• Contact
  • About
  • Authors
DONATE
NEWSLETTER SIGN UP
  • Login
Central Bylines
  • Home
  • News
    • All
    • Brexit
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Transport
    • World
    Handshake with Europe

    Always with EU? Some realism about rejoining

    Protester

    Roe v Wade: men benefit from abortion rights too – and should speak about them more

    Bruce Kent at a Stop Trident rally

    Bruce Kent (1929 – 2022) – a personal view

    Factory

    Cutting emissions from construction and automotive materials by a third

    child labour

    World losing fight to end child labour

    Protester and injunction

    Jesus wept: meet Mark Coleman, retired vicar and Just Stop Oil activist

    Cotton mill

    Gardens of the revolution: Fashion revolution at the Chelsea flower show

    Flowers

    This writer’s life: a diary. Part 3: Garden blessings

    Vigil for Visas

    Vigil for Visas: delays in issuing visas to refugees from the war in Ukraine cause misery and fear

    Trending Tags

    • Johnson
    • Ukraine Conflict
    • Brexit
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Transport
    • World
  • Politics
    Power to the people

    Power to the people

    Patriotism in the UK

    Johnson isn’t a patriot, he’s a pariah

    Return to imperial measures

    The return of imperial measurements?

    Gun Control

    ‘Gun Free Zone’ (a ‘Found’ poem, extracted from Trump’s NRA conference speech in Houston, a few days later)

    Statue of a bishop

    Johnson can’t govern so he lies instead

    Fraud and government schemes

    Fraud and government schemes

    East midlands greatest hits

    East Midlands Conservative greatest hits, Spring 2022

    Voting

    Boris Johnson won’t remove himself – we all have to help

    Anti-rascism protest

    Anti-racism campaigners in Stoke-on-Trent demand change

    Trending Tags

    • Levelling up
  • Opinion
    Adobe stock licensed image by Jorm S

    Freedom and conservatism

    This work is from the National Child Labor Committee collection at the Library of Congress. According to the library, there are no known copyright restrictions on the use of this work.

    Reflections on Boris Johnson’s ‘high skill, high wage future’ speech. Fashion – Fix up, look smart! 

    Adobe Stock licensed image by motortion

    Reflections on Boris Johnson’s ‘high skill, high wage future’ speech: the invisible half of the population

    Official United Kingdom Parliamentary photographs 2020 Tom Randall (politician) - CC-BY-3.0

    Why do people become MPs?

    Image by Central Bylines Team - derived from eligible Creative Commons sources

    Gaslighting an electorate – the moral bankruptcy of Edward Leigh 

    Adobe Stock licensed: Gibberish
by egokhan

    Lucy Allan talks gibberish

    Image by Number 10 for flickr licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

    Red wall voters to Johnson: in the name of God, go!

    Say no to the elections bill

    Say no to the Elections Bill

    Trending Tags

    • Lifestyle
      • All
      • Art
      • Books
      • Dance
      • Festivals
      • Fun & Games
      • Movies
      • Music
      • Poetry
      • Sport
      • Theatre
      • TV
      Image by author

      Anne Boleyn

      Portrait of William Byrd by The Trustees of the British Museum ©, licensed by CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

      William Byrd – “a Father of Musick”

      Waverly community garden

      Launch of Better Together Community Garden in Clayton

      Illustration by AB Wyze

      Here I’m sat

      Liverpool in Paris

      Gun Control

      ‘Gun Free Zone’ (a ‘Found’ poem, extracted from Trump’s NRA conference speech in Houston, a few days later)

      Bally Gill, David Morrissey, James Graham and Joanne Froggatt - sherwood cast

      Sherwood: what lies beneath?

      O'Rourke

      O’Rourke

      Fighter,Pilots,Cockpit,View,Under,Cloudy,Blue,Sky

      Top Gun, I feel the need…..

