No Deal will be a failure of state, not of the voters

GIVEN how often the story changes this blog could date very quickly. However much of what you will read here I am afraid is true and a sad indictment on both sides of this mess.

If it comes to pass then a ‘No Deal’ Brexit is not the fault of me or 16 odd million remain voters nor the ‘mainstream media’, no Emmanuel Macron or Angela Merkel. It’s a failure of statecraft on both sides of the table.

Having called a referendum, former Prime Minister David Cameron should have instructed the Cabinet Secretary to prepare a briefing paper to outline just what a departure from the EU would actually involve. It may never have seen the light of day but would have hugely informed our clueless political class.

Instead he walked away the next morning in a ‘not my fault, guv’ sort of way, sulking that a majority of voters hadn’t listened to a Prime Minister with a thin majority.

His replacement walked into Downing Street and there on the cabinet table was a blank sheet of paper just with Brexit scrawled at the top.

At no point since June 23 has any Prime Minister defined just what Brexit meant. Hard-working voters on all sides were just told ‘Brexit means Brexit and we’re going to make the best of it’. A more vacuous statement you’ll struggle to find…

The lack of a defined vision has poured into the negotiations, the British side saying here’s what we want and you’ll jolly well agree and the EU pointing out that we can’t keep the benefits if we want to leave the club.

A well-briefed Government would have seen many of the red flags as far back as 2016 – on Northern Ireland, on fishing, on borders, trade etc.

Three and a half years to be proactive and cut through the tape ourselves rather than wait to be handed the scissors.

It would have also allowed room for realpolitik where the Government could have made some bold offers to the European Union and moved the emphasis on Brussels to compromise.

Instead we argued among ourselves, wasted hundreds of hours in Parliament and still to this day think we hold all the cards, we hold none.

Under the current incumbent of Number 10, the Government’s policy seems to be bluster, bullshit and braggadocio – any failure will solely down to the EU and not poor old Boris.

It won’t, there will be no winners from No Deal. 

That includes in the European Union, while it’s perfectly understandable they have stuck firm to the principles of the constitution for member states there is a real stubbornness emerging in recent days.

Barnier et al appear to have a developed a weird form of Stockholm Syndrome where they appear to identify with their captors. He and the bloc do not appear to understand that in leaving Britain has no interest in protecting the member states, it doesn’t have to.

Access is sought to our waters to fish in the same breath as we are being told we cannot access EU member benefits.

Dangerously it also appears Brussels doesn’t think the UK will ever pull the pin on ‘No Deal’ – while the last few years appears to back that judgement it’s a frightening assumption to have.

No side wants to ‘give in’ out of sheer selfish greed. Our Government doesn’t want to concede ground for fear of Farage but is cautious of the impact of leaving without a deal in this Covid climate.

The EU has a deep fear the British will make a success of things and set the bar accordingly to try and ensure that didn’t happen. Success in London could spark itchy feet in Rome, Madrid and Athens. But it also knows Britain on its doorstep would be a welcome trade partner for millions of businesses across the bloc.

Whatever your opinion I do urge you to listen to the excellent Ros Atkins here https://twitter.com/i/status/1336793564165124096 who explains just why sealing the deal is proving somewhat of a challenge.

The Red Wall has crumbled, now the Tories want to smash it altogether

LABOUR suffered its worst defeat since 1935 on Thursday evening as clear blue water rushed through the red wall, drowning much of what was in its path.

Though the majority wasn’t as much as Tony Blair’s 22 years ago, the early hours of Friday morning felt like Labour’s 1997 landslide as the Tories picked up seat after historic seat.

Blyth Valley – Labour since 1950, Workington – Labour since 1918 apart from three years in the 70s, Rother Valley – Labour for 101 years unbroken, were just three of Labour’s ‘safe’ seats which fell to the Conservatives.

Look beyond the Tory gains and the picture is even more frightening for Labour in its heartlands.

Mike Hill retained his Hartlepool seat for Labour despite losing more than 6,500 votes and has a much-reduced majority of 3,595.

The Brexit Party’s Richard Tice polled more than 10,000 votes, had he stood aside then its fair to say Hartlepool would have gone blue too.

Ed Miliband was returned in Doncaster North by 2,370 votes from the Conservatives – the Brexit Party picked up more than 8,000 votes….

