Thanks for this summary David, I'd suggest that it's broadly accurate.
Some of you may have noticed that Brexit has pretty much incinerated my
social media presence (which used to focus on the impacts of digital
engagement and transformation on the arts, culture, and locality,(plus a
smattering of green issues). Now its focus is almost exclusively the
madness of Brexit, which I can only interpret as the national equivalent
of a nervous breakdown.
Many commentators have suggested that "The North" and "The Midlands"
were the seat of Brexit - and they may be mathematically correct, but
interpretationally quite wrong. I grew up in The Midlands, and I now
live in The North, and in my view the "leave" vote was NOT driven by
extreme nationalism, nor hostility to the EU, nor by hostility to
immigration - core themes grasped onto by Theresa May, who insists that
they are key. Sections of the Conservative party are preoccupied by
these ideas.
I believe that the Leave vote was primarily driven by hostility towards
Westminster itself. Voters listened to what the vast majority of Members
of Parliament asserted, and decided "You people have been running
Britain against our interests for years - so we'll vote for the opposite
of what you recommend.". That thought was, I suspect, most usually
suffixed by the phrase "You scumbags!"
Recently the output of BBC News has not been that of a balanced,
reasonable or fair broadcaster. It has been incredibly (almost
comically) influenced by Conservative Party advocates of a Hard, or No
Deal Brexit. There are numerous examples that I won't review here. How
this bias has been introduced is not clear, but it is noteworthy that
key senior BBC roles are now undertaken by people who have previously
been Conservative activists, or who are known to have extreme neoliberal
or nationalistic views.
However, I can recommend a recent, very low-key documentary "Brexit:
Bewitched, Bothered or Bewildered" by BBC broadcaster Adrian Chiles.
Chiles grew up in The Midlands, and immediately after the Leave vote,
went to his home area, Erdington, and interviewed Leave and Remain
voters. This documentary is a return to those same interviewees, and
other local people, two and a half years later. The interviews reveal
surprisingly nuanced views, and I was surprised by the overall balance.
I recommend it.
There's a copy of this documentary on YouTube here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXy6IwgqZkQ
You can find the official copy of it on the BBC here:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0001v00
This brings me to the question of "National Nervous Breakdown".
I think I've said on this channel before that I'm starting to see the
roots of Brexit in the supercentralism of the UK - all media, politics,
cultural amplification and state interventions are MASSIVELY centred on
London. Centred to the extent that, despite London being the richest
metropolitan area of the EU, and despite many of the poorest regions in
the EU being located in the UK, governmental intervention cultural and
infrastructure spending is massively focused on London.
Transport infrastructure PER HEAD of population is massively biased
towards London, as is cultural spending. An order of magnitude greater
expenditure per head is made on Transport, and the Arts Council spends
more than ELEVEN TIMES the amount PER ARTIST on artists and activities
in London. These are just two examples - but there are many more. The
"anti-regional strategy" of successive UK Governments has been evident
for several decades.
In my view, it is objection to this supercentralism, not, perversely,
anything whatever to do with the European Union, that motivated the
Leave vote. It is worthy of note that the British "First Past The Post"
electoral system effectively denies most voters an audible voice, so
when a referendum was agreed, voters seized on the opportunity to roar
with rage.
There is no other nation like the United Kingdom.
You may imagine that this is a rhetorical flourish - but I invite you,
as evidence, to examine the National Flags section of Emoji.
What other nation manages to claim not one, but FOUR flags?
The Union Flag, The English Flag, The Welsh Flag, The Scottish Flag.
Note that this is weird enough, but there is no Northern Irish Flag
represented, DESPITE the UK's claim that it is an equally valid one of
four nations that make up the UK.
What's going on here? To me, it has become clear that "The United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" is SIMPLY NOT A NATION
STATE in the modern sense. It's an atrophied, shrunken Empire in
miniature, with the imperial capital in London. The supercentralism I
previously identified is a remnant of imperialism, and regions outside
London are treated as occupied dominions.
