Nigel Farage, Nonsense on Stilts and Forgotten Casualties of Brexit

 

 Well, it came as a welcome source of amusement to learn that the Godfather of Brexit and one-time Christmas Message contributor to this blog, Nigel Farage (NF), has woken up to the fact that we Remainers were right all along.  Brexit has been a failure.  NF admits this, and we have been vindicated. Of course, NF attaches no blame to himself. It's all the fault of the Tories, according to him. 

Speaking to BBC's Newsnight presenter, Victoria Derbyshire, on Monday, NF admitted that the country had "not actually benefited from Brexit economically" and blamed this on "useless" Tory politicians "mismanaging" the Brexit departure.

This is not to say that NF is now a Remainer. Despite Victoria Derbyshire pointing out that a recent poll shows that around one in five Leave voters saying that they now regret their choice, he still clings to his delusions. Derbyshire said:

"The OBR [Office for Budget Responsibility] forecast a 4% hit to the economy over the medium-to-long-term - that's £40bn in tax revenues. Economically, the UK would have been better off staying in, wouldn't it?"

Now, for us "Remoaners" who were pointing out during the referendum campaign that this would happen (and worse), we remember how our doubts were dismissed as "Project Fear". Nonetheless, NF can't quite admit to the obvious. Replying to Derbyshire, this was his response: 

"Mr Farage said he "doesn't think that for a moment" - and blamed the "failure" on the Conservative government's handling of Brexit. He said: "We haven't benefited from Brexit economically when we could have done." "What Brexit has proved, I'm afraid, is that our politicians are about as useless as the commissioners in Brussels were."

It's a shame that Farage does not reflect on his own uselessness, as there is much to be said on that score. John Bercow, the former Commons speaker, lambasted NF on GB News: 

"Why not start by admitting first that people are poorer, wages are down, foreign direct investment has slumped, sterling has taken a permanent 10 per cent hit.
The economy has been hit to the tune of about £100billion a year.”

If a right-wing channel like GB News can screen such an attack on Farage, then he is in trouble. The recent local election results bear this out. UKIP was wiped off the electoral map. Brexit has been shown to be what John Bercow has said of Farage's beliefs: "It is nonsense on stilts".

Indeed it is, but there is another aspect to the failure of Brexit that has not been noticed. Besides the admittedly dire economic impact, there are the human consequences of the referendum and the forgotten casualties in the title. I wrote on this issue back in February, 2021 and perceive the need to do so again.

Firstly, there was a rise in hate crime following the start of the referendum campaign. Reports of hate crime rose by three fifths at that time, exhibiting itself in all manner of nasty and hurtful ways. The principal targets for this surge in hate were, of course, EU nationals, living and working here in the UK. James O'Brien, of LBC, highlighted the case of a French lady psychiatrist, who had worked in the NHS for 20 years. She was subjected to pro-Brexit inspired abuse from her own patients. She was so hurt that she has returned to France.

Another case I know of was that of a Spanish nurse, married to an Englishman, with two English children, who received similar abuse from patients. She, along with her family, returned to Spain. And these were but two examples of many such incidents which have been well documented, the latest authoritative study being published in 2021.

Then there were the social consequences of the campaign, again, not being mentioned in the media. This was so bad that the New York Times wrote about it: 

"Like the election of President Trump, the 2016 Brexit referendum vote crystallized divisions between cities and towns, young and old, the beneficiaries of globalization and those left behind...in the aftermath of the referendum, Relate, a counselling service, said that a fifth of the 300 relationship support practitioners surveyed had worked with clients who argued over Brexit."

But the human consequences are not limited to the shameful rise in hate crime, xenophobia and the harm of social division.  The EU referendum led to two violent deaths, those of Jo Cox, M.P. , and Duncan Keating. Jo Cox, as we know, was murdered by the Fascist Leave campaigner, Thomas Mair. Leave voter and pensioner, Duncan Keating died after a fight with Graham Dunn, a fellow pensioner and a Remain voter, during an argument over Brexit. 

To conclude, Nigel Farage is getting off lightly, in my opinion, despite the admirable efforts of Victoria Derbyshire and John Bercow. I believe that Farage, Johnson and all the other Brexit con-artists should be held to account for the devastating adverse social and human results of their misconceived and dishonest campaign several years ago.