If Labour doesn’t act swiftly and recognise what happened to the party then the ‘red wall’ may well be no more come 2024, the next scheduled General Election.

While shamefully avoiding scrutiny, retaining questionable morals and having the capacity to offend every time he opens his mouth, Boris Johnson delivered an early Christmas present for his party with a remarkable result.

It’s perhaps no surprise the bluster was toned down on Friday afternoon, gone was ‘getting Brexit done’ and more of the pathetic verbal jabs at people who dared not share his view.

Instead there was talk of healing, coming together and the first salvo in what looks a move to the centre ground of British politics.

Becoming a ‘servant of the people’ as he said on Saturday is a very Blair-like comment but northerners want action not words. What they gave on Thursday they won’t think twice about taking away.

Deliver and Johnson can name his own departure date as Prime Minister because unless Labour grab the bull by the horns they will remain out of power.

It’s been nine years since the party was asked to leave Downing Street, nine more and it will equal the 18 years of exile only ended by Blair’s landslide in ‘97.

Jeremy Corbyn has faced two Conservative leaders in less than three years at the polls and lost both times.

But in an apparent sign of things to come, will he depart immediately? No he wishes for a period of reflection.

There is nothing to reflect on, the voters rejected the idea of him as Prime Minister, nothing he can say or do will now change that.

Labour’s manifesto was worthy at its heart, a fairer society is something we should all pursue every day, doing away with the need for foodbanks also.

But refusing to say whether you would authorise the use of Trident to defend our nation against an albeit hypothetical threat, wanting another Brexit referendum when the result of the first hadn’t been enacted and creating an image the wealth creators in this country were somehow immoral is not the action of a future leader.

I’ve met Mr Corbyn three times since he became leader, he’s a decent, honourable man of principle who believes in what he says – nothing he says is because a focus group said it would be idea!

The party needs him to act quickly, stand down and appoint an interim leader. Failure to do so will only accentuate the damage caused on Thursday night.

Labour is at the crossroads, the party which won power for 13 years under a leader many of its members actively despise, now faces a critical decision.

Appoint a continuity Corbyn candidate and the party could face oblivion in 2024 should the PM indeed move into the centre ground.

Understand how and why this landslide happened, why former mining towns so betrayed by Thatcher were willing to reject the party and vote Conservative and redemption could be possible.

A former leader once stressed the need to go ‘forward not back’. As much as it might hurt, its advice Labour ought to take.

Otherwise it may only appeal to the few, not the many. Sorry Jeremy

Brexit is nothing more than a political football now

BREXIT may well be doomed.

Why? Because every single Member of Parliament has failed to learn the lessons of the referendum vote in 2016 when, free of party politics, the electorate delivered the proverbial v-sign to our elected MPs.

A vote to leave the European Union gave Tories and Labour votes the chance to give Westminster a kicking without costing their party the chance to form a Government.

It was the biggest democratic mandate ever given yet those in power at the time and even now have failed to grasp its importance and significance.

The margin of victory was just 1.3million votes, which any Prime Minister ought to have recognised would provoke strong feelings on the losing side.

In delivering Brexit, the British Prime Minister ought to have found a course to take every rational thinking member of this country forward.

A strategy of delivering the outcome the majority won, while ensuring the sensible concerns of remainers were met would have seen far less problems.

But there lies the problem, thanks the unique talents of David Cameron, we only designed half a referendum. People were asked to leave or remain but beyond that it’s been open to interpretation.

Had someone with a brain been in charge in Downing Street, a two-step referendum ought to have been held in the event of a leave vote.

Having asked the people once, asking them which departure gate they wished to leave from was the next sensible move.

Instead all we have is a giant political football. The Prime Minister gets the ball, heads towards the goal of October 31 to cheers from the crowd.

But wait he comes the opposition with a two-footed lunge to steal the ball, to stop a no-deal result to great cheers.

All the while though the match goes into extra,extra,extra,extra time with no sign of a result, MPs enjoy their little victories, we the voters sink our heads further into the our hands.

Why? Because no-one in Parliament wants to blow the final whistle.

Brits are a cautious people, we don’t take bold risks – take a look at our elected Governments in the last century, either the red team or the blue team!

No Deal may deliver a result but it will infuriate large sections of the crowd and if it goes wrong it will only strengthen the EU’s hand should we ever be forced back to the table.

Any extension only provokes the agony, frankly people are bored of this now. The country becomes more and more fractured the longer this goes on, delays are simply tiresome.

