Author: R J Adams

^{Britain’s Next Prime Minister? God Forbid!
NOPE! HE’S GONE!}

What is happening to British politics? Watching the BBC News one could be forgiven for thinking the nation was going to hell in a parliamentary meltdown: the Tory vultures are gathering around the not-yet-quite-deceased body of David Cameron, and Labour’s birds of prey (front-runner, the aptly named Angela Eagle) are hovering over their leader, Jeremy Corbyn, waiting the right moment to rip out his liver.

The BBC (more biased by the week) seemed obsessed today with the video clip of David Cameron telling Corbyn, “For Heaven’s sake, go!”^[1]

It is, of course, a childish remark one can expect from the weak-chinned Cameron, who hasn’t the guts to lead a small puppy least of all a nation, and handed the most important decision of the century over to a populace totally unable to comprehend the outcome of their decisions. Come back, Pontius Pilate, all is forgiven!

As yet, Corbyn hasn’t “gone.” He’s sticking it out, and that takes guts given the mass of negative propaganda pouring out of the gutter press, including sadly, the Tory-controlled BBC.

In a recent response to a comment on Sparrow Chat, this writer was of the opinion that Corbyn hadn’t the abilities necessary to be a Prime Minister. That could turn out to be true, though in all fairness he doesn’t have much to live up to, at least not since David Lloyd George, and he was prime minister over ninety years ago.

Nevertheless, a study of Corbyn’s policies and beliefs make him the only possible candidate for the job. After all, if most of those who voted ‘Leave’ did so as a protest vote over their feelings of disenfranchisement, as seems to be the case with many, they’ll not get much joy from the rest of the pseudo-aristocratic, hodge-podge, of ex-public school flotsam vying for the position.

Indeed, so large was that section of the British voting populace, that if another referendum was held tomorrow, without the squalid campaigning that characterised the first abortive attempt, around twenty-thirty percent of the first time ‘Leavers’ would be changing their opinions and ‘Remain’ would win the day outright.

Which begs the question: if David Cameron was so keen to keep the country in Europe, why isn’t he using his authority as Prime Minister to declare a second referendum?

We’ve heard much of that phrase from politicians over the last few days, “The British people have spoken,” but it’s fairly meaningless when large numbers of said British people have now admitted they didn’t know what they were talking about.

Parliamentarians are using the referendum result as a free-for-all to gain power. Already the number of Tory would-be-prime ministers is heading towards double figures. Even the scourge of the British NHS, Jeremy Hunt, is threatening to put up for the job. Britain would fare better under Donald Trump. Oh no, sorry, he’s promised to the Americans.

Jeremy Corbyn is the only true Labour socialist left in the running, should there be a general election. He’s clinging to his position like a wounded stag that won’t stop fleeing from the hounds baying at his heels. He may yet outrun them.

It might be better for Britain if he did, but only if those who feel truly disenfranchised have the guts to support him. The British working people have a history of chickening out when it comes to the ballot box. Candidates with a true vision of a socialist Britain inspire for a while, but come election time Joe Public won’t put the ‘X’ where their heart is and settle for another gormless, public-schoolite, with a half-baked degree in philosophy and political science, and no more concern for the needs of the majority than Donald Trump planning another Scottish golf course.

If Britain is destined to leave the European Union it will take more than a half-baked political science degree to negotiate with E.U. leaders. It will take a ton of guts, dogged determination, and a firm commitment to make a better Britain for all its citizens, not just those whose over-healthy incomes are extracted from bleeding dry the ordinary folk who are the true backbone of the nation.

Whatever one may think of his personality, Jeremy Corbyn is the only man standing in political circles at this moment who offers even a vestige of hope of achieving that.

Of course, how long he may remain is just another of those myriad debatable questions that have erupted from “Brexit” to which no-one, inside or outside politics, seems to have an answer.

^{[1] “David Cameron to Jeremy Corbyn: For heaven’s sake, go” BBC, June 29th 2016}

^{Ray Of Hope}

It’s sad state of affairs, but the demise of the England football team from Euro 2016, losing 2-1 to Iceland, and coming so soon on the heels of the referendum’s disastrous result on Thursday, is just too much to bear for many English people.

While British Tory newspapers are still desperately clinging to their support for Boris Johnson to succeed David Cameron as the next Tory leader, it’s becoming obvious that the country, slowly coming to terms with the lies and deceit of the referendum’s ‘Leave’ campaign, is beginning to regret its love affair with Johnson and is turning towards a more acceptable alternative.

