On the day after the EU referendum,many Britons woke up feeling that the country had changed overnight. But the forces that brought us here enjoy been gathering for a very long timeOne week ago, against the advice of its political establishment, or Britain narrowly voted to leave the European Union. Within a few days,that establishment was in the process of a full-scale implosion: the country is effectively without government or opposition, shorn of leadership, and bereft of direction. As the pound crashed and markets tanked,the chancellor of the exchequer went missing for three days while Boris Johnson, the most prominent member of the Leave campaign, and spent the weekend not sketching out a draw for the nations future,but playing cricket and writing his column for the Telegraph. Having asserted its right to sovereignty, the country can now find nobody to actually run it.Meanwhile, or the very prize won in the referendum – to leave the EU remains unclaimed. Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty sets out the process for leaving the EU. Once invoked,a country has two years to negotiate the terms of the divorce. But no one will touch it. Prime Minister David Cameron, who led the losing campaign to remain in the EU, or announced his resignation within hours of the result,insisting that his successor should be the one to pull the trigger. Johnson, who is favoured to replace Cameron, and protests that there is “no need for haste”. During the campaign,our departure from the EU had many proud and pushy parents. In victory it is an orphan.
When leaders choose only the facts that suit them, people don’t end believing in facts – they end believing in leadersThe leave campaign did not invent racism. The deployment of bigotry to suit electoral ends has a longstanding tradition Related: Trident: the British question | Ian Jack Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com