue for a trade deal was ludicrous. It showed disrespect of the British people and our courage. Bullying us - trying to scare - was always going to have a reverse effect. Some of the claims were so ridiculous the public just lost confidence in everything thing the vested interests or so called "experts" had to say.
PEOPLE WERE DUPED - that was the claim of the losers and as a consequence was used by them to justify the disregard of the referendum outcome. People were not duped - and did not swallow everything they were told. What remainers failed to understand was Brexit was about much more than economic arguements in the minds of leave voters. Sovereignty was a massive issue. People were fed up with the interference of the ECJ in British life for instance. On a more general point - one man one vote. As soon as you start saying some electors are not clever enough or well informed enough to vote you are on very slippery - infact totally unacceptable ground. You are undermining the principles of our democracy.
NOT JUST ABOUT ECONOMICS - remainers continually claimed no one voted to be poorer. Define poorer - and over what term. I am much richer if I feel free and that my vote counts - that my nation is sovereign again. I understood there might me an initial hit on GDP. I am thinking longer term - thinking about my grandchildrens future ! I accept the risk. There are no guarantees. No guarantees either about a future in the EU. This I am sure is how many voters saw it. And just to split hairs - no serious forecast said we would not have economic growth with Brexit.
BREXIT WAS/IS RACIST - a desperate accusation from remainers. There is nothing racist about a small island wanting to control immigration numbers to suit the nations requirements. There is nothing racist about introducing a fair points based immigration system which is open to all peoples of the world equally rather than prioritising EU citizens. The claim the UK is inward thinking - insular - is also without credence. One of the main driving forces of the Brexit rationalle is to be able to trade freely on our own terms with the rest of the world ie more outward looking - not less.
THE EU PROTECTS US FROM FALLING STANDARDS. Really !? In so many areas the UK has been in the vanguard when it comes to workers rights and environmental standards etc. A fundamental point remainers willfully disregard, is we live in a parliamentary democracy where a new government is elected at least every 5 years. If the public are not happy with the decisions our government make then the electorate can boot them out and elect a government that better represents their values. What better safeguard do you need than that? We are in control of our own destiny!
CONSIDER THE WISHES OF THE 48% - CALL FOR COMPROMISE - this was always nonsense and was seen for what it was by many - just a badly disguised attempt to keep us in the EU ie BRINO - brexit in name only. The whole point of the referendum was to resolve a binary decision - to get on a train going north or south. Going east or west - the worst of all worlds.
MEDIA BIAS - I think any objective assessment of UK mainstream media would conclude it is characterised by a Londoncentric liberal elite bias. Consequently the default position of the BBC for instance was/is an anti Brexit anti Tory stance. On this basis I feel the BBC did the public a diservice with the way they responded to the Brexit referendum to the extent that I feel they did not fulfill their charter as a public service broadcaster. Consequently I am keen to support the removal of the licence fee privilige that the BBC currently holds. If the BBC wants to act as a de facto political party and promote its own political manifesto then it should be required to be funded as all other political parties. (out of this bias and jaded journalisim will emerge a news force with higher standards - Andrew Neil's GB News - coming online later in the year).
SPEAKER BIAS John Bercow's conduct was shameful. The bullying narccissist craved the limelight. He devalued the office of Speaker at a time when his nation needed the integrity of a Betty Boothroyd. Quite rightly Bercow is now regarded as a pariah by the majority.
THE HOUSE OF LORDS - stuffed with an unelected liberal establishment bias they exceeded their role and in many ways tried to thwart Brexit. I for one have no doubt the House of Lords needs to be reformed. It certainly needs to be much smaller.
PLAYING POLITICS - it is a fact of life - politics pervades everything. (it is definitely complicating the nations covid response). The political opposition keep saying they want what is best for the nation - country before party - but actually that rings hollow. All the oposition parties played the game of criticising the governments handling of Brexit but were very reluctant to say what they would do. It was a calculated decision to refer to this "Tory Brexit". It is a real shame. Perhaps it was too much to expect our country to come together once the democratic decision had been made - but this is what should have happened in the countries best interest of course.
A FIFTH COLUMN - the most shameful and disgusting element of the whole Brexit affair was the trail of MP's making a beeline to Brussels to conspire with the EU to undermine our government and the Brexit negotiations. I think this was unforgiveable and they served their country and our democracy very badly. Fortunately many of them - like Soubry and Grieve lost their seats at the first opportunity the public had to kick them out. (they were so wrong to feel the end they wanted justified any means including anti democratic and traitorous behaviour.). History will treat them very badly.
