May the farce be with you

Still on the same tack. All things Brexit. Those who enjoy more the "meaning of life" type of Blog need read no further. 

Well, just to say that the demand in the UK is growing for a second referendum on membership of the EU, according to the polls. Yes, Opinion Polls are not always reliable, yet I would say that a trend is, if the same question is asked over a time period and the very same methods of extrapolation used. Whatever, hopes rose of a second vote when our PM Theresa May insisted that in "no circumstances" would there be one (sic) 

The demand grows

I am active on Facebook and so the majority of this Blog is lifted from there. Enjoy or ignore. 

May the farce be with you:- UPDATE.

With even the Pro-Brexit lobby ( Press and those born with silver spoons in their mouths ) speaking of the Army being called in come No-Deal Day, Mrs May cries out "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people". Yes, take comfort in these preparations by our Strong and Stable Leaders. In our famous British stiff upper lip fashion, we will all queue in an orderly fashion to receive our very own can of Bully Beef, handed out by what is left of our Army.

A typical Brexiteer?

And what is all this in aid off?

"To regain control of our borders".

REALITY:- we have never lost control as far as Commonwealth citizens are concerned. For EU Nationals, the explicit directive of the EU is that "freedom of movement is NOT an unqualified right". We retain the right to deny entry to any identified as posing a threat to "public policy". Again, we retain the right to deport those posing any such threat. 5301 EU Nationals were deported in 2017, a 20% rise on the previous year. 

Free Movement - But NOT an "unqualified right"

"To become once again a sovereign nation making our own laws".

REALITY:- what sovereignty have we actually lost? EU laws have always been more about food hygiene and lift safety etc than Government Policy as such. Our crisis in the NHS, police, army, education are ALL of our own making. 

"We will spend our own money as we see fit"

REALITY. All reputable analysis shows that there will be NO Brexit dividend, no extra money at all. Currently we each pay just 1p in the Pound to the EU of the tax we pay. This contribution ensures Food Supplies ( in the form of Farming Subsidies ) and also goes towards building up the weaker European economies, thus addressing the so called "migrant crisis" at source.

"We will be able to negotiate our own Trade Deals".

REALITY. The implication is that they will be better. Why? We surely cannot get a better deal than we already have with the countries of the EU. In fact, the likely outcome is that any deal will be worse. China? My own view is that the UK will not be able to get anything better than what is negotiated by the EU, which has the clout of 27 countries behind it. Why or how could it be better? The USA? Really, anyone trusting the word of Donald Trump must be living in La La Land. The US Farming Lobby, one of the strongest, will surely insist upon our accepting food standards set lower than the EU's, thus impacting and jeopardising our food trade with the EU. The US Pharmaceutical Companies are very keen to get more of a grip on our NHS. And again, really, WHY would any deal be better than that already negotiated by the EU? 

La La land

What is left? The Commonwealth countries, most who remember how we treated them when we joined the EU. India has already intimated that any new deal must include making it easier for their Nationals to gain entry visas to the UK. Thus in such a case, we "lose control of our borders".

Lastly, it must be remembered that we are not speaking here of additional trade.

The WTO rules? Jacob Rees-Mogg, a great advocate of such, was exposed on a Radio Phone-in as having not a clue what they are. But we can always hope for the best. Jacob tells us it will be 50 years before we know the full impact of Brexit. Unlike Jacob, the vast majority were not born with an inheritance of £120 million to cushion them should the impact be bad.

Mr Rees-Mogg (I'm saying nothing)

The story so far:-

1. A large number of people, mainly those who favour a de-regulated economy of low taxes and low wages, never accepted the result of the EU Referendum in the 1970's. Mainly Right-wingers with very little sympathy towards what we could call "the rest of us". By means of control of the Media, mainly the Express, Mail, Sun and Telegraph - all owned by multi-millionaires, one not even British - a continuing tirade of stories, editorials and news items was constantly released blaming virtually each and every wrong in our country on the EU and/or Immigrants. 

2. In an attempt to end all dispute within his own Party, Dave Cameron called a Referendum. A referendum that according to the constitution of our country, grown organically over 800 years, could only be "advisory". The vote was to Leave. Dave retired to his shed to join the fairies at the bottom of his garden and write his memoirs.

