Comment: This is a great article on the political power-plays going on behind the farce that is Brexit. However, I think it overplays how much immigration/terrorism played a part in the wish to leave the EU. It is almost caricatured in that respect.
EU corruption and decisions being made at Brussels (thus outside the "democratic" process of UK parliament) and an economic one-size-fits-all is at least equal to, if not more of a concern for many of those who voted leave than a blanket xenophobia. Ordinary British people - rightly or wrongly - have traditionally and generally been an extremely progressive country when it comes to cultural integration and continues to be to this day.
So, while immigration and terrorism does play a big part, it is not the primary driver here. I think this is more about the EU hitting ordinary people in the pocket and fuelling the disillusionment and suspicion of EU dictates. There are multiple reasons, all of which point to more sovereignty and independence. British people are becoming acutely aware that they've been had. In that respect it follows very closely the Yellow Vests movement in France and the anger that resulted in the election of Trump.
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Joe Quinn
Sott.net
Brexit blather is back in the news again. To listen to politicians and media talking heads, you'd think it's all rather complicated and 'beyond the ken of mere mortals'. In reality, however, 'Brexit' is quite simple: for the last two and a half years, the British establishment has been trying to make Brexit go away.
Don't believe me? Explain why, then, that of the 650 UK Members of Parliament, about 70% come from constituencies where the majority of people voted for Brexit, while among all Members of Parliament about 70% have made it clear that they favor remaining in the EU.
In addition, the Conservative government which approved the referendum in 2015 was lead by David Cameron, who has always been against leaving the EU. His successor, Theresa May, who negotiated the pseudo-Brexit deal that would effectively keep the UK in the EU, and which was voted down yesterday by a massive majority in Parliament, is also against Brexit.
So the obvious reason why the last 2.5 years of British politics has been an utter farce, and why the British people find themselves in this current mess, is that while a majority of British citizens voted to leave the EU, a large majority of their MPs on both sides of the aisle (and the British 'establishment' itself) do not want to leave the EU and are determined to make sure it never happens. To claim otherwise would be to suggest that British politicians were as clueless about the nature of the UK's relationship with the EU as the British public. But that's not the full story.
The decision that Brexit would not happen was taken immediately after the 'Leave' vote in the referendum in 2016, and that fact was evident to anyone with eyes to see. The politicking of the last 2.5 years had little to do with Brexit and everything to do with internal UK political power games, i.e. British political party mandarins and individual politicians feathering their own nests with an eye on their future positions within the British political system, which they are sure will remain an integral part of the EU. The Conservative strategy so far has been to hold on to power by attempting to convince their voter base (who want Brexit) that Theresa May's 'deal' is actually Brexit, when it clearly isn't at all. The EU has been on exactly the same page as Theresa May all along.
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