This was ultimately the issue with the referendum in the first place - you’ve actually provided the perfect argument against it in a single sentence. A load of people (the overwhelming majority of the public), who had little to absolutely no understanding of what something was or how it now functioned, were asked whether to let it be or crash it into the side of a mountain. They may as well have dragged people from the hospital hallway into operating theatres, given them a scalpel and insisted that they carry out operations for which they have no basic training of any kind. It was kind of the same thing. I wouldn’t expect an airline to stick me in the cockpit and demand that I land the plane, I would expect the pilot to do it. If the pilot is crap we can vote to change the pilot, that’s fine, but at no point should the passengers be given the controls. That’s the main difference between an election and a referendum, for me. It was stupid to have one, and it was beyond stupid to have it as simplified as in or out. The people who established the ‘rules’ don’t get enough flack as far as I’m concerned. How they could reduce an issue so complex to something as simple as that is beyond me. They should be bloody shot.
And believe me, I firmly count myself in that camp when I talk about people who didn’t really get it all. There is so much I don’t know and understand about an awful lot in life, including the detailed ins and outs of every last aspect of the European Union. So instead, what I asked myself was, “Okay, what will definitely get better and how if I do this?” That’s all it came down to. Nobody gave me an answer beyond slogans and bluster, which was based on nothing more than hoping and staying positive, and wishing really hard upon a star while waving a miniature Union Jack. So I let it ride, because what was I actually voting to change otherwise? I made a choice between a reality that I knew existed, because I already lived in it, and the political equivalent of a child’s Christmas list that nobody could actually agree on, or guarantee would be possible. To this day, nobody has told me what they’ve been able to do ever since this whole process started that they couldn’t do before, but there are a number of things that some people can’t or won’t be able to do as of January 1, 2021. People’s lives not changing at all, or only being slightly worse, means it was a con. Lots and lots of people - regular, everyday people - should be able to say how their lives have markedly improved in the past four years. Or they should at least be pointing firmly at something concrete that is due to kick in next year, and go, “That. That’s going to genuinely change my life for the better.” That people fought tooth and nail to stop others having the chance to change their mind after seeing what was actually in the mystery box, will forever be one of the greatest stains on our society. It was like someone slashing their wrists and then being pinned down by a group of people while they bled out, even though it was clear they wanted to bandage it up and try to stop the bleeding.
As for Boris, since this thread is ultimately meant to be about him, he’s just a charlatan who will potentially end up satisfying nobody. I truly believe there is every chance that Sunak has already been crowned behind the scenes. Let the clown choke himself so it can all be blamed on him, but ultimately ensure that Brexit is messy enough that the disaster capitalists get the shorting that they’ve wanted all along, and then put him out to pasture. Then point at Sunak as the friendly furlough man who was nice to people when the virus was being naughty, and have him go against Starmer in an attempt to neutralise the tone of the conversation.
It all smells of bum bum, as my niece used to say. Wise words!
uk.reuters.com
