Lewis Carroll special
TWEEDLEDUM and Tweedledee – Boris Johnson in Number 10 and Donald Trump in the White House. Note the physical resemblance of the two oafish blond-thatched ones.
Yes, Chapter 1 of the nightmare is starting to unfold. Stand by for Chapter 2. Except this ain't no dream horror, this is for real.
The United Kingdom is set to break up, with Scotland seeking its own exit. For the Little Englanders this is two for the price of one, but for the rest of the world it's a catastrophic weakening of the democratic consensus and economic integration that has held Europe together since World War II.
In Northern Ireland hostilities are likely to be rekindled.
The Horsemen of the Apocalypse prance on the horizon. The world is suddenly threatened by an economic/financial vortex that could make the China slowdown seem inconsequential.
One thinks of TS Eliot.
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.
But some are happy. The Fellows At The End Of The Bar are bellowing their triumph from Land's End to Hadrian's Wall. What they have pontificated about endlessly for 40-odd years has come to pass. As ever, they will go home, sleep soundly and not think about it again – let alone the consequences – until this evening again at the end of the bar.
Oh boy!
Opinion poll
THE referendum is not, of course, part of the Westminster system. It's a kind of glorified opinion poll. It's outcome doesn't even place a legal requirement on government to follow that outcome.
The weakness of such a mechanism was highlighted in Britain last week when ordinary people were asked to make a sudden-death decision on a complex issue they couldn't possibly be expected to fully understand.
The Westminster system shifts such decision-making upward to elected individuals who – whatever their failings – are better equipped to decide.
Westminster versus the opinion survey. Will the House of Commons accept the referendum result? This could be interesting.
Referendum Dave
WHO brought all this upon Britain, the EU and the world economy?
Why, Referendum Dave. The man has form.
When the Scottish parliament requested a referendum on whether Scotland should have maximum devolution, total independence or the status quo – the ballot paper question had to be determined by Westminster – Prime Minister David Cameron said it had to be all or nothing, independence or status quo.
As the referendum campaign progressed, and it became clear that the status quo camp was struggling, Cameron hastily conceded in advance the maximum devolution most of the Scots wanted – and he won.
Phew!
The point about a referendum is that you don't have to call it. You do it only to ratify something you want to do and you call it only if you know you are absolutely certain to win.
Yet Cameron called one on the EU. Why? He listened to The Fellows At The End Of the Bar.
He lost. He's dumped as prime minister. Britain is to renege from the vision of a post-war Europe first described by Churchill – to which Cameron himself subscribed. His party is split from top to bottom.
Referendum Dave. Maybe Dunderhead Dave.
But The Fellows At The End Of The Bar are on a roll.
Schrodinger's Cat
SCHRODINGER's Immigrant was a potent contributor to the British referendum outcome. This is to adapt from Schrodinger's Cat, a thought experiment by the Austrian physicist Erwin Schrodinger, which held that a cat could be simultaneously alive and dead.
Schrodinger's Immigrant? That's the fellow who comes to the UK from the EU, goes on the dole and steals your job.
Much better
CHESTNUTS out of the fire. The Boks for the first time put in 80 minutes of purposeful play. JP Pietersen's try from a diagonal kick was a classic of the genre. Faf de Klerk single-handedly saved two tries with an interception and a tackle out of nowhere – topping a crackerjack performance all round.
Ireland produced flowing movements to astonish – one went through 22 phases. This was great Test rugby.
But I still feel noivous about New Zealand.
Tailpiece
AN ENGLISHMAN, an Irishman, a Scotsman, a priest, a nun, a rabbi and Van der Merwe walk into a bar.
Barman: What's this? Some kind of joke?
Last word
Progress might have been alright once, but it has gone on too long. - Ogden Nash
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