As a new follower of Twitter since January of this year I have become almost addicted to its political profile. The constant flow of information, disinformation, points of view, lies, facts, cartoons, jokes, political fun-making, cruel innuendo, sharp analysis, political codswallop etc etc. Twitter has just about everything and more often than not is completely up to date on many issues often giving me the feeling of being at the head of the information queue. My first week or so I lapped it all up only eventually beginning to realise the wisdom of exercising a certain degree of caution. Although outright lying is quite in fashion these days, all dressed up in its new suit of alternative facts, it is often easily recognised as such. There is though a large grey zone between the obvious porky and what might be considered as an undeniable fact. The things to watch out for are the untruths concealed by facts, like quicksands concealed by swirling mists on the moors. Sophisticated deception can be, just telling the truth. I think our society accepts and understand this and nowadays most people listen for the off-key note when a trumpet is blown on behalf of someone or something. Choosing toothpaste is easy and the cause of less anxiety than for instance buying a used car, a process which is more likely to be given a great deal more thought. Hopefully voting will merit even greater thought.
Regarding Brexit the one thing people seem to agree upon is that it will be a game changer. To what extent remains to be seen. Theresa May says categorically that she is the right person to lead the negotiations with Brussels. Strong and Stable is our leader, death or victory is her cause. Put that to music, bagpipes for the moment, and off we march. The swirling mist here is the strong and stable leader prepared for death or victory. There will be no ”bad deal” only a ”good deal” because we are prepared for death, sorry I mean ”no deal.” Theresa May talks of a strong hand based on good election results being the answer to helping her ”getting Brexit right.” She even hints on the possibilities of not getting it right, more it seems to attract the extra votes than anything else. Helping our leader in her quest for ”getting it right” making Britain fairer, stronger and more prosperous should be our patriotic duty. Who can argue with that? Nice and cosy, all wrapped up. Would someone put the kettle on.
This is all very well but what actually do we know or think we know? ”Soft Brexit” will be some sort of special agreement with the EU. It will involve giving and taking on both sides. The resulting balance of give and take will be defined by Theresa May as either a good or a bad deal. Now, as a previous remainer, she is of course completely aware that any partial deal will never be as good as full membership except for the kind of partial membership that involves only the benefits and none of the obligations. That is club membership with no fees or rules to abide by. The likelihood of this coming across is understandably nil. Somewhere along the line compromises have to be made. A strong and stable leader will of course see to it that compromises are not one sided but actually a gain for all. I once said in an earlier Tweet that good leadership leads out of minefields or if you will out of marshes and not into them. No mention here that the reason Britain is up the proverbial creek in a barbed wire canoe is just this lack of strength, stability and leadership. The referendum was a cheap political gamble that didn’t pay off and the question asked in the referendum is on a par with ”would you like something to eat?” A ”no” answer leaving no one in doubt as to what is required, with a ”yes” answer begging a second question.
At this stage the country was in dire need of not only strong and stable but also sensible leadership. At this stage Theresa May abdicated not only as a contender to the title of being strong and stable but also as being a competent leader of the UK. That second question never came, only ”Brexit means Brexit” or, ”you eat what you get.” What are we getting? There is a long list of what we will NOT be getting, either partially (Soft Brexit) or completely (Hard Brexit) What in fact are we getting that we didn’t have before? Nothing that warrants the risk of the UK splitting up and England becoming poorer and less influential in a Europe that would gladly see the opposite.
There is a slight breeze and if the mist disperses we may avoid falling into that quicksand and we may even find our way out of the marshes.