Over 4 years ago, the Tories first announced Brexit, dividing the nation in half. What followed, was years of back and forth squabble, leaving the nation irritated and ready to get Brexit over and done with. A year ago Boris Johnson announced that we had an “over ready” Brexit deal, planting a seed of happiness in those of us exhausted by the matter. However, just like with most of his promises, it was a lie.
Within just a year, Boris Johnson was able to transform an oven-ready pie, into an undercooked mushy mess, as he has now warned us to prepare for a no-deal Brexit. So now instead of enjoying what we can of a pandemic ridden Christmas, our focus has been stolen by our very own Grinch, Boris Johnson.
It seems as though Boris Johnson changes his tune as seasons change, and this winter season he decided to wage war on the European Union. Just like the Grinch in Whoville. The continual disintegration of the Brexit trade deal really kicked off when a cabinet minister announced in the House of Commons, that the government plans to break international law. In September, after months of boasting of his picture-perfect deal, and without showing any signs of implementing change, Bojo decided the withdrawal agreement that secured Brexit up to his standard.
Following 10 months of what now seems like pointless negotiations, Boris Johnson has warned of a very large possibility of us leaving the EU on a no-deal basis. It’s almost like a sick remake of The NeverEnding Story. A no-deal Brexit would negatively impact not only our UK-EU trade but also the fishing industry, our access to free healthcare in other EU countries and so much more. In other words, Boris’ Christmas present to the nation is to completely deteriorate it, hand-in-hand with his mishandling of the Coronavirus.
Ironically, Boris’ initial reason for opposing the EU offer was because according to him it undermined British sovereignty, a very nationalist approach. Yet if he truly cared about the nation and its people he would put petty disagreements aside, and get us the deal we need. Instead, Johnson is trying to eat his cake and keep it when it comes to the Brexit deal.
According to YouGov, the percentage of people in Britain that think the government’s handling of Brexit is poor has increased from 52% in January, to 64% in December, highlighting the clear public discontent.
In an attempt to reassert the nation’s power by freeing it from the so-called oppressive shackles of the European Union, the ginger-haired Grinch by choice managed to completely undermine Britain’s global status. The winner birth-right ideology that we have so wrongfully associated with Britain as a result of its colonial past has so far poised Britain’s desire for sovereignty, that we as a country no longer seek independence, instead, we seem to want to exert our power onto other nations.
The actions taken under Boris Johnson on Britain’s descent down the Brexit manhole suggest that under his government, the Brexit agenda was to reinforce British power and control rather than independence. There’s only so much you can expect from a nation that was founded on the backs of those they considered to be lesser than them, a nation that thrived on how many empires they own, a nation that played a catalytic role in the transatlantic slave trade.
Given Britain’s past, their relationship with the EU was one bound to end, simply because of Britain’s blatant inability to cooperate with other nations, rather than compete. Even Boris Johnson’s ongoing comparison of global test and trace systems, belting at the top of his voice that no system matches up to the UK’s, as if we are not all combating the same deadly virus. There are no winners or losers.
Brexit in its original form wasn’t the worst thing that can happen, of course, it would have a devastating impact on immigrants and any immigrants currently residing in the UK, and trade would have been impacted. But the matter of the fact is, it would have been a bearable transition if it wasn’t for our very own grinch, Boris Johnson.
As put by Labour’s communities secretary Steve Reed, “The last thing we need is no-deal in these circumstances. It is one year and one day exactly since Boris Johnson won an 80-seat majority in the House of Commons, promising to get Brexit done with an oven-ready Brexit deal that he had ready to agree with the European Union.
Now we are right at the 11th hour, aren’t we? The deal is not yet done, it needs to be got over the line because we cannot tolerate in this country the damage that a no-deal Brexit would do – and nor can we tolerate the uncertainty that a no-deal Brexit would do.”
Comments