Dave Cameron heading for the bottom of his garden

3. Since then the "will of the people" must be obeyed. All who oppose it are dubbed "undemocratic" , "traitors", "enemies of the people" and "saboteurs" (and worse, as I have found to my cost on Tabloid Comments Sections ) For those aware of the inter-war years in Germany, such slogans can be understood as indicators of a nascent fascism.

4. But we MUST go ahead. Just as someone who accepts a proposal of marriage must go ahead. Even after finding out that their future spouse is a serial killer who is already married. "Democracy" DEMANDS that we go ahead.

But as David Davis, ex Brexit Secretary, himself said, "a Democracy that cannot change its mind is no longer a democracy."

The worth of our EU Nationals.

1. Virtually all young and able bodied, here to work. Statistically less liable to be on benefits than our native population, and making a net contribution to the Exchequer. Therefore not a drain on our Services at all. (Please, for any real "drain" look first at deliberate underfunding by our current Government)

2. Our Services, mainly the NHS, are suffering a growing staff crisis as many EU Nationals, feeling unvalued and unwanted, return home.

On this last point, there was a spike in racially motivated hate crimes immediately after the Referendum result. And apparently the Police are preparing for another spike soon after we leave the EU next March.

To be honest, I feel ashamed. "Getting our country back"? Heaven help us.

The Daily Express at it again

A final word detailing the activities of those spoken of as driving Brexit:- Tory MP Daniel Kawczynski, raised in England since the age of 7, born in Poland (ironic?) Doubles his MP's salary as a consultant for the Electrum Group. This group are investors/speculators in "safe haven" assets, notably gold, known to grow in value when economic catastrophe looms. Mr Kawczynski writes on the news site of Arron Bank's, co-founder of the Leave.EU Campaign. His latest pieces have argued for a Hard Brexit, for Mr Rees-Mogg as PM and of the virtues of Donald Trump.

Gold spiked in value against the Pound just after the Referendum result and can be expected to make further gains following any Hard Brexit.

While thousands may well lose their jobs, plenty of speculators will consider it a job well done.

(Thank you "Private Eye" - a UK satirical and investigative magazine - for the substance of this particular story)

All rather sad considering that many claimed to have voted Leave to give the Establishment "a kick in the teeth." At least we can be reassured that Mr Kawczynski - and many more like him - will be well able to afford a new set of dentures)

A typical cover of "Private Eye"

That's all folks. Namu Amida Butsu!

But maybe a further word, of "nascent fascism" and of the "can't happen again" mentality. Just after the end of WW2 came the partition of India, into India, West Pakistan and East Pakistan. Millions of people forced to move home. Yet, by comparison, nothing compared to the trauma that WW2 inflicted upon Europe. Compare now. Some analysts consider the subcontinent as being the place where a nuclear conflagration is still most likely, trade is sparse between Pakistan and India, and more often than not they are on opposite sides of most international issues. Yet the thought of (say) France and Germany being again at war with each other is now unimaginable. The EU, for all its faults, for all the challenges ahead, has created this climate of peace and reconciliation. 

It is said that Steve Bannon, chief architect of Donald Trump's unlikely election triumph, now tours the EU capitals, seeking support for his far-right agenda. Such a man (however mocked by some), such an agenda, poses a danger, given the rise of the various right-wing, Nationalist Parties across the continent. 

Can it all happen again? 

The latest art work of my Grandson, who in 50 years time will know the outcome of Brexit.

We all have special needs

My daughter visited recently and spotted the Blook of this blog. Well, to be honest, I made sure she spotted it. 

Who could miss it?

Anyway, interested, she took it away with her to read "as and when". I am not particularly vocal in offering my views, particularly on "the meaning of life". Maybe I'm wrong but as I see it, the more vocal you are, the less you are inclined to actually live your convictions. The more Buddhism, the less Buddha. Something like that. But I'm drivelling as usual. 

Well, just last week, my daughter told me that she really liked a poem I had quoted in one of my blogs, "The Two Headed Calf" by Laura Gilpin. She told me how it made her think of how the young lad she looks after might see the world. He is a lad with what are called "special needs", starved of oxygen during birth, but he does love watching rugby. (His love, also, of Manchester United I gracefully, if reluctantly, forgive)

In the museum

Here is the poem again:- 

Tomorrow, when the farm boys find this
freak of nature, they will wrap his body
in newspaper and carry him to the museum. 

But tonight he is alive and in the north
field with his mother. It is a perfect
summer evening: the moon rising over
the orchard, the wind in the grass.
And as he stares into the sky, there
are twice as many stars as usual.

