As Brexit dominates our nation, we have have forgotten other pressing issues; we must sort this mess and then get back to normal business suggests Matthew Steeples
We live in a morally warped age. With BBC Radio 4’s Today programme yesterday sharing shocking news that there are 5,000 homeless people ‘existing’ (certainly not ‘living’) in one of the richest areas of Britain, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and over 6,000 ex-veterans homeless nationwide, we plainly need to reassess our priorities. How can such a wealthy country allow such a state of affairs to continue? As Chuka Ummuna stated in a column on this very topic for The Independent on New Year’s Eve: “The broken politics of Brexit has masked the horror of Britain’s homelessness… Things have to change.”
Brexit continues to dominate our political priorities in this country and though, yes, it has to be dealt with before we can move on, the rise of extremism is certainly the biggest threat we now face. Yesterday, this was summed up perfectly when “woefully unfunny” Nigel Farage and his batshit brained, hater of just about everything sidekick Ann Widdecombe held a rally – Donald Trump style – at a working men’s club in West Yorkshire. There, to an audience mostly no doubt wearing catheter bags, according to the Daily Mail’s Henry Deedes, ‘Widders’ “squawked” such lines as: “We know what we want!” whilst audience members “interrupted” with: “Ann fer Prime Minister” and shouts of “traitor” about the local Labour MP, Yvette Cooper.
Summing up the new Brexit Party perfectly, Tony Blair (yes, I accept he’s hated by the majority, but sadly he’s one of the few speaking sense these days) responded. In stating of Farage and his Mosley-esque crew: “They are not the people to drain the swamp of politics, they are the people that have created the swamp,” he was spot on.
Sadly, however, with the remain camp following the same path that they took in the 2016 referendum campaign – that of arrogantly assuming they would just win – and not uniting as one and campaigning hard, they are on the road to yet another loss and to allowing the far-right to take over our once great country. What will we have, if that is allowed? An almighty bloody mess and a morally and financially bankrupt Not So Great Britain with many more homeless people on our streets.
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