Brexit Done and Dusted

There is no use crying over spilt milk. We have left the EU and we will not be going back in a hurry; despite the optimism of pro-remain politicians in the UK and Europe. I doubt that there will be much demand from the UK populace to rejoin even if there is a collapse of the economy. Many EU states simply won't want the UK back because of the damage that it will do to the EU economy. It is not just in the UK that nationalists hold sway.

Forget about the economy for a minute; the UK has now become a weakened state. The world has changed a lot since 1973 when Britain joined the EC. China has become a super-power that is now able to challenge the US. India is on its way to becoming a super-power; it has developed nuclear weapons and is capable of landing rovers on the moon. It is rapidly overtaking Britain and France both economically, diplomatically and militarily. China and India are two more giants that Britain has to contend with, but all on its own. In 1973 the world was trying to engage in free trade. Not so, now, for protectionism is the name of the game. Every state is now putting its own national interests first. The only organisation which pooled sovereignty to try to work for the common good of its constituent nations was the EU and we have just left it.

The UK must now decide what is in its national interests, it is obvious that the US is pulling us up and that China is pulling us down. Very soon we could find ourselves being pulled left by the EU with India pulling us right. Our country could become a poodle not knowing where it will end up, and with  no control of its destiny.

The UK could easily disintegrate. I am quite surprised at how quickly nationalist sentiment is growing in both Northern Ireland and Scotland. It seems to me that England is now pushing Scotland and Northern Ireland away. English politicians are ignoring the desires of the Scottish and Northern Irish electorates to be remain close to the EU. We are also seeing the growth of nationalism in Wales. We could end up having to manage the disintegration of the UK whilst trying to extract what is left of the nation from the EU.

The worse aspect of the political situation in the UK is the incompetence of government when either of the main political parties are in power. Over the last thirty years they have both presided over a fracture within our society where a significant proportion of people have been left behind. These unfortunate people have been left with failing schools, a failing health service, poor transport systems, and poor and expensive housing. They also have to contend with low wages and insecure employment. It is no wonder that they are "pissed off", and that they have turned to populist solutions, which will never work in the long run. Their future looks bleak.

Possibly, there will be a Brexit dividend for the health, wealth and unity of the nation; but can anyone expect our politicians to deliver on this given their past performance?

Don't be surprised if Brexit is a complete failure, but hope for the best.