Colin Tyler Department of Politics, University of Hull, United Kingdom ORCID: 0000-0003-0338-9181

Brexit: Hatred, lies and UK democracy*

27/2019 Political Dialogues DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12775/DP.2019.011

Abstract: Keywords; ; democracy; ; This article analyses the Brexit debate within the fake news; political violence; populism; UK poli- UK. It examines the historical roots of the debate tics. from 1973 when the UK joined the European Economic Community, but focuses primarily on 1. Introduction the debates that occurred between 2013 when Da- vid Cameron pledged to hold a referendum up to A referendum was held in the United King- the 2019 UK General Election. Section one briefly dom (UK) on 23rd June 2016, with the qu- introduces the topic. Section two examines the estion of “Should the United Kingdom re- rise of social hatred during the referendum cam- main a member of the European Union or paign. It focuses on the history of British euro- 1 scepticism, the immediate context of the Brexit leave the European Union?” 33,577,342 campaign, concerns over UK sovereignty and people voted; that is, 72.21% of the electo- immigration, and the increasing use of threats rate (46,500,001 people).2 51.89% voted to and political violence. Section three examines the leave and 48.11% voted to remain. In abso- decline of trust in politics due to the increasing failure to challenge lies in the Brexit debate. It ex- plores the idea of “Project Fear”, the anti-expert * I am grateful to Richard Barnes, Jim Con- nelly, Christopher Fear, Janusz Grygieńć, Pip Tyler narrative, and the anti-elitism narrative. Section and audience members at both Nicolaus Coperni- four asks what this period tells us about UK de- cus University, Poland and the Indian Institute of mocracy. It focuses on weak and disorderly gov- Technology Tirpuati, India, for their comments on ernment, the democratic status of the referendum, and other help with an earlier version of this arti- the erosion of trust in parliamentary institutions cle. I bear sole responsibility for the use made of that and mechanisms, and some reasons for (limited) help. 1 optimism. The article concludes by considering UK Government, “EU referendum”, GOV. possible ways forward for the UK government and UK, n.d., https://www.gov.uk/government/topical- events/eu-referendum/about polity following the decisive Conservative victory 2 BBC News, “EU Referendum: results”, BBC in the 2019 UK General Election. News, n.d., https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics/ eu_referendum/results accessed 4 November 2019.

63 lute numbers, 17,410,742 voted to leave the without creating the necessary supranational EU while 16,141,241 voted to remain part planning mechanisms for growth and social of it. justice under democratic control. ... [T]he Th is was neither the end nor the be- political inspiration of the EEC amounts to ginning of the process. And indeed some a belief in the institutionalisation of NATO, which will harden the division of Europe and interesting diffi culties have arisen since the encourage the emergence of a new nuclear Brexit referendum was called. Here, I will superpower, thus worsening East–West re- refl ect on the events that led to the vote and lations and making disarmament more dif- those that have followed from it, as well as fi c u l t.” 3 its signifi cance for the UK. In particular, I will refl ect on the hatred and lies that has Th e Conservative Party has always had surrounded the Brexit debate in the UK a particularly diffi cult relationship with Eu- (a debate that has continued even aft er the ropean institutions. Th at makes it somewhat 2019 UK General Election), and what im- surprising that the UK gained membership plications the whole process has for a coun- of the European Economic Community try that has long prided itself on its demo- (EEC) under a Conservative Prime Min- cratic institutions and traditions. ister, the Europhile Edward Heath. As you know, the EEC was founded in 1957. For the 2. Hatred next twelve years the UK drift ed towards membership. French President Charles De a. A brief historical introduction to UK euro- Gaulle vetoed British applications for mem- scepticism bership twice, in 1963 and 1967. De Gaulle Profound resistance to European integra- died on 9 November 1970 and on 1 Janu- tion is historical in the UK as elsewhere. As ary 1973 the UK joined the EEC. Th e La- with almost all of the UK’s Brexit debate, it bour Party came to power in February 1974 has been expressed by leading politicians in with Harold Wilson as Prime Minister. On both the Conservatives and Labour parties. 5 June 1975, the UK government held a ref- For example, throughout his long politi- erendum on Britain’s continuing member- cal career the prominent Conservative and ship, with the Labour Party campaigning later Unionist MP Enoch Powell voiced his to remain. Th e electorate agreed with the implacable opposition to what he saw as the government, when 67.23% of voters opted ultimately political mission of the EEC in to stay in the European Community and all its subsequent forms. At the other end 32.77% voted to leave. of the political spectrum, the Labour Party Th e UK’s subsequent relationship with grandee, Tony Benn also maintained an im- the European institutions has been multi- placable opposition to the EEC. For exam- facetted, complex and continually shift ing. ple on January 1963 he wrote: Many UK politicians and citizens are pro- “[T]he which entrenches la- issez-faire as its philosophy and chooses Bu- 3 Tony Benn, Encounter (January 1963), quoted reaucracy as its administrative method will in Ruth Winstone (ed.), Best of Benn: Speeches, Dia- stultify eff ective national economic planning ries, Letters and Other Writings (Arrow, 2015), p.21.

64 foundly committed to the EU. Many of these has exceeded a purely economic remit and Europhiles have an intense dislike for their increasingly aspires to become a European Eurosceptic compatriots, tracing the latter’s superstate. Th is is a recurring theme of resistance oft en to an arrogant, isolationist, Leavers, especially those in UKIP and the ridiculously nostalgic “Little Englander” Brexit Party, and of course not least Nigel mentality. In others they recognise a more Farage. Karl McCartney, Conservative MP socialist and internationalist motivation for Lincoln from 2010 until he was voted for some current Euro-sceptics. Hence, out in the 2017 general election (following when he was a Labour Party backbencher, a series of scandals relating to expenses and the leader of the Labour Party (from Sep- other alleged misconduct), warns that the tember 2015 to April 2020) EU has long been pursuing a “centralising frequently expressed similar concerns to and Superstate-building agenda”, which the those of Tony Benn. For example, speaking Brexit vote has “re-energised”.5 Once the EU to a television reporter during the 1996 La- establishment – led by the Germans – has bour Party conference he warned that: “We succeeded in its “foul integration”, “former have a European bureaucracy totally unac- [national] Parliaments [will be left ] with countable to anybody. Powers have gone ‘collecting bins’, ‘street lights’ and regional from national parliaments. Th ey haven’t or local government-type devolved powers gone to the European Parliament, they’ve to play with.” gone to the [European] Commission and to A Stepwise binary logistic regression of some extent to the Council of Ministers.”4 the British Social Attitudes data from 2015 For Corbyn, the European institutions have revealed that the “key infl uences of on [UK] long pushed a neoliberal agenda, at the ex- attitudes towards the European Union” pense of workers’ rights. Corbyn led the were as follows.6 Labour Party during the post-referendum period. In that role he supported Remain and argued for a second referendum. How- ever, given his previous Eurosceptic stance, many critics have questioned his commit- ment to the Remain cause. 5 Karl McCartney, “Th e Superstate into which Elsewhere the intensity of public re- the EU is evolving makes our departure all the more urgent”, Brexitcentral, 28 September 2019, https:// sistance to the EU has increased notably brexitcentral.com/the-superstate-into-which-the- since Cameron’s 2013 commitment to hold eu-is-evolving-makes-our-departure-all-the-more- a Brexit referendum. It is now common to urgent/ accessed 11 November 2019. 6 hear the objection that the EEC was good Th e table appears in John Curtis, How Deeply Does Britain’s Euroscepticism Run? (British Social as a free trade area but that, especially fol- Attitudes, 2015), p.12. Curtis provides the follow- lowing the 1992 , the EU ing: “*** Especially strong relationship/Eurosceptic: Wishes either to leave the EU or to stay but reduce the EU’s powers./Europhile: Wishes to remain in the 4 “Jeremy Corbyn Opposes the EU”, https:// EU as it is or with the EU having increased powers./ www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJSiwNWb7pY ac- Source: Stepwise binary logistic regression of BSA cessed 11 November 2019. 2015 data.”

