No, we will not let it go!

Is it safe to “let it go” yet? The Brexit debate still rages, despite The Government doggedly trying to take it forward. Isn't resistance-fatigue setting in? Is it time to acknowledge defeat and get on with life?

For those who were, for the most part, politically apathetic pre June 2016, the relief of giving-up would be huge. Go back to checking headlines once a week or thinking about party policy only once every five years. Recover time for hobbies. Repair friendships with those who disagreed on this one decision. Get a decent night's sleep. In life, there is an overwhelming imperative for reconcilliation, forgiveness and moving on. But it is a travesty of this process to reshape it as obedient yielding to injustice. Reconcilliation can only occur when all parties in a conflict agree to talk and listen to each other. Willingness on both sides to acknowledge the root of the disagreement and damage caused is essential as is a mutual search for a way forward that respects everyone. Sadly, in the case of Brexit, we have had no such discourse, and are still told "you lost, get over it". Theresa May herself has used many terms of division in referring to at least half the residents of the country she purports to lead: "losers" and "Citizens of Nowhere" are just two examples. And so, for the time being, reconcilliation must necessarily be a hope for the future, but an unrealistic expectation for the present. In fact, I would go further and argue that Remainers should not even consider giving up. Not for one moment. The call to resist is stronger than ever.

Even before the Referendum itself, it became clear that the “debate” had shifted. If it was ever about the dry technical minutiae of trade deals, that was soon swamped by protectionism and fantasy. If it was ever about idealist visions of one version of Democracy being superior to another, that soon morphed into chest-beating, smug nationalism. If it was ever a genuine question of the cost of immigration to the country, that quickly sank into the filth and ignominy of outright racism. Movement along that trajectory has accelerated post referendum. The surprise “win” for Leave did nothing to lance the boil of anger and unpleasantness in the country – in fact it served to justify it, to magnify it and to make it the acceptable face of mainstream politics.

Common sense and moral philosophy tells us that houses built on sand are washed away and projects built on deceit and ill-intention will founder. As this national tragedy plays out, the polycephalic beast that is Brexit reveals a newly distasteful face almost daily. The battle is no longer over Brexit per se. Brexit is simply the stage. Democracy, decency and humanity are the opera and if we have any pride in our country, our history or ourselves, or any hope for future, we must change the ending.

There are myriad examples of concern.

The rise in racism is shocking. If you are unaware of this you are possibly benefitting from the privilege of being British-born white and/or you are are following a narrow media-channel. Three minutes on social media reading the public comments on newspaper articles, posts by MPs and blogs will shock you as will many Twitter spats. The omnipresence of smartphones means there is no shortage of amateur video recording unprovoked racist altercations on buses, trains, pavements, shops and post-offices, showing a foulness that is becoming widespread. Official policy isn't helping. As the Guardian reported this week: “A post-Brexit immigration policy should include a deep cut in the number of low-skilled European migrants coming to work in Britain, with the priority given to only those willing to work antisocial hours, [the Policy Exchange] thinktank has urged ministers.” What a heroic vision – foreigners restricted to working nights so the rest of us don't have to mix with them.

The attack on democracy is so multifaceted in itself, that it's hard to know where to start. The terms of the Referendum ensured a gerrymandered electorate which excluded the three groups most directly affected by the outcome – British citizens living abroad in the EU, EU citizens living in the UK and under-18s who will have to live with this decision the longest. (True under-18s are normally excluded from voting, but they were notably included in the Scottish Independence Referendum – what's the difference?) As for the lack of requirement for minimum turnout and super-majority, these “oversights” were nothing of the sort. They were conscious decisions taken on the basis that the Referendum was advisory only. The Referendum Bill's own wording makes it explicitly and emphatically clear that the outcome would place no legal obligation on the Government. Our current Government effectively denies this reality. The lies of the Leave campaign are well enough documented to need no re-run here. But what of the manner of Mrs May's style of governance? Forced into our highest Law Courts repeatedly by Gina Miller and others doing the work of Opposition; forced to consult Parliament in handling this enormous reshaping of our country's governing system and its legislation. Forced by Parliament to allow MPs a “meaningful” vote (though even now it is anything but clear what “meaningful” actually means in this instance.) The introduction of Henry VIII clauses to allow ongoing, unscrutinised legislation-tinkering by the Executive should alarm us all.

Another big concern is the money behind the campaigning that achieved this momumental upset - it is opaque and unaccountable, coming largely from private billionaires, Russia and dark sources that can't be traced. Overspending and breaking of election rules seems to be de rigueur these days.

