I‘m Brexit fatigued. That’s the long and short of it. As are many others. Sick to death of hearing about Brexit and quite eager to stick the slogan “Get Brexit Done” up the rear end of Boris bloody Johnson. That’s about where I am with Brexit. In case you were wondering.
Present During the British General Election
I was back in England last week, having coincidentally booked my flight in on the day of the seventh general election since the referendum back in 2016. Okay, it may not actually be the seventh time people have had to vote since the referendum, but there have definitely been more elections than any sane electorate needs.
Did I vote? No, I have been out of the country for more than fifteen years so I have no voting rights in Britain. Incidentally, until I became a Dutch citizen this meant I had no voting rights anywhere.
So anyway, I was in England when the exit poll was announced. In England when Boris bloody Johnson popped off to see the Queen and then made an insincere speech outside 10 Downing Street about uniting the country or some sort nonsense.
Slight Digression as I Talk About the Queen
The Queen incidentally was, I am sure, about as delighted with yet another visit from Boris bloody Johnson as you would be if he turned up on your doorstep.
Having been so publically lied to at least once, I am certain Boris bloody Johnson is not on Buckingham Palace’s ‘most welcome’ guest list.
At the risk of being unable to separate fact from fiction (in which case I am aptly qualified to work as a political correspondent at the BBC), having recently devoured the latest series of The Crown on Netflix, I cannot imagine Queen Elizabeth II thinks much of Boris bloody Johnson.
I can imagine her husband has a few choice words about him too.
But I digress.
Back to Business: Brexit Fatigue
I avoided newspapers and online news outlets during the rest of my visit there. Simply because, right now, I am Brexit tired. Fed up of Boris bloody Johnson. And quite frankly not at all surprised anymore about how things are unfolding in Britain.
Deal. No deal. Trade deals within a year. Conservatives. Labour. Liberals. Scottish independence. Hard border. Wangland (that’s the name of the Wales England union that will be left should the United Kingdom break up, for those of you who have avoided social media completely the past week). Transition period. Extensions. No extension.
Whatever.
I just don’t care right now.
Five years of Boris bloody Johnson ambling around with a mop on his head.
Brexit fatigue has hit me. To be fair, it had hit a while back but I just didn’t realise how hard it had hit.
“Brexit fatigue is a neurological condition that affects between 48-52 per cent of the population. The more time that passes since the triggering of Article 50, the faster the disease spreads. It is prevalent in people of all political persuasions, causing a lack of interest, sense of lethargy and, in its worst forms, outbursts of hysteria or silent weeping at the very mention of the words Brexit, backstop and hard border.”
“The condition can also be averted by not living in the UK.”*
*Unfortunately, this is not true. Particularly for those abroad who are not in a position to apply for citizenship of another EU country.
To be honest, I think many people are suffering from this modern age condition, regardless of political beliefs, and regardless of how they voted in 2016. There comes a point where enough is enough.
Politics is Broken
The more I think about it, the more difficult it is to say with complete conviction whether it’s Brexit I’m tired of or British politics in general.
There has been a lot of politics force-fed to us in recent years. And none of it has been particularly positive. Starting with the reason for the EU referendum in the first place: quarreling inside the Tory party. Ending with the in-house fighting, lies, propaganda, and scandals since, across the entire British political spectrum.
Politicians, not just in Britain, seem to have forgotten to consult their job descriptions any time recently.
Even when our politicians are caught out on their lies, there are no consequences. How far can a politician go and still hold power and be electable? We’re still testing those limits as electorates.
And this has all become the new accepted norm.
Two-Party Versus Consensus Politics
I saw an interesting comment on the eve of the latest British election from a Scandinavian on Twitter (it has since been lost in the billions of tweets posted since then) which basically said: what you Brits call a hung parliament, we call a parliament.
Essentially, the same is true in the Netherlands. There is no two-party system in the Netherlands. The system is based on consensus politics. Sometimes, that means periods of instability. Occasionally a government collapses as one party pulls out when no agreement can be reached on a major issue. It’s fair to say that Mark Rutte has led a few cabinets since he became Prime Minister in 2010.
Any of this make for less stable governments than British politics right now? Nee, dat niet.Â
It’s the two-party systems that are dominated by the words Trump and Brexit right now.
I wonder if there’s possibly something to that, somewhere.
Whatever.
I’m too politically fatigued to wonder too hard about it.
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