65 Dependent variable is these new terms, or to come out altogether. Continue vs Withdraw Eurosceptic vs Europhile … It is time for the British people to have Undermines identity*** Undermines identity*** their say, it is time for us to settle this ques- Economy if leave*** Immigration if leave tion about Britain and Europe.”7 Economy if stronger links Conservative or UKIP supporter Who was asking the question? For Immigration if leave Economy if stronger links many commentators, Cameron’s decision Strength of European identity Strength of European identity was an attempt to silence signifi cant Euro- sceptic voices within his own Conservative b.Th e immediate context of the 2016 Brexit Party. However, one must be careful here referendum because the situation was not so straight- Th e main actors in the Brexit chaos have be- forward. Cameron faced continuing Tory come far too familiar in the UK at least. On discontent, but the true cause was the rise the Remain side, initially we can identify Da- of UKIP and Cameron’s awareness of the vid Cameron the then-UK Prime Minister dangers it posed to Conservative votes in and leader of the Conservative Party, as well the then-upcoming 2015 election. UKIP as the UK Chancellor of had seen its support rise steadily espe- the Exchequer, who was also a Conservative cially during EU elections, where it polled MP, and Alan Johnson the face of the offi cial 7% in 1999, 16% in 2004, and 16.5% in Remain campaign and a Labour MP. On the 2009.8 Even aft er Cameron’s public com- Leave side, major roles were played by Do- mitment to hold a referendum, it went on minic Cummings the strategist for Vote Le- to poll 27.5% in the 2014 EU elections. It ave, who led the offi cial Leave had never attracted more than 3.2% of the campaign and who is a Conservative MP, as vote in national elections, partly because well as other Conservative MPs, most nota- it could never aff ord to fi eld candidates in bly and David Davis. Finally, many seats. Nevertheless, UKIP’s share was there was Nigel Farage, then the leader of the increasing: 1.5% in 2001, 2.3% in 2005, to UK Independence Party (UKIP). 3.2% in 2010. Th e major thing on Camer- It was on 23 January 2013 in a much- on’s mind might well have been that UKIP anticipated speech, that was making signifi cant advances where in- fi rst promised to hold a new referendum dividual Parliamentary seats became vacant on the UK’s continuing EU membership. If (for example, because of the death of the in- re-elected in 2015, he said, the Conserva- cumbent). From a situation when they had tive government would push for the rene- almost always received less than 10% of the gotiation of the terms with the EU. Once the draft of that new treaty had been agreed 7 BBC News, “David Cameron promises in/out by EU representatives, the UK electorate referendum on EU”, 23 January 2013 https://www. would be asked whether it wanted to stay bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-21148282 accessed 11 in the EU under the new terms, or whether November 2019. 8 they wanted to leave the EU: “We will give Alex Hunt, “UKIP: Th e story of the UK Inde- pendence Party’s rise”, BBC News, 21 November 2014 the British people a referendum with a very https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-21614073 simple in or out choice to stay in the EU on accessed 13 November 2019.

66 vote in by-elections, UKIP had witnessed possibility of Turkey’s accession to the EU. increasing support starting with the Mid- Th is was as true of UK public opinion as it dleborough and Rotherham by-elections was for countries inside the Schengen Area. in November 2011 (where they attracted Concerns over immigration were in- 11.8% and 21.7% of the vote, respectively). separable from questions regarding the Th ey steadily increased that share of the nation’s ability to control its own borders. vote over subsequent months, even aft er Th e fundamental issue was one of national Cameron’s announcement, to the point sovereignty. Indeed, Brexit concerns over where they received 59.7% in the Clacton immigration are simply the latest expres- by-election of October 2014 and had an sion of a deep nationalist strain within cer- MP elected, Douglas Carswell. (Carswell tain sections of the UK population. One of had forced the by-election by switching the most articulate defenders of a still very party allegiance from the Conservatives to infl uential form of British nationalism was UKIP.) UKIP’s growing strength posed an one of Farage’s boyhood heroes, Enoch increasingly real threat for the Conserva- Powell.10 On 19 June 1971, Powell ended tives and emboldened Euro-sceptics within a speech to the Doncaster Conservative As- the Conservative Party both in Parliament sociation with the following warning. and outside it. Hence, Cameron was forced to honour his commitment to hold an “in- out” referendum on EU membership soon “[Public o]pinion has been right to fasten aft er being re-elected on 7 May 2015. upon sovereignty as the central issue [in rela- tion to the UK’s then-proposed membership of the EEC]. Either British entry is a declara- c. UK sovereignty tion of intent to surrender this country’s so- In 2013, immigration had long been a high- vereignty, stage by stage, in all that matters to ly visible phenomenon in most countries. In a nation, and makes a nation, or else it is an 2016, EU economic migration from Eastern empty gesture, disgraceful in its hollowness Europe, especially from Poland, was parti- alike to those who proff er and to those who cularly high; as was the fl ow of war refu- accept it…. Th e question which the people of gees across Europe, predominantly from this country will have proposed to them [in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq.9 By June 2016 the referendum to join the EEC] is: will you, when the Brexit referendum took place, the or will you not, continue to be governed by 11 European Migrant Crisis was at its height the Queen in Parliament.” and dominated media reports across Euro- pe, including in the UK. To many people, 10 Nick Assinder, “Why UKIP’s Nigel Farage the crisis seemed likely to get much worse is Enoch Powell’s Political Heir”, International Busi- ness Times, 21 May 2014 https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/ very quickly, not least due to the perceived why-ukips-nigel-farage-enoch-powells-political- heir-1449443 accessed 14 November 2019. 11 Enoch Powell, “Extract from speech by the 9 Eurostat, “Asylum Applicants in the EU” Rt. Hon. J. Enoch Powell MP at the Doncaster Con- [2016], European Commission https://ec.europa.eu/ servative Association Gala, Doncaster Race Course, eurostat/news/themes-in-the-spotlight/asylum2016 2.30pm, Saturday 19 June 1971” (pp.13–14), in Th e accessed 11 November 2019. Speeches of John Enoch Powell, Poll 4/1/7 File 2, June-