News, fake-news and social-media are in danger of becoming the parasites that accidentally killed their own host. The social-media impact is not yet widely appreciated, despite powerful and authenticated work by journalists such as Carole Cadwalladr and JJ Patrick who have shown that just as in Trump's USA, the populace in Britain was tricked and swayed by bots and military tactics to create a false sense of impetus, legitimacy and prevalence around the Leave-lobby. Mainstream media - broadcast, print and online - has veered into hysterical partisan mob-cheering with headlines that cast our Judges as Enemies of the People, MPs trying to do their job of scrutineers as Traitors and inexplicably giving excessive and often unchallenged airtime to uninformed commentators and agitators. Or bizarrely offering the microphone to factually inaccurate speakers in some twisted distortion of balance-seeking.

Then there's the retreat of rationalism. Even now, the expert-bashing and fact-light culture admired by Michael Gove holds sway. The lastest leaked reports on the economy and immigration make it clear that Brexit will be damaging. As Ian Dunt wrote, “The economic case against Brexit is now unarguable.” And yet the Government presses on. Ideology dwarfing facts.

And what of our individual rights? Astonishingly, bound up in the Withdrawal Act is the termination of the European Convention on Human Rights. Rights of Dignity (eg the right to life and outlawing of torture, slavery and eugenics), Rights of Freedom (eg privacy rights and religious freedom), Rights of Equality (eg prohibiting sexual and disability discrimination), Rights of Solidarity (eg workers' rights), Rights of Justice (eg the right to a fair trial) are some of the more striking features. Who voted in June 2016 to have these rights removed? Why would anyone benign want to remove them?

There is a constant game afoot by politicians to fob the public off until the media spotlight moves on and quiet sleight-of-hand can re-deal the cards. For example, Animal Rights has become an issue, perhaps surprisingly in a nation of animal-lovers. Traditionally we have been a world-leader in this area. The Withdrawal Bill deliberately removes the obligation to treat animals as sentient beings. This caused an outcry in November and the Government staved off defeat with all sorts of promises and assurances. But on 1^st February 2018, a report from the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Commons Select Committee suggests that such commitments should be delayed, as too much regard for animal welfare may slow down or have a “chilling effect” on new policy-making.

And against this background of pervasive crookedness, we now have the behaviour of MPs and Ministers themselves to add.

Boris Johnson, a proven, serial liar, sacked by The Times in 1988 for making up quotes and sacked by the Tory Party itself in 2004 for allegedly lying, is now our Foreign Minister, roaming the world on our ticket, offering racist and ill-judged comments as the muse moves him. Liam Fox, forced to resign in disgrace as Defence Secretary in 2011 for breaking the ministerial code is now our Secretary of State for International Trade despite his own credibility for calling out corruption or conflicts of interest in trade deals being shot to pieces six years ago. David Davies informed The House of Commons that his extensive and excruciatingly-detailed reports could not be released for reasons of national interest. He then said they could be released but only if heavily redacted before he finally admitted that they did not exist at all. And these are just the top guys. This week we have the almost unbelievable episode of Jacob Rees-Mogg and Steve Baker, Brexit Minister, manufacturing a story of Civil Service corruption and sharing it to The House of Commons, deceitfully smearing public servants for doing their job. Though Steve Baker has admitted the fabrication (under the excuse of “misremembering” and being very grateful for the opportunity to set the record straight) he will not face disciplinary action from his party. Mr Rees-Mogg meanwhile refuses even to apologise.

This is the state of our country. If we want a future that is run by the dishonest, power-hungry and very rich entirely for their own ends, we are going the right way. If we want the continued existence of Parliament to be turned into a toothless sop-to-the-masses in place of genuine, representative democracy, we are well over the starting-line. If we are happy to live in a society of suspicion and inward-looking fear and intolerance of “the other”, we can rest assured that the foundations are firmly in place.

Forget any argument for why Brexit might ever have been a good idea or not. Actually that ship has indeed sailed. It's not about that anymore. Look at where Brexit has got us so far and, given the direction of travel, where we are likely to be in another five years. If you don't like it, you've got less than a year to do something about it. Because there is a tipping point with all this. Although her battle is uphill, Theresa May's agenda is undeniably progressing, inch by painful inch, bizarrely supported at most turns by Jeremy Corbyn. At some point she (or her successor) will cross a line and shake off the shackles of even the least pretence of concern for The People along with the checks and balances of our democracy. Then the ruling Executive of the time will be free to do as they wish in every respect and we will find our own power to object has been entirely neutralised.


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