Britain has had its second Brexit Referendum — time to let all that go
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If the build up to the last election was as divisive as I can ever remember, the aftermath could be the making of modern Britain.
Magnanimity in victory and generosity in defeat are hard acts to pull off. Parties have fought this election as toughly as any I remember. The words used will live long in the memory — some were decidedly rough.
However, just as I believed and wrote recently that elections take on a character of their own no matter what politicians may want to make of them, so in a sense does the aftermath. While some winning politicians may be tempted to rub it in (I hope not) and while some opposition politicians try to excuse defeat, and media trolls run true to type, out there in the real world I suspect the great British public is making its mind up how to react.
This article comes from one who lost. I lost the Referendum. I did not want to leave the EU, and I wasn’t keen on the election, even though I was not standing, as I feared the Conservative Party, which I wanted to win, would be attacked from the Brexit right, and undermined by a concerted Remain vote centre and left.
My election fears proved unfounded, because someone got it more right than me about where the British people were. And while I remain proud of my belief that the EU was the better road for the UK to travel, I have to accept that the UK as a whole feels differently. It’s time for those with an axe to grind to stop spinning the wheel.
Both winners and losers have a role to play in our political system. Boris Johnson has won big, and he and the Conservative Party have an awesome task in picking up the pieces. If he recognises the responsibility and opportunity, then he and the Government can rise to the occasion presented. MPs elected afresh from the marginal seats that make the country what it is will be determined to deliver for all their electorate. The early signs, including the Prime Minister’s initial speech, have confounded the critics who expected a right wing tidal wave of self-congratulation.
I think the public mood should take the same path. There is no point in being weary of Brexit and politicians, as everyone said they were, if the public is to treat the new Parliament, and a newly-elected PM, whose hunch made it all happen, the same as before. They will give him a chance.
The Opposition could make a similar decision. Of course, judge the government on actions and merit, but concede with some grace that what was offered was as effective as what you offered in 1983, and what Conservatives offered the public in 1997, 2001, and 2005. We lost, regrouped, listened and moved on.
On Europe, the magnanimity cuts both ways. Those who made it their life’s political ambition to leave the EU had some difficulty accepting the legislation to deliver it in the last Parliament. Some, as well as newspapers and columnists, have attacked the EU with depressing language and sought to portray partners as enemies. It’s time to stop that too, and, if those who voted to remain would grasp the opportunity, ensure that those who support the EU have as much to do with creating the new relationship with it as those who obviously hated it. Let it go.
Above all, recognise this as a landmark election. There will be another, and a future time to judge. But in the meantime, after a “stonking victory”, it’s time to recognise the architect of it, who gambled everything politically, and won. Respect the MPs who won surprising seats and the electorates who voted for them, and allow Boris Johnson a breathing space to deliver, as he promises, a one nation government for all. This will be best for all parts of the UK, and the EU. I for one, like I hope the quiet British public, want to see it succeed.
