June 8: Britain will got to the polls on Thursday. Prime Minister Theresa May called the election to beef up her Conservative Party members in Parliament (something she said she would not do). It looked like a move that would increase her support in the coming Brexit negotiations (although she was not a keen supporter of Brexit in last year's referendum). How are things going for her?
One consequence of her turnabouts is the popularity of a song, "Liar, Liar." Another is what looks like a narrowing of poll numbers; the race has tightened. Finally, Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has proven to be a better campaigner than expected.
Anne Applebaum is covering the election in her Wash Post columns. As the election approaches, here is her assessment of the tightening race: "In the end, it may also be that the European
referendum last June destabilized the British political scene even more
than we thought possible. Suddenly a huge host of questions has been
opened up, from the future of Northern Ireland to the future of London’s
financial services industry. For nearly a year, nobody in public life
has really attempted to answer any of them" (including the Prime Minister).
Will a Conservative Party failure open the Brexit decision to another referendum?
So I'm wondering, was the Brexit decision a destabilizing event, or was it a symptom of a pervasive destabilization that is taking place throughout Western society?
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ReplyDeleteBrexit has been a destabilizing event it seems because the proponents lied about the benefits and the country is now coming to terms with the potential, in some areas, disastrous consequences.
DeleteThe fact that then PM David Cameron, though opposed to Brexit, called for the referendum thinking it would fail, looks like he wasn't paying attention to the underlying complaints. In some respects his decision looks like one of those clever English boy books, "With Henty in Afghanistan." What could go wrong?
Boy, another Brexit vote would be pretty weird. I can see the pro Brexits freaking out and getting more militant. In man on the street interviews, some of these people were working only on a gut reaction against foreigners. They don't want to listen to reasons and arguments.
ReplyDeleteBut I hesitate to draw too many conclusions about a group just based on those willing to yell into a reporter's mike.
Theresa May isn't panning out as a strongman any better than the pudgy guy with the cheap Chinese neckties. And what is really delicious is that Nigel Farage, the mouth that claimed credit for Brexit is now a "person of interest" in the FBI investigation of the Russia hacks. Well, Nigel (whose name I keep reading as Faberge) always did want to be somebody.
ReplyDeleteYou know who I am really starting to like? Emmanuel Macron. Trolling Trump by inviting American climate experts and green scientists to move to France where they will be respected -- in English yet -- was a real hoot. I wonder if Trump can respond in Fren... no way!
Agree about Macron...Hope he gets his political ducks in order. Trump can't respond in French; he'll just give him lip...."good riddance to the tree huggers."
DeleteThere was an old (for Brexit) vs young (against Brexit) split.
ReplyDeleteThe old people were told that a lot of money would go into the British health care system; that was not true.
The young people did not turn out heavily because they thought it would fail. They woke up to find out that many of their assumptions, e.g. that they could live and take jobs anywhere in the EU, might not longer be true. It would be as if we suddenly discovered that we might not be able to move as easily to another state as we do now.
And now we have the London Bridge tragedy and the aftermath. At his first statement afterwards, it looked like Trump was going to be sober and statesmanlike. Could he hold onto that thought for, I don't know, maybe 24 whole hours? Nah. Not a chance. He was back on Twitter being an ass-hat in short order. I want to go to Samoa.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard not to think that the London Bridge attack will give PM May the votes she needs to execute a hard Brexit by renewing all of the anti-immigrant sentiments that played into the referendum vote last June.
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