Brexit – Long Read

My politics are pretty plain to see. And I’m sure it doesn’t surprise you that I did not vote to leave the European Union and I did not want what’s happening now to be going on. It’s sometimes heart breaking to see what’s happened and how many people were duped into believing our lives would be better. We are measurably worse off. I don’t really want to relitigate Brexit and be a whinging ‘Remoaner’ but I heard something the other day that made my blood boil. Like seething anger. So I thought I’d share it with you. Now just before I begin on this biggest whinge, I just want to say that I voted to stay in the EU with the minimal amount of information. I had a look at the people who were at the forefront of both sides. On one side were politicians like David Cameron, Tony Blair, Theresa May and Liz Truss (where have I heard that name recently) championing Remain. And on the other side were politicians such as Nigel Farage, Michael Gove and the elusive Boris Johnson, championing Leave. I simply looked at this line up and chose the least worst option. It was only after the vote that I really began to understand what a dumpster fire Brexit would truly be. And if you want help understanding said dumpster fire, google clips of the radio talk show host James O’Brien. He explains it better than I ever could.

I listen to a lot of podcasts. Some of them soothe my soul, some of them infuriate me. On one of these shows they played out a 2016 Leave campaign referendum video. This was ciruclated before the vote. In the audio that accompanied the moving pictures, it listed these potential benefits of Brexit:

Now I don’t know how much notice you take of the news but all of the above are complete and utter bollocks. None of this has come true. I’d love to know when our politicians will become more accountable. Our new Prime Minister has just been voted in to office by less than 1% of the electorate. Our last Prime Minister tried to change the rules so that one of his MPs would not get rumbled for lobbying. More and more people are paying for private healthcare because of the huge NHS waiting times. Schools have not witnessed this Brexit bounty. The price of food has only risen due to more checks at the border due to Brexit.

Controlled immigration has risen. Yes there are less Europeans coming to live and work here but these people have been replaced and exceeded by people from other countries. Uncontrolled immigration has spiralled because we no longer have a legal way to send them back to France. EU red tape was never holding businesses back. When they say red tape, what they really mean are rules to keep people safe, healthy, enjoy a decent wage and not be shat on by employers. We literally have train staff, post office workers and barristers all undergoing strike action because of the lack of wage rises. The housing market is still untouchable for the majority of younger people and our community industries have not been strengthened. Fishing found out quickly we’d handed over our rights to other EU countries and you only have to look at the trade deal Liz Truss (there’s that name again) signed with New Zealand to see how fucked over our farmers have been.

They promised the earth. And now all they do is lie, blame it on everyone else and they have left us with a stinking pile of shit. The benefits were meant to be highlighted recently by our Minister for Brexit Opportunities, the haunted Victorian pencil, Jacob Rees-Mogg. He had to ask the readers of a bafflingly popular tabloid newspaper for those benefits / opportunities. There aren’t any. He has now been moved to Minister of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. He has been promoted for not finding any benefits or opportunities. A promotion for failing. Sums up what’s been happening in government for the last twelve years. Make it stop.