One Last Heave....

One last heave, and we can bury Brexit! I am in London, to be close to the action this coming Saturday. My understanding is that as a serious proposition, if it ever was one, Brexit is dead. The die-hards are merely holding out in the hope that they may get their way on account of the pusillanimity or plain laziness of Europeans. We must now see them off, and a massive demo on Saturday is just the ticket.

One Kind of Transition!

     However, the essential contest at this stage is not so much between Brexiteers and Remainers, but rather between those desperate to get back to 'normality', whose dominant instinct is to avoid rocking the boat too much and to uphold the great British tradition of fudging difficult issues, and on the other hand those who realise that in these increasingly desperate times, issues must be faced and truths upheld. We cannot afford to carry on washing our hands with 'Truth, what is that?'

     Pontius Pilate's line with regard to Brexit goes something like this:- It has all gone on far too long. We did have that vote and cannot  simply ignore it, or we shall never get the country to pull together again; at the same time anyone with a modicum of sense is now aware that our involvement with Europe is far too broad and deep to be simply cut off. We've had a good circus, now let's concentrate on the bread as best we can!

     So what about this dangerous, idealistic notion about truths that must be upheld? What might I have in mind? To put it as simply as I can - there is a nexus of interrelated issues, from climate change and environmental degradation to the structure of wealth, which must be addressed with the utmost urgency, and the European project represents a step in this direction, a basic prerequisite for addressing these issues effectively, which must not be allowed to fail.

     Certainly, the EU has a long way to go, but what sort of an attitude is it that  represents this as a reason to opt out of the whole undertaking? It's not as if we haven't been provided with a clear personification of the alternative, whom one would like to think of as a kind of comic cardboard cut-out if he hadn't got so far, and who is openly contemptuous of the planet and its peoples, while committed to extracting as much wealth as possible on behalf of a small elite with no heed for the cost. It is an alternative which is much more present than we would have expected or have liked to think!

     In marching for an 'Open Britain' this Saturday, I for one will also be marching for the future of my grandchildren in every sense. Now is the time to combine the energies of all those determined to play their part as best they can in the Great Transition to a more just and sustainable future, a future of cooperation rather than competition, of peace rather than war, of hope rather than despair.

     If you cannot march, you might consider making a contribution to the People's Vote crowdfunding. It is hardly necessary at this stage to reiterate the reasons why Mrs May's idea that 'the People's Will' must be implemented, regardless of what they now think after the billions of words that have been uttered and the political chaos that has ensued since the 2016 referendum, is absurd. However, for a good paper on the way ahead, see:- 
 https://www.peoples-vote.uk/how_it_could_happen