On 01/06/2021 16:56, Ian Jackson wrote:
[I wrote:]
Post by Ian Jackson The best thing promised in the referendum was that we could
stop obsessing with the EU and get back to politics as usual. Well,
never mind.
I don't recall such a promise.
What else, after years of debate, were we to make of "The EU
referendum is a once in a generation decision." combined with "This
is your decision. The Government will implement what you decide."?
There's no point obsessing about an implemented decision that will
not be re-visited for "a generation" [which seems to mean less than
a decade in Scotland, but that's another matter].
Post by Ian JacksonIIRC, we were promised sunlit uplands
and unicorns [...].
I don't recall such a promise, to coin a phrase. Perhaps
some of the more fanatical Remainers have been exaggerating?
Post by Ian JacksonThe best thing about Mrs May's government [remember
her?] was that Parliament could deliver Brexit. Well, never mind.
Prior to the referendum she was against Brexit, and publicly declared
that it was a Bad Thing. After the referendum, she decided that she
was the Best One to deliver Brexit (although, in her heart of hearts,
I suspect she still thought that it was a Bad Thing). Still, a job's
a job (especially when it's the Top Job) - and someone had to do it.
You may well be right, but sadly Parliament was not up to
the job.
Post by Ian JacksonThe best thing about the 2019 GE was that Mr Johnson's government
could Get Brexit Done,
Yes - he did a great job, and achieved an award-winning last-minute
agreement with the EU. Unfortunately, it seems to have left the
fishing industry, the cheesemakers - and possibly the farmers -
rather well shafted.
It remains to be seen how this will all pan out. But it is
[for the time being] the result of a rather unpleasant negotiation,
and largely out of the UK's [and the Government's] control. It has
not been the EU's finest hour.
Post by Ian Jacksonand we would get back to politics as usual.
Well, never mind.
I'm sure the above-mentioned trades would love to get back to
'politics as usual' - but that's probably rather difficult when it
looks like the present politics is putting you out of business. But -
never mind!
Debating the future of cheese/fish/lamb /is/ politics as
usual. Debating an alternative reality in which Remain won, and
"sunlit uplands and unicorns" abound, is fantasy-land.
Post by Ian Jackson It really is time that we stopped viewing every blip, up or
down, through the Brexit lens. It's too late. No matter what was
promised or not promised, no matter what truth or lies were told,
it's happened and we have to make the most of it.
"Having to make the most of it" (in the sense of 'having to put up
with it') is usually not what people want to have to do. [Brexiteers
might interpret it as "Seize the fantastic opportunities that Brexit
offers", but I'm sure that's not what you meant!]
I'm not a Brexiteer, but your sureness is at least partly
misplaced. Leave out "fantastic" [tho' I expect the PM would leave
it in], and I would certainly support that interpretation. Having
to put up with it is equally the case. The UK has changed, and in
particular our relationship with our nearest neighbours has changed.
We can sit around fantasising about stopping Brexit, or move on.
Post by Ian Jackson It would be at
least as fruitful to debate the origins of WW1.
As we are arguably still suffering some of the effects of WW1, the
benefits of a bit of occasional ongoing analysis should not be
dismissed too lightly.
I'm perfectly happy that historians should continue to rake
over the past; that's their job. Nor should we forget the past,
for well-known reasons. But we need to get on with our lives, not
obsess over what might have been.
--
Andy Walker, Nottingham.
Andy's music pages: www.cuboid.me.uk/andy/Music
Composer of the day: www.cuboid.me.uk/andy/Music/Composers/Peerson