It is this weirdness, this lack of coherence, this failure to engage
with modernity and globalism, that has caused the current breakdown, and
until it is resolved, I suggest you will see more and more of it. In my
view, only profound and genuine reform, with regional parliaments and
true and profound decentralisation, will save the UK. That, however, is,
in my view, vanishingly unlikely.
I now (extraordinarily!) fully expect to outlive the UK. Already I am
living in the UKINO. (United Kingdom in Name Only.)
Best Regards,
James
=====
On 17/01/2019 16:28, David Garcia wrote:
My friend Eric Kluitenberg asked for my local view of the current
situation in Brexania. It gave me the chance
to pull some threads together. Some caveats this is a view from the
sidelines. The journalists are all suffering
from as much confusion and exhaustion..as the rest of the population.
I read nearly everything written and watch the parliamentary debates
and follow commentators including
my dear Uncle Fred (who is dead by the way and so should know a thing
or two about the after life) and the only
consistent message that emerges is that "no one knows anything”.
So this is what I think I know becoming less certain as you go down
the bullet points:
* Although Parliament rejected May’s deal Parliament does not know
what it wants instead.
* No majority for any plan and so Parliament is deadlocked
* The only Parliamentary majority is to avoid ’no deal’ 'crash out'
but no can agree
how to avoid it as the date is set in law and cannot be repealed without
a new law being passed.
* May will not take ‘no deal’ off the table as it is her principle
means of
terrorising parliament to get her way on her be-hated deal.
* Though she denies it May is running down the clock till we get so
close to
the precipice that parliament votes for her deal out of sheer terror.
* Even after the biggest defeat in parliamentary history she continues to
pursue this strategy that some called gritty and brave and others (me)
call rigid and pathological.
* There is reason to believe that the current ‘consultations’ with
other parties (May in listening mode ha ha) are tokenistic cover for
her continued
pursuit of the ticking clock strategy.. tick tick tick….
* The evidence for this is her refusal to take ’off deal’ off the
table.. tick.. tick
* This is why Corbyn may be right to refuse to talk to her because
until ’no deal is
off the the table’ the discussions remain a tokenistic delaying
tactic. But it does
make Corbyn look intransigent…so risky.
* Corbyn is heavily criticised for not backing a ‘public vote’
* It could be strategic.. His calculation may be to let the different
options play themselves out
in parliament until a new referendum is the last option left standing.
But it is not yet clear how
these options will unfold sequentially in the way imagined as
Parliament has little time and no
clear method.
* If the leave voting working class Labour voters (particularly in the
North of England)
are not to feel betrayed a public vote _must_ be seen as the last
option standing.
* Then Corbyn can turn to those constituencies and say "look I have
tried my best
to deliver Brexit on terms that do the least damage but was not
possible. So over to you
the public” not my fault gov...
* If I am right this is a high risk strategy.. but maybe political
intransigence mean that high risk
is all that is left-short of backing May’s deal…. aahhh
* Traditional (neo-liberal) transactional politics is dead in the UK
some might say good riddens.
Conservative historian Peter Hennesy described ‘Brexit’ as a kind of
secular version of the "wars of religion”.
But instead of Protestants and Catholics we have ‘remainers’
and ‘leavers’ representing two very different and
irreconcileable versions of ‘patriotism’.… but thats an argument for
another day…
* If we do have a chance to fight a _third_ referendum (remember there
was a referendum to join the EU in
1975) it will carry many risks of re-igiting toxicity. So we should
keep in mind that enlightenment Philosopher,
David Hume, wrote "reason is, and ought to be, the slave of the
passions". In other words reason is inextricably
linked to embodied emotions. In the struggle for the social mind
Remainers (like me) should avoid sounding like the
disembodied and controlling voice of pragmatic reason. We must argue
from the heart and engage the passions
as well as reason in our attempts to change the minds of the millions
who voted to leave.. It is be no means certain
that we will prevail.
Best
David
On 16 Jan 2019, at 19:24, Eric Kluitenberg <e...@xs4all.nl
<mailto:e...@xs4all.nl>> wrote:
HI David,
Hope you are doing fine!
Well, as expected the Br deal was voted down and May survived the
motion of no confidence.
I was curious, how do you evaluate the situation right now? Where are
we on both sides of canal?
all bests,
Eric
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