Fury of Brexit 'inferno' lays bare a divided United Kingdom

[snoop1130]

Fury of Brexit 'inferno' lays bare a divided United Kingdom

By Guy Faulconbridge, Elizabeth Piper

 

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures as he speaks at the parliament, which reconvenes after the UK Supreme Court ruled that his suspension of the parliament was unlawful, in London, Britain, September 25, 2019, in this screen grab taken from video. Parliament TV via REUTERS

 

LONDON (Reuters) - The fury of the Brexit ‘inferno’ is so intense that it could tip the United Kingdom towards violence unless politicians tone down their rhetoric, the husband of a lawmaker murdered a week before the 2016 EU referendum said on Thursday.

 

The British parliament reached boiling point on Wednesday when Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his opponents engaged in hours of vitriolic debate over Brexit, with lawmakers hurling allegations of betrayal and abuse of power across the chamber.

 

Jo Cox, a 41-year-old lawmaker for the opposition Labour Party, was murdered on June 16, 2016 by Thomas Mair, a loner obsessed with Nazis and extreme right-wing ideology. She was the mother of two young children.

 

Cox’s husband Brendan said he was shocked by the vicious cycle of inflammatory language on display on both sides, saying both sides should ponder the impact of their language.

 

When asked how his late wife might have responded, Cox said: “She would have tried to take a generosity of spirit to it and thought about how in this moment you can step back from this growing inferno of rhetoric.”

 

“To descend into this bear pit of polarization is dangerous for our country,” he told the BBC. “It creates an atmosphere where violence and attacks are more likely.”

 

Brexit has illustrated a United Kingdom divided about much more than the European Union, and has fueled soul-searching about everything from secession and immigration to capitalism, empire and modern Britishness.

 

The rage and ferocity of the Brexit debate has shocked allies of a country that has for over a century touted itself as a confident - and mostly tolerant - pillar of Western economic and political stability.

 

Cox was clear that the language on both sides of the Brexit schism was troubling and that the United Kingdom needed to come together rather than tear itself apart.

 

Some on both sides of the debate are now using the politics of contrived outrage to argue their point. Johnson says parliament is betraying the will of the people over Brexit, while opponents cast him a dictator who has ridden roughshod over democracy to take the United Kingdom to the brink of ruin.

 

BREXIT SCHISM

 

Parliamentary speaker John Bercow told lawmakers on Thursday to stop treating each other as enemies, saying the atmosphere in the House of Commons was the worst he had known in the 22 years since he was first elected in 1997.

 

“The culture was toxic,” Bercow said in parliament. “May I just ask...colleagues please to lower the decibel level and to treat each other as opponents and not as enemies.”

 

Johnson taunted his rivals on his return to parliament on Wednesday, goading them to either bring down the government or get out of the way to allow him to deliver Brexit.

 

Waving his arms and yelling “come on, come on”, Johnson implored his opponents in a raucous House of Commons session to bring a vote of no-confidence in the government and trigger an election to finally break the Brexit impasse.

 

Opponents roared “resign” and some cast him as a cheating dictator who should stand aside after the Supreme Court ruled that he had unlawfully suspended parliament.

 

In the June 23, 2016 referendum, 17.4 million voters, or 52 percent, backed Brexit while 16.1 million, or 48 percent, backed staying in the bloc.

 

But after more than three years of political crisis since the referendum, it remains unclear when, if or on what terms the country will leave the bloc it joined in 1973.

 

In the uproarious debate in the House of Commons, Johnson refused to apologise for unlawfully suspending parliament and instead attacked opponents for thwarting the will of the people over Brexit.

 

“We will not betray the people who sent us here; we will not. That is what the Opposition want to do,” Johnson said. “We will come out of the EU on 31 October.”

 

He provoked ire by repeatedly calling a law that forces him to ask the EU for a Brexit delay unless he can strike a deal as “the Surrender Bill”.

 

When opposition lawmaker Alison McGovern invoked the memory of Jo Cox and warned Johnson that the political culture was becoming toxic, he said the best way of honouring her memory was to “get Brexit done”.

 

After one lawmaker Paula Sherriff told the House she had received death threats, some of which echoed the prime minister’s own rhetoric, Johnson replied: “I have never heard so much humbug in my life”, sparking uproar.

 

Nicholas Soames, the grandson of Britain’s World War Two leader Winston Churchill, said he was appalled by the tone of the debate and it was the most poisonous atmosphere he can remember in 37 years in parliament.

 

“I despair, to be frank,” Soames, 71, said.

 

“I have grown up in a house where I believe the job of the prime minister even under very difficult circumstances is to try to bring the country together and what the prime minister did yesterday was to drive it further apart.”

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-09-26

Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking Thailand news and visa info

[canuckamuck]

Furry of Brexit? What's that a mascot?

[Samui Bodoh]

I don't know if the UK is going to leave or stay, but either way the ramifications are going to resonate and reverberate in the UK for at least a generation (I would guess longer). What will happen the day after the final decision, whatever that is, occurs? Is there going to be acceptance? Societal agreement? Inter-country harmony? Street riots? The beating of foreigners? 

 

No matter what happens, it will be of utmost importance that the UK, should it continue to exist, achieve a degree of social harmony and cohesion quickly in order to deal with the challenges ahead. And, the challenges ahead will be huge. Really huge.

 

Are the UK's current political leaders capable of re-establishing political unity and social harmony? Sadly, it doesn't look that way to me.

 

This is probably the most important news article I have seen in the last few years, and one that all players in the current debate should read carefully.

 

Very carefully.

 

 

Edited September 26, 2019 by Samui Bodoh

[kingdong]

The damage remain and bercow have done to the uk is irreparable.

[Chomper Higgot]

4 minutes ago, kingdong said:

The damage remain and bercow have done to the uk is irreparable.

It’s always somebody else’s fault.

[owl sees all]

This unruly house is the best thing to have happened in my lifetime.

 

I think it can mean:

 

The end of H of Lords.

The BBC having to get its funding from other sources.

A written constitution.

Fairer electoral system.

Metropolitan police taking control of 'The City of L'.

End of EU quangos in UK.

Cheaper fish 'n' chips.

Proper vetting of judges.

An elected monarchy. 

 

And many more changes, for the betterment of the people.

 

 

 

 

 

[HeyHeyHey]

Wish you strength our might savior Johnson ????

[baboon]

3 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

Are the UK's current political leaders capable of re-establishing political unity and social harmony? Sadly, it doesn't look that way to me.

It's an uphill battle, certainly. But they could and should tone down their rhetoric for a start.

They should also seek compromise: You lot, you can't have your hard Brexit. You lot, calling the whole thing off is simply not a realistic option. Annoying the whole country a bit is (in my opinion) preferable to Winner Takes All and screw the other half of the populace.

[fishtank]

2 hours ago, kingdong said:

The damage remain and bercow have done to the uk is irreparable.

The damage that Bungle and the right wing extremists have done to the UK is irreparable.

[damascase]

3 hours ago, kingdong said:

The damage remain and bercow have done to the uk is irreparable.

You are really beyond help, aren’t you..........

[DannyCarlton]

2 hours ago, owl sees all said:

Cheaper fish 'n' chips.

Can we have them wrapped in real newspaper too? Please set the price at 1/6 F&C and a bottle of Tizer for 2 bob would be great. Scraps free of course.

[Opl]

3 hours ago, kingdong said:

The damage remain and bercow have done to the uk is irreparable.

……. while what was rather expected  and wished by Leave supporters was the collapse of the E.U following the British vote… disappointing is'nt it? 

Edited September 26, 2019 by Opl

[DannyCarlton]

1 minute ago, Opl said:

……. while what was rether expected  and wished by Leave supporters was the collapse of the E.U following the British vote… disappointing is'nt it? 

In his Yellowhammer speech yesterday, Gove quickly and quietly slipped in "and we have made contingencies for further falls in the £". So, Bexiteers, please don't tell us that the £ will recover when we leave, Gove is preparing for it to crash.

[tebee]

4 hours ago, kingdong said:

The damage remain and bercow have done to the uk is irreparable.

 

3 hours ago, HeyHeyHey said:

Wish you strength our might savior Johnson ????

Wot are all you lot going to say when we finally discover brexit has all been one big con designed to deliver profits to hedge funds and currency speculators at the expense of the working man - you've all  been useful idiots....

 

 

 

 

[JamesBlond]

Of course there'll be violence if the will of the people is denied. That has always been obvious. Has Reuters only just realised? Have the remainers really been labouring under that same naivety, that same ignorance, all this time?

[oldhippy]

19 minutes ago, JamesBlond said:

Of course there'll be violence if the will of the people is denied. That has always been obvious. Has Reuters only just realised? Have the remainers really been labouring under that same naivety, that same ignorance, all this time?

You mean: Of course there'll be violence if the will .....of 52% / then... of the people is denied. That has always been obvious. Has Reuters only just realised? Have the remainers really been labouring under that same naivety, that same ignorance, all this time?

[oldhippy]

4 hours ago, kingdong said:

The damage remain and bercow have done to the uk is irreparable.

The damage Trump and Boris have done to 2 of the leading nations of the western world - euhhhh make that 1,01 - is irreparable.

 

 

 

 

 

[Forethat]

31 minutes ago, oldhippy said:

The damage Trump and Boris have done to 2 of the leading nations of the western world - euhhhh make that 1,01 - is irreparable.

 

 

 

 

 

Exactly WHAT is Trump's damage to the US, in your opinion?

[RickG16]

1 hour ago, DannyCarlton said:

In his Yellowhammer speech yesterday, Gove quickly and quietly slipped in "and we have made contingencies for further falls in the £". So, Bexiteers, please don't tell us that the £ will recover when we leave, Gove is preparing for it to crash.

Clue is in the word. A contingency means planning for a possible eventuality, not that it will happen. I think any decisive action (in or out) will be good for the pound. 

[RickG16]

What a mess. Can somebody who follows politics a bit more closely than me summarise what will happen now, after the Supreme Court's ruling?

[kingdong]

5 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

It’s always somebody else’s fault.

Yeah you and the remainers

[kingdong]

12 minutes ago, RickG16 said:

Clue is in the word. A contingency means planning for a possible eventuality, not that it will happen. I think any decisive action (in or out) will be good for the pound. 

Pity Cameron didn,t have a contingency for when the people had a democratic vote.

[Forethat]

10 minutes ago, RickG16 said:

What a mess. Can somebody who follows politics a bit more closely than me summarise what will happen now, after the Supreme Court's ruling?

The parliament will faff around for a few more months until the situation is deemed unworthy and a general election is called - in which case the circus starts all over - and remainers on here will up their effort of calling people liars. Elementary.

[RickG16]

Just now, Forethat said:

The parliament will faff around for a few more months until the situation is deemed unworthy and a general election is called - in which case the circus starts all over - and remainers on here will up their effort of calling people liars. Elementary.

OK, and so Brexit will hinge on who is elected - we can expect the Tories to take us out, and Labour to have another referendum?

[kingdong]

2 hours ago, Opl said:

……. while what was rather expected  and wished by Leave supporters was the collapse of the E.U following the British vote… disappointing is'nt it? 

The collapse of the eu hasn,t happened ------ yet.

[Forethat]

3 minutes ago, RickG16 said:

OK, and so Brexit will hinge on who is elected - we can expect the Tories to take us out, and Labour to have another referendum?

Yup, pretty much. The next GE will be a second EU referendum. 

[kingdong]

1 hour ago, tebee said:

 

Wot are all you lot going to say when we finally discover brexit has all been one big con designed to deliver profits to hedge funds and currency speculators at the expense of the working man - you've all  been useful idiots....

 

 

 

 

And how long did it take for the indigenous British working man to discover he,d been shafted thru free movement and the consequent glut of cheap labour?                                                 Answer.    The 2016 democratic election

[kingdong]

1 hour ago, tebee said:

 

Wot are all you lot going to say when we finally discover brexit has all been one big con designed to deliver profits to hedge funds and currency speculators at the expense of the working man - you've all  been useful idiots....

 

 

 

 

Like when Britain joined the erm,led to recession and a nice little earner  for George Soros------ remember?anyway the leavers will shortly be beaten with whips of their own choosing and if I had my way i,d chastise them with scorpions,where did that come from? 

[oldhippy]

47 minutes ago, Forethat said:

Exactly WHAT is Trump's damage to the US, in your opinion?

Trump undermines the international credibility of the US and democratic national institutions , just like Boris undermines the credibility of the UK.

 

[oldhippy]

25 minutes ago, kingdong said:

And how long did it take for the indigenous British working man to discover he,d been shafted thru free movement and the consequent glut of cheap labour?                                                 Answer.    The 2016 democratic election

And who stalled European labour  legislation?