Author: R J Adams

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}

A deep-seated reminiscence of Empire, dismay at the way the country is being run, fear of foreigners, a strong desire for change at home, are just some of the reasons the British voted by a narrow majority to leave the European Union.

These, and others, may be legitimate feelings of discontent, but none of them is down to membership of the E.U., which has today become a scapegoat for the failings of the U.K. government. Both major parties in Britain, just as in America, have for decades used fear to rule, and it was fear that prompted many in the U.K. to vote “Leave” yesterday.

The result will be uncertainty for years to come. The British pound has already sunk to its lowest level against the dollar since 1985, and the FTSE is following suit. There’s chaos in the markets and things are expected to get worse:

“This is simply unprecedented, the pound has fallen off a cliff and the FTSE is now following suit,” said Dennis de Jong, managing director of UFX.com.
“Britain’s EU referendum has been a cloud hanging over the global economy for the past few months and that cloud has got very dark this morning.
“The markets despise uncertainty, yet that is exactly what they’re faced with this morning. The shockwaves are likely to reverberate for some time and the warning lights are flashing brighter now than ever.”^[1]

It’s a dark day for Britain, and even though at this moment they’re celebrating, it’s equally dark for the 17,410,742 fools who were taken in by power-hungry politicians spouting lie after lie, whose only thought for the future is the expansion of their own careers.

Today, Sparrow Chat feels deeply ashamed to be British. This writer had hoped for more common sense from his fellow countrymen. The idiot, Cameron, has been hoist by his own, short-term, petard – no more than he deserves – and has opened the door for even more right-wing opponents to gain power.

It’s a sad day for Britain, but as the comedian Ricky Gervais said of Donald Trump recently, “America, you get what you deserve.” The result of yesterday’s referendum in Britain means the British are about to get what they deserve.

They’ll likely live to rue it.

^{“Shares and pound plunge on Leave vote” BBC, June 24th 2016}

PostScript: From the Guardian today:

The US presidential hopeful Donald Trump has said it is a “great thing” that the people of the UK have “taken back their country”.

He made the remarks as he touched down at his Trump Turnberry golf resort in Scotland. Interesting timing.

If ever there was a corroboration that Britain’s decision is a grave mistake, it is this man endorsing it.

Once again the U.S. Senate fails to pass legislation restricting gun ownership in America, despite the worst mass shooting in U.S. history last week, in Orlando Florida, when fifty people were killed and large numbers wounded.^[1]

The U.S. government is a disgrace to the country it’s supposed to serve, but let’s be frank the American people continue to vote for them, and keep them in power, despite protestations from would-be gun control proponents.

Not only is the U.S. government a disgrace to it’s nation, it’s a disgrace to the rest of the world it purports to lead. The behaviour of this, and past, administrations has led to the violence, terrorism, death and suffering presently being experienced throughout the planet. American empire-building, it’s virtual annexation of much of the Middle East over the last five decades, has not only failed miserably to produce anything positive, but gave birth to al Qaeda, Islamic State, and many of the other Islamic extremist factions targeting the West today.

America pretends to cloak it’s warmongering activities under the guise of “spreading democracy”. This is a downright lie. What the U.S. is attempting to do, and failing utterly – but at an incalculable cost in human lives – is spread Americanism by annihilating the various cultures that have formed over thousands of years on this planet.

If the warmongers of the Pentagon had their way the world would be covered in U.S. trade mark companies churning out the same old boring stuff of which America is composed today. The cultural identities of once separate nations would be replaced by a capitalist carpet of tat, and its government would control the world, under the auspices of corpocracy.

If America is a prime example of democracy, then God help democracy. The only democratic thing in America today is the name of one of its totally un-democratic political parties. The United States is a plutocracy. Its voting system is a sham, made more obvious by the latest ‘bring on the clowns’ exhibition laughingly called the, ‘presidential election’.

It’s plain to see what this once proud and dignified nation has become, yet world leaders still doff their caps in mock deference to its presidents, and look the other way as U.S. drones kill innocent kids in Pakistan, just as they did over the U.S. war crimes in Iraq, the renditions and barbaric acts of torture carried out in the name of ‘enduring freedom’.

Isn’t it time this warmongering, violent, country – whose people worship their weapons of mass murder, and whose government daily commits war crimes that would see any other national leader hauled before the International Criminal Court – is shunned by the world community?

Why do we in the West continue to suffer the backlash from American war crimes? The United States makes much of not giving a damn about how the rest of the world sees it. Isn’t it about time we put that to the test and said enough is enough?

Maybe one European statesman is of a similar opinion. Only this week, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, warned NATO [read: America] about warmongering in the Baltic:

…What we should not do now, however, is further inflame the situation with loud sabre-rattling and war cries. Anyone who believes that symbolic tank parades on the Alliance’s eastern border will increase security is wrong. We would be well advised not to deliver up any excuses for a new, old confrontation.

It would be fatal now to focus exclusively on military aspects and to look for salvation solely from a policy of deterrence. After all, history teaches us that, alongside the common will to ensure defence readiness, there must always also be a readiness to engage in dialogue and cooperation. And that is why we also need to talk more with our partners again about the benefits of disarmament and arms control for security in Europe…

…Over 70 years of peace in Europe, at least without a major war on European soil, are our most valuable treasure.

For my part, I will do all I can to ensure that it is not placed in jeopardy. Our maxim must be this: as much security as necessary, and as much dialogue and cooperation as possible.”^[2]

America showed its contempt for such talk by its silence on the subject.

Let them play with their automatic weapons. Let them play war games with the military they think so highly of, despite that military committing gross atrocities everywhere it stamps its boots.

But leave the rest of us the hell out of it. It’s time the people of Europe told their leaders we don’t need the United States anymore. It’s an embarrassment.

Go away, America. Come back when you’ve grown up.

^{[1] “Senate fails to pass new gun control restrictions in wake of Orlando shooting” Guardian, June 20th 2016}

^{[2] “Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on relations between NATO and Russia” German Federal Foriegn Office, June 19th 2016}