I am constantly being told that people really were just “too stupid” to see the writing on the wall; they voted against their own self interest in favour of Brexit. I am now told that the same “idiots” supported the Tories to “Get Brexit Done,” despite the looming risk of crashing out of the EU without a deal which now seems increasingly likely. I can understand why some people voted for Brexit under the blizzard of disinformation that blindsided so many people in the UK, but I cannot fathom the Tory “landslide” and, beyond the unacceptable insult, stupidity does not come close to justifying such an unbelievable result.
Although I am sometimes gratuitously accused of implying that those who voted for Brexit were just “stupid bigots,” I have never been so insulting as to put their decision down to stupidity or racism; this type of angry mudslinging gets us nowhere in the debate. I prefer to claim that we were all a lot too trusting. We trusted politicians who lied to us on both sides of the EU Referendum issue. It’ is not a crime to be too trusting and even the smartest among us can be fooled by a slick con artist. However, our politicians should not be lying to us and we should be able to hold them to account when they do. That is what needs to change.
The lies of Brexit were so successful in winning over the vote and since those who told the most outrageous “porkies” were never reprimanded let alone punished for misleading the electorate, the entire landscape of what is permissible in terms of exaggeration and BS has spiralled way out of control. The message on the side of the bus, and the invasion of the Turks worked well for Boris so why not boast of building 40 new hospitals and drum home that PR pitch by deliberately lying to parliament during PMQs? MPs can be disciplined for calling another MP a liar in the chamber, but no rule prevented Margaret Hodge from defaming Jeremy Corbyn as an “anti-Semite” without a shred of evidence to support her insult.
The current political climate penalizes those who speak truth to power and demonizes those who adhere to honest and truthful conduct. To limit scrutiny, Boris Johnson wants to cherry-pick which journalists he will condescend to speak to while he us now threatening the viability of an already heavily Tory compliant BBC. The PM plans to effectively neuter the Judiciary to eliminate any possibility of future interference in his authoritarian power grab. He already appears totally devoid of accountability for his numerous lies, mistakes and dodgy financial dealings.
We must fight to restore the integrity of our democracy before we are frog marched into a dictatorship. This is not just one reckless loon catastrophising; the Tory agenda was documented on page 48 of their manifesto and all of the classic warning signs are falling into place. We can demand increased scrutiny of the government and we should expect full accountability. Investigating this last General Election is a vital first step in order to validate the unfathomable result or correct the injustice of a rigged vote. No matter what is discovered, exposing the serious flaws that leave our Electoral System wide open to corruption must drive long postponed government reform. Please read, sign, share and link to this Petition:
2019 TORY LANDSLIDE VICTORY DEMANDS URGENT NATIONWIDE INVESTIGATION.
Still dreaming of those sunny uplands of post Brexit prosperity? This International Business Times article has a few stark words of warning from those who do stand to reap the profits: “One of the biggest names in European private equity said that Brexit will be good for his business, but will mean a 30% wage reduction for UK workers. … He added that EU immigration will be replaced with workers from the Indian subcontinent and Africa, willing to accept “substantially” lower pay.”
This does not look good, but however you, your family and your friends may have voted in the EU Referendum or in the recent General Election, let us try to ditch the insults and the assumptions that others might want to insult those with whom they don’t agree. We have all been a lot too trusting while politicians have lied and continue to lie to us. This must stop. To restore trust we must demand genuine honesty, politicians cannot limit or sensor robust public scrutiny; no one is above the law so they must always be held fully accountable if they lie and cheat.