I don’t write about politics, despite increasingly feeling tempted to do so, because really the internet is already packed with ill-informed hot-takes on the subject and there is no overwhelming need for me to add mine to them. And I feel a little wary of writing about British politics anyway – even about the excruciatingly horrible Home Office – since I no longer live in the country. However, yesterday I was hardly able to work because of all the news coming out of London and today I find I am still incensed about the whole thing, so I’ve decided to write my piece and then perhaps I’ll delete it, perhaps I’ll post it.
A little background: as a British person living in Belgium I was always going to be inclined to support remaining in the EU but I do generally try to consider the bigger picture when voting and while I can hardly claim to have become terribly well-informed on the UK’s membership of the EU before June 2016 I did decide that while I am not the EU’s greatest fan it was simply in everyone’s best interests – especially Britain’s – to remain a member. And ideologically I prefer working with other countries to isolationism. I thought both campaigns were appalling: Leave was full of fantasy and shoddy deceptions and Remain, though less misleading, tried to intimidate voters rather than enumerate the advantages of EU membership (admittedly, here they would have had to counter years of both government and some parts of the Press blaming the EU for what were in fact domestic decisions).
When Leave won, I was very upset. Like many people, I acknowledged that, since the promise had been made to carry out the results of the referendum whatever they might be, the vote must be honoured. But also like many people, I have watched the Brexit negotiations with increasing horror. At what point do we admit that the project is a disaster? How do we say that we uphold democratic choice when that choice was clearly going to harm so many people?
I have always disliked Theresa May’s politics and I thought she was an appalling Home Secretary. Brexit was always going to be insanely difficult, but she has made very poor decisions throughout, starting with her foolish triggering of Article 50 (for which the MPs who voted for it must share some blame). Be that as it may, within the constraints she was given and those she gave herself, it’s hard to see what better deal she could have negotiated. For instance, it is not possible to leave the Customs Union and end Freedom of Movement yet still uphold the Good Friday Agreement and maintain the integrity of the Union. There has to be a border somewhere.
Brexit has really tested MPs in a way that few other recent issues have. If you believe that leaving the EU is going to be disastrous for the country but your constituents overwhelmingly voted to do so, do you vote according to your beliefs or do you represent the views of your constituents? (And vice versa, for MPs who believe that remaining would be disastrous.) This is a real dilemma which has not been helped by people bandying about words like ‘traitor’. There are MPs who have genuinely tried to do their best. And there are others who have taken no responsibility for the situation and who have bailed out while failing to offer one single practical alternative. That really sticks in my craw. The slew of resignations yesterday was particularly unedifying. Ministers cannot have been surprised by what was put before them, least of all the Brexit Secretary, and it’s hard to believe that their haste to distance themselves from May was not done without at least one eye on their future careers.
I hope that MPs will read the text carefully and understand that this is it – this is the deal available for leaving the EU. There is no other deal possible, time has run out. ‘No deal’ is unacceptable. Anyone who thinks it is not unacceptable should first go to Dover and note the space prepared for extra customs checks (hint: there is none) and then go to their nearest hospital, look patients in the eye and convince themselves that the death of that person, when medicines are delayed, is a fair price to pay.
MPs should vote on whether they think that this deal is advantageous or not. If it is not passed, then there should be a second referendum: do we leave the EU with this deal or do we remain. That result should be honoured. (Oh and all British residents in Europe, including those who have lived there longer than fifteen years, should be entitled to a vote this time.) Then ministers should actually pay attention to why many people voted to Leave – because their communities are stagnating and need change and development – and enact policies to help them. This is what I think is the best way forward – though of course, if I read that either David Davies or Dominic Raab has been chosen as prime minister in the next few days, I will be forced to conclude that everyone is an idiot after all.