The Brexit Betrayal

Ever since this country voted to leave the EU in 2016, the issue has consumed the news media, as well as being a source of heated debate among the population, with the great division caused by the vote. Even though I voted to leave, I never had much confidence in any government actually taking us out, in the spirit of the referendum. Sadly, it seems that I have been proved right.

The people who wanted to remain, so lost the vote, have waged a relentless campaign ever since. This has taken the form of court actions, public protests, outright insults against those who voted to leave, and the non-stop pressure for a second referendum, hoping to get the result they wanted in 2016. Despite her famous cry, “Brexit means Brexit” it has been obvious to anyone with half a brain that Theresa May never really intended to leave the EU, in anything but ‘name only’. The failed discussions, the intransigence of the EU negotiators, and behind the scenes deals with the German leader Merkel were all visible signs that she would return with a suggestion of a revised Brexit, that was much the same as remaining in the EU.

Foreign companies are queuing up to announce that they will pull the plug on their UK operations, if we leave without the deals offered by the French and Germans. Many of those industrial giants (including car companies, and drug companies) are run and owned by Germans. Fishing quotas are also in dispute, and many of the EU fisherman demanding access to UK waters after Brexit just happen to be French. Like anything in this world, all we have to do is to ‘follow the money’. The EU is run by Germany and France for their own ends, and everyone else either falls into line, or faces threats and financial sanctions.

Today, the minister responsible for negotiating Brexit from the start has resigned. A meeting of the government last weekend resulted in a decision to carry on with talks for a totally watered-down Brexit that would still leave this country inextricably tied to Europe. Theresa May told the German leader of that decision before announcing it to Parliament, or the British people. The referendum has therefore been proved to be meaningless. The voters who thought they had succeeded in their desire to leave the EU completely have been betrayed, and with them the whole idea of any fair and free elections in this country. If they don’t like the result, they won’t implement it, simple as that.

Before all those who see this as a ‘victory’ of sorts start to celebrate, they might want to think about what it means in the wider scheme of things. No election or referendum will ever really mean anything anymore. Democracy in Britain, such as it was, is now just a memory.

35 comments

    • beetleypete

      It’s a good article, and mostly 100% accurate. The Windrush thing has since been overturned, no help to those who suffered of course. The BBC mostly reports accurately on Israeli action in Palestine, and in my opinion does not have an Israeli or right-wing bias at all. They have also produced some telling documentaries about the situation in Yemen, blaming UK/Saudi trade deals for our turning of a blind eye. Perhaps the author saw the ‘wrong’ reports?. Otherwise, he got it all dead right. 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete.

      Liked by 1 person

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  2. Pingback: The Brexit Betrayal — REDFLAGFLYING | Legally Privileged
  4. abbiosbiston

    I voted to remain because in my mind I could not see any practical way that separating Britain from the EU would actually work and I see real positives in EU funding for scientific research as well as directives on working hours, maternity and paternity leave, etc. I understand why some people voted to leave. I think many people voted for something completely different from what is actually going to end up happening because the government was so sure they knew what the outcome was that they didn’t actually have any kind of plan for leaving. This is a terrible failing on their behalf. Now they’re just making it up as they go along and no one is going to be happy with the outcome no matter how they voted.

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    • beetleypete

      You got that right, Abbi. The Remainers will not be happy with a ‘fudge’, and Leavers will be unhappy with what is seen as a betrayal of the referendum. Nobody wins, except the EU! 😦
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  8. Eddy Winko

    As you know Pete I would have voted to stay and I believe the real failing of the referendum was that people didn’t actually know what they were voting for. It had a different meaning or was left open for individual interpretation, there was no clear cut definition. If you look at the reasons that people actually voted the way they did (yougov) then I think you would have to agree? Many of the grievances could be addressed without leaving the EU, if only the UK read the rule book and enforced them.
    As you say this latest development may lead to a general election, so at least some good will come of it, although as you quite rightly say nothing will really change regarding the UKs membership of the EU, it will always be the EUK even if it’s not on the letterhead 🙂