HOW NOT TO NEGOTIATE - Thankfully Boris and his team were able to pull it out of the fire having been backed by the great British steadfast commonsense public who gave him and 80 seat majority. Prior to that, woolly Theresa May and the duplicitous parliament that surrounded her made a totally inept stab at negotiating with the EU. How can you possibly negotiate a good deal if the otherside believes you will never walk away. It is really unbelievable that our MP's tied our negotiators hand by taking "no deal" off the table. This was such a ridiculous tactic it surely could only have been as a last ditch attempt to stop Brexit happening at all.
Boris turned it around. Right from the get go - no deal is better than a bad deal - we will leave on time (no further extensions) and will be happy to trade on WTO terms. The EU believed him - they believed his conviction. More than that, Boris and his negotiating team (and the Britsh public) understood the EU needed a deal as well. The UK market was/is massive to them and they were never going to throw it away. Boris also understood you never make your red lines public when negotiating because at best all you will ever get is up to your red lines (what would be the advantage of giving you more) - despite the mainstream media calling for details 24 hrs a day.
The staggering thing is the British public understood this commonsense/basic strategy when so many politicians either didn't because they were ridiculously naive (you cannot stand up to the EU - they are much bigger and more powerful) and have no lifes skills in the art of basic negotiating or were wilfully ignorant as a tactic.
Of course the inevitable happened. As almost always the EU (as life) played it to the last minute (which is why it was always the right thing to do for Boris to stick to his deadlines) but a compromise deal was done - and because the EU had overplayed their hand (the French through Macron's grandstanding) - in the end Boris got significantly more than our red lines.
This was total vindication for Boris and all the leavers including the British public who were prepared to take a risk that their assessment was right. The EU needed a deal just as much as we did. It leaves egg on the face of all those crass and weak MP's who argued in effect that we should take whatever we were offered by the EU - or that any deal could not be done in the time in the timescale (and yet another extension was needed.)
WHAT NOW - A COUNTRY DIVIDED ?
So Brexit is done. We have left the EU. Our country is sovereign again - and we can shape our own future.
It is understood this is not the outcome many wanted - but what do they do now ?
Some have already said the battle has been lost - they accept we have left and believe the onus is now on the country to unite and make the best of the opportunity Brexit offers.
Some are hoping quietly or otherwise that our country fails and they are vindicated.
Some will never accept the decision to leave and claim to be starting a campaign to rejoin from day one.
Interestingly the Labour Party seem to be taking up all these positions at once.
The Liberal Democrats and of course the SNP want to rejoin and by implication they want Brexit to go badly - a sad state of affairs.
Hopefully people will be won around as the benefits start to manifest.
POSTCRIPT despite Project Fear, the negative projections of the experts and predictions of the remainer die hards we are now in day 5 of the brave new world. Both the FTSE and £ have risen strongly, no major problems at the ports, manafacturing output continues to grow etc etc. But typical of the BBC - they have hunted around for some bad news. They have come up with - some additional documentation for pet passports required and the seed potato producers were not included in the trade agreement. They did latch on to Gibraltar - but that has quickly and independently been settled with Spain. The other thing the Beeb are banging on about is the EU student exchange scheme Erasmus. The government says they are replacing it with a worldwide scheme - so the loss of Erasmus is not that earth shattering! Talk about clutching at straws!
For myself and millions like me who voted for Brexit I feel vindicated. True it will not all be plain sailing particularly against the covid backdrop. The great thing is the ball is now in our nations court. It is up to us. No longer will we have the EU holding us back - no longer will we be able to blame the EU! That is a very liberating and motivating prospect I think. The country standing on its own two feet should be good for our soul. It will be intersting to see how the EU gets on without us. They have many problems to reconcile and a massive budget issue to address now one of the biggest net contributors has been lost.
My final thought now the divorce has finally happened - there is every prospect that the mutual relationship between the EU and the UK will flourish.
I have spent a lot of time on the Brexit debate - pre and post referendum. It did turn ino a saga even a soap opera at times. Like our nation I am now liberated from the issue - no need for more brexit blogs. What to do with my time? I am planning visits to the EU of course - definitely cycling in France and Portugese sunshine. A long weekend to Florence is on the cards with my daughter (alas covid restricted) I love visiting Europe - ha! xxx
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