part 2: lost in translation
Get Brexit done. People’s vote. B*llocks to Brexit. Leave. Remain. Backstop. Withdrawal agreement. Customs union. Article 50. Surrender bill. Divorce settlement. Dither and delay. Operation Yellowhammer. Transition period. Political declaration. Deal. No deal. In. Out. In. Out. Shake it all about.
For a lot of Britons, Brexit is still just a collection of winsome words. Juicy jargon and angry jeers. Fiery protestations and promises. Contradictory predictions and catchphrases. Sound bites and spurious similes. Some hit home and some pass you by but for my two-penneth, the campaign to remain, and latterly to stop Brexit, has consistently failed to hit the right note and find the right words. It’s a debate, an argument, that remoaners have never controlled let alone dominated and, I’m afraid to say, it’s time to ask if the towel should be thrown in?
Even though much of the battle-bus basket-case for Brexit has unravelled over the last three years and been shown for what it really was, those wanting to remain within the EU have unilaterally failed to sway public opinion to their cause. Furthermore, remainers have done precious little to prevent ‘the largest mandate’ and ‘the biggest democratic exercise in British history’, both shown to be false, from passing into widely believed orthodoxy. The reality that Brexit is essentially a right-wing project to further deregulate our economy has been loss in the morale-sapping morass. Moreover, the government’s recent ‘Get Ready for Brexit’ campaign, beamed down from every motorway sign before being postponed yet again, has helped to keep the inevitability rooted in our consciousness. The irony is that the final remaining retort may be the most powerful: “See, told you so.” It’s nothing less than a crying shame that the best line can only be employed when it’s too late.
