Self portrait on the 1st anniversary of Brexit

A year ago today, as a result of being lied to by politicians, cynically manipulated by the Daily Mail and other tabloid newspapers, and bullied by racists, we voted to leave the EU. The tragedy continues to play out. One Swiss newspaper summed up our descent from a position of order and growth to where we are now as follows:

In order to get from this comfortable position to the chaos of the present in the shortest possible time, two things were necessary: first, the Conservative right wingers’ obsessive hatred of the EU, and second, Cameron’s irresponsibility in putting the whole future of the country on the line with his referendum, just to satisfy a few fanatics in his party. It is becoming ever clearer just how extraordinarily bad a decision that was. The fact that Great Britain has become the laughing stock of Europe is directly linked to its vote for Brexit.


The world changed for the worse a year ago today. I've been feeling heavy hearted all day because of it. This is my attempt to summon the evil Emperor from Star Wars; a suitable metaphor for the likes of Farage, Gove, Johnson and Paul Dacre who could all live quite happily under that hood.


It got worse with Trump. America is even more damaged than Britain, although that is little consolation. Maybe it is a sign of ageing but I am increasingly angry with the stupidity of the human species. Maybe that is why I chose to watch Godzilla; perhaps humanity needs a good trashing for a wakeup call.


And thus the award for my darkest and angriest ever blip goes to .... 23rd June 2017 ...