March of the patriots

It is encouraging to see that some in the media are waking up to the implications of a no deal Brexit. We are also at a point where Tory Brexiteers are unable to share their wisdom on Twitter without being roundly ridiculed. There is barely any sport in it now. It feels more like mocking the afflicted.

Sadly I do not see that it will do any good. Positions are entrenched and for all that this blog and others have said, people who should know better still cling on to some deeply miscalculated opinions and nothing you or I say is going to change that.

This week's tiresome canard is that taking the threat of a walkout off the table weakens our negotiating hand. This is self-evidently ridiculous, but to those who still buy the notion that they need us more than we need them it is an entirely logical position. This level of incomprehension cannot be corrected. To do so would require one to individually explain the issues in their entirety which proves entirely fruitless since people have a habit of defaulting to factory settings however well you explain it.

This reminds me of something my dad has often said - that you don't attack the hard points. In Blitzkreig, you don't attack the Maginot line fortifications - you go around them instead. It makes no sense trying to get through to ideologues or those with no understanding. All that does is waste energy.

This is why I have an open dialogue with Dr Mike Galsworthy of Scientists for EU among other remain activists. At this point what matters is getting people up to speed and on the same page. It does not matter that we profoundly disagree on the matter of EU membership. Most can now agree in the round that the consequences of a no deal Brexit are something we would wish to avoid.

Ultimately this is no longer a remain/leave debate. This is about stopping a government doing irreparable damage to the economy and our standing in the world. In this we do not have time to explain the basics to people who are never going to grasp it. The mission is now to speak to any and all who comprehend the immediate danger in preparation of what is to come.

My view is now settled that there is not going to be a deal. People tell me I'm being too fatalistic but, thus far, this government has made every avoidable mistake and fallen into every logical trap. There is no evidence to suggest they have even the most basic grasp of what they are dealing with and there is no Westminster chatter that indicates a change of course.

I also believe that this government is not negotiating in good faith. The Florence speech was an ambush as a precursor to a walkout and Mrs May's trip to Brussels today appears to be part of the theatricals. It is a bogus last ditch attempt before concluding that an agreement is not possible.

In this we must make it quite clear that that a failure to engage, and a collapse of talks is malfeasance and incompetence to the extent that we should demand the resignation of the government and an immediate general election.

For some time now I have held the view that the only way we will see a reset to Article 50 talks is if this government falls. We cannot remain passive in this. I do not have confidence that there are sufficient numbers (or any) MPs who have enough grasp of the subject to be able to intervene effectively. Even the very best of them are lacklustre, and will miss the point. It is therefore incumbent upon the public themselves to act.

To that end all patriots leave and remain should be prepared to take to the streets. Nothing short of  a million people converging on Parliament will do. Should this government walk out of talks then that is a failure of government but also a failure of politics. Should we passively accept this then we would very well deserve whatever fate awaits us. If we are so indifferent to how we are governed that we can't put a million people on the streets of Westminster then there is little worth saving anyway.