Plenty of remainers disagree and are trying to stop the bus.\u00a0 The group British Influence is proposing legal action to keep Britain in the European Economic Area \u2013 distinct from the EU. Some MPs are set to vote against triggering the EU\u2019s Article 50, which starts the Brexit process. \u00a0And Tony Blair, John Major and Paddy Ashdown are calling for a second referendum on the basis that the first one only offered an in-out choice and not a new deal. \u00a0I sympathise, nostalgically, with this class-of-97 party leaders\u2019 reunion. It has a logic to it \u2013 the argument that true democracy demands two referenda \u2013 one on the principle and another on the practice.\u00a0 \u00a0But at a deeper level, I think it is an intervention of its generation. It speaks of an era when representative democracy ruled, when people voted for an MP and then left the experts to make decisions. We still defer to experts every time we call the doctor or get on a plane \u2013 but no longer in politics. It\u2019s gone. Years of simplistic propaganda \u2013 plus the antics of some in politics – have led people to think politicians are all useless and they know better. \u00a0Now\u2019s the time to see if they\u2019re right.<\/p>\n
Imagine what lies ahead if Brexit is stopped. The leavers will claim, with good cause, that the wishes of the people have been over-ridden. The anti-EU press will howl about stolen freedom and never be proved wrong because you can\u2019t prove a negative. The ground will be cleared for a British Trump promising to sweep away the corrupt politicians who have betrayed the people. Democracy itself could be at risk.<\/p>\n On the other hand, if Brexit goes ahead, the shouting will cease and reality will take over. And if free movement is to end, as it surely must to deliver on the Leave campaign\u2019s promise<\/a> to \u201cdecide for ourselves who can some into this country\u201d, single market membership will end as well as I believe it will pan out as the remain side predicted. Tariffs will be re-imposed. Investment will migrate from the UK for mainland Europe.\u00a0 Prices will rise. Jobs will be lost. British influence will decline. \u00a0Leavers will try to blame the problems on scapegoats \u2013 immigration, protectionism \u2013 whatever. But substance will beat spin. Remainers will be able to join the dots and demonstrate cause and effect. Slowly, people will see the decades of deceit by anti-EU media and politicians for the Wizard of Oz style sham they were. And then, in time, the damage can be repaired. Britain can re-join the EU. Representative democracy can make a comeback. It will be a bumpy ride, but better than the horrors risked by over-turning June\u2019s democratic decision.<\/p>\n Post-truth and post-reality<\/strong><\/p>\n So-called \u2018post-truth\u2019 politics applies only where nothing is proven and people are choosing between claim and counter-claim. But once claims give way to realities, facts become undeniable and consequences indisputable. In politics, some things are decided on claims; others on reality. Brexit was almost wholly the former. The Leave side even boasted about disregarding facts<\/a>. By contrast, for example, the landslide election of Attlee government was a collective reaction to the brutal reality of World War Two. \u00a0In 1983, Thatcher instead appealed to individualism with the very real offer of rock bottom prices for the homes Attlee built. \u00a0Three centuries earlier, in 1660, the experience of civil war and then dictatorship led the country to restore the balanced relationship of monarch and Parliament, with the Chancellor Edward Hyde declaring \u201cAll the motions of these last twenty years have been unnatural.\u201d Funny how history repeats itself. Once again today, we look back on 20 years of distortion which only the reality of Brexit can expose. You don\u2019t miss your water till your well runs dry, as the song says.<\/p>\n It will take a few years, but those few years are also needed for Britain\u2019s progressive forces to regroup and rebuild a political movement capable of governing and leading Britain back to the EU. And hopefully a similar restoration of sanity – based on reality – can occur in the US. \u00a0The right is rampant in the UK and US right now \u2013 but based on words, not actions. Instead of trying to fight a rear-guard action, the remainers should hold their fire, believe in themselves, and let events show who was right. That is the way back. We may live in a post-truth world – but not a post-reality one.<\/p>\n David Vigar is a former Director of Communications of the European Movement and was press secretary to Paddy Ashdown MP as Liberal Democrat leader <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I voted remain in the Brexit referendum, but I don\u2019t want a re-run. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13604,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidvigar.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13603"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidvigar.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidvigar.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidvigar.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidvigar.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13603"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidvigar.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13603\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidvigar.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidvigar.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidvigar.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidvigar.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"eu-1473958_640\"](\"http:\/\/www.davidvigar.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/eu-1473958_640-150x150.jpg\")
A British Trump? <\/strong><\/p>\n