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    • beetleypete

      I cannot begin to speak for everyone else, Eddy, but I can tell you I was damned sure I knew what I was voting for, and I reject the constant carping of the intelligentsia in this country that Leave voters were all ignoramuses and racists, with only xenophobia on the agenda. My grievances could never have been addressed without leaving the EU, as it is a bloated and corrupt organisation, that does little good for the majority of its members unless they live in France or Germany. For me, it has always been the unacceptable face of European capitalism, and I think the latest threats have shown it in its true colours.
      As you can tell, I am unlikely to be mollified o the issue! 🙂
      As much as I would like to see the Tories collapse, and a Labour government instead, I know full well that they would be just as weak about Brexit, and far more likely to try to get back in. They are overturning the democratic vote that was the will of the people. Am I the only person in this country that can see that? I think I might go mad with rage. I waited my entire adult life, after voting against going in in the first place. I got my referendum, and (surprisingly) ‘we won’. Now they are saying “But…” If this was the 1800s, we would be burning down the Houses of Parliament.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  9. lobotero

    THanx Pete….I appreciate your posts for it helps us Americans to understand what is going on in the EU and Britain….democracy is fleeting here and there and just about everywhere…..chuq.

    Liked by 1 person

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    • beetleypete

      The refusal to really implement the will of the public, sanctioned by a monitored and majority vote, may not be a complete surprise to someone as cynical as me. But to be honest, the blatant way the vote is being overturned has destroyed what scant faith I had in politics in this country completely. They might just as well give us all German passports, and change the flag, as it seems that Angela Merkel runs the UK now, on behalf of her industrialist friends. Might just as well have let them invade after Dunkirk, and saved wasting all that time since.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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    • beetleypete

      Thanks,Theo. At least Trump spoke a lot about his ‘Isolationist’ plans before the vote. We were told we were getting out of Europe if we voted to Leave, and now it seems we are not. Hmm…
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  11. 2581john

    Insightful as always Peter. I fear your last comment about future votes not meaning much was already much in evidence while any British Govt remain part of the EU.
    All political parties in the UK will only ever be able to publish manifestos that comply with EU policy… for example a manifesto pledge for government to ‘tender’ only within the UK would breach EU rules. As would any change to immigration, free movement of people etc. In my opinion as British political parties already have external restrictions on manifesto pledges then our votes are already half way spoiled.
    K/r Keith

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  12. toritto

    Read about two of May’s ministers bailing out yesterday. So much for the vote. Implementation only comes if the vote coincides with the interests of the monied class. Emperor Don I is visiting NATO this week and then Prince Vlad. Christ knows what will happen next. I am glad Emperor Don solved the North Korea problem.

    🙂

    Besties

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    • beetleypete

      Thanks, Frank. Yes the ministers resigned when she announced she is putting her hands up to the EU. I can’t stand either of the ministers of course, but at least they have stuck by their principles. On the plus side, it might bring the government down, and force a snap election. 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  13. Jim

    Hi Pete,
    so how about a second vote, a peoples vote as it’s being called? Keep the dark money and dark data out of it, and focus instead on whether from what we’ve learned the last 2 years, we will be better off in or out. If the Govt can’t agree what brexit should be, you can’t argue the nation was clear or fully informed at the referendum. If we all (well, 52% of voters) still think it’s a great idea, you’ll all get the brexit you want.

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    • beetleypete

      Hi, Jim. Great to see you again, and I hope all’s well with you and your family, as well as Helen and hers. 🙂
      As I have said before, I was in favour of a ‘no deal ‘ departure from the EU from the beginning, but never really expected to get it, in any form. If we are going to have second elections every time we don’t like the result, then I would have liked one to get rid of the Tories, when they were hanging on by a thread, supported by the DUP.
      I think you and I know that with all the hype against Brexit, there would never be another vote to Leave. So it would just be overturning the so-called ‘democratic process’, and going against everything we supposedly stood for, in a ‘western democracy’.
      If the vote had gone the other way, I would not have supported a campaign to overturn it, but accepted that I had lost, and we would stay in.
      Love and best wishes to you all, Pete. x

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  14. theshammuramat

    To be honest Pete this should never have been put to a referendum – I think it was cowardly to do so and not to figure out a working relationship with the EU that satisfied both parties. As for democracy I’m afraid politics has always been controlled in the US by the monied classes. Once Russia engaged in its propaganda both the elites and the Russians really messed things up. I think all the so-called liberal democracies need to look long and hard at their political systems and make revisions.

    Liked by 1 person

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    • beetleypete

      Thanks, Felicity. The referendum was always going to be the only chance of getting out. All the parties here are too scared of big business, as well as Germany and France, and none would ever have negotiated a withdrawal without that vote to Leave.
      We need to look closely at what has happened to Greece, Portugal, and Italy, to see that the EU is rotting from the inside out.
      Best wishes, Pete. x

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