The Cowards and Deceitful Opportunists of Brexit

TIME TO ABANDON SHIP

Gisela Stuart and Douglas Carswell have announced they will not be standing for re-election for parliament in the 2017 General Election. This adds to the growing number of prominent Brexit campaigners that seem to be leaving their jobs and have no intention of being a part of the huge and immensely complex negotiations involved in leaving the EU.

I don't understand how you can be so passionate about something in politics, yet decide you can't be bothered to finish what you started yourself. Either they're lazy, believe someone else can do a better job, or scared of the actual impact Brexit will have and have no intention of accepting any blame of how negotiations end. They are distancing themselves from the process of leaving, after being so in love with the idea of separating from the EU.

Several prominent figures on boths sides of the debate have decided to call it a day as an MP, for differing reasons.

Nigel Farage is an International Embarassment for the UK

Oh dear. Nigel Farage is at it again. On 5th April, he galloped into Strasbourg atop his Brexit unicorn and proceeded to once again, spew bile and delusional accusations at EU parliamentarians. Farage criticised the EU for it's £52 billion pound exit bill at the start of negotiations. As the official representative of all that is wrong with Britain, he had the audacity to say a hell of a lot of threatening and patronising words.

I am thoroughly disgusted by Farage's behaviour. He is there as a representative of the UK and is acting like everything about Brexit must be fine with him. He has become the face of the UK abroad and the poster boy for why people should just tell us to get stuffed. He's basically saying it's my way or no way at all. There are 65 million people in the UK and Farage is representing the extreme end of racist nationalism.

For the rest of this article, I want to analyse Farage's speech and bring to light other occasions that demonstrate what a disastrous demagogue he has been for Britain.

Why I support the EU in negotiations with the UK

On Wednesday 30th March 2017, the UK formally submitted a letter, notifying the European Union of it's decision to formally withdraw from the 28 state trading  power.

What has really and I mean really got under my skin, is the language and method we are using to conduct our "negotiations" with the EU. Patriotic nationalists are buoyed by the vitriolic bile spewed from prominent leave voters like Farage and Johnson, eschewing memories of a time long ago when Britain was actually a world power.  (I'm sure we were very nice to the world then too......)

But anyone who has ever been part of a successful mediation will understand that compromise and knowing your strengths and limits are of the utmost importance. Goading or infuriating the EU is not going to do the UK any favours in the long term. We are one small country, against an alliance of 27 others that are our closest trading partners.

 Moreover it is not like the EU is made up of countries who have no weight on the international scene. Germany have the strongest economy in Europe and the 4th strongest in the world. France are slightly behind the UK in 6th but are also a permanent member of the UN security council. Italy, Spain, Belgium, Portugal and Austria are also big economies with important pasts and will not suffer the UK's rhetoric lightly.

In essence, I want the EU to prove the UK is not a major player on the world stage anymore. I want it to throw those old ideals away and prove that integration is the best thing for all of us, under shared regulations and laws, agreed upon democratically inside the EU.