The Wasted Years

Ten years wasted on Brexit ... and counting ...

Holding back the tears

I was looking back at an article I wrote in March 2016 foreshadowing the Brexit Referendum. Some other people remarked at its accuracy in terms of what we actually got from Brexit, so I feel no great need to rewrite the piece or even to write something new on the 10th anniversary of the Brexit referendum. Find the article at Shall I Stay or Shall I Go.

“Extraordinarily well worded”. Steve Rouse, Leader of Swindon for Europe.

“Still relevant - seems like the more things change, the more they stay the same... 😖” Greg Newman, Northern Ireland.

The three Brexit promises of taking back control of our money, borders and laws have been shown to be utter lies … Matthew Eliott (Vote Leave) appeared on Channel 4 News with some word salad about the fact that Brexit did deliver, except he could not explain how. If you don’t have much time to dig deep, here’s a summary of the Brexit promises versus reality.

Hard Brexit Labour

Andy Burnham has already nailed himself to the mast of Brexit by stating that Labour’s red lines must remain and that he will not relitigate Brexit, despite being wildly out of synch with the ‘will of the people’. I fear that he too will be consumed by Brexit and have made a new Hannibal Lecter t-shirt to predict his downfall.

But, compared with Starmer, Burnham is more pliable / chameleon like. He could turn once he gets to grips with the hard facts of Brexit as Prime Minister. Especially if he gives Wes Streeting a top job. We’ll have to see.

New book

I’ll be updating the book we wrote soon, with new contributions from former MEP Michael Hindley, Dr Charlie Clutterbuck and others. Working title is “Brexit - The Wasted Years’