Seven years too long

I remember that fateful day, seven years ago, coming down to check the result on my phone to find that leave had won the referendum. Almost immediately I got a WhatsApp from my youngest daughter asking me what it means. My reply was ‘that’s it, we’re out.’ It wasn’t quite that simple. What followed was one of the strangest periods in British politics certainly in my lifetime. 

Now, seven years further on and despite Johnson’s claims to have got Brexit done, the fallout from the decision to leave the European Union rumbles on. Brexit is far from over. Despite having left the Union, the issue still divides the political classes and the population at large. If the polls are to be believed however there is a growing movement away from Brexit, at least in the form that was imposed, towards a more conciliatory and productive relationship with our near neighbours.

Looking back, the Remain campaign was weak and ineffective. It was too intellectual and relied upon maintaining the status quo, even though it was clear that people wanted change. It did little to promote a bright and exciting future within the family of nations. It was as if the Remain camp had already decided it had won.

The Leave campaign on the other hand was much more dynamic. It offered an alternative vision of how things would improve after leaving and how they would continue to deteriorate should we stay. Their campaign was full of pithy slogans that captured the imagination and was never afraid of appealing to the baser side of human nature. Pinning leave on an improved NHS was a work of genius.

It turned out that the Leave campaign was based on lies. This is not surprising as the liar in chief was in charge. He, or the campaign lied about the £350 million per week, that the money would be spent on the NHS, that there was an oven ready deal, that there would be no border within Ireland, that the population of Turkey would come to live here and that we would stay within the single market. Unsurprisingly these lies have all unravelled.

It is impossible to say how the vote would turn out had the referendum been held today. Leave may well have won again but hopefully the public would see through its mendacity this time.