๐๐๐ง๐๐๐๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐จ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฒ: Hereโs a question for you, I wrote in my report of February 2016:
โ๐ช๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ต๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐ ๐ธ๐ป๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ ๐ ๐ต๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ ๐น๐ผ๐ผ๐ธ๐ ๐น๐ถ๐ธ๐ฒ?โ
No, me neither.
But thatโs what those campaigning for Britain to leave the EU were expecting voters to do โ vote to end our membership of the EU without knowing what weโd have instead.
The problem LEAVERS had is that they simply didnโt know, and for sure they couldnโt agree.
As a result, two rival, irreconcilable โLeaveโ campaigns were launched in the run-up to the referendum:
UKIPโs leader, Nigel Farage, supported one (Leave.EU) and UKIPโs then only MP, Douglas Carswell, supported the other (Vote Leave).
And as confirmed by the Financial Times in February 2016, the two ‘leave’ campaigns were in disarray.
๐ข๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ, ๐ ๐ฟ ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ฐ๐๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐น ๐ถ๐บ๐บ๐ถ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐๐ผ๐ฝ ๐๐จ ๐บ๐ถ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป.
๐ข๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ผ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ, ๐ ๐ฟ ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐๐ฒ๐น๐น ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ ๐ฆ๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ-๐๐๐๐น๐ฒ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐น ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป, ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ผ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐น ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐บ๐ถ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป.
Instead of Britain leaving the EU, these two prominent members of UKIP seemed to be putting the case for leaving each other.
Or as the Financial Times put it at the time:
โIt is not just a matter of discordant personalities. Out campaigners have struggled to unite around a single vision of what Britainโs post-Brexit trading arrangements would look like.โ
And this was the core problem for the LEAVERS โ their Achilles heel. Explained the FT:
โThey have also failed to provide a convincing explanation of how leaving the EU would give the British greater control over their destiny and improved economic prospects.
โThis is not surprising because none of the models that is mooted for a future outside the EU is convincing.โ
If Eurosceptics couldnโt even agree among themselves what it meant for Britain to leave the European Union, it seemed a bit rich to expect that voters would know.
They didnโt know because the LEAVERS didnโt know.
As I concluded in my report of February 2016:
โ๐ข๐ป ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐, ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ปโ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ. ๐ข๐๐ฟ ๐บ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฝ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐จ ๐ถ๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฑ; ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ฝ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด (๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐บ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐ผ๐๐ฒ) ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ด๐ผ๐ผ๐ฑ.โ
The problem, of course, is that Leavers didnโt have any choice of what version of Brexit they would get when they voted on 23 June 2016.
That wasnโt decided until three years later โ decided by the government, that is, and not by us, โthe peopleโ.
