All The Lonely People. Why Did People Vote Brexit?

There are various theories to explain why some groups and regions voted heavily Brexit and others didn't.  The most annoying one, and the one most at variance with what I actually saw is that of Daniel Hannan.  In his view Brexit was a triumph of the smirking classes over the working classes.   None of the white working classes that I know, with one exception, voted Brexit.  And he changed his mind soon afterwards.  In fact all the vocal Brexiters I know are quite the opposite - middle class and very much not manual labourers.

Individual Associate EU Membership Reveals Brexit As Pointless

When the idea of individual UK citizens being allowed dual citizenship of the EU came out, I thought it was basically a political stunt.  I rather agreed with the motivation behind it and thought it was rather a neat stunt.  It was a fairly benign stunt as well since it was one that nobody could lose from.  The furious reaction from leavers was both amusing and also sort of the point.  They were probably already imagining how embarrassing having perhaps a million British people volunteering for EU citizenship would look for their case.

Leavers and Remainers Debate What To Do Next

I've seen the above popping up in a couple of places on Twitter and Facebook.  There is a similar one which is written to make the remainer look truculent and petulant.  I don't know which one came first but this one seems to have been spread around more so I am guessing it is the first one.

In fact if my experience is anything to go by this would be rather more polite than the average discussion that is going on.  I haven't seen much in the way of people coming together to constructively debate the best way forward.  It seems that leavers still want to leave and remainers still want to remain.  Both sides want to blame the other.

What I have noticed though is that people haven't really thought through their tactics very clearly yet.  Remainers haven't yet realised that the best way to get back in, and possibly to wreck the whole project and to end up actually staying is to push for the hardest fastest Brexit possible.  It is going to be much harder to argue to stop the whole thing if the negotiations stretch over years and years and end up with workable compromises.  By the time that lot has finished it will be the news story nobody is interested in and it will be very difficult to get any enthusiasm for starting a new set to get us back in again.

I Want To Remain But I Hope The Government Wins The Supreme Court Case

The court case is going into Bleak House mode at the moment, but pondering the constitution is an interesting diversion from worrying about the serious stuff coming up next year.  The really important Brexit matters are trade and business and when those talks get going we will really discover just how good or bad an idea it was.  But as nothing to do with the actual situation is going on lets spend some time on what leaving the EU actually means.

Sleaford - good news for Brexit so bad news for the country

It's bad luck for anyone casting a vote in a byelection at the moment if they don't want to send a message about Brexit.  It's the only message anyone is interested in.  So what does the one in Sleaford tell us?  I think that combined with Richmond it tells us quite a lot.  And I find what it tells us pretty depressing.  Lets look at what the result means for the parties.

The Last Thing We Need Right Now Is A Court Case

There's a lot of talk about the court case that is on at the moment.  I was a bit surprised to discover that the government doesn't appear to have the power to take us out of the EU without an act of parliament.  I'd have thought it fell under foreign policy.  But the noises coming out of the court sound like that isn't going to be what the Supreme Court will find.  So that's an educational experience.  It just goes to show that not everything is as it at first appears.  So for example when I see a person or a newspaper attacking the independence of the courts, my first thought is that they are a fascist.  But perhaps they are just not very good at knowing where their own best interests lie.

Brexit Violence? Some Worrying Thoughts

I am troubled by something written on Political Betting Forum by a guy called Pagan.  He made a very good point, though he didn't make it tremendously well.  He pointed out that if people who want change can't get it by the ballot box then they will feel justified in turning to violence to get it.  He managed to make it sound like a threat, though I don't think that was what he actually intended.

Will Sleaford Cancel Out Richmond?

Typical Lincolnshire Church

I spent this Sunday morning reading the coverage of the Richmond by election in the papers and following some discussions of it in a few forums.  Although absolutely nobody foresaw the result, this doesn't seem to stop there being some pretty firm conclusions about what it all means.  There's a line of argument from some Brexit enthusiasts that because the Lib Dems scored fewer than the nominal number of remain voters for the constituency that it represented a swing away from support for EU membership.  I admire their creativity but the overall feeling was that whatever the details that this result was bad for Brexit and good for either staying in or at least pushing towards the least extreme version of leaving.

Maybe Richmond By Election Is Important After All

Richmond might turn out to be more important than I thought

I wasn't particularly interested in the Richmond by-election when I went to bed last night.  Based on the last one, it was predictable that the Lib Dems would pull in a fair few votes.  But they didn't win the last one and the majority they were seeking to overturn was much bigger this time.  So it didn't look like anything much was going to happen.  But in politics winning is a big deal.  And those extra few thousand votes that put the Lib Dem in parliament might turn out to be very significant.