Revoking would infuriate hard working Brits who voted in good faith only to be disgustingly branded racist and xenophobic for the past three years.

As far as I can see, any Government now has three routes out but all of them won’t be taken on by 650 selfish career hungry individuals who simply don’t understand how angry this country is.

Firstly, admit defeat and say Parliament won’t back anything so we are going to leave without a deal.

Next is to bring back the withdrawal agreement, accept it despite its litany of flaws and pass it so at least we leave on October 31.

Finally, a Conservative Prime Minister needs to admit the party has failed to deliver on the mandate
given by the people, that no deal would be too big a risk and Article 50 would be revoked to ‘stop the clock’.

It would destroy the party but shed no tears, the Conservatives opened up Pandora’s Box, they’ve never been able to close the lid.

Goodbye to the Crying Lady

FAREWELL then to quite simply the worst Prime Minister in recent history. The crying lady’s body language wasn’t one of sadness but of bitterness she’d been evicted.

History will not judge Theresa May kindly, she was crowned as someone who ‘got the job done’, the vicars daughter who would reach out to those ‘just about managing’ and heal a country riven by austerity.

Instead she presided over the worst General Election campaign from a sitting Prime Minister, failed to marginalise the most ideologically-driven Labour leader since Michael Foot and deepened the divisions caused by Brexit.

And when confronted by her unpopularity, when the political winds demanded a change of course or an acknowledgement she could be wrong, she buried her head in the sand.

Politicians of all colours need a keen eye and ear to work inside and outside of the Westminster bubble, she possessed neither.

She called an unnecessary General Election in 2017. Jeremy Corbyn will never appeal to the centre ground of British politics enough to unseat a Conservative Government outright.

She began the campaign 20 points ahead in the opinion polls, yet ended with a loss of a majority which took the Tories more than 20 years to achieve.

During the campaign she was robotic, charmless and frankly boring. Corbyn meanwhile energised the youth, inspired his supporters and displayed his talents at rallies up and down the country.

When the Tory manifesto was scrutinised, instead of laying out the reasons for change, May backtracked insisting ‘nothing has changed’. A Prime Minister who offers the exotic tutti fruiti before racing back to plain vanilla is not someone who has leadership licked.

Confronted with the loss of her majority, May could and should have quit. Instead she sought a deal with the DUP, nothing wrong with that of course except it came with £1billion of cash for Northern Ireland.

The voters were rightly annoyed to see the Magic Money Tree sprout having been told ‘there’s no money left’ for seven years….

Faced with delivering Brexit, the biggest cultural shift our country has demanded in five decades, Mrs May displayed a tin ear of epic proportions.

The result was separated by just 1,269,501 votes. A majority yes but not anything like the 10 per cent difference showed by the Scottish people after their independence referendum.

Delivering the voters mandate therefore required political skill and courage, she lacked both.

Successful British Prime Ministers govern for all, not just those who elected them. Yet when she needed to carry her country with her, Mrs May marginalised everyone who voted remain.

In countless speeches she referred to delivering the wishes of the 17.4million who voted for Brexit. Had she delivered a Brexit for the 65million in this country, including all of Scotland which voted to remain, I dare say she wouldn’t be in this mess today.

We’re screaming out for leadership to carry us all forward as a country, to bring us back together. Because the British people didn’t do anything wrong, they were asked their opinion and gave it, no matter what side of the argument you are on that can never be a bad thing.

When her deal was published, it was rightly panned. It was a compromise she said, yet that wasn’t the binary choice on the ballot paper on June 23, 2016.

Faced with resignations, Mrs May acted tough, ‘My Deal or No Brexit’ she attempted to roar. Leaders can do that when they have the numbers to back the threat up with.

She never did, she presided over two of the biggest Parliamentary defeats in our history as her own party and her DUP partners baulked at backing the withdrawal agreement.

When she sought help from Corbyn, she expected Her Majesty’s official opposition to ride to the rescue in the ‘national interest’.

She didn’t for once think a) her party might be a tad annoyed at her legitimising a man they’ve deemed a threat to national security and b) Corbyn would go along with the talks but stop short of helping.

Labour doesn’t need to help her, Politics 101 tells you when the opponent is sinking never chuck a life raft.

She’s been doomed since a third of her MPs said they had no confidence in her in December, had they waited until the spring the number would have been much higher.