      Trending Tags

        • Dance
        • Food
        • Music
        • Poetry
        • Recipes
        • Sport
      • Business
        • All
        • Economy
        • Technology
        • Trade
        cloudy beer

        UK’s first cloudy beer

        Cost of living crisis

        Crisis? What crisis? The cost of living crisis and political responses

        Adobe Stock licensed image by hanohiki

        Bad news for Newark: 110 jobs lost as town’s top employer withdraws to the EU 

        Promotion image from Colleague Box website

        Pandemic start-up success story hampered by Brexit barriers

        Image licensed by Pixabay

        Information is power: its loss can be devastating

        Photo by Matt Bango on StockSnap

        Hassle in High Peak: Robert Largan’s solar farm shenanigans

        Adobe Stock licensed - image by blackday

        British Gas-lighting a nation: how energy companies are exploiting their customers with increased prices

        circular economy

        Reflections on Boris Johnson’s ‘high skill, high wage future’ speech

        Dog wrapped in a blanket, luckily he does not have to pay the bill.

        Fuel bills and service blunders as energy prices start to bite

        Trending Tags

        • Levelling up
        • Economy
        • Technology
      • Region
        • All
        • East Midlands
        • West Midlands
        Image by Number 10 used under CC2 - Prime Minister Boris Johnson met Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar on 10 October 2019 to discuss the UK's Brexit proposals.

        The Northern Ireland protocol

        Waverly community garden

        Launch of Better Together Community Garden in Clayton

        Rent seeking

        A ‘high skill, high wage future’? Rentier capitalism: who owns the future?

        Liverpool in Paris

        Mark Serwotka

        Trades unionists demand action on the cost-of-living crisis at rally in Stoke-on-Trent

        East midlands greatest hits

        East Midlands Conservative greatest hits, Spring 2022

        Allens Cross Community Centre

        St Bart’s Pantry, open for business!

        women in power 2

        Women in power

        Vera Brittain plaque

        Midlands blue plaques part 1: Vera Brittain in Buxton

        Trending Tags

          • East Midlands
          • West Midlands
        • Events
        No Result
        View All Result
        • Home
        • News
          • All
          • Brexit
          • Education
          • Environment
          • Health
          • Transport
          • World
          Handshake with Europe

          Always with EU? Some realism about rejoining

          Protester

          Roe v Wade: men benefit from abortion rights too – and should speak about them more

          Bruce Kent at a Stop Trident rally

          Bruce Kent (1929 – 2022) – a personal view

          Factory

          Cutting emissions from construction and automotive materials by a third

          child labour

          World losing fight to end child labour

          Protester and injunction

          Jesus wept: meet Mark Coleman, retired vicar and Just Stop Oil activist

          Cotton mill

          Gardens of the revolution: Fashion revolution at the Chelsea flower show

          Flowers

          This writer’s life: a diary. Part 3: Garden blessings

          Vigil for Visas

          Vigil for Visas: delays in issuing visas to refugees from the war in Ukraine cause misery and fear

          Trending Tags

          • Johnson
          • Ukraine Conflict
          • Brexit
          • Education
          • Environment
          • Health
          • Transport
          • World
        • Politics
          Power to the people

          Power to the people

          Patriotism in the UK

          Johnson isn’t a patriot, he’s a pariah

          Return to imperial measures

          The return of imperial measurements?

          Gun Control

          ‘Gun Free Zone’ (a ‘Found’ poem, extracted from Trump’s NRA conference speech in Houston, a few days later)

          Statue of a bishop

          Johnson can’t govern so he lies instead

          Fraud and government schemes

          Fraud and government schemes

          East midlands greatest hits

          East Midlands Conservative greatest hits, Spring 2022

          Voting

          Boris Johnson won’t remove himself – we all have to help

          Anti-rascism protest

          Anti-racism campaigners in Stoke-on-Trent demand change

          Trending Tags

          • Levelling up
        • Opinion
          Adobe stock licensed image by Jorm S

          Freedom and conservatism

          This work is from the National Child Labor Committee collection at the Library of Congress. According to the library, there are no known copyright restrictions on the use of this work.

          Reflections on Boris Johnson’s ‘high skill, high wage future’ speech. Fashion – Fix up, look smart! 

          Adobe Stock licensed image by motortion

          Reflections on Boris Johnson’s ‘high skill, high wage future’ speech: the invisible half of the population

          Official United Kingdom Parliamentary photographs 2020 Tom Randall (politician) - CC-BY-3.0

          Why do people become MPs?

          Image by Central Bylines Team - derived from eligible Creative Commons sources

          Gaslighting an electorate – the moral bankruptcy of Edward Leigh 

          Adobe Stock licensed: Gibberish
by egokhan

          Lucy Allan talks gibberish

          Image by Number 10 for flickr licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

          Red wall voters to Johnson: in the name of God, go!

          Say no to the elections bill

          Say no to the Elections Bill

          Trending Tags

          • Lifestyle
            • All
            • Art
            • Books
            • Dance
            • Festivals
            • Fun & Games
            • Movies
            • Music
            • Poetry
            • Sport
            • Theatre
            • TV
            Image by author

            Anne Boleyn

            Portrait of William Byrd by The Trustees of the British Museum ©, licensed by CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

            William Byrd – “a Father of Musick”

            Waverly community garden

            Launch of Better Together Community Garden in Clayton

            Illustration by AB Wyze

            Here I’m sat

            Liverpool in Paris

            Gun Control

            ‘Gun Free Zone’ (a ‘Found’ poem, extracted from Trump’s NRA conference speech in Houston, a few days later)

            Bally Gill, David Morrissey, James Graham and Joanne Froggatt - sherwood cast

            Sherwood: what lies beneath?

            O'Rourke

            O’Rourke

            Fighter,Pilots,Cockpit,View,Under,Cloudy,Blue,Sky

            Top Gun, I feel the need…..

            Trending Tags

              • Dance
              • Food
              • Music
              • Poetry
              • Recipes
              • Sport
            • Business
              • All
              • Economy
              • Technology
              • Trade
              cloudy beer

              UK’s first cloudy beer

              Cost of living crisis

              Crisis? What crisis? The cost of living crisis and political responses

              Adobe Stock licensed image by hanohiki

              Bad news for Newark: 110 jobs lost as town’s top employer withdraws to the EU 

              Promotion image from Colleague Box website

              Pandemic start-up success story hampered by Brexit barriers

              Image licensed by Pixabay

              Information is power: its loss can be devastating

              Photo by Matt Bango on StockSnap

              Hassle in High Peak: Robert Largan’s solar farm shenanigans

              Adobe Stock licensed - image by blackday

              British Gas-lighting a nation: how energy companies are exploiting their customers with increased prices

              circular economy

              Reflections on Boris Johnson’s ‘high skill, high wage future’ speech

              Dog wrapped in a blanket, luckily he does not have to pay the bill.

              Fuel bills and service blunders as energy prices start to bite

              Trending Tags

              • Levelling up
              • Economy
              • Technology
            • Region
              • All
              • East Midlands
              • West Midlands
              Image by Number 10 used under CC2 - Prime Minister Boris Johnson met Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar on 10 October 2019 to discuss the UK's Brexit proposals.

              The Northern Ireland protocol

              Waverly community garden

              Launch of Better Together Community Garden in Clayton

              Rent seeking

              A ‘high skill, high wage future’? Rentier capitalism: who owns the future?

              Liverpool in Paris

              Mark Serwotka

              Trades unionists demand action on the cost-of-living crisis at rally in Stoke-on-Trent

              East midlands greatest hits

              East Midlands Conservative greatest hits, Spring 2022

              Allens Cross Community Centre

              St Bart’s Pantry, open for business!

              women in power 2

              Women in power

              Vera Brittain plaque

              Midlands blue plaques part 1: Vera Brittain in Buxton

              Trending Tags

                • East Midlands
                • West Midlands
              • Events
              No Result
              View All Result
              Central Bylines
              No Result
              View All Result
              Home UK

              Decline and fall of Brexit Britain

              Brexit is akin to a slow puncture or a slow virus silently but surely damaging the bodies politic and economic

              John KingbyJohn King
              21-08-2021 08:35
              in UK
              Decline and fall

              'The Alexandrium, flickr.com'

              Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
              ADVERTISEMENT

              Brexit can be compared to a slow puncture or a slow virus, silently producing progressive damage without triggering the expected degree of protest. But if we have the courage to challenge Brexit’s deceptions and misconceptions, eventually the tide will turn.

              Brexit as a slow puncture or virus

              The noted commentator Professor Chris Grey, in his latest reflections for us over this quiet summer period, describes Brexit as a “slow puncture”. Whereas at one time it was widely assumed the public would “wake up” at some stage to the massive damage that Brexit involves. We now recognise that this is not necessarily the case.

              There will be no “judgment day” says Grey, no cathartic moment in which it becomes “received wisdom” that Brexit was a colossal, historic blunder. There will be no sudden blowout of the economy, just a gradual deflation.

              I reached a similar conclusion some time ago, but rather than a slow puncture I thought in terms of a “slow virus.” These viruses lurk in the body to produce conditions such as dementia, typically over a lengthy period. The insidious onset means the illness and its causes are often not recognised which is similar to what’s happening with Brexit.

              Similarly, says Grey, the deterioration of Britain will occur in dribs and drabs, as Britons get gradually poorer, with more restricted lives, with the problems blamed on things other than the true culprit. Compounding this, he adds, is the traditional stoicism of the British, who may mutter “mustn’t grumble” through their stiff upper lips and tell each other to “grin and bear it”, when they ought to be rising up in mass protest.

              Protests give way to normalisation

              Inhibiting healthy protest is the process of normalisation, whereby the unacceptable gradually becomes the norm. This can help explain the apparent tolerance and even popularity of a government whose continued gross dishonesty and corrupt practices should have ensured their immediate downfall.

              Normalisation is a  powerful force, well illustrated by H.G.Wells’ short story, The Country of the Blind. This describes a society which has evolved to be so well adjusted to blindness that sight is a positive encumbrance. An explorer, entering their world by accident, is captured and told that once their surgeon has removed his eyeballs, his troubles will be over.

              Former Remainers may not yet be quite in that position, except perhaps metaphorically. Some of us can still see the damage Brexit is causing.

              But the key factors preventing greater awareness of the Brexit trauma are that it is slow – strung out by transition periods, extensions, and grace periods, – and it affects the whole country. A couple of analogies may make this clearer.

              When an aeroplane descends from 30,000 feet to 5,000 feet, the passengers may hardly notice, though it’s very obvious to the pilot on his screen. Britain is to some extent a closed community; an island nation made more isolated and inward looking both by Brexit and the lockdown. They do not have the pilot’s view of themselves.

              Another metaphor, which has been invoked in relation to the climate emergency as well as Brexit, is that of boiled frogs. Drop a frog into very hot water and it jumps out straight away. But bring a cauldron of frogs slowly to the boil and they do not react in that way. They all die.


              More from Central Bylines

              UK now a third country
              UK

              The UK is now a third country – Britain’s supply chain crisis

              18 August 2021
              Brexit Britain
              Brexit

              Brexit and our British identity

              8 July 2021

              The European Movement is gaining strength

              Now let me hasten to add that I do have an antidote or two to these depressing thoughts. Firstly, remember what I said in my last article, about events moving in cycles. At present the political pendulum is gaining momentum as it swings further and further into Brexitland. As it does so, a force builds up to take it back in the opposite direction. In other words, the European Movement is gaining strength, and one day the tide will turn. 

              Secondly, may I recommend a little booklet just published by the organisation Stay European. Routes to Rejoin charts in crystal clear fashion the practical ways in which Britain could resume its place in the European Union. The book is engaging and lucidly set out and will certainly be a valuable read, especially for the younger generation.

              Taking a leaf out of that book, I do not attempt to conceal my pro-European views or apologise for them, in my everyday conversations. Whilst I acknowledge that our troubles can have complex causes, I resist the trend to use this as an excuse for routinely muddying the waters and creating doubt.

              Indeed, one could be forgiven for invoking Brexit as chief suspect, whenever mischief is afoot. After all, Farage blamed anything and everything on the EU before the referendum. It seems a fair payback. 

              “Britain is a victim”

              Grey has noted in several blog posts the popularity of “Britain as victim” narrative. It has a certain resonance with the public which has been exploited by the tabloid press.

              Only last week a friend told me that of course it was well known that other countries were in a plot to punish Britain for leaving the EU. He was emphatic that he had worked this out for himself, even though it was straight from the pages of the Daily Express.

              I merely observed that foreign leaders probably have better things to do with their time than sit around thinking up punishments for a country whose importance, now we have left the EU, is rather less than that of outer Mongolia.

              If other pro-Europeans are consistent in challenging these egocentric ideas which place Britain at the centre of the known universe, the objective facts about our status may begin to register. The press will need to be careful about their exaggerated claims. When people begin to clock that they have been fed a diet of tall stories over the years, their already declining sales will plummet.

              Time to challenge the Brexit dogma

              In conclusion, I have found that challenging the Brexit dogma when the occasion arises can earn respect and is certainly more satisfying than the policy of silence and avoidance espoused for too long by the main political parties.

              Predicting the future is a hazardous business at the best of times, but of one thing I am sure: one day the Brexit virus will be consigned to the history books. At that point a once-great nation will cease its decline and fall and can start to rise up again.  

              ADVERTISEMENT
              Previous Post

              The heart of village life in the Stour Valley

              Next Post

              The Death of ‘Global’ Britain

              John King

              John King

              John King is a retired doctor, Remain campaigner and occasional singer in pubs. Born in Birmingham and raised in Worcestershire and Leicestershire, he now lives in Stratford-upon-Avon.

              Related Posts

              Gates of Downing St
              Covid

              No excuses Boris. Most people obeyed  lockdown rules

              byEdward Cartwright
              24 April 2022
              Photo by RODRIGO GONZALEZ on Unsplash
              Covid

              The challenges faced by long covid sufferers as we “learn to live” with covid

              byKelly Heath
              23 April 2022
              LFT positive test
              Covid

              Covid-19: millions of families lose their freedom as Boris Johnson gives some lives priority over others

              byJune Roche
              7 March 2022
              Image by Number 10 for flickr licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
              Opinion

              Red wall voters to Johnson: in the name of God, go!

              byCentral Bylines Team
              4 February 2022
              Author's own image
              A Cotswold Diary

              The Hillsborough disaster and the Sheldon Tapestries

              byAnn C Holland
              12 January 2022
              Next Post
              Death of global Britain

              The Death of ‘Global’ Britain

              Want to support us?

              Can you help Central Bylines to grow and become more sustainable with a regular donation, no matter how small?  

              DONATE

              Sign up to our newsletter

              If you would like to receive the Central Bylines regular newsletter, straight talking direct to your inbox, click the button below.

              NEWSLETTER

              LATEST

              Handshake with Europe

              Always with EU? Some realism about rejoining

              1 July 2022
              Protester

              Roe v Wade: men benefit from abortion rights too – and should speak about them more

              28 June 2022
              Power to the people

              Power to the people

              28 June 2022
              Image by Number 10 used under CC2 - Prime Minister Boris Johnson met Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar on 10 October 2019 to discuss the UK's Brexit proposals.

              The Northern Ireland protocol

              27 June 2022

              MOST READ

              Handshake with Europe

              Always with EU? Some realism about rejoining

              1 July 2022
              Image by Number 10 used under CC2 - Prime Minister Boris Johnson met Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar on 10 October 2019 to discuss the UK's Brexit proposals.

              The Northern Ireland protocol

              27 June 2022
              Protester

              Roe v Wade: men benefit from abortion rights too – and should speak about them more

              28 June 2022
              Official_portrait_of_Angela_Rayner_MP

              Angela Rayner has class, her attackers have none

              6 May 2022

              BROWSE BY TAGS

              Blue Plaques Climate change Community Cