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Is Brexit the downmarket UK version of House of Cards
| Published: | 8 Jul at 6 PM |
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As the ramifications of the Brexit referendum descend further into farce, those affected could be forgiven for seeing its induced political chaos as a downmarket version of the popular US political drama 'House of Cards’.
A famous Chinese curse. ‘may you live in interesting times’ applies not only to the millions of UK and EU expats frightened for their futures, but also includes the back-stabbing British political elite responsible for the chaos of the last two weeks.The ‘advisory’ referendum itself is now spawning petitions, legal challenges and obsessive social media comment, all focusing on the misinformation, disinformation and outright lies which issued from both campaigns.
Also in the firing line is the sheer inefficiency of those responsible for sending out postal ballots to expats overseas. Britain’s Independent newspaper today revealed that hundreds of UK expats denied a say in their own future due to missing postal ballots are considering legal action against the Electoral Commission. At least 500 angry voters living in dozens of different countries answered the newspaper’s call for personal experiences and registration details, with even a few British residents also claiming they had not received their forms in time to vote.
According to the Independent, problems experienced included embassies publishing incorrect dates for registration, voting packs sent abroad with insufficient pre-paid postage, missing packs needing to be resent and packs sent to wrong addresses. One expat in Austria was less than thrilled to discover his voting pack had been sent to Australia, and others noted their packs had been sent out after the referendum date.
Journalists and other commentators are now suggesting Brexit will never come to pass, citing the already obvious effects on the UK economy, the deceptive nature of the Leave campaign and the weakness of the result’s comparatively small margin compared to the massive repercussions of leaving. The number of Brexiteers who are now regretting their decision is increasing as more realise that any benefits of independence from the EU may well take decades to surface.
Another reason for the intensify of calls for a second referendum or even a general election which will nullify the referendum result is that, in the UK, voters themselves aren’t able to make binding decisions on the country’s future. Only parliament has this power and, once both parties have reorganised themselves, it’s certain that the 350 MPs who favour staying in the EU would ratify their judgement via a Remain vote.
A famous Chinese curse. ‘may you live in interesting times’ applies not only to the millions of UK and EU expats frightened for their futures, but also includes the back-stabbing British political elite responsible for the chaos of the last two weeks.The ‘advisory’ referendum itself is now spawning petitions, legal challenges and obsessive social media comment, all focusing on the misinformation, disinformation and outright lies which issued from both campaigns.
Also in the firing line is the sheer inefficiency of those responsible for sending out postal ballots to expats overseas. Britain’s Independent newspaper today revealed that hundreds of UK expats denied a say in their own future due to missing postal ballots are considering legal action against the Electoral Commission. At least 500 angry voters living in dozens of different countries answered the newspaper’s call for personal experiences and registration details, with even a few British residents also claiming they had not received their forms in time to vote.
According to the Independent, problems experienced included embassies publishing incorrect dates for registration, voting packs sent abroad with insufficient pre-paid postage, missing packs needing to be resent and packs sent to wrong addresses. One expat in Austria was less than thrilled to discover his voting pack had been sent to Australia, and others noted their packs had been sent out after the referendum date.
Journalists and other commentators are now suggesting Brexit will never come to pass, citing the already obvious effects on the UK economy, the deceptive nature of the Leave campaign and the weakness of the result’s comparatively small margin compared to the massive repercussions of leaving. The number of Brexiteers who are now regretting their decision is increasing as more realise that any benefits of independence from the EU may well take decades to surface.
Another reason for the intensify of calls for a second referendum or even a general election which will nullify the referendum result is that, in the UK, voters themselves aren’t able to make binding decisions on the country’s future. Only parliament has this power and, once both parties have reorganised themselves, it’s certain that the 350 MPs who favour staying in the EU would ratify their judgement via a Remain vote.
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