InfoBrics
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
Submitted by InfoBrics, authored by Johanna Ross, journalist based in Edinburgh, Scotland…
It has been termed the ‘Brexit’ election, but in fact what is arguably the most important election of our lifetime has opened a can of worms when it comes to exposing the ails in our society. Not that the Conservative party have wanted to discourse to be about anything other than Brexit, of course. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s motto of ‘Get Brexit Done’ is all we hear in his soundbites, as he continues to insist this is the one issue of interest to voters. He struggles to deal with any other domestic topic, be it education, welfare or health. This was made clear just the other day when he randomly confiscated a journalist’s phone when confronted with the photograph of a young boy, forced to lie on the floor of a Leeds hospital due to a shortage of beds, much to the perplexity of viewers. It was obviously a gut reaction, an act of desperation by a politician devoid of empathy and unable to relate to others in need, and one which demonstrates sheer irritation that someone is daring to ask him such ‘awkward’ questions.
But for those voting for the Labour party on Thursday, this action is indicative of the callousness and detachment of the current ruling party, and symbolic of why it is that we urgently need a change of government. Almost a decade of the Conservatives in power, and the impact on the lives of many Brits has been catastrophic. Austerity, cuts to the welfare budget, police officers taken off the streets, lack of investment in the NHS has led to some shocking statistics. For example, just this year the UN released a damning report which concluded that 1 in 5 children were living in poverty in the UK. But moreover, they linked it directly to government policy, stating that the UK’s social safety net had been “deliberately removed and replaced with a harsh and uncaring ethos”. It is abhorrent to think that from being deemed ‘necessary’, these cuts referred to as ‘ideological’ by the UN special rapporteur. In fact he went as far to suggest Britain was being deliberately being transformed into the unequal society of the Victorian era: “Some observers might conclude that the DWP had been tasked with “designing a digital and sanitised version of the 19th Century workhouse, made infamous by Charles Dickens”, he said.
And yet, in England at least, the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s message of equality, higher wages, raising taxes for the super rich, more money for the NHS, and the nationalisation of public services, does not seem to be getting through. Boris Johnson is still leading in the polls, as people still express support for his pro-Brexit stance. In Scotland it has long been a different story. The Scottish National Party has won elections north of the border for years now, and the strong Remain stance up north means that the Tories are unlikely to gain a significant proportion of the vote. Labour has little support in Scotland also, arguably because their policies are too similar to those of the SNP and their politicians less inspiring. The SNP are blessed with an array of competent, eloquent MPs and MSPs who continue to gain the confidence of Scottish voters. And the emphasis of the Scottish government not just on remaining in the EU, and on Scottish independence, but on welfare, has proved a winning combination for Nicola Sturgeon, and is likely to continue to be.
So as Scotland is forecast to be bathed in a sea of yellow once again this Friday on the political voting map, the rest of the country looks set to be a tricolour of blue, yellow and red, representing a hung parliament. And where does this leave Brexit, one may ask? Well it could very well be what every Brexiteer has dreamt of. If the Conservatives get the highest percentage, but not enough for a majority in Westminster, it is not too far-fetched to imagine a scenario whereby the Conservatives join forces with Nigel Farage’s Brexit party. Then together they would proceed to ‘Get Brexit Done’ either with a No Deal Brexit or with Johnson’s negotiated withdrawal agreement. A dream scenario for the Brexiteers perhaps, but for the rest of the country, a nightmare. An uncertain future for Britain lies ahead…
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
Infobrics’ reporting on Western political life is dismal. They drum up the caviar socialists as if they’re Che Guevara, as if they’re not the other half of the crooked coin, with the center right being the other half. Clown BOJO and the Tories will NEVER carry out true Brexit. The Tories will quickly made a deal afterwards with the Remoaners, and the Brexit party will be in opposition.
Mr Crap could you tell me please, what do you mean by a ‘true Brexit’?
I suspect many Brexiters think all you have to do is transfer EU law to the UK statute book and it’s done. However, the EU laws make reference in many places to various EU institutions, without which nothing functions. We will no longer be members of these institutions and must establish our own from scratch.
Boris is promising voters lots of money for various things but I wonder how much will be left over when this enormous project is finished.
A true Brexit means that the UK’s government and institutions – including its laws – return to the way they were before we entered the “European Common Market”.
A lot of work? Indeed. So they should have begun in summer 2016.
The fact that a hideous crime – the theft of the UK’s independent sovereignty – has nearly been completed does NOT mean that we cannot undo it.
It was the Americans and not the Europeans who stole our sovereignty. Actually we gave it to them voluntarily. And pretended the EU stole it.
Your sovereignty was ended long ago, when you allowed in all kinds of foreigners to depress the labor market and when you allowed in foreign hot money to increase the price of realestate, which was high to begin with. You pathetic Remainers want to turn the UK into a tower of extreme babel.
Extreme Babel it already is. Thank you for this nice expression. I think it characterizes the UK very well.
I am not a Remainer. I have no opinion on whether we should be in the EU or not, and I did not vote in the referendum.
I am very concerned that austerity is not going to end and may even get worse. Brexiters think we will be rich when we are freed from the shackles of the EU, and I do not think it will happen because I don’t see any shackles.
“when we are freed from the shackles of the EU, and I do not think it will happen because I don’t see any shackles.” So you are a de facto Remainer. Why leave if there is no problem? That’s your logic. The first part of your post is contradicted by what you wrote after that. If you’re worried about austerity, know that austerity is the norm for the Periphery countries, those that don’t have cushy commercial surpluses like Holland and Germany. Just look at the Balkans: Greece, Romania, Bulgaria. But of course you don’t see that, because you think the… Read more »
“This was made clear just the other day when he randomly confiscated a journalist’s phone…”
Surely “stole”, not “confiscated”? As he has no legal powers to take away a citizen’s property without due process of law.
That single act should be enough to ensure that no one at all votes Conservative in the election. British citizens need – and should want – a government that respects the law.
“…Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s message of equality, higher wages, raising taxes for the super rich, more money for the NHS, and the nationalisation of public services, does not seem to be getting through”. Presumably most voters – even traditional Labour voters – realize by now that the traditional Labour promises of more for everyone, to be paid for by swingeing taxes on a handful of the super-rich, don’t add up. In the first place, not nearly enough money could be squeezed from the relatively few wealthy people. In the second place, they would just leave and go somewhere else. The… Read more »
beg to differ but while you are right about government, the super rich must be quieried as to what they make and how. An honest broker should bear no more than they carry but the less honest…
Welsh is right about things not adding up. Saying make the rich pay for hospitals, schools etc is exactly the type of thinking that traps the left in the controlled bs mentality of deficit dove vs deficit hawk, and which also validates the myth that the rich ensure jobs and public services. Both birds start from the premise that the Central Gov has to tax and or loan pound sterling before it can spend. That’s garbage. A deficit owl on the other hand realizes how fiat money works, and that taxing wealth and privilege must be done for socio-economic reasons,… Read more »
Good luck to all Brexiteers. I keep my fingers crossed.