Brexit recalls Henry VIII's break with Rome to form the Church of England against the might of Catholic Europe
 For most British subjects, the reason for backing Brexit, is more visceral than ideological. There is no lack of proportionate non-white support, as is so often charged to bring Brexiteers into disrepute.
Outside London and the south of England, that is, where Remain sentiment is high, non-whites, if they have either Commonwealth or British accents outside Remain areas, are fairly reflective of the views of the general population.
It is in London where both the public sector and big business concentrate. Big business sees the EU as an ally that makes regulatory compliance so costly that its keeps smaller rivals at bay, not to mention that much of their settled business has been with the EU because it must be under the rules of the Single Market. So admittedly, without an EU, there would be much disruption in the Wild West of the WTO world. Good times would come after bad times.
For most Remain voters, the EU is a source of status quo security, clean high-paying jobs that employ university graduates, now mostly women, to swell the ranks of the burgeoning inspectorates, or staffing the MUSH - media, universities, schools and hospitals.
The other areas where Remain feeling is strong are in the welfare-recipient have-not states of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, which continue to suffer a chronic brain drain, where the best and the brightest flee to the Metropolitan centres in England. Rather like the Democratic Party in the US, the Remain has become a union of the poor and the affluent.
But what divides the UK on this issue is not the usual right/left divide that is the standard in electoral politics worldwide, one that sets one half the electors, who seek security over liberty against the other half who treasure liberty above all.
Only in moments of extremity are there electoral landslides. Most everywhere polling results come up 50:50, or very nearly. But such a momentous times occurred in Britain's European Parliamentary elections in May when the six-week-old Brexit Party swept the seats, knocking out Conservative and Labour party candidates who had dominated the field for 40 years.
Not that a total sweep of the 78 UK seats would matter, not with Germany having 99 seats with France and Italy each having 78 each. Even if one could command all of the 705 seats, it would not matter because the assembly itself is advisory and cannot pass any legislation. So apart from the high salaries and benefits it members enjoy, the result doesn't matter legislatively because it cannot legislate.
Thus, the vote's significance is as an important opinion poll that stands to impact future Brexit talks, because it plainly reinforces the Britain's Brexit resolve. What is called the "Deep State", whose members feel they cannot cope with life after the EU, ended the public clamour demanding a way of out of the EU was silenced by promising a "referendum" would be held to settle the question. But it proved to be, not a "referendum" that "referred" the question to the voters, but only a non-binding "plebiscite", an opinion poll without legislative force. With the weakness of the vote itself, plus the scarifying predictions from big business, the Treasury and the MUSH, Remainians had every expectation of things going their way and the measure being defeated.
But all were astonished with the result with Brexit option winning 51.89 per cent of the vote on June 23, 2016. Then Prime Minister David Cameron, who campaigned on the Remain side, felt it was his time to go and resigned.
Next up was Theresa May, who also campaigned on the Remain side though less virulently, became prime minister, and appeared ready to deliver Brexit. But as weeks dragged into months and years, it looked like she was not putting enough effort into achieving a departure from EU. In fact, more people were now suspicious that the foot-dragging was a deliberate Remain rearguard action, a covert way to kick the can down the road repeatedly until Brexit was forgotten.
The sticking point was a trade deal, without which Brexit could not be obtained, or so it was widely assumed on the Remain side, to which they added the possibility of another "People's vote", coyly put by the Labour Party leadership as "another consultation". It soon became apparent, that if a deal was essential to leaving, and those who could make a deal work, did not want it to work, it was in the EU's interest to make the terms offered unacceptable, and thus keep Britain in.
There was also the problem of the Northern Ireland border with another EU member state, the Republic of Ireland. Under the Irish peace accords of the Good Friday Agreement, there were terms - like the free-movement of people and goods - the EU said would be impossible to meet should the UK leave the EU.
Thus, EU negotiators came up a "backstop agreement" within the withdrawal agreement that required that Northern Ireland continue within the European Single Market and the European Union Customs Union, which would make it subject to the EU courts. But the UK government regarded the idea of having EU rules applying to Northern Ireland only as a threat to the integrity of the United Kingdom, and rejected it.
When the first Brexit deadline - March 29 - came and went, EU negotiators allowed it to pass to facilitate negotiations on the exit deal, setting another departure date on April 12. That too came and went and next exit data was as October 31. Then Prime Minister May continued to bring back one EU deal after another and MPs voted them down. Admitting to the impasse, she resigned as the newly formed Brexit Party support soared in the opinion polls as did its rocketing financial resources that came pouring in only after five weeks after its creation.
But bureaucratically, it looked like the entire process was playing into the hands of the Remainers and the Brexiteers were getting nowhere, but were now told to wait until October when under the departure rules, when the UK will be out of the EU, or would it?
It was becoming clear that in an effort to keep Britain in the EU, the continental negotiators were continually making offers that the British could only refuse, thus keeping them in. As this became apparent, the "no deal Brexit" or a "hard Brexit" or a "WTO Brexit" became a serious option among growing numbers. And as deal-making seemed to be a fool's game, which only served to delay Brexit, and increasingly appeared to be its aim, "crashing out" of the EU seemed to be the way to go. An EU deal if necessary, but not necessarily an EU deal, seemed to be position taken before the vote for Brexit MEPs elected to the European Parliament.
Of course, this is not the first time England opted out of an all-embracing institution that shared sovereignty with its European member states, one that could, and did, marshal Europe’s military might of the Continent and sent off to battle Muslims in the Middle East from 1095 to 1492. But in the early 1530s, England's King Henry VIII had enough and broke with the Roman Catholic Church, and established the Church of England, or the Anglican Church. This has mistakenly been viewed as being part of the concurrent Protestant Reformation, which it was not because there was no doctrinal dispute. In fact, Henry VIII was awarded the title of Defender of the Faith by the Pope in happier times for his skillful rebuttal of Martin Luther's Protestant thesis.
No, this was a political dispute as to who was in control the Church in England. There was no religious quarrel. Apart for papal authority, and the end of the use of the Latin, that is, the Roman language, there was no quarrel. Ever since, and to this day, the Church of England recognises the Bishop of Rome, that is, the Pope, as the first Christian prelate. Nonetheless, church property, the source of Papal funds, were seized and sold off to raise money for the king, and to stymie the forces of the Counter-Reformation, which like today's EU did not want to let England go. While the quarrel was set off over the Pope's refusal to grant Henry a divorce, it was more about wanting to end continental control over the internal affairs of Britain.
With the Brexit win in the European Parliament, being akin to a second referendum, Parliament with its pro-Remain majority was in a fix, clearly at odds with the most of the people. Labour finding the Conservatives weaker than themselves, albeit marginally, mulled a no-confidence vote, bringing on another election in a bid to win back the government.
But whatever happens, the Brexit Party is bound to play a role in bringing about a change in the United Kingdom as we know it. But there are many twists and turns until October 31 - and undoubtedly after that. |