Johnson can be blamed for many things, but losing to Iceland in Euro 2016 is hardly the fairest thing to lay at his door. Unfortunately for him, football has a habit of producing the most illogical reactions in people, and for many it must seem inevitable that Boris had a hand in it somewhere.

Who may metamorphose as the alternative to Johnson as Tory leader is yet to be decided, but Home Secretary Teresa May is emerging as a potential front-runner. Many Tory MPs are unhappy with Johnson’s performance during the referendum campaign, and his part in splitting the Tory Party asunder.

The forecasts of David Cameron’s ‘Remain’ camp have come to fruition so rapidly – the suicidal pound, the loss of Britain’s AAA credit rating, racial violence on the streets, coupled with the promises of the ‘Leave’ campaign now being substantially diluted, if not denied, by Gove and Farage, that many Brits who voted for ‘Brexit’ are now bitterly regretting their actions.

The disgrace of the England football team just may, hopefully, prove the straw that breaks Boris Johnson’s political back. It would be deliciously ironic if, after all the lies and deceit he has spouted to the British people, his demise were to be initiated by the one thing he actually had nothing to do with.

These are the victors. Why so morose? Perhaps, they’re just now realising the enormity of what they’ve done? As this image from the Guardian newspaper reveals, at their press conference immediately following the referendum result on Thursday, Johnson and Gove looked rather less than victorious.

Maybe they were hoping David Cameron would stay on just long enough to steer their divided country out of the European Union? If so, they were wrong. Cameron, he says, will go before October. As Johnson is favourite to take his place and likely become prime minister, it will fall to him to negotiate Britain’s exit. Good luck, Boris, you’ll need it!

All the bravado of the Leave campaign seems to have disintegrated. All the talk of proud British independence from Europe, hushed.

As the Guardian reports:

When he emerged from his London home after his triumph, early on Friday, Boris Johnson did not appear overjoyed. He was jeered and insulted, not greeted as a liberating hero. Some applauded him, but more hurled abuse. Later, when he and Gove held a victory press conference, both men looked shell-shocked. Their short speeches were funereal in tone, no smiles.

As the stock market nosedived, Johnson addressed a message directly to young people, as if he was terrified of their anger, assuring them they would still be able to travel and find jobs in other European countries. The future, he said, was still bright. “To those who may be anxious, whether at home or abroad, this does not mean that the United Kingdom will be in any way less united, nor, indeed, does it mean that it will be any less European … that this decision involves pulling up a drawbridge or some sort of isolationism – I think the opposite is true,” he said. “We cannot turn our backs on Europe. We are part of Europe.”

Really? Isn’t that exactly the opposite of what he’s been telling everyone for the past year?

Gove was even more weasel-like in his contribution. The Guardian again:

Gove paid a flattering tribute to David Cameron, who would go down as a “great prime minister” and adopted a soothing tone.

“We can now, calmly and united, take our country forward in the spirit of the warm, humane and generous values that are the best of Britain.”^[1]

Congratulations, Mister Gove, bullshit is just what your nation needs right now.

Meanwhile close to three million people have signed a petition demanding another referendum.^[2]

It’s unlikely to do any good, but three million signatures in only three days, says much about the split that is tearing Britain apart, and a result that is almost certain to see Scotland declare its independence from the rest of the Kingdom, as it determines to stay European.

The effect on Northern Ireland could prove even more catastrophic. Their vote to remain in the E.U. will be discarded by a British Parliament, and border controls again imposed between them and their E.U. neighbour, Eire. Given the turbulent and violent history of this island, any further border restrictions could well prove a match to the gunpowder for Irish Republicans.

“Calmly and united,” Mister Gove? You truly are an optimist, sir.

The nation is now divided by age, with the young (under fifties) squarely blaming the the older generation for outing Britain:^[3]

Sparrow Chat recently suggested that all over-fifties be banned from voting in the referendum as it wouldn’t affect them due to their age. Had that been implemented, as this graph from the BBC depicts, the vote to remain in Europe would have been decisive.^[4]

Make no mistake, it’s all a terrible mess. It will take years, possibly decades, to untangle. Only one thing is certain – the United Kingdom is doomed, and Britain will never be the same again.

^{[1] “Cameron’s bad bet: the drama of a night that ripped Britain apart” Guardian, June 25th 2016}

^{[2] “EU Referendum Rules triggering a 2nd EU Referendum” UK Government and Parliament.}

^{[3] “Brexit: How much of a generation gap is there?” BBC, June 24th 2016}

^{[4] “Of Moaning Brits And Outdated Yanks…” Sparrow Chat, May 26th 2016}