Brexit Is Destroying the UK

With only a little over six months to go before Britain is due to leave the EU it is becoming increasingly obvious that Brexit will not only weaken the country severely (both economically and politically) but also may break up the United Kingdom. Recent opinion polls suggest that over half the population of Northern Ireland would be in favour of a United Ireland if Brexit goes ahead, especially if a “hard border” is likely between Northern Ireland the Republic, while in Scotland support for independence in the event of Brexit is similarly rising. So there is a real risk that if the Brexiteers get their way, the country will shrink to just England and Wales, with seriously diminished international clout.

But these are not the only reasons to be dismayed at the way things are going. The aftermath of the 2016 EU Referendum has been a devaluation of the body politic in Britain, a coarsening of its discourse and the ascendancy of intolerant nationalism and xenophobia. The Prime Minister, Theresa May, is held hostage by a sizeable group of quite nasty arch-Brexiteers within the Conservative Party who have adopted wholesale the agenda and language of UKIP (the United Kingdom Independence Party).  Boris Johnson did immense damage to Britain’s reputation abroad when he was Foreign Secretary, and he is now reeking havoc domestically, grotesquely subsidised by the Daily Telegraph, which pays him thousands of pounds for each article he writes in his shameless campaign of self promotion.

No wonder our 27 EU partners think we have gone mad. But all is not yet lost. Opinion polls suggest that there is now a majority in favour of remaining in the EU, a trend which will accelerate as more teenagers get on the electoral register. Mrs May insists there will be no new vote on Brexit — and she would probably have to resign if the Government or Parliament decided otherwise — but the clamour for what has been rightly dubbed a People’s Vote on whatever deal is agreed later this year (assuming one can be) is growing. MPs from all parties need to rally round to support this, and Jeremy Corbyn needs to put his traditional distrust of the EU to one side, get off the fence and throw the Labour Party behind the People’s Vote and a campaign to remain in the EU. It’s what most Labour voters want and it is what the United Kingdom needs, before it is too late. And if you haven’t put 20 October in your diary yet, please do so, as we need to get at least a million people onto the streets that day to March for the Future and Stop Brexit!