I’m not a bad loser, anymore than #Farage was. The vote markedby the 52% was never coherent. #Brexit was never defined. Most Brexiteers in 2015 espoused retained membership of EEA/Customs Union, Single Market. They couldn’t all be lying. But post 2016 strife polarised positions.
You can do anything for a day. Many days accumulated may lead to a reversal, who knows? Now, however, to the immediate future. Despite the rhetoric of Britain’s future, so much of #Brexit dwelt on our imperial past.
In a very real sense, it will represent an important lesson. We will soon learn that obsession with a mythical past will bring no succour for the present. If analysts are correct, our keen advantages in financial services have been slashed by this deal.
But really it was never an economic issue. It was cultural. In a week’s time when the transition period ends, I’ve little doubt that ‘Land of Hope & Glory’ will be raucously sung. It’s a great tune. Its composer, Sir Edward Elgar OM came to regret ever composing it.
On Armistice Day, 11 November 1918, he visited the Coliseum with his wife. He wrote: “they played Land Of Hope And Glory not once, but twice; the whole audience joined in. I could not. I regret very profoundly how this song has become an anthem to war."
#Brexit was a civil war without muskets. It was also, for the victorious right, a cultural war against regulations, rights, and essential freedoms, which once were revered by #TheConservatives and rightly so. The ECHR convention was (after all) drafted by them.
So far as 31st December, I will thank Europe. Without it two of my children would not exist, & I would never have met my now naturalised Czech wife. It was very good for me. And #Brexit has been superb for Europe, as unlike Voltaire’s quip it will NOT encourage others to join us
In fact - as kindly pointed out to me - Sir Edward was accompanied by his daughter.
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