Thursday, January 17, 2019

The Idler, Thursday, January 17, 2019

History,

hysteria

in Blighty

 

"BREXTINCT!" So screeched the headline in yesterday's Sun – one of the more vociferous pro-Brexit Fleet Street tabloids – alongside an illustration depicting Theresa May as the Dodo.

Hysteria was inevitable following May's humiliating defeat in the House of Commons of her Brexit deal negotiated with the EU. But what follows?

And why, oh why, did the pound sterling rally on the world's financial markets just as Prime Minister May's humiliation sank in, instead of doing the opposite? Do the punters believe Brexit is dead? That the no-deal crash-out is a non-starter? That this is the start of a return to pre-Brexit normality?

What certainly has happened is that parliament has asserted itself over the populism created by a referendum where complex issues are so easily over-simplified. What parliament will do with that assertion is another matter.

Some weeks ago, Tory MP Dominic Grieve, a former attorney-general, defeated his own government with a motion bringing control of the Brexit process back to parliament, in the event of the deal being rejected. May acknowledged that in her speech accepting defeat and committed herself to reaching out to all sides in finding an alternative. Presumably, that is where matters now stand.

What will be stitched together? Can it be stitched? Will it be a cross-party deal? Will the Brexit process be abandoned? Will it be modified? Will the Article 50 deadline of March 29 be extended? Will Article 50 be withdrawn? Will Theresa May continue as prime minister?

Will there be another referendum, as so many urge? But what happens if the result produces just another clash between the populist will and parliament?

Will Britain simply crash out of the EU, and to hell with the consequences? Can it happen by accident as they run out of time?

So many questions, so far no answers.

Only one thing can be said with certainty. To draw on the collective wisdom of political analysis: Snot en trane still lie ahead.

 

ENTERTAINMENT value apart, does Brexit have any real impact on us down here in South Africa?

Well, yes if it's a messy Brexit. The EU is probably our biggest trading partner. The UK is a major part of that. We sell wines, fruit and other agricultural produce extensively in the UK.

The world's economies are inescapably intermeshed. Economic decline in the EU or Britain would certainly be felt here.

 

INTERVIEWED on the spot by Sky News, former British foreign secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind was upbeat about developments at parliament.

No riots, no violence, nothing like what's going on in Paris, he pointed out. Parliament would sort it out.

Yes, all very British. But no less problematic.


 

"CAT gets head stuck in rat-trap"… Relax, this isn't more about Theresa May.

A black cat was found with his head stuck in a commercial rat-trap near a hotel in Newport, South Wales, according to Huffington Post.

"This poor cat's head was completely wedged ... and he was unable to free himself," Inspector Sophie Daniels of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said.

The cat in the box was brought to a vet, who managed to safely free him. The kitty was "understandably shaken," the RSPCA said.

Yes, and he hadn't even been told about the Brexit goings-on.

 

Tailpiece

DON'T forget, when in Rome – be an awkward cuss and do as the Belgians do.

 

Last word

Happiness is nothing more than good health and a bad memory.

Albert Schweitzer

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