Brexiteers Have Blown It
In this column for the Spectator magazine Alex Massie takes a stick to Brexit fanatics like Jacob Rees-Mogg who want the UK to crash out of the European Union on the basis of 'No Deal'.
Here is an extract of what Alex has to say, but you can read the full article via the link below to The Spectator.
"Throughout this interminable process, the Brexiteers have done their best to absolve themselves of Colin Powell’s Pottery Barn principle: they broke it but they declined to own it. Every effort made to accommodate them or meet them half-way has been rejected by Brexiteers who first misdiagnosed the wishes of the 52 per cent who voted to Leave and then treated 52 per cent as though it meant the same as 100 per cent.
"Already, of course, fresh myths are being created. Brexit was stabbed in the back by people who never accepted it. They were never going to let it happen. Nonsense, naturally, but the kind of nonsense reconfirming the fact that, for many, Brexit was never actually about Brexit. It was instead just one battle in the culture wars. And the key thing to know about culture wars is that defeat is just as sweet as victory.
"Brexit was fine until Brexit arrived; it worked better in theory than in practice not least because as a theoretical matter it was all about unleashing a greater Britain whereas, in reality, it has become a retreat. And worse than that, a retreat which has emphasised our smallness, not our majesty. Project Fear? No, Project This Is How It Is and no amount of blather about German car companies or Italian prosecco-makers can disguise or make up for that."