67 Powell was clearly horrifi ed by the on 15 January 1971, Powell referred to the prospect of joining the EEC. Speaking in UK as “a nation which is in the throes of the House Commons two days later, he was rescuing its identity from the delusions and explicit about his reasons. the deceits of a vanished Empire and Com- monwealth”. Indeed, he thought that a na- “Th e whole development and nature of our tion in such a state could never “at the same national identity and consciousness has been time undertake to merge that identity again not merely separate from that of the countries in half the continent of Europe.”13 Like his of the Continent of Europe but actually anti- hero, Nigel Farage has placed little empha- thetical; and, with the centuries, so far from sis on the possibility of Britain recreating its growing together, our institutions and outlo- imperial power in a post-colonial era, while ok have rather grown apart from those of our neighbours on the continent. In our history, obviously maintaining a fervently anti-EU both recent and earlier, the principal events position. which have placed their stamp upon our con- It is important to acknowledge that sciousness of who we are, were the very mo- there is something of a paradox here. As just ments in which we have been alone, confron- noted, one of the most fundamental sources ting a Europe which was lost or hostile. Th at is of anti-EU sentiment in the UK (and many the picture, that is the folk memory, by which other countries) has long been that a na- 12 our nation has been formed.” tion’s sovereignty is profoundly compro- mised by its EU membership. Th e paradox, For many on the right in the contempo- in the UK case at least, is that during the rary UK – I suspect, particularly in referendum and subsequently many leav- – the resentment towards the EU was and ers have claimed both that UK sovereignty still is strengthened by resentment over the was severely compromised by EU member- loss of the British Empire. Along with this ship, and that it would be fairly painless to resentment at the loss of Empire goes what leave the EU. In July 2017, the staunchly is to many other UK citizens a startling pro-Brexit Liam Fox, at the time the Inter- confi dence that the UK can regain its stand- national Trade Secretary, assured listeners ing as a quasi-imperial power if it were not to the BBC’s Today radio programme that a member of the EU. Th e picture is com- “Th e free trade agreement that we will have plex however, because nationalism and the to do with the European Union should be desire to regain an imperial past need not one of the easiest in human history.”14 Yet, go together. For example, in a speech given 13 Enoch Powell, “Speech by the Rt. Hon. J. September 1971, pp.133-34; http://enochpowell. Enoch Powell M.P. to a Young Unionist Rally at info/wp-content/uploads/Speeches/June-Sept%20 the Apprentice Boys Memorial Hall, Londonderry, 1971.pdf at 8pm, Friday 15th January 1971”, p.15, 15 January 12 Enoch Powell, Speech in the House of Com- 1971, in Th e Speeches of John Enoch Powell, Poll 4/1/7 mons (21 January 1971), Hansard HC Deb 21 Janu- File 4, January-March 1971; http://enochpowell.info/ ary 1971, vol. 809, c.1376 https://api.parliament.uk/ wp-content/uploads/Speeches/Jan-March%201971. historic-hansard/commons/1971/jan/21/european- pdf accessed 8 November 2019. economic-community#column_1376 accessed 8 No- 14 Quoted in Matthew Weaver, “Liam Fox: EU vember 2019. trade deal aft er Brexit should be ‘easiest in history’

68 many people are left wondering, why it is Offi ce fi gures published in October 2018 re- that if one honestly believed that leaving vealed that the police in England and Wales could be so simple, would one also believe recorded 94,098 hate crimes in the year to that the UK was being signifi cantly coerced March 2019, which was 123% higher than into obeying EU laws? If the UK were to be fi ve years previously.17 76% of these were so strong, then it could resist any unreason- recorded as “race hate crimes” and 9% were able EU demands and thereby maintain its recorded as “religious hate crimes.”18 Th e own sovereignty. Home Offi ce conjectured that part of the reason for the increase was better reporting d. Increasing threats and violence and recording of such crimes. Nevertheless, Th e lead-up to the EU referendum vote and it noted also that the 2016 referendum and the time since have seen a marked increase the 2017 terrorist attacks were associated in the number of reported hate crimes, le- with sudden increases in hate crimes. Vio- velled primarily against migrants and Re- lence remains a profound concern, not least main supporters. Such crimes include the due to the increasing number of threats be- distribution (in Huntingdon Cambridge- ing made against MPs, especially against shire) of cards saying: “Leave the EU/ No female Remain MPs. more Polish vermin”.15 However, the most Just as shocking in many ways are the shocking incident was the murder of Jo Cox attitudes towards violence that were re- MP for Batley and Spen on 16 June 2016, vealed in October 2019 by the Future of exactly a week before the referendum vote. England Survey: Jo Cox’s murderer was found to have deep far-right sympathies. While committing – Most Leave voters across all three co- the attack, he reportedly shouted “Th is is untries think violence towards MPs for Britain. Britain will always come fi rst,” is a ‘price worth paying’ for Brexit a clear allusion to the far-right group Bri- – 71% in England, 60% in Scotland tain First.16 and 70% in Wales. Th e majority of Th e higher rate of racist attacks per- Remain voters across all three co- sisted aft er the announcement of the refer- untries think violence towards MPs endum result on 24 June 2016. UK Home is a ‘price worth paying’ to Remain to get”, Th e Guardian, 20 July 2017 https://www. 17 Home Offi ce, Hate Crimes, England and theguardian.com/politics/2017/jul/20/liam-fox-uk- Wales, 2017/18, 16 October 2018, p.7; https://as- eu-trade-deal-after-brexit-easiest-human-history sets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/ accessed 13 November 2019. system/uploads/attachment_data/fi le/748598/hate- 15 BBC News, Anti-Polish cards in Hunting- crime-1718-hosb2018.pdf accessed 11 November don aft er EU referendum”, BBC News, 26 June 2016 2019. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cam- 18 Th e report acknowledges that anyone in- bridgeshire-36633388 cident might have multiple causes, meaning that it 16 BBC News, “Labour MP Jo Cox ‘murdered might appear in more than one category (so some for a political cause’”, BBC News, 14 November 2016. incidents might be recorded as both race hate crimes Th e murderer was a 53 year old, named Th omas and religious hate crimes. (Home Offi ce, Hate Mair, who received a full life sentence. Crimes, p.7).

