The Brexit Chronicles

A General Election; Hurrah?

Published on October the 29th. 20.40.

For a nervous while it seemed the outcome of the second Bill in as many days authorising a General Election was balanced on a knife edge; but when the amendments which could have wrecked it by enfranchising EU nationals living in the UK, as well as 16 or 17 year olds weren't called it was clear at long last the parliamentary impasse had finally been broken. Perhaps influenced by his EU masters, or frightened by the revelation of a GoFundMe page attempting to raise the fee to assassinate Gina Miller, Jeremy Corbyn "shit it" as we say in these parts, and conceded there had to be a general election less than a day after ordering his party to effectively block the previous attempt by their abstention. But now, with his acquiescence, the political pressure relief valve can be opened, and providing there are no pitfalls encountered during the Bill's passage through the House of Lords, the country will be able to express its opinions at the polls on Thursday, December the 12th.

Though the delay of Brexit to this point might be seen as a success for the forces entrenched against leaving, I think it more likely that history will class their stand as a temporary, pyrrhic victory. It is possible of course the public mood might swing against Boris Johnson and his ineffectual but still cruel Tories; but unlikely given the alternatives on offer from the other parties. I sense public opinion has been hardening against the Remainers and their obstructionism these last few weeks, based on the conversations I overhear on a daily basis while travelling by bus. Were Corbyn, Benn, Swinson, or Letwin et-al to find themselves teleported into the midst of that group of exasperated passengers they'd soon be clawing for the emergency exit doors whether the vehicle was stopped or moving!

So it is with a mixture of relief that an overdue political cleansing might finally dynamite the parliamentary boulder blocking our way forward, but also the gnawing dread of suffering yet another inhumane Tory government until nearly 2025, or a pro-Remain coalition administration being formed, I await the hour of 10pm on election night and the first straws in the wind of the exit polls.