At the time of first quoting I said that for me the poem was about "acceptance, of difference, of each of us being unique...…..and other things". Yes, it is - and you are invited to think of "other things". But relating this to some previous things in blogs about every cut being the best, I think now that all of us have special needs. Some perhaps just need them more than others! This is where empathy, a good ear, even being aware of our own vulnerability, comes in. Communion, not mere communication; certainly not just a speaking at others. 

Moving on, long ago on a Buddhist Forum, I admired one particular poster simply because he often tried to relate his buddhist convictions to the actual world of current affairs around him. I have found this far more difficult than it would seem. Anyway, just recently, caught up in the debate ( well, it has to be called something! ) over Brexit, I have come out of retirement and entered the realm of the Tabloid newspaper comments sections. Quite illuminating! Quite easy to be pulled down and end up throwing out a few "black eyes" of my own, especially after being called "thick", "traitor" and told to clear off to Russia if I didn't want to accept the "will of the people". All good stuff in the rough and tumble of the British psyche.

Our glorious tabloids defend our "sovereignty"

But in respect to acceptance, of difference, the subject comes up of our immigrants, both from the Commonwealth and the EU. Take it from me - trust me - those that habitually read one or two ( or three! ) of our daily tabloids will have been treated to a continual assault of news items, editorials, features and articles where many of the ills in our society are blamed upon the EU/immigration.

Just to mention one thread recently regarding how lack of co-operation between the UK and EU Security Services, of a breakdown in such post Brexit, could cause an influx of unsavory characters entering the UK. It was soon inundated with anti- immigrant diatribes; of the unsavoury who had already entered. The general view expressed was that we had "no control over who came and went" because of the EU policy of the free movement of people, thus allowing the unsavory ( full details supplied on request! ) to flood our land. Also, the assertion made that the EU laws made it impossible to deport anyone.

Free movement!

 I entered the debate, referring to the explicit EU directive that "free movement " is NOT an unqualified right, and can be restricted by ANY country on "grounds of public policy, public security or public health." Therefore that the UK has had, and does have, as good a control as its own border checks wish, or are able, to impose. 

As far as not being allowed to deport anyone under EU Law, once again an explicit EU directive gives the UK the right to deport those who threaten "public security" and who do not comply with "public policy". I pointed out that under such directives, 5,301 EU nationals had in fact been deported in 2017, a 20% rise over the previous year. Well, suffice to say that the thread dried up after my own posts. 

The average poster? (Who can spot me?)

The tragedy - and tragedy is not too strong a word - is that my own direct observations tell me that the self same anti-immigrant posters will continue to express the very same opinions on subsequent threads, undeterred by facts. Why bother with facts when you have your prejudices to guide you?

Brexit divides the nation

 Yes indeed. Not only are all of us the very best cut of meat. Each of us has our very own special needs. Perhaps some more so than others. 

The Ego Has Landed - and now thankfully has flown away

As one of the UK's prominent Tabloids has said:- "The Ego Has Landed." Yes, THE DONALD, arriving late - as is his habit - appeared in our green and pleasant land last Thursday.

Coming into land

Arriving here direct from Germany, where Mr Trump accused Germany of being "captive to Russia" amongst other things. Already available for viewing are videos of a German newscaster attempting to report the story with a straight face, but being reduced to a fit of giggles. But The Donald strides on    (the irony would possibly have been lost to him anyway)

Personally I was not "outraged" by many of the man's antics during his working visit, this in spite of the claims of some sections of the British Press, tabloid or not. Posing in Winston Churchill's chair? Dear old Winston was known to express racist views at times. Stepping IN FRONT of the Queen? Good grief, whatever next!

Fortunately, most Britons have a sense of humour

Yet I think back to the story of the Jewish guy who travelled far to see just how a renowned rabbi "tied his shoelaces". How do you tie yours Donald? 

Donald, the "stable genius" (according to his own estimation), the man who "tells it like it is." As I have been finding out recently, on various Comments Sections of UK newspapers, many admire this man and this trait of his of "telling it like it is". I would dispute this. I see him as "telling it as he sees it", which is another thing entirely. The failure to know the difference is perhaps THE trait of our times. Which makes "our times" dangerous. 

