Thread by @PhillipsPOBrien

Now we really have reached the witch-burning stage of Brexit, which makes no pretext of needing evidence to make its cases or explain why the policy is failing. I give you this report by the Centre for Brexit Policy attributed to a wide range of figures. centreforbrexitpolicy.org.uk/wp-content/upl…

Its most extraordinary aspect is a constant attack on 'elites' (usually Remainer and often in London) who have undermined the great Brexit project. However the extraordinary thing is that these elites are never named and no examples are given of how they undermined Brexit.

The paragraphs above are typical--lots of scary rhetoric, but not a single piece of evidence, or example. Its pure and simple witch burning (or witch-doctering). Just state your substanceless case over and over again, and maybe some people (maybe even the authors) will believe it

Now, Im fascinated to find my own work cited in the report, but in a way that makes me convinced the authors have no idea of what they are saying. My work, How the War was Won, argues that Britain was far more powerful in WWII than people often realize (see note 12).

Its the first book in the report to show how strong Britain was during WWII--but then the author's do something weird, they go on to say that Britain hasnt declined really from that point, but can still be a powerful, global force (if not held back by those devious elites.

The whole point of the argument about Britain's strength in WWII(and WWI) was that then Britain was a global, technological, industrial and strategic superpower. It was not a 'medium' size power--it was a truly great power--and has certainly undergone relative decline since.

Indeed you can get a read of the first chapter of How the War was Won as a free sample through Amazon, and the point is made than except for the USA, the UK is the world's most impressive technological/industrial power in the war.

Here is a link to the amazon page where you can read that section for free. So certainly if they are using my book to make their argument--they have not understood it (even if they wanted to). Britain has certainly undergone relative decline since WWII. amazon.com/How-War-Was-Wo…

And the idea that it hasnt is bonkers. Britain cant simply imagine itself and act today as if it were something similar to its position in 1939-1945. Thats a recipe for imperial delusion, that will only make British relative decline, exacerbated by Brexit, worse.

If this is the intellectual underpinnings of the pro-Brexit crowd, its terribly worrying. They have no evidence for their main contentions, dont understand things that they quote in support, and have no realistic understanding of Britain's place in the world.

But they can happily keep burning all those elite, remain witches....