Coronation Reflections: Age, Protest and Tom Paine

 Yesterday, my wife and I went early to Trafalgar Square intending to watch the journey of the new King and Queen as they travelled in their coach along The Mall and turned into Whitehall. We found what we thought was a good observation point, and began our long vigil. On the corner opposite, anti-monarchist demonstrators had gathered to protest against the Coronation. When the republicans chanted "Not my King!", the "royalists", who outnumbered them, responded with loud "Boos" (I didn't join in on either side).. Having said that, there was very little ill-will. In fact, one anti-monarchist carrying a placard walked among the crowd near us, and suffered no ill effects. It came as a surprise to learn that 52 republicans had been arrested, as we saw nothing of it. We saw little of the parade either, but I'll come to that. 

This was an unusual experience for me. Had my younger self seen me, he would have been aghast. Back in the 70s, as an SWP member, I participated in the SWP's "Stuff the Jubilee" campaign in1977. 46 years later, I was standing among royalists.  My younger self would have been outraged.

Nonetheless, we waited. As you might expect, time passed slowly. Frequent downpours of rain did not help the situation. Shortly after 10.30, there was a burst of excited cheering in the section of the crowd in front of us. Those of us at the back, which included my wife and myself, wondered what was going on. In fact, the Royal coach had passed by, and we had seen nothing. The crowd in front was too dense. After hours of waiting and getting soaked, our feelings can well be imagined.

Curiously enough, I didn't feel that we'd wasted our time. Even in our small section of the crowd, there were a number of different nationalities: British, Irish, Americans, Australians, Filipinos, Sri Lankans, all mixing well together as friends. Friendships have been forged during the preparations for the Coronation, all along the parade route, and that's a positive thing. As we left the Square (it wasn't easy), we felt positive about what we had experienced, despite the disappointment and the rain.

Now, I am well aware that coming away with a feeling of positivity does not justify the whole Coronation event in the eyes of sceptics and republicans. One republican, were he with us today, who would be scathing about the Coronation rituals and pageantry, is Tom Paine, the 18th century English radical author and Founding Father of the USA. As might be guessed, he was a fervent anti-monarchist, one of his quotes being:

"Vice and virtue, ignorance and wisdom, in short, every quality, good or bad, is put on the same level. Kings succeed each other, not as rationals, but as animals. It signifies not what their mental or moral characters are".

After assisting the American colonists to achieve independence, he returned to England for a while to build a bridge. Nowadays, he would have been arrested as a traitor, or, like Shamima Begum, had his citizenship removed. The authorities left him alone until he published "Rights of Man" - a rebuttal of Edmund Burke's "Reflections on the Revolution in France". Paine was lucky to escape to France, where he was elected to the National Convention. Now, it might be thought that Paine would have supported the execution of the French king, Louis XVI, but he didn't. Like the Girondins, he supported the abolition of the monarchy, but opposed the Terror and the king's beheading. In fact, Paine wanted Louis XVI to be sent to America, where he could learn to become a good citizen. This enraged the Jacobin faction, led by Robespierre, and Paine found himself in the Luxembourg Prison, where he was lucky to avoid execution. For those interested, this is how he escaped: 

"The evening before his death a physician came to visit Paine and for the duration of the visit his cell door was kept open. During the visit guards came through and dutifully marked his door with an “X.” But without thinking they drew the “X” on the inside of the door that had been swung open. When the doctor left and the door of Paine’s cell was shut, the “X” was concealed. The next morning guards passed over his cell since no “mark of judgment” appeared. An open door to a visiting physician had saved his life."

Paine survived to see the fall of Robespierre, but not before most of the Girondins had gone the way of so many in revolutionary France.

So, what's this got to do with the Coronation, or anything else? Well, it goes some way towards clarifying my view of today's monarchy. A friend asked me if I'd ever imagined standing in  a royalist crowd and I found myself harking back to the French Revolution, the Girondins, the Jacobins, Paine and Robespierre. I said that I might have lined up with the Jacobins when younger, but would have supported the Girondins, had I attained to middle age or older. 

While I support the right of Republic to demonstrate against them, I cannot bring myself to bear malice towards the monarchy in general and the King in particular. So many people, including the Labour MP, David Lammy, have spoken in his favour that, were the monarchy to fall tomorrow, I would not send Charles to the USA to learn good citizenship. I think he is a good citizen already.

I know that there are many other issues involved. I thought that the the police action against Republic was heavy handed, and there needs to be a full investigation. And there is always the matter of royal expenditure at a time of economic crisis. But, an American friend asked me the crucial question: do I believe in the monarchy? My answer, influenced no doubt by age, is that I have no wish to campaign for their abolition while so many of my fellow citizens want to keep them. I save my energy for campaigns against Brexit and the far right. The situation might change over time, but that is for future generations to bring about.

I just wish it hadn't rained so much yesterday.