The simple truth is had the men in grey suits acted quicker, had the opposition been much stronger, her time as PM would already be over.

Britain deserves better than this. The question is can anyone out there rise to the challenge?

December will see the end of May, the weak and wobbly Prime Minister

THE END of the year will bring an end to Theresa May's time as Prime Minister with an epitaph similar to her predecessor, nothing of note.

Why? Because leading the negotiations on Brexit has shown Mrs May up for the hapless leader the nation got a preview of last year but which has been on full cinematic release for most of 2018.

Never before has a Prime Minister been entrusted with something only to deliver an outcome which is going to anger everyone. To my cost I don't have many leave voters in my circle of friends but I would love to know what they think about the farce that is Brexit.

Because let's spell it out, Chequers will not work, the EU will never countenance something which keeps us in the Customs Union but ignores the other pillars such as Freedom of Movement.

There is nothing she can do on the Irish border problem, put one up and risk opening a box which none of us thought had been cemented shut or go without and find the EU giving you another reason to trash your 'deal'.

A 'hard Brexit' where we break free, renounce everything and 'take back control' will not get the support it needs in Parliament with Labour vowing to oppose it.

Leaving us with 'No Deal' - would a Conservative Prime Minister truly push the button on something which could shred our economy to ribbons and plunge us back into a very deep recession.

Everywhere she turns there is a problem not of her own making but equally she's not helped herself in recent weeks. Humiliated in Salzburg, Mrs May came out fighting and urged the EU to get something sorted.

Fine....except for in Brussels where EU chiefs looked around for the 25th different way of saying 'You want to leave, its not for us to make suggestions how you exit.'

And now she wants to extend the post Brexit transition......We're being laughed at and the EU's patience is wearing.

President Macron of France has already relabelled Brexit as a 'political problem' and Mrs May could have the rug pulled out from under her if Michel Barnier et al decide to plan for No Deal.

Politics has need a game changing moment for two years to end this frankly hideous battle of the losers in May vs Corbyn.

Maybe some in the Tories need to tap their leader on the shoulder and say Au Revoir.

Because Brexit means naff all at the moment, the ship is sinking and now is the time for a leader to step up and guide this country back to calmer waters.

How to solve a problem like Brexit - the speech Mrs May could make

IN 2016 British voters took an historic decision; a majority of voters asked us, their Government, to execute their wish to leave the European Union.

It was unprecedented, it was a shock but it was also something this Government had simply not prepared for. For that, as your Prime Minister, I am sorry.

We didn’t recognise the anger you felt, the frustration with not getting a GP’s appointment, the inability to get on the housing ladder or your opinions on immigration.

We let those who promised you the earth and delivered little dominate the discussion while we offered nothing but scare tactics.

We called for unity to deliver Brexit but didn’t recognise the anger felt by those who wish to remain.

We didn’t listen, but we will learn.

The past two years has been riven with arguments, fall outs and scenes which have done little to re-establish trust in Parliament and elected MPs.

We now stand on the cliff edge, it is clear we will struggle to achieve a deal which will achieve what those who voted for us to leave wanted - a clean break with the European Union.

As Prime Minister I believe anything short of this would betray all those who voted in the
referendum, it would not deliver what Leave voters wanted and would never be accepted by remain supporters.

Therefore, as we asked for the people’s opinion on our relationship with the European Union we should now ask whether we should leave with no deal or remain.

I will ask Parliament to legislate for a vote this autumn; should it be approved then the choice will be simple, to leave or remain.

If your wish is to leave, your Government will exit the European Union on March 29 next year with no deal for the reasons I have stated above.

We will achieve the aims of a majority of voters who asked us to leave the European Union but we risk a period of economic uncertainty as we attempt to forge a new path in the world.

We will use the remaining months of our membership to put steps in place to ensure on day one of Britain’s Brexit, our banks will open, our supermarkets will be stocked and our flights will take off.

However, should you vote to remain, I give you my assurance it will not lead to further integration such as Schengen and there will be no debate or referendum on joining the Euro.

We will seek to reform the EU from within, proposing legislation to retain freedom of movement both in and out of our country but ensuring each of the member states can control immigration to benefit their individual economies.

We will seek to deliver better outcomes for our farmers, our fishermen and all those who find their daily work burdened by EU red tape.

We will oppose further attempts at integration with the threat of a further referendum. One which will be unambiguous, legally binding and require a super majority of 55-45 per cent.

Should it be needed, this result will be definitive and mean any further Conservative Government will not make the mistakes of the past and will deliver the clean break requested.

Let me be clear, a vote to remain would not be a continuation of the status-quo but an invitation to reform a deeply flawed institution.

Brexit has divided this nation for two years, it has put further strain on an already fractious union and has all but paralysed your Government.

The time for talking is over, now it is time to make that leap one way or another.

Britain deserves better, let us deliver together.

Where's my country gone?

THE CRAZY people behind South Park dreamt up an episode in 2016 entitled ‘Where’s my Country Gone?’ which ripped into illegal immigration, the rise of the alt-right and the problems of political correctness.

Like most things on South Park you laugh (yes I am that juvenile!) but move on. But increasingly I now am asking myself, ‘Where has my country gone’.

The Britain of 2017 looks increasingly unfamiliar to me. Gone is compassion, replaced with hate and vengefulness. Tolerance and decency are packing their bags and heading for the airport while democracy is now a dirty word.

We’ve learned today any ‘unskilled’ EU migrants will be told to shove off post March 2019 in the latest horrid chapter from the Book of Brexit.

Let me declare I voted to remain but also respect democracy so understand we are leaving. But does it have to be like this?

Why are we lecturing the EU? Why are we closing our borders to people who genuinely want to come here to work? Why are we trying to revive the days of Empire?

Most EU migrants who come to the UK do so to get a job, settle down and raise a family. It’s the opposite to what a large portion of Brits do, retire to a foreign land.

One group pays into the country in taxes, National Insurance contributions and to the overall economy. The other does the square root of bugger all – sorry folks but you know which is which….

Surely instead of throwing a maternity until full of babies out in a sea of bath water, we could have just tightened up our immigration policies? Why are we taking such drastic steps?

Immigration is not a dirty word, we live in a world where freedom of movement is a real privilege. But equally we cannot expect other countries to house British people retiring to a life in the sun if we aren’t prepared to accept hard-working natives from their land.

That’s not fair. But then again, those in charge of the agenda in 2017 UK don’t do fairness, they do hectoring, lectures and abuse.

As Paul Dacre’s Daily Mail opined in June, those who oppose Brexit are ‘enemies of the people’, ‘saboteurs’ and don’t respect democracy.

It’s a mantra repeated by Conservative and Labour MPs who dream of nothing more than a Britain free from the EU and will do anything to secure that exit.

From Boris Johnson’s lies (£350million for the NHS) to Gisela Stuart running away from the people of Edgbaston, the Brexiteers lied their way to glory. If it had happened in any other country we’d be the first to call it corrupt….

But time and time again if Brexit is threatened the dark murmurings begin and let’s face it, the Prime Minister is being held hostage in Downing Street by rampant Brexiteers with the warning to deliver our exit or else.

What has happened to my country??

Row over statues and bells should sound the alarm for democracy

UPSET about statues celebrating the confederacy? Think Admiral Nelson should be removed from Trafalgar Square? Weeping over Big Ben falling silent?

Then you are playing into the hands of the politicians who are monopolising ‘silly season’ to hide what is really going on from you, dear voter.

In case you aren’t aware of ‘silly season’ it’s the period of the summer where politics and politicians are often on holiday leaving news editors bereft of good stories.

Normally the gap is filled with what women politicians are wearing on the beach and the occasional shot of David Cameron in just some shorts. Google it if you dare!

This summer though we have had protests in the US over statues which laud those who oppressed black people in the United States of America.

One woman died in Charlottesville when rival protestors clashed and no matter what the Tangerine Toddler says, the only fault lies with the moron whose actions led to her life being lost.

Are these statues right? No of course not, but they are just what they are, relics of the past.

By fanning the flames of these protests, the Tangerine Toddler is diverting the attention away from
the chaos which is the White House.

An administration where none of the key players have survived, a President who has been drawn into the propaganda being peddled by North Korea while unable to get any policy through a Congress which is stacked in his party’s favour.

No wonder he wants to fan the flames of the left v right protests over these statues.

Meanwhile over here in good ol Blighty we were all supposed to feel jolly said that Big Ben will no longer announce the time on the hour every hour for four years.

The chief Brexit propaganda outlet the Daily Fail went to town and demanded it didn’t go ahead and how it would hurt us Brits not to hear Big Ben every day.

Erm….the work is needed and why should those poor folks going up there to do it be left tone deaf?

Oh and by the way, New Year’s Eve at 11.59.59pm we won’t be ringing in 2018 in silence as the big daft tower will be in working order!

Yet the days of headlines generated seemed to suggest a national crisis. Have you ever thought it was designed to distract you from a Government divided over Brexit with a policy which now seems to be ‘can we keep everything we had but still leave’.

Those in power know Brexit will finish them; should they succeed and pull Britain away from the comfort of life among the 27 nations in Europe our economy will sink to its knees gasping for air.

Should they fail to deliver they risk never being trusted on anything again.

Either way the Tories and Trump know they are stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Don’t succumb to the silly season, keep what matters at the forefront of your minds.

Criticise Blair all you want, he's just become leader of the opposition...

IT'S INCREDIBLE that 10 years after leaving Downing Street, Anthony Charles Lynton Blair still provokes as much bile and vitriol as we have seen today.

His 'crime' this time? To dare to suggest the British people voted to leave without knowing Brexit's terms and conditions and opine that a space existed where he and other people could persuade voters to change their minds.

Basically the former PM is suggesting the sort of insurgency which has brought the likes of Farage, Nuttall, Le Pen and President Trump to the fore except this time in reverse.

His speech has predictably been ripped to shreds by the Brexiteers and the media who whip out their favourite 'affront to democracy' lines when anyone dares suggest Brexit isn't full of milk and honey.

However on this Blair is spot on. The British people did vote leave without knowing the terms and conditions of an exit and a space does exist to change people's minds....it's called the Her Majesty's official opposition.

In a single speech, Blair has done more to oppose Brexit than Jeremy Corbyn has since June 23, 2016 and shown a clear, decisive approach to what is a thorny issue for the Labour Party.

Let's remember the current 'opposition' to the Government have pretty much waived Brexit through the House of Commons, yes amendments were tabled but they failed and many Labour MPs still voted in favour apart from a hardy few who stuck to their principles.

The Liberal Democrats have been principled opponents as have the SNP but the overwhelming narrative is Brexit MUST happen. No, the ATMs must have money, our hospitals must have doctors and nurses and our schools must have teachers.

Against this backdrop, a tissue of lies and half-truths and hypocrisy has been allowed to be 'the norm' and to go unchallenged for fear of being labelled 'unpatriotic'.

It was wonderful to see the Foreign Secretary tear into Mr Blair....Because we all know Boris led the Leave campaign with facts, not with lies such as buses promising £350million extra for the NHS .....

This would be understandable had our nation voted overwhelmingly to leave, such as the 10 percentage point result of the Scottish referendum result. But Brexit was decided by less than the three percentage point margin of error used in all opinion polls.

It was also decided by a margin previously described by Nigel Farage as 'unfinished business' had it been the opposite way around......but shhh we aren't allowed to talk about that.

It's therefore right for someone to squeeze into the gap and pose the awkward questions, because Brexit should only mean Brexit if we can negotiate an exit which ensures our wonderful isle can continue to prosper.

That should be the message from the Labour Party but while Her Majesty's official opposition continues its breakdown, running scared of UKIP while taking even further away from its core voters, then the space exists for someone to exploit.

Ask yourselves this, if not Blair, then who?

Brexit is a shambles but will anyone admit it?

WELL this is going well....

Halfway through the House of Commons debate on Article 50 and Labour MPs are resigning, Conservative MPs are seriously falling out with their own party's whips and there are so many amendments being suggested that we could be here until Christmas debating them.

Why? Could it be the sheer vacuous nature of the original referendum question put to voters?  It simply asked leave or remain when in truth a lot more information should have been provided in the event of a leave vote. It wasn't even made legally binding.....

Did all those wanting to leave want a 'hard Brexit'? Indeed did anyone want a 'soft Brexit' or is everyone so fed up now that all they want is a 'stiff G and T'!

As a remain voter you'd probably expect criticism of the current situation but I do so not to over-turn the democratically decided result but simply to shine a light on the mess in our Parliament.

A decision which will last for the ages has been hijacked by the alt right in this country to deliver a warts an all exit which a) we don't know if we will get from the EU and b) could do untold damage to our economy for generations to come.

Yes, the economy is doing OK at the moment thank you very much but we haven't got divorced from the EU yet. The only way to gauge the health of the economy is when we have packed up our things and left her for good.

The truth is satire and real life have blended into one almighty daily shambles where politicians of all sides have cast aside pretty much anything else for 'Brexit, Brexit, Brexit'.

Answering the Europe question was supposed to heal the Conservative party when in fact all that has taken place is some serious war wounds have been brutally picked open.

Labour is....well Labour, confused, muddled and rather like me on a treadmill - lots of noise but no real end result.

The Liberal Democrats are trying to step in as the anti Hard Brexit party and oppose the Government but when you can fit all their MPs into a booth at Wetherspoons its not easy to oppose more than 300 on the other side.

The Greens' don't want to leave at all like the SNP but any chance of upsetting the applecart is again thwarted by numbers.

The blame here should go to former Prime Minister David Cameron and his 'Deal or No Deal' referendum. Like on the Channel 4 show, voters were asked to open one of two boxes without truly knowing what was inside...

A poor piece of party management and a craven bid to win votes has reduced this process to an almighty shambles. Don't think the EU powerbrokers aren't watching and laughing.

No vote on the final deal could well cost the PM her premiership. She is walking the narrowest of tightropes; fall and the consequences are shattering, stay true and take a walk into the unknown.

We're leaving, but this divorce won't be a quickie, it will be messy and truly shambolic and to paraphrase the late Geoffrey Howe, our team captain is heading to the middle with a broken bat.

"There is no plan, they (the Government) should have had a plan," the words of Faisal Islam, Sky's political editor on June 26,2016.

How true those words still ring today....

Lineker's no liar, it's the Brexiteers who are lying to themselves.

THE SUN is upset at Gary Lineker and wants him sacked. Why? Because he dared to have an opinion which didn't fit with the post-Brexit view of the world we all MUST subscribe to.

The crisp flogger and Match of the Day presented took to twitter this week to despair at the headlines over the arrival of Syrian refugees to Britain.

The tweet in full: “The treatment by some towards these young refugees is hideously racist and utterly heartless. What's happening to our country?”

Nowhere does he name anyone, nor does he abuse anyone and ends with a question and expresses a fear, something we in a democracy are allowed to do.

He continued when a false claim was made that one particular individual was identified as a translator but fiercely defended himself.

Did he lie? Did he commit a crime, did he assault someone? Did he make a sexual/racist joke live on air in his job? No he expressed his opinion.

But this is what life is like in post Brexit Britain, if you don't get on board the bus heading towards the exit from the European Union you are a 'Bremoaner' 'Unpatriotic', 'whinging Brit' or something more vulgar.

Worried about the calamity which is currently the pound? Don't bother it will all be fine

Want to express your anger over the blatant lies used such as £350million for the NHS, don't because the chief cheerleader of that claim is now Foreign Secretary.

Those who voted to remain have been pushed to one side despite the result being 48 per cent v 52 per cent, a result Nigel Farage said wouldn't be 'conclusive'. Fair to say he doesn't say the same thing now.

Our new un-elected Prime Minister is going all out for an exit, ignoring the will of 48 per cent of people, attempts for Parliamentary scrutiny are attacked while concerns about the economy are simply 'scare-
mongering'.

This is very real and very dangerous moment for our times, while we are obsessing about leaving the European Union and retreating to a weird 2016 version of the British Empire, Russia is flexing its might, a city in the Middle East is being raized to the ground and we have the worst refugee crisis this world has seen.

In this country we have a pound worth very little, an economy which can never get better and keeps getting infections, inequality which is just getting worse and a political system where the Government is not being held to account but just attacked by a populist party of protest.

A media where Nigel Farage is given air-time, where no one questions how Boris Johnson could be make Foreign Secretary despite lying in the EU Referendum.

And heartbreakingly where people who don't look or sound like us are increasingly in fear of life in what used to be Great Britain.

The truth hurts the Brexiteers - not every Johnny Foreigner comes over here for the 'benefits', a huge number come to build a new life.

Think of the nurse from Sierra Leone who treated your mum in hospital, the Polish shop owner who always stocks that beer you like, the Pakistani taxi driver who loves to talk during your journey or that lovely waiter from Italy who was so friendly during your meal out.

Then look at the benefits office in your town, I'd put £350million on betting not all the voices you will hear are foreign.

But hey, that would just be another inconvenient truth wouldn't it?