This may turn out to be a rambling, load of tosh, it's not researched, it's more of "an awareness". But I'm going to write it anyway.
So, I did argue on the Remain side. We had a vote. It was close. The weekend that followed was amusing and an all-time low, like the one I've often had after any election campaign, especially one that's not been won.
Gove stood aside, Boris went off to play golf, Farage came on telly and wrongly got slated via TV AM for saying there won't be £350m going into the NHS, more like £250m, he said. Wrongly slated since that slogan wasn't his, It came from the LEAVE EU campaign team, which he was not in.
In a marriage, there could be one partner thinking they want to get out and never letting the other partner know about those thoughts. Then, the idea of divorce comes up, and it's mentioned to the other partner who at first denies it as a blip, perhaps even ignores the idea, months, and years roll by and before the partner realises it isn't a blip, things have gone too far and the divorce is imminent.
While I was an original founder member of the Liberal Democrats, coming from the Liberal Party, the one part of policy I was never comfortable with, was that bit about wanting to be closely involved with a federalist Europe. The EU, its policies, its ins and outs, were never interesting enough in my life for me to pay any attention to.
Just about the only piece of "EU" that I did find interesting enough to pay attention to, was that MEPs are voted in by proportional representation. So that was why I voted in EU elections, to keep PR alive. We even had a Lib Dem MP for the East of England out of it. Then this MP started sending out newsletters to members about all the things he was doing for the East of England. I even read some of them. But it all felt unconnected to my life, so dull, was it.
Along comes UKIP, making some noises, I get the idea that they're some sort of racist, anti-EU and diametrically opposed (according to others in the Lib Dems) to Lib Dem themes, so I must therefore do everything to see them off. But actually, it's about leaving the EU, an idea I ignored, because I assumed people thought like me, that the EU was boring and wouldn't be interested anyway.
We move on a few years more and now the other marriage partner really means it. They want a divorce at all costs! Suddenly, we have a vote looming, something the 'out now' partner has been plotting and planning for years, something which the 'stay in' partner has to flounder around searching and worrying over what the problem is.
Then the vote is called! The preliminary divorce papers arrive through the letterboxes! Calamity! Panic! What are the counterarguments? The 'out partner' has no need of counterarguments, their mind was made up long ago!
By the time the vote came around, I had left the Lib Dems for local and personal reasons. Even if I took the political compass test now I would come out midway between Liberal (edit:Democrat) and Social Democracy. In the run-up to the Referendum vote, I was not a member of any political party and still am not. I went into the run-up with an open mind but soon found myself looking into and supporting the 'stay-in' side. For me, it was a very late awakening that the EU had actually brought us a lot of very good things.
The vote is held. Cameron resigns. The 'stay-in' partner sulks away as the judge delivers his verdict.
In a marriage, there could be one partner thinking they want to get out and never letting the other partner know about those thoughts. Then, the idea of divorce comes up, and it's mentioned to the other partner who at first denies it as a blip, perhaps even ignores the idea, months, and years roll by and before the partner realises it isn't a blip, things have gone too far and the divorce is imminent.
While I was an original founder member of the Liberal Democrats, coming from the Liberal Party, the one part of policy I was never comfortable with, was that bit about wanting to be closely involved with a federalist Europe. The EU, its policies, its ins and outs, were never interesting enough in my life for me to pay any attention to.
Just about the only piece of "EU" that I did find interesting enough to pay attention to, was that MEPs are voted in by proportional representation. So that was why I voted in EU elections, to keep PR alive. We even had a Lib Dem MP for the East of England out of it. Then this MP started sending out newsletters to members about all the things he was doing for the East of England. I even read some of them. But it all felt unconnected to my life, so dull, was it.
Along comes UKIP, making some noises, I get the idea that they're some sort of racist, anti-EU and diametrically opposed (according to others in the Lib Dems) to Lib Dem themes, so I must therefore do everything to see them off. But actually, it's about leaving the EU, an idea I ignored, because I assumed people thought like me, that the EU was boring and wouldn't be interested anyway.
We move on a few years more and now the other marriage partner really means it. They want a divorce at all costs! Suddenly, we have a vote looming, something the 'out now' partner has been plotting and planning for years, something which the 'stay in' partner has to flounder around searching and worrying over what the problem is.
Then the vote is called! The preliminary divorce papers arrive through the letterboxes! Calamity! Panic! What are the counterarguments? The 'out partner' has no need of counterarguments, their mind was made up long ago!
By the time the vote came around, I had left the Lib Dems for local and personal reasons. Even if I took the political compass test now I would come out midway between Liberal (edit:
The vote is held. Cameron resigns. The 'stay-in' partner sulks away as the judge delivers his verdict.
The 'out now' partner cries "Bloody hell, I'm not married anymore. What do I do now?" At first, no one quite knows what to do. Gove stabs Boris in the back, and Boris appears more bumbling than ever. Theresa takes on the challenge of leading the busted-up family in a search for new lodgings.
It's at this stage that I get to really look at Farage in the 'work' he's done as a Euro MP. In his amazing attacks on EU officials - there are plenty of YouTube videos on this. I actually start to conceive the idea that this guy Farage might actually be a very Liberal free trader, and very much more democratic than anyone else in my sphere of life has ever dared to suggest before.
The divorce is over, it's agreed they will part. I've voted, so have others. We must adhere to the vote. Then out comes Tim Farron, and latterly others in Parliament, saying they will campaign to stay in. I think, "Mr Farron you are a chump, you won't get me back on that stance". We voted on it. You lost, Tim. The marriage is over. So get over it. The 'out-now' group will be forever unwilling to try again. The 'stay-in' group will hang on, and hang on, and hang on, as long as they can, because they are in denial and don't accept the need for the divorce.
The pragmatist in me says it is over. The best way forward is to move on with the situation, work out the best settlement, and do the best to remain friendly with those former parts of the EU institution (the marriage). The third group: moving on with the situation.
I'm in the third group, and I like to think that my question at the top shows my concern that out of this divorce, moving out of the 4-bedroom family home, we might just end up in the shed at the bottom of the garden.
It's at this stage that I get to really look at Farage in the 'work' he's done as a Euro MP. In his amazing attacks on EU officials - there are plenty of YouTube videos on this. I actually start to conceive the idea that this guy Farage might actually be a very Liberal free trader, and very much more democratic than anyone else in my sphere of life has ever dared to suggest before.
The divorce is over, it's agreed they will part. I've voted, so have others. We must adhere to the vote. Then out comes Tim Farron, and latterly others in Parliament, saying they will campaign to stay in. I think, "Mr Farron you are a chump, you won't get me back on that stance". We voted on it. You lost, Tim. The marriage is over. So get over it. The 'out-now' group will be forever unwilling to try again. The 'stay-in' group will hang on, and hang on, and hang on, as long as they can, because they are in denial and don't accept the need for the divorce.
The pragmatist in me says it is over. The best way forward is to move on with the situation, work out the best settlement, and do the best to remain friendly with those former parts of the EU institution (the marriage). The third group: moving on with the situation.
I'm in the third group, and I like to think that my question at the top shows my concern that out of this divorce, moving out of the 4-bedroom family home, we might just end up in the shed at the bottom of the garden.
