Blue passports and Britain’s sham Brexit
Peter Divey believes the recent farce surrounding the production of our new blue passports is merely another symptom of what has become Britain's sham Brexit.
The passport farce sums up the ineptitude of this Government, but, bad as it is, both politically and symbolically, it is just another gleaming jewel highlighting the horrendous insincerity and artifice of BRINO (Brexit In Name Only). The Tories have chosen to implement Brexit by poking leave voters in the eye at every turn. The so-called transition period is truly horrendous. I refuse to call it an implementation period as it is nothing more than continued EU membership, at all costs, by any means. There will be much worse to come.
Red lines… don't make me laugh. Bow, grovel, concede, retreat. Obama's red lines are as the Great Wall of China compared to anything that May can construct. Fishing rights were even more ritualistic than blue passports, a true test of resolve and the best measure of Brexit in actuality. Sovereignty and control exemplified, the very definition of breaking free, but, alas, not to be. The EU said no, as simple as that. The list of concessions is so embarrassingly long now that I wonder if it is not some sort of ruse to prove the folly of the referendum result. May, Davis, and the entire Cabinet are now shamelessly, brazenly mocking leave voters. The grumbling of JRM, the flinging of dead fish by Farage is pointless, just more Brexit confetti swept away by those irresistible EU gusts. No matter that it is exactly how many feel.
At 11 pm on Friday 29 May 2019 the UK will formally exit the EU, but it will be another empty gesture as no one will be able to tell. "Let no-one doubt our determination or question our resolve, Brexit is happening," said PM May. Come with me say the Tory Party, let me lead you by the hand to those sunny uplands, trust me. But my faith is gone, my trust squandered, I have only doubt, and assurances about end-dates and final outcomes no longer wash. This is not what we said, not what we promised, but we will get you there. It is a message that long ago lost all credibility.
There will be severe political fall-out, but the Tory Party do not seem to care. It is peculiar to watch a Government engaging in a strategy that will assuredly lead to political oblivion. A 2019 General Election, is that the point of this strategy? Davis insists that the fall-back position regarding the Irish Border is included as a legal construct, knowing that it will be intolerable to the DUP and the rest of the UK if needed. A slyly planted remote control bomb? I have considered the possibility that it is there to explode any deal that is unacceptable but that would credit the Government with so far unseen powers of cunning and planning. Brexit is clearly being implemented very badly, and in the open for all to see. There seems to be no shame or embarrassment arising from the broken promises, the endless retreats and concessions. I have racked my brains and come to the conclusion that it can only be a plea for the calmer waters of political obscurity. Perhaps they think everyone will see how calamitous Corbyn is and all will be forgiven. Or maybe they really are just that rubbish. As we trudge towards those heralded uplands we continue to feel the lash of the EU whip, and we wonder if it will ever stop.