69 – 58% in England, 53% in Scotland a common line of attack from most sides and 56% in Wales. of the referendum campaign. Eventually, – A majority of Remain voters across the Leave campaign and Nigel Farage in all three countries think protests in particular won the public relations bat- which members of the public are ba- tle, when it succeeded in branding Rema- dly injured are a ‘price worth paying’ iners as the authors of “Project Fear”. Th e to stop Brexit and remain in the EU – key “myths” allegedly perpetrated by Re- 57% in England, 56% in Scotland and mainers have been neatly summarised by 57% in Wales. Even larger majorities Professor David Paton of the Nottingham of Leave voters in all three countries University Business School, in a blog from think protests in which members of December 2018, on the Spectator magazine the public are badly injured are a ‘pri- website.20 ce worth paying’ to achieve Brexit – 69% in England, 62% in Scotland and “Myth 1. Th e UK economy could shrink by 70% in Wales.”19 eight per cent in a single year under no deal (Project Fear, Bank of England version)”21 Obviously, when violence becomes “Myth 2. Leaving with no deal will lead to GDP being 7.6 per cent lower in 2035-6 than so acceptable within a liberal democracy, staying in the EU (Project Fear, Treasury ver- one must be deeply fearful for the future of sion)”22 that country. When there are political tools “Myth 3. No deal will decimate trade from to bring about change, but violence is still the EU, our biggest partner” seen as being a legitimate means for achiev- “Myth 4. If we leave without paying the ing the same end, then one should question £39bn to the EU it will devastate Britain’s in- citizens’ claims that they are civilised. ternational credibility”

3. Lies

a. “Project Fear” 20 David Paton, “Ten myths from the ‘no deal’ Th e growing acceptability of violence Project Fear”, Th e Spectator, 1 December 2018 htt- ps://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2018/12/ten-myths-from- across the Brexit spectrum is not the only the-no-deal-project-fear/ accessed 12 November sign of the alarming decay of the UK’s pu- 2019. blic culture. Both the referendum campa- 21 Links to: Bank of England, “EU withdraw- ign and the subsequent political and civic al scenarios and monetary and fi nancial stability”, Bank of England, 28 November 2018 https://www. manoeuvrings have been characterised bankofengland.co.uk/report/2018/eu-withdrawal- by deception and scare mongering. It was scenarios-and-monetary-and-fi nancial-stability ac- cessed 12 November 2019. 22 Links to: HM Government, “EU Exit: Long- 19 Cardiff University, “Future of England Sur- term economic analysis November 2018”, HM Gov- vey reveals public attitudes towards Brexit and the ernment https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/ union”, Cardiff University, 24 October 2019, https:// government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_ www.cardiff.ac.uk/news/view/1709008-future-of- data/fi le/760484/28_November_EU_Exit_-_Long- england-survey-reveals-public-attitudes-towards- term_economic_analysis__1_.pdf accessed 12 No- brexit-and-the-union vember 2019.

70 “Myth 5. In a no-deal Brexit, WTO rules wo- Gove replied, “have had enough of ex- uld require the enforcement of a hard border perts”.23 Gove’s remark was endorsed re- between the Republic of Ireland and Nor- peatedly by Leavers, and became notorio- thern Ireland” us among Remainers as marking a “post- “Myth 6. No deal will lead to prices in the -truth” low-point in the campaign. Th e shops going up” favoured targets for the remark rapidly “Myth 7. Since the Referendum, the UK has become one of the slowest growing members became the Treasury and the Bank of En- of the G7” gland, especially its Governor Mark Carney. “Myth 8. Investment into the UK has plum- Both of these were portrayed as prime sto- meted since the referendum and will decre- oges for the government’s Remain campa- ase further under no deal” ign. In a particularly disturbing turn, some “Myth 9. No deal will see border trade grind sections of the right-wing press accused the to a halt” judges sitting in the High Court of England “Myth 10. A no-deal Brexit would mean fa- and Wales of being “enemies of the people,” milies having to do without Christmas tre- when they determined in November 2016 es*/*feel free to substitute food, water, medi- that the law required Th eresa May’s govern- cines, Mars bars or whatever is the next item ment to gain parliamentary approval of any in the Project Fear crosshairs.” future withdrawal agreement.24 Th e claim became one of the standard Th ere is insuffi cient space to consider responses when statistics were published each of these points, so as to determine the that appeared to support the pro-Remain extent to which they capture reality. All case. It legitimised ignorance over evidence I can suggest for the moment is that many and so served to closedown rational debate of them look far less mythical now than in favour of prejudice and wilfully blind they have done to many people over the emotion. Th e debates around immigration past three years. provided many striking instances of this embrace of ignorance. One of the most fa- b. Anti-experts narrative mous examples here was a refugee poster What we can say is that, as just noted, the that UKIP unveiled during the referendum Leave narrative of Remainers as “Remo- campaign. Th e poster showed a column of aners,” or additionally as agents of “Project young men walking, all were poorly dressed Fear” has been very eff ective, in the sense and most had what many British people saw that apparently a signifi cant proportion of the UK population believed it at least on 23 Henry Mance, “Britain has had enough of referendum day. Th e narrative was associa- experts”, Financial Times, 3 June 2016 https://www. ted with the Leave attack on expertise. Th is ft .com/content/3be49734-29cb-11e6-83e4-abc22d- 5d108c link was expressed most starkly in the then- 24 James Slack, “Enemies of the People”, Daily -Justice Secretary Michael Gove’s respon- Mail, 4 November 2016 https://www.dailymail. se when asked (in a Sky News interview co.uk/news/article-3903436/Enemies-people-Fury- touch-judges-defied-17-4m-Brexit-voters-trigger- during the campaign) which economists constitutional-crisis.html accessed 14 November supported Brexit: “people in this country”, 2019.