I am reading a book at the moment, "The Lies of the Land", by Adam Macqueen. It is a trawl through the past 60 years or so of the various lies, half truths and cover-ups of various politicians and Leaders, of the "right", the "left" and the bits in-between. 

Mr Macqueen seeks to assure us that not ALL politicians lie. He insists that many are honest (well, I would say, as honest as the rest of us) His conclusions are worth noting. He states that in our world of mass information, of a multitude of sources, it is easy to have a levelling down, where each source is finally given equal value. Scepticism can follow and facts - what there are of them - can lose value. The next step is to begin instead to be guided by our "gut instincts", virtually on par with believing what we want. A recipe for chaos. 

Dangerous times.

Adam Macqueen suggests that we could do worse than imitate the trait of the toddler, to always ask why. Again and again. To ask of our Elders:- "But why? But why? But why?"

Some have suggested that we get the Leaders we deserve. If so, and if we do keep asking why, then perhaps we may end with Leaders worth following, or even need no leaders at all. Toddlers? "And a little child shall lead them". 

But Donald Trump moves on, after suggesting that the current Mayor of London, the Muslim Sadiq Khan, is doing a poor job on terrorism and immigration. Mr Khan, being a typically polite Englishman, would not be so rude as to ask what sort of job Mr Trump is doing in protecting American school children from deranged gunmen. 

Sadiq Khan - far too polite

As far as immigration is concerned, maybe Donald, spending Thursday night at Winfield House - the American ambassador's residence in Regent's Park - was woken too early by the call to prayer of the muezzin at the rather large mosque nearby. If so, did Donald actually see the man taunting him? More, see thousands upon thousands of Arabs cheering at his discomfort? This much the same as he saw with his "own eyes" on the roof tops of New Jersey when the Twin Towers fell? (A lie, or at very best, a distorted memory, told at a campaign rally with no other purpose than to play to the fears and prejudices of his followers; thus told to incite racial hatred. Yes, Trump tells it just as he sees it)

But back to "telling it like it is." Yes indeed. "The people here ( in Britain ) love me"...…

Proof that some in the UK love Donald

"there have been many many protests and rallies in my favour"........Yes indeed. He tells it "just like it is". And the rest is "Fake News" - perhaps like the cement and steel fence constructed around Winfield House to keep protesters at bay. Given how much love we Brits have for the POTUS, it can only be fake news. Forget the verified photos.

 

The fence around Winfield House - "Fake News"?

Well, he has now gone. Not fake news. Good. Thank God ( or Reality-as-is ) for small mercies! But not before a final interview with the renowned Piers Morgan aboard Air Force One. Here Mr Trump merely bent the truth five times in the half hour given, speaking "as he sees it."

What is the point of listing it all? Sadly, these days we all believe what we want to believe - "Truth is a difficult concept", as has been said more than once. It certainly is when the current POTUS is around.

 Postscript:- Being incurably introverted, and often self-judgemental to the point of absurdity, I am well aware that in the blog above I have myself told it as I see it. Not necessarily as it is. Just how close the two will ever marry up would be a subject for certified zen masters or "spiritual directors", or other such worthies. I just stumble along, saying thank you to all and everything, as often as it enters my head to do so. What I will say is that the fundamental position, as far as I see it, is that we are all of the very same mould, all "one". In "zen" language - possibly - that our personality, culture, and beliefs are not inherent parts of our souls, but "guests" of a recondite "host", the Buddha-nature or real self hidden within us (Thomas Cleary) 

Once we have this fundamental insight firmly established - or as firm as it can ever be - then we can perhaps enter the sea of diversity, look around and make a few assessments of those around us. Necessary I think. If others wish to admire Donald Trump, if others wish to see him as a force for good in the world, or insist that any judgement must be suspended - fine. 

Thank you

The "Will of the People" and other things.

As a diversion from my normal ramblings and waffle I would like to write a blog centred upon what has become known as "Brexit". i.e. The UK leaving the European Union. First a word of warning for those who like a neutral voice, who believe in "fair play" and all that sort of stuff. What is said here is said by a convinced "Remainer", one for whom hearing the word "brexit" is a trigger for indigestion and an almost uncontrollable desire to disappear beneath the blankets or retire to a monastic community. That said, I shall continue.

First, just to say that for me the "Will of the People" is a theatrical fiction. (See "Related Quotes" below)

For many of those driving Brexit, the Will of the People was set in stone for all eternity about two years ago - 23/06/2016, when precisely 26% of the total population of the UK voted "Leave" in an ill conceived referendum. Ill conceived? Indeed it was. After 40 years of in-fighting within the Tory Party fold between the "Eurosceptics" and the "Europhiles", PM Dave Cameron, having won an unlikely majority in the General Election (using the out-dated "first past the post" system which in effect makes the majority of the votes cast inconsequential) called a Referendum on the UK's membership of the EU. Well done Dave. After 800 years of the organic growth of the British Constitution, with all its nooks and crannies, points and counterpoints, weights and counterweights; yes, after all this, what would be the greatest constitutional change ever known to our islands would be decided by a one off Referendum, without a percentage set either way to give it true weight and validity - often 60% or more in other countries who know how to do these things. Unlike Dave, who, supremely confident of a Remain win, sought only peace within the Tory fold.

Having lost the Referendum (Dave campaigned for Remain) and having said during it that whatever the outcome he would remain to carry out the will of the people, he promptly resigned. Last heard of he was writing his memoirs in a new garden shed, built at the cost of £25,000. Many voting Leave at the time claimed to have done so merely to give Dave a "black eye." However, I see no sign of one. 

Dave and shed. No sign of a blackeye.

Another architect of the referendum was our "man of the people" Nigel Farage, who had campaigned tirelessly over the years to get the UK out of Europe - as is his democratic right. Part of his strategy was getting himself elected as a UK Euro MP with the hefty salary that goes with it - plus a good pension pot to tide him over when he loses his job after Brexit. (Not quite a "turkey voting for Christmas" then, as he likes to pretend). Nigel was one of the ones who assured people during the Referendum Campaign that to vote Leave was not necessarily a vote to leave the Customs Union or the Single Market; "look at Norway" he said, "they are happy", speaking of a country that is non EU yet in both. Once the vote was in and Leave had won, his tune changed - "Leave MEANS leave" he insisted, "anything else would be a betrayal of the British People" (for whom he speaks, loving a glass of ale when on camera)

Another of Nigel's gambits was his "I think Remain has shaded it", said not long after the Polls closed on Brexit Night, though he admits that by this time he had already seen a Survation Poll predicting a Leave win. No, nothing to do with seeking to strengthen the Pound ahead of its inevitable fall once the actual results began to come in, something he has strenuously denied. Anyway, Nigel, who has many good friends in the Hedge Fund business, can be seen later that night pointing at graphs on screen showing the plummeting Pound, chuckling happily to himself.

Nigel calls attention to the plummeting Pound on Brexit Night

Yes, a true "man of the people", who claims now that he never said that Brexit would necessarily work out well in economic terms.

A truly tragic thing about all this is the apparent apathy of the "people", whoever they are or are not, or what their Will is or isn't. There seems to be an air of "why is it taking so long", "the vote is over, why can we not just leave". Mention the many complications and eyes tend to glaze over. Mention any of the many long term consequences, still predicted by many intelligent and concerned people, philosophers, the business fraternity, and others who - despite the accusations of same arch brexiteers - do in fact love our country and are as proud of it as any other British citizen; mention any such thing and it is dismissed as "Project Fear", a project apparently long dismissed as just so much hot air by those who voted Leave.

The justification for apathy

Oh, I have mentioned the word "intelligent". Which makes me think of a very non PC point that just cannot be mentioned in polite society. Surveys carried out by very reputable organisations since the Referendum have revealed that there was a direct correlation between educational qualifications and how people voted - the more educated, the more likely they voted to Remain. Whisper it. Unless you fancy a black eye yourself.

Another correlation was between age and voting trends - this being that the older a person the more likely they were to have voted Leave. Which has its very own tragic implications if thought is given to it.

And so the whole miserable fiasco stumbles on, with the latest joke (funny if you like an edge of tragedy to your humour) is our PM Theresa May stating that she hopes progress can be speeded up on "both sides" towards a Brexit Agreement. "Both sides"? Surely she can only mean between the two sides within her own Tory Party, as divided as ever despite the efforts of Dave, incapable of any agreement on what they actually want or even what Brexit actually is - despite it being the "Will of the People".  Alas no, she means between the UK and the EU! 

Well, I have not mentioned Foreign Secretary and Arch Brexiteer Boris Johnson, Bojo to friends (and enemies), the man whose latest contribution to the debate, following the warnings of the business community over Brexit, was "fxxk business". This from a man still hoping to become the next leader of the Tories, the "Party of Business" and thus our new PM. Anyway, I have now mentioned him. Perhaps enough.

Boris Johnson - yes, perhaps enough

 

Yes, it stumbles on. Mention the illegal overspending by the Leave Campaign, mention the Russian interference, the questionable contribution of Cambridge Analytica , the sheer number of lies that were peddled during the Referendum Campaign - all dismissed by the majority of the UK Press and Media, for whom nothing must stop the inexhorable march of the "Will of the People". A Press and Media owned mostly by multi-millionaires/billionaires, some foreigners. Those whose vision of the future of the UK, I suspect, bares very little resemblance to that of those who would love to live in a true democracy, a true meritocracy, where "freedom of speech" would be aligned with a heartfelt ethics of empathy seeking the communion and welfare of all. (Not the "freedom of speech", I would add, advocated by the Far Right, a "freedom" in the name of inevitable conflict and division) Alas I suspect and fear that the agenda of this Press and Media is of another order entirely. 

As a slight aside, I must mention the notable absence in the past couple of years of any mention of Sir Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher - both would seem to be quite natural playmates of any seeking to invoke and glorify the "Will of the People" - those who during those two years have called any who dare seek to stall Brexit in any way the "enemies of the people", even "traitors" and "saboteurs".  Strange - and yet perhaps not so strange.

Here is Mrs Thatcher on Referendums:- "a device of Dictators and Demagogues" ( and Daves, I might add ) And Sir Winston Churchill, voted the greatest Briton off all time? There is a statue of him in Brussels where he is looked upon as being one of the "founding fathers" of a United Europe, this based upon a number of his speeches made after the Second World War. Churchill is also on record as declaring that our national sovereignty is not necessarily inviolable. So the ardent Brexiteers have put both of their previous heroes away for the duration, perhaps to get them out and dust them down later when our "glorious country" needs a lift. 

The statue of Sir Winston Churchill in Brussels

Yes, the EU is not perfect. Far from it. It has problems which may even prove unsolvable. But it DOES have an electoral system which when investigated is far superior to our UK's "first past the post" system - this latter system supposedly bringing "strong and stable" leadership (!!!) 

As I see it the problems besetting the EU are also world wide problems. They are age old problems; of just how human beings should live together and share our world. What vision shall we hold in our own ages quest for solutions? The vision of One Earth (which we have now seen pictured gloriously in space - see below), our earth as a Global Village? Or one of individual Nation States, closing borders ( and I think, minds ) to anything other than looking after "Number One", insular and at heart afraid? Our choice. 

Our Global Village

"The Tao can be shared but not divided."

Related quotes and comments:-

Regarding "apathy", Bonnie Greer, writing in "The New European", suggests that in the context of the current Brexit negotiations the "possibility of some sort of moral fatigue can set in...…...In our increasingly desperate need now for peace and order and for 'just getting on with it', we are beginning to lose clarity". In which case "we ourselves can have contributed to our era of lies, and we too can help make it impossible, in time, for literature to be written, books, plays, poems, essays and newspapers to be edited and promulgated. Because we will lose the ability to understand and break down what is being told to us, what is being sold to us."

In her article, entitled "Big Brexit is Watching You", she concludes:- "We lose the ability to say new things, make new connections, forge new worlds. We lose our grace and our rigour, our real freedom and our taste for adventure. We just want it 'all to be over'; knowing in ourselves that once we give up our ability to think for ourselves, to fight back, then it IS all over."

"Ur-Fascism is based upon a selective populism, a qualitative populism, one might say.

In a democracy, the citizens have individual rights, but the citizens in their entirety have a political impact only from a quantitative point of view -- one follows the decisions of the majority.

For Ur-Fascism, however, individuals as individuals have no rights, and the People is conceived as a quality, a monolithic entity expressing the Common Will. Since no large quantity of human beings can have a common will, the Leader pretends to be their interpreter. Having lost their power of delegation, citizens do not act; they are only called on to play the role of the People. Thus the People is only a theatrical fiction."

Thus wrote Umberto Eco far back in 1995, long before the "will of the people" became the "law" of the UK on 23/6/2016.




The Referendum result by numbers:- Not on the Register of Electors:- 18, 099, 999. Did not vote:- 13,948,018. Voted Leave:- 17,410,742. Voted Remain:- 16,142,241.