11 Replies to “Saturday cartoon by Ralph Underhill”

    1. Richard – well done. You and Lyn are an indomitable pair. I am in Snowdonia, giving a talk this evening, otherwise I would be beside you.

      1. Thanks to all who can be at the rally – thanks to Mark for your inspiring work and thanks to Ralph for a perfect cartoon.

  2. I think the problem with the remain position in the referendum campaign and afterwards is that it was and is deeply conservative. Some leavers are rightly criticised for having a misty eyed nostalgia for Britain’s imperial past however in an age of inevitable radical change the same holds true for the desire to maintain the illusionary non existent status quo. One of the possible positives of Brexit is its potential to tear apart the British state and also to disrupt and potentially bring down the EU itself. I would also take issue with the constant refrain that having brexited Britain will lose power and influence in the world – that can be seen as both a good and a bad thing.

    Long read: how EU membership undermines the left by peter Ramsey and Long read: The European Union is a liberal empire, and it is about to fall are quite good reads.

    I’m not sure that is Streeck is right that the EU is about to fall but I think it is definitely unsustainable in it’s current form which is why “remain” needs to articulate a vision for it’s future and a means of arriving at it (and also probably why it doesn’t).

    1. I don’t think many people on here would argue that either the British State or the European Union is so perfect that reform is unnecessary. Both, evidently, require significant reform in a variety of ways. However, your relish at the prospect of both the British state and the EU being ‘torn apart’ as a consequence of Brexit seems very ill-judged to me. I think it is not implausible that the Brexit will have this effect but in the event of a chaotic disintegration I would think that the the main beneficiaries will be large corporations and, perhaps, organised crime; the environment, workers rights, consumer rights and so on are all likely to be trampled underfoot.
      Personally I would far rather remain in the EU, imperfect as it is, and work to try and reform and improve it.

      1. I agree, Jonathon. Far from being freed to pursue self determination and a new, progressive alliance of the UK’s nations, we are being delivered into the hands of neoliberal populists – Farge, Rees Mogg, Trump, Johnson and the rest of them. Brexit represents the kind of crisis that disaster capitalists aspire to engineer everywhere.

      2. Whether people would agree or not that reform of the EU is necessary is not particularly relevant. Whether there is was a real program movement to reform it in radical ways and I’m not sure that exists in any big way for the British left.

        “The philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point, however, is to change it.”

        1/3 of labour voters backed leave – the main narrative I see is that these people were hoodwinked by nasty right wing Jacob Rees Mogg types. However I think there is more to it than that. The EU is a deeply neo liberal organisation – I find it hard to see how actual socialists could support it in its current form. It acts mainly in the interests of powerful big business.

        My point is not particularly in favour of Brexit – Brexit may well have been a historical mistake. You are also right that it presents big opportunities for dark capitalistic / criminal powers however – it will also change the balance of power between the anglo german free market and french statism. However by treating this as a black and white issue the left risks making the prophecies of a right wing/ fascist take over self fulfilling.

  3. I thought that it was going to be strong and stable, strong and stable, strong and stable, strong and stable, strong and stable…

    1. Yes – if this is where strong and stable gets you just imagine what would have happened if we’d voted in a government promising ‘weak and rickety’ government!

  4. Well it just shows that many more people interested in this than are bothered about those petitions about Hen Barriers that just got past the 10,000 signatures.

  5. Brexit is almost inconsequential when compared to the radical changes which we must all face if we are to mitigate against the worst aspects of climate change. Revoking article 50 and remaining in the EU for the present time seems sensible because it will be easier to work with our European Neighbours to find solutions than spending the next few years sorting out laws and trade deals and lord knows what else. We just don’t have time to be faffing around with Brexit.

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