71 as an Eastern European appearance. Th e ed that “Sadly Nigel Farage thinks this kind poster read: “BREAKING POINT / Th e EU of thing is all a game but the reality is that it has failed us all / We must break free of the meant we had an increase in hate crime. It EU and take back control of our borders. should be possible to have a sensible hon- Leave the European Union on 23rd June.” est debate about Europe or about immigra- Th e poster disturbed many people for its tion without resorting to dishonesty and implicit racism. Th is revulsion increased division”.28 when it became known that the column Farage sees open borders as a danger to actually depicted migrants crossing the the UK because of the alleged tendency of Croatia-Slovenia border in 2015, not mi- migrants to impose signifi cant net burdens gration into the EU, let alone migration into on the host country. In particular, they are the UK.25 Even prominent Leavers such as accused of increasing pressure on school Michael Gove and Nigel Adams expressed places, school resources, housing, and the their disgust at the poster. National Health Service (NHS). Farage’s Despite the poster being reported to message has been especially eff ective among the police for allegedly inciting racial vio- the white working class. As noted in 2017 in lence, Nigel Farage (who fronted the poster the Harvard Business Review, “Studies have campaign as UKIP’s then-leader) has re- found that areas that supported Leave had an mained defi ant. In a 2018 interview with overall weaker economic structure, with low- Th e Post newspaper, he claimed er levels of income and life satisfaction, fewer that the poster played a decisive role in the high status-jobs, an aging demographic, and referendum: “In some ways it won us the lower levels of educational attainment.”29 referendum,” he said, “because it kept us Th e anti-expertise narrative bolsters focused on the danger of open borders.”26 Farage’s confi dence and that of many of his Alex Sorbel (Labour Co-Op) MP for Leeds ilk. It also serves to validate their unrefl ec- North West has observed: “Th e breaking tive faith in their own “common sense”, and point poster created a culture of fear and in- consequently their resentment against ex- tolerance. Th e fact that Nigel Farage has no perts who present evidence which contra- regrets is a refl ection on the hard right and dicts their prejudices (that low-wage migra- their lack of humanity.”27 Th e chair of the tion has no measurable eff ect on the wages House of Commons Home Aff airs Com- of the low-paid for example). Some realities mittee, Yvette Cooper (Labour) MP for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford not- 28 Singh, “Nigel Farage says”. 29 Th iemo Fetzer, “Did Austerity in the UK 25 Slovenia joined the EU in 2004 and Croatia Lead to the Brexit Crisis?”, Harvard Business Review, joined in 2013. 23 August 2019 https://hbr.org/2019/08/did-austerity- 26 Arj Singh, “Nigel Farage says controversial in-the-uk-lead-to-the-brexit-crisis accessed 13 No- anti-migrant poster ‘won the referendum’ for Brexit”, vember 2019. Citing Federica Liberini, Andrew J. 19 October 2018 https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/ Oswald, Eugenio Proto, and Michela Redoano, Was news/latest-news/nigel-farage-says-controversial- Brexit Caused by the Unhappy and the Old?, Septem- anti-migrant-poster-won-the-referendum-for-brex- ber 2017, Institute of Labor Economics Discussion it-1-9404360 accessed 13 November 2019. Paper Series IZA DP No. 11059, http://ft p.iza.org/ 27 Singh, “Nigel Farage says”. dp11059.pdf accessed 13 November 2019.

72 are harder to dismiss of course. For exam- as “traitor”, “surrender” and “betrayal” are ple, it is clear that the NHS relies on mi- employed much more frequently in British grant workers (nurses, doctors, and so on) political discourse. Th ey are used most fre- and that even with those workers an acute quently by the hardliners who wish the UK shortage of medical professionals exists in to leave the EU without a deal. Th ose whom the UK’s health services. Plenty of posts are Brendan O’Neill, the editor of the internet- waiting for UK citizens in this and other -based free speech magazine Spiked, has sectors. No matter what one’s prejudices, called “the Remainer elite” – or the leaders it is patently obvious to anyone who uses of “the Remainer tyranny” – are regular- such sectors that migrants are not prevent- ly attacked in this way.30 For example, in ing Britons from taking those jobs. late September 2019, BBC Radio 4’s Today Many of those who reject Farage’s as- programme broadcast vox pop interviews sertion that open borders harm UK citizens with members of the general public. One argue that rather than being the result of im- particularly vicious contribution recalled migration or benefi t scroungers, the prob- the fate of a Roman Catholic traitor who lems that motivated Leavers (poor schools, was executed for attempting to blow up housing, health services, and so on) result the Houses of Parliament in October 1605: largely from years of austerity. Th is suite of “Burn them all,” the person said, “like Guy policies was introduced by the Coalition Fawkes.”31 government in 2010 and was continued It has long been a standard trope of with even greater vigour by the Conserva- “” and UKIP and now the Brexit tives once the Coalition ended at the 2015 Party then, that by seeking a no-deal Brexit general election. As government fi gures they are fi ghting for the “British people” themselves demonstrate, there was a di- against a Remainer liberal elite. In reality, rect correlation between deepening auster- the majority of the Leave leadership are ity and growing popular support for UKIP. all part of an elite. Hence, Dominic Cum- Th is means that Cameron and Osborne’s mings, the key strategist for the Vote Leave economic policies were directly responsible campaign, attended the fee-paying Durham for the electoral threat which forced them School before graduating with a First in to promise an “in-out” referendum on EU Ancient and Modern History from Exeter membership. In short, their draconian neo- College, Oxford. Alexander Boris de Pfef- liberal economics made them the authors fel Johnson attended the European School of their own political downfall. Brussels 1, then went to prep school at the c. Anti-elitism narrative 30 Brendan O’Neill, “Th e Remainer Tyranny”, Th e Leave campaign routinely presented it- Spiked, https://www.spiked-online.com/2019/09/08/ the-remainer-tyranny/ accessed 11 November 2019. self as fi ghting a “metropolitan liberal elite” 31 See for example, Gerrard Kaonga, “Brexi- that has lost touch with the interests and teer fury at ‘traitors’ and ‘disgraceful’ Remainer democratic will of the people. Th ey were MPs broadcast on BBC Radio 4”, Daily Express, 27 especially hard on the “traitors” who inha- September 2019 https://www.express.co.uk/news/ uk/1183378/Brexit-News-update-latest-Boris-John- bit the “Westminster bubble”. Words such son-vote-Remain-leave-Today-Programme

