The disconnection between the electors and the elected has widened further with the EU reset negotiated by Sir Keir Starmer.
In 2016, people voted to leave the European Union, against all the advice of the know-alls. The government and the opposition were united in recommending people vote to Remain, and the overwhelming majority of the establishment, MPs, peers, central bankers, civil servants, the BBC, the Church of England hierarchy, and even the President of the United States, all wanted to persuade us to stay in. The people thought otherwise; they voted to Leave.
Still, the establishment hated it, and squealed about the consequences. Theresa May did her best to come to an agreement that seemed close to Remaining, but was thwarted, and after a second general election, Boris Johnson was returned to get Brexit done.
He did this, but the fury of the Remainers was not appeased, and his enemies were determined to stop him, because of their hostility to the UK being an independent nation. His fall crushed the Tory Party, which led to the election of Starmer, but not on a Remain ticket.
Even he knew that trying to get Britain to rejoin would so alienate voters that he dared not to suggest it, even though he had backed a second referendum and free movement of people.
Listen to this episode with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Letters from an Englishman by Jacob Rees-Mogg to listen to this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.
