Prior to the referendum, there was no good, rational debate on the subject. Debate was governed by emotion and misinformation. So people ended up voting without knowing the facts.
As a result, the country is divided: younger people tend to be Remainers; older people tend to be Brexiters. Many young people feel they have had their future taken away from them; old people feel that Britain now has a chance to regain sovereignty and take back control.
We are living, however, in an increasingly globalized world; so how much true sovereignty can we expect to regain by leaving the EU? Moreover, what is it going to cost us?
The problem for the Tories is simple to understand. Ever since the UK entered the EU, the Party has been split – split between Europhobes and Europhiles. It seems that no leader has been able to heal the rift between these two groups. Thatcher couldn’t do it; and nor could Cameron. That’s why Cameron called the Brexit referendum: to try and bring his Party together. The mess we have now is the result. So now, instead of just the Tories being divided, the nation is divided too.
May had been herself a Remainer. She’d have been better off sticking to her principles.
© Mark Alexander
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