Imagine you came to power in the aftermath of the referendum convinced that Brexit was a profound mistake. How would you go about reversing it?
Thread. (1/x)
Thread. (1/x)
Crucially, you could never openly state this was your aim or you would immediately face a vote of no confidence and lose power. The more pro-Brexit you appear, the less likely you are to be challenged. (2/x)
By appearing to favour the purest possible form of Brexit, you effectively put Brexit on trial: Can it deliver what was promised or is it all a fantasy? By arguing that “no deal is better than a bad deal” you ensure that those fantasies are kept in play. (3/x)
The biggest risk to your strategy comes from losing control of the process as people unite behind a deliverable version of Brexit that is not your preference, therefore you should rule out anything practical and deliverable, and aim to polarise opinion. (4/x)
Luckily pre-referendum Brexit promises include things such as “no change on the Irish border”. Brexiteers cannot risk admitting this is a problem so it’s easy to push them towards advocating ever more fanciful solutions such as blockchain-enabled drones, etc. (5/x)
While this debate is taking place, nothing is actually happening on the ground to deliver a meaningful Brexit. The circular debates merely highlight the many intractable issues and help people understand what EU membership actually gives us. (6/x)
Of course at some point, in order to continue to appear to be delivering Brexit, you need to make progess in the negotiations. Dare I say “sufficient” progress… (7/x)
By keeping as many inconsistent fantasies alive as long as possible, you can control the timing of when your political opponents are forced into revealing their hand and playing their cards, by which point it will be too late for them to adopt a different strategy. (8/x)
At this stage, you can start to highlight the reality of what “no deal” actually means. With no alternative delierable plan, opponents of your own plan are left with a choice between the abyss and opposing Brexit altogether. (9/x)
As you head towards the endgame, the key will be to keep an iron grip on the process while stirring up opposition to your plan from all sides and shooting down any hasty alternatives people come up with. (10/x)
If all goes according to plan, the unrelenting pressure on the Brexiteers will cause one of them to crack and propose a pause or rethink, rather than pressing ahead with something they regard as worse than the status quo. (11/x)
By this point, you will be ready to checkmate your opponents by calling a second referendum, while never being the one to betray the will of the people. (12/12)
CC: @Sime0nStylites is this the mad riddle?
