Monday 27 June 2016

Donkeys Led by Vipers.

The two most vociferous peddlers of hate and intolerance during the Brexit campaign were Boris Johnson, ex Mayor of London, and Nigel Farage, leader of UKIP. Both men have been the clowns of British politics for many years, held up to public ridicule by satirists seemingly since the world was young, and sometimes left to wallow in their embarrassment when hidden truths revealing their idiocy were brought to light.

We laughed at them because we didn’t take them seriously; we didn’t think they were in a position to do much harm. But now they’re smirking, presumably because they’ve got their revenge against those who saw them for what they are and showed them to the rest of us.

Farage has admitted that the claims regarding the NHS were wrong. Are we to believe he didn’t know that at the time? And he says that Britain is now likely to enter recession, but it isn’t the fault of Brexit… Meanwhile, Johnson has said that we must start building bridges, the bridges he was so instrumental in destroying. Having strutted his overfed frame like some latter-day Hitler, he now wants to be seen as the nice guy who preaches reconciliation.

Between them they form the very model of the deceitful, dishonest and disingenuous face of politics. They need knocking off their perches and burying without trace, but what did I see on the news stands in the supermarket today? I saw the same tabloid editors who formed the shock troops of the hate campaign now supporting the prospect of Johnson becoming the next Prime Minister. This is why Brexit continues to depress the hell out of me, and why I haven’t yet stopped writing posts about it. Sorry if it’s becoming tedious, but I find it a bit hard to be British at the moment.

I’ve said several times recently that Johnson is Britain’s very own Donald Trump. I meant it light-heartedly, but not any more. It seems that Britain might be facing the same leadership crisis that America is going through. Let’s hope we both make the right choice.

3 comments:

Della said...

I don't know who's more obnoxious, Boris Johnson or Nigel Farage (but if you include Trump he definitely gets the prize :)). I suppose people (Leave voters) must feel like damn fools now that those two are going back on their promises and claims. It really shocks me. Author Joanne Rowling talked about this 'post-truth politics' in an essay she wrote just before the Referendum: http://www.jkrowling.com/en_GB/#/timeline/on-monsters-villains-and-the-EU-referendum ... That's just what it is, post-truth politics. I don't blame you for being outraged.

JJ said...

I just read the essay and she encapsulates my feelings perfectly, only she took the time to write a proper assay and did so more fluently than I could.

What worries me is that people are so easily taken in by stories foretelling monsters. I suppose it's as she said: the political monsters are designed to accord with fears and prejudices already in the minds of people who don't think too hard. That's why I so dislike the majority of politicians; they would rather create such monsters to suit their ends rather than simply be open and honest.

After last night's football result, I had a thought. If only somebody on the Remain side had said: 'If you vote Leave, England will be knocked out of the competition by Iceland. Disgrace is waiting to consume you.' I wonder whether it would have made a difference.

Della said...

Ha, ha, it's very possible that a football warning would have swayed the vote in a more positive direction! :)