Why I Am No Longer a Brexit “Remainer”

“Those who proclaim their concern for the poor in the abstract nearly always find that they hate what the poor believe in when confronted with it.”

Britain’s MPs are now on their summer break, which is lucky for them because the last couple of weeks before their holiday were absolutely torrid politically. One wonders whether British politics can stoop any lower than it already has, but then another piece of evidence comes along which slaps you in the face with a resounding “Yes.” While they’re off, Theresa May is ringing round the leaders of the EU and European countries, presumably to beg for help in getting through some sort of Brexit deal. Of course, they will squeeze her for all she’s worth; after all, to have gotten to where they are, Macron, Merkel and Barnier have had to be utterly ruthless in their political conduct. Any delusions that they won’t be similarly ruthless with May should have been dispelled long ago.

Meanwhile, the debate on Brexit in Britain is still stuck in its toddler phase, where people on both sides are screaming and stamping their feet in indignation. I’ll deal with my side here, but I do not apply these arguments to most “Remain” voters. It is the conduct of the Remain commentariat that has encouraged the reservations about the way I voted.

I voted “Remain” because I believed it would be safer economically than if we had voted to leave. Therefore, while my heart says leave, cold hard reality said stay. I was always a “reluctant remainer.” I, therefore, cast my vote on June 23, 2016 with mixed feelings and waited for the result. Unlike many on my side of the debate, I did not take it for granted that “my side” would win. I knew that there was a distinct possibility that the UK would vote to leave. All I did was listen to what people were saying: if others in the “Remain” commentary class had done the same—if they’d had the humility to do the same—we might be in a different position today.