73 fee-paying Ashdown House before entering Rees-Mogg studied at Trinity College). He Eton, before graduating with an Upper Sec- then worked in the City of London, before ond Class degree in Ancient Literature and founding a very successful hedge-fund Classical Philosophy from Balliol College business, which itself has done very well out Oxford. While at Oxford, Johnson stud- the Brexit chaos. In November 2016, he was ied with future Conservative Party leaders estimated to be worth £55 million, and with William Hague and David Cameron, and his wife to be worth up to £150 million.33 the future Secretary of State for Skills Nick (Rees-Mogg’s manners and dress have led Boles, as well as Jeremy Hunt and Michael to being known as “the Member of Parlia- Gove who were two of the other contenders ment for the Eighteenth-century”.) Taking for the Conservative Party leadership that all of these facts into account, it seems that ultimately made Johnson Prime Minister of what really concerns the Leave campaign the UK in 2019. about the alleged “liberal elite” behind the Michael Gove was also Johnson’s co- Remain vote is not its elitism, but rather its leader of the offi cial Leave campaign. As liberalism. Indeed, as Jan-Werner Müller a child, Gove won a scholarship to a fee-pay- has noted “populists have no problem with ing school before meeting Johnson at Ox- representation as long as they are the repre- ford where he followed him as President of sentatives; similarly, they are fi ne with elites the Oxford Union. Subsequently Gove has as long as they are the elites leading the served with Johnson in various Conserva- p e op l e .” 34 tive governments, and famously betrayed Lies continue to proliferate in the cur- Johnson during the latter’s fi rst attempt to rent Brexit debate. Many people look to become Conservative Party leader immedi- the current Prime Minister and his politi- ately aft er Cameron resigned following his cal advisor Dominic Cummings as signifi - defeat in the 2016 referendum.32 Nigel Far- cant sources of this misinformation. Th ere age attended the fee-paying Dulwich Col- have been a number of attacks on Johnson’s lege before becoming a multi-millionaire honesty. He was sacked from Th e T i es m as a commodity trader in the metals mar- newspaper for fabricating a news story, he ket. Jacob Rees-Mogg is the MP for North was sacked from the Conservative shadow East Somerset. He is best known as the frontbench because he lied to the Party’s leader of the virulent Brexiteer Parliamen- then-leader Michael Howard over an af- tary faction the fair that he (Johnson) was having.35 Other and the current the Leader of the House allegations have been made against him. of Commons. His father edited Th e Times 33 newspaper from 1967 to 1981. He studied David Oldroyd-Bolt, “Th e Many, Many Mil- lions of Mogg”, Spectator Life, 3 November 2016 at Eton and then Oxford. (Unlike Johnson, https://life.spectator.co.uk/articles/many-many-mil- lions-mogg/ 34 Jan-Werner Müller, What is Populism? (Pen- 32 Laura Kuenssberg, “Gove and Johnson: guin, 2017), p.30. What happened?”, BBC News, 30 June 2016 https:// 35 BBC News, “Eddie Mair vs Boris Johnson”, www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-36679738 accessed BBC News, 24 March 2013 https://www.youtube. 12 November 2019. com/watch?v=ZAxA-9D4X3o

74 (Famously, he even refuses to confi rm how attacked. It was shown to take no account of many children he has fathered.) Th e former the rebate and other income which the UK Secretary of State for Skills Nick Boles re- receives from the EU. In 2018, without any signed the Conservative whip in April 2019 rebate or other income from the EU the UK over Brexit, and in a Channel 4 News in- would have paid £17.4 billion.37 However, terview in November 2019, he described the UK automatically received a rebate of Boris Johnson as “morally unfi t to be Prime £4.2 billion, taking the UK’s contribution Minister.” He explained: “Boris Johnson… to £13.2 billion. In addition the EU spent [is] an entirely amoral fi gure, he’s betrayed £4.3 billion on UK public services and an everybody in his life, he lies about every- unrecorded amount also goes to the UK’s thing, he is wedded to no principle, no be- private sector. On that basis, the UK’s net lief, he will say anything to get ahead, to contribution in 2018 was a maximum of get power.”36 Even the convicted fraudster £8.9 billion. Th at equates to a maximum Conrad Black has said that he does not fully net contribution of £171 million per week, trust Johnson. which is just 48,8% of £350 million per One of the most infamous examples week claimed by Vote Leave. of a profoundly misleading Leave claim One of the most worrying examples was painted prominently on the side of of the trend towards the blatant normali- the very high-profi le “Vote Leave” cam- sation of political deceit was the Johnson paign bus. Th e slogan read: “We send the government’s refusal in November 2019 EU £350 million a week/let’s fund the NHS to release until aft er the upcoming general instead Vote Leave/Let’s take back control”. election, the offi cial report into the Russian Johnson and the other Vote Leave leaders government’s alleged use of social media to posed regularly in front of the bus during misinform and meddle in the 2016 Brexit the campaign. Its famous claim was widely referendum.38 Th is move raises fundamen- tal questions about the quality and robust- ness of UK democracy. Th is is the subject to 36 Nick Boles, “Neither Jeremy Corbyn or Boris which I will turn next. Johnson are “morally fi t” to become the next Prime Minister according to former MP, Nick Boles”, Chan- nel 4 News, 12 November 2019 https://www.facebook. com/Channel4News/videos/1423135621166917/ Th e programme was Channel 4 News. Th e passage reads: “Both Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn are morally unfi t to be Prime Minister. For very diff er- 37 Full Fact, “Th e UK’s EU membership fee”, ent reasons. Boris Johnson because he’s an entirely Full Fact, 8 July 2019, drawing on House of Com- amoral fi gure, he’s betrayed everybody in his life, he mons fi gures https://fullfact.org/europe/our-eu- lies about everything, he is wedded to no principle, membership-fee-55-million/ accessed on 12 Novem- no belief, he will say anything to get ahead, to get ber 2019. power. Jeremy Corbyn because of course he’s basi- 38 Dan Sabbagh, “No 10 accused of ignoring cally consorted with terrorists and murderous thugs evidence of Russian interference”, Th e Guardian, throughout his life, all in favour of sort of abstract 6 November 2019 https://www.theguardian.com/ ideas like all totalitarian leaders, he’s much more in- politics/2019/nov/06/no-10-accused-of-ignoring- terested in movement than in people. And neither of evidence-of-russian-interference accessed on 12 No- them is fi t to be Prime Minister.” vember 2019.

75 4. UK democracy Th at said, prior to the result coming in, eve- ry major party had promised to obey the re- a. Weak and disorderly government sult of the referendum. Undoubtedly, many On the day that the Brexit referendum re- people made that promise in the belief that sult was declared, David Cameron anno- their side would win. Yet, in an ironic twist, unced his intention to resign as Conserva- prior to the result being announced the tive Party leader and hence as UK Prime only person to raise the possibility of di- Minister. Th at announcement triggered an sputing the outcome was Nigel Farage, who acrimonious campaign for the leadership of said publicly that he would seek to have the the Conservative Party. By the time Th ere- result overturned if Remain won by a small sa May was elected party leader and Prime majority. In an interview that he gave to the Minister on 13 July 2016, key Leave cam- Daily Mirror newspaper a little over fi ve we- paign friends had become bitter enemies. eks before the vote, he was unequivocal on Gove had betrayed Johnson rather specta- the point: “In a 52–48 referendum this wo- cularly, and in many people’s eyes neither uld be unfi nished business by a long way”, man retained any semblance of competence he said, “If the Remain campaign win two- or dignity. Even Nigel Farage had resigned -thirds to one-third that ends it.”39 as UKIP leader nine days earlier. Even though Farage himself has not Over the next three years, Th eresa May questioned the legitimacy of the actual re- struggled to fi nd a workable majority in sult, he did have a point. It is usual in other Parliament. She called the 2017 election in countries for major constitutional changes a desperate attempt to silence both Leave to have to be voted for by a two-thirds ma- and Remain critics within her own parlia- jority, with a turn-out of two-thirds of the mentary party and to increase the number electorate. On that basis, the Leave win of Conservative MPs who were willing to (which was of course the mirror-image of vote for the transition deal she had negoti- Farage’s hypothetical Remain win) would ated with the EU. May lost her majority at not have been large enough to lead Parlia- that election and was forced to form a par- ment to trigger Article 50. Th at said, Cam- liamentary alliance with the Democratic eron did not apply the convention that Unionist Party (DUP). Th is arrangement would be usual abroad when setting-up the was unable to save her and ultimately she referendum, so Leave carried the day. proved unable to govern eff ectively. She re- signed, leading Johnson to replace her on c. Th e erosion of trust in parliamentary insti- 24 July 2019. tutions and mechanisms Even if one ignores these vitally impor- b. Th e democratic status of the referendum tant issues, UK democracy is confronted by We can ask questions about the democra- tic status of the Brexit referendum. Firstly, 39 BBC News, Nigel Farage: Narrow Remain constitutionally in the UK referendums win may lead to second referendum”, BBC News, 17 May 2016, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics- have a merely “advisory” status. As such, eu-referendum-36306681 accessed 13 November Parliament is not required to enact them. 2019.

76 other signifi cant problems. In many ways, scuss overriding the largest democratic vote the UK faces a legitimation crisis. Th ere is in British history. Th ey condemn newspapers a widespread belief within the UK that the that use strong language to describe Rema- 41 recent Brexit debates and votes in Westmin- iner extremism.” ster over May’s deal and then Johnson’s deal, warn of the death of UK democracy. Th ere is To address the underlying issues here, an understandable and widespread frustra- it is necessary to examine the democrat- tion that the process is taking too long, that ic credentials of the Brexit referendum Parliament has still not “got Brexit done”. in greater depth. Th is is needed because Moreover, the vicious language and tone many of the disputes can be traced to the used by many MPs, of all parties, genders competing considerations at work in any and sides of the Brexit debate, are taken to modern democratic system. One univer- show that the institutions and mechanisms sally-accepted criterion in a democracy of government are, in the favourite cliché of is that the people must make the decision the time, “broken”. Th is accusation comes themselves, in this case through voting. from every side of the House of Commons, Th is is the “self-determination” condition. the media and the wider society. Oft en, it Another widely-accepted criterion is that is combined with the accusation that the a decision is democratic to the extent that “Leave” will of the British people is being when voting the electorate were suffi ciently frustrated by an undemocratic “Remain” clear about the meaning of the choice they “elite” or “establishment”. For example, Par- were being asked to make. Th is is the “com- liament and courts made it clear that they petence” condition. In other words, a de- would prosecute Boris Johnson if he went cision is democratic to the extent that the through with his threat to break the law by people understand the reality of the situa- not asking the EU for an extension follow- tion in which they are making the decision ing Parliament’s failure to pass his new deal (the economic and political facts of EU by 19 October 2019.40 In response, Brendan membership, in this case). Moreover, it is O’Neill, the editor of the website Spiked, democratic to the extent that the elector- protested that: ate understand what is likely to happen if one leaves or remains. Th e idea is intuitively “… we have now reached the ‘keep us in the appealing: ask yourself, in what sense is it EU or we will send you to jail’ stage of the a free choice when you drink a cup of coff ee Remainer tyranny. Th is furious, anti-demo- without knowing that it has been poisoned? cratic wing of the elite, who make up the In the Brexit context, both sides – Leave and majority of the contemporary establishment, Remain – invoked the competence condi- has been drift ing towards extreme authorita- tion throughout the referendum campaign. rianism for two years now. Th ey openly di- For example, this is what the Leave side said made them so angry about “Project Fear”: 40 Th e law took the form of the EU Withdrawal (No.2) Act – the so-called Benn Act – supplemented 41 Brendan O’Neill, “Th e Remainer Tyranny”, by the Letwin Amendment to the government’s ap- Spiked, https://www.spiked-online.com/2019/09/08/ proval motion for its deal. the-remainer-tyranny/ accessed 11 November 2019.

77 the Remainers were allegedly trying to un- not come close to fulfi lling democracy’s dermine democracy by misleading voters. competence condition. What light do these two conditions Th e competence condition is also shed on the democratic credentials of the called into question by the subsequent sur- Brexit referendum? It is a standard Leave prise that many Leavers have expressed trope that Parliament should agree legis- about the diffi culty of negotiating the terms lation to exit the EU because “Th e British of the UK’s departure. Th e UK’s economy people voted for Brexit”. Currently, the most has been very closely integrated with the vocal section of the Leave camp insists that other member states since the UK joined “the British people” voted to leave without the EEC in 1973. It is diffi cult to see how a deal of any type. However, this is an obvi- anyone who had even the most rudimen- ously spurious claim. Even when it was fi rst tary understanding of this fact could have announced, many people objected that the thought that disentangling these linkages referendum question is exceptionally vague could be either easy or quick. about what it meant in practice to “leave Th e next consideration relates to the the European Union”. During the campaign self-determination condition: for a decision some Leavers argued that the UK should to be democratic, “the people” must have negotiate a deal with the EU and then leave, voted for it. Deciding what classes as “the while others argued that the UK should people” is notoriously diffi cult. Th e prob- leave without any deal. Among the group lem has taken on great signifi cance in rela- who argued to leave with a deal, there was tion to the Brexit vote however, not least in no consensus about what sort of deal would relation to the diff erent voting outcomes in be acceptable. At the very least on these the four constituent nations of the United grounds, it seems that the referendum did Kingdom. Th ey were as follows.

EU Referendum votes, by nation of the UK*

Leave Remain Nation (% of vote; number of (% of vote number of Turnout Which side won? votes) votes) England 53.4% 46.6% 73.0% LEAVE 15,188,406 13,266,996 Scotland 38.0% 62.0% 67.2% REMAIN 1,018,322 1,661,191 Wales 52.5% 47.5% 71.7% LEAVE 854,572 772,347 Northern Ireland 44.2% 55.8% 62.7% REMAIN 349,442 440,707 * Source: BBC News, “EU Referendum: results”, BBC News, n.d., https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics/eu_ referendum/results accessed 4 November 2019. Th is table indicates the complexity of the ment. Th e Northern Irish did not, even claim that “the British people voted for though Th eresa May shored up her govern- Brexit.” Th e Scots did not, as the Scottish ment by allying herself with the Leave-fa- National Party repeatedly reminds Parlia- vouring Democratic Unionist Party.

78 d. Some reasons for (limited) optimism she narrowly survived a “No confi dence” Undoubtedly there is a sense in which vote. From January to March 2019, Parlia- Brendan O’Neill is correct: UK democra- ment refused to pass May’s deal on four cy does face great problems. I have discus- separate occasions. Th roughout she faced sed the very aggressive tone of political strong and oft en ill-tempered opposition debate, not merely in the UK Parliament from many MPs and ordinary citizens. Th is but in the whole country; the tendency of opposition was particularly strong within those debates to descend not merely into her own party, and not least from the Eu- the threat of violence but into violent acts ropean Research Group, led by the idiosyn- themselves; the weakening of the authori- cratic Jacob Rees-Mogg. ty of experts; and the associated belief that Unable to convince not merely Parlia- opinions based on prejudice are as valid as ment but a large proportion of the British evidence-based judgements. Just as impor- people that her deal was good enough to tantly of course, trust in Parliament as an be accepted, Th eresa May announced her institution and in parliamentarians as the intention to resign. Th at led eventually to heart of that institution has been severely Boris Johnson becoming Prime Minister undermined. on 24 July 2019. Since that time, Johnson Despite the common perception in the has repeatedly sought to circumvent Par- UK and no doubt elsewhere of the crisis of liament, most obviously by attempting to UK democracy, I want to end with some prorogue Parliament for an extraordinarily optimistic observations. It is crucial to note long period of time, so as prevent it from that, despite the arguments and apparent being able to appropriately scrutinise his lack of action, since the start of May’s sec- new deal. Th is attempt to govern without ond term on 8 June 2017 we have witnessed proper parliamentary oversight and ap- the reassertion of the primacy of the UK proval was prevented by various of the UK’s Parliament over the UK government. Th e highest courts. Ultimately, the UK Supreme period from June 2016 to December 2019 Court annulled Johnson’s attempted proro- demonstrated willingness and capacity of gation, and Parliament returned to sit again Parliamentarians to uphold not merely the in Westminster on 25 September. Johnson UK’s fundamental political values and pro- attempted to push his deal through the cedures, but just as importantly to fi nd ways House of Commons once again, proposing to uphold their fundamental spirit and in- to allow it only three days to consider the tent. Hence, on 4 December 2018 Th eresa new long and complex withdrawal docu- May was found in contempt of Parliament ment. In response, the Commons agreed in for not publishing the full legal advice that principle to accept the deal, but subject to she was given over Brexit.42 Eight days later, a longer period of examination and debate. At this point Johnson called a general elec- 42 Benjamin Kentish, “Th eresa May govern- tion, which was held on 12 December. ment found in contempt of parliament over failure to publish full Brexit legal advice”, Th e Independent, 4 December 2018 https://www.independent.co.uk/ sa-may-brexit-legal-advice-government-geoffrey- news/uk/politics/contempt-parliament-vote-there- cox-a8667086.html accessed 13 November 2019.

79 People who care about UK democracy voters, the media and even MPs themselves should fi nd comfort in this frustrating and blame Parliament and the courts, rather angry period. While the Offi cial Opposi- than accepting this fact. Given their frus- tion (Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party) has tration with the Brexit deadlock and chaos, been depressingly ineff ective, other bodies perhaps they should think instead that the and individuals have done much to defend UK Parliament represents the will of the parliamentary democracy in the UK. One UK electorate all too eff ectively. can think of John Bercow the (now former) Speaker, Hilary Benn (Labour) MP for Conclusion: Ways forward? Leeds Central, (Conserva- tive) MP for West Dorset, and Yvette Coop- Th e UK has suff ered signifi cant damage er (Labour) MP for Normanton, Pontefract since Cameron announced that there wo- and Castleford. One can think of many oth- uld be a Brexit referendum. Th e UK popu- er politicians – both Leave and Remain – lation trust Parliament much less than they who have resisted Johnson’s attempts to cir- used to. Uncertainty over Brexit has bro- cumvent Parliament. One can think also of ught clear and signifi cant economic costs. the millions of ordinary citizens who have Th ere is a reduced sense of social cohesion protested against it. One can think of the and a marked increase in reported hate cri- role of the courts. Aft er all, this is a central mes. Th ere is a greater polarisation between part of what the Brexiteers have always said the UK’s historic self-images, whether tho- they wanted: namely, for the UK to “take se self-images be of a formerly great nation back control.” Parliamentary authorisation or empire damaged by the EU and immi- and judicial review are at the heart of UK gration, or of the UK as an open, tolerant democracy. and multicultural country. More fundamentally still, the divisions It is undoubtedly for these reasons and within the UK Parliament and its inability to many others like them that a recent poll agree about how to proceed over Brexit are by the Observer newspaper shows that the themselves signifi cant indications that the majority (57%) of the UK electorate thinks institution is truly democratic. According it would have been better if the 2016 refer- 44 to a recent poll by the Observer magazine, endum had never taken place. (Only 29% in a re-run of the referendum 43% of the said that the believed it should have been electorate would vote Remain, while only held.) Only 57% of those who voted Leave 1% less would Leave.43 Parliament’s deep in 2016 now believe it was sensible to hold divisions and inactivity refl ect the profound the referendum, whereas 32% thought it divisions within the UK electorate. Many was not sensible.

43 Toby Helm, “Brexit referendum should never 44 Toby Helm, “Brexit referendum should never have been called, say majority of voters”, Th e Guardi- have been called, say majority of voters”, Th e Guardi- an, 26 October 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/ an, 26 October 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/ politics/2019/oct/26/opinium-poll-observer-uk- politics/2019/oct/26/opinium-poll-observer-uk- voters-regret-brexit-referendum-conservative-lead- voters-regret-brexit-referendum-conservative-lead- over-labour accessed 11 November 2019. over-labour accessed 11 November 2019.

80 What has been genuinely reassuring tives government will face a great many however, is that (despite what many hard- challenges which until now it has sought to line Brexiteers claim) many of those who hide from the UK public. Unfortunately, it voted Remain accepted the result of the seems likely that the Brexit chaos is very far referendum as authoritative and now in- from being over. sist that the UK leaves the EU. To be clear: while I have grave doubts about the demo- References: cratic credentials of the Brexit vote, for me Assinder N., “Why UKIP’s Nigel Farage is Enoch at least the reassuring feature of the former- Powell’s Political Heir”, International Busi- Remainers’ reaction is their acceptance of ness Times, 21 May 2014 https://www.ib- the moral force of what they believe to be times.co.uk/why-ukips-nigel-farage-enoch- powells-political-heir-1449443 (accessed 14 the democratic will of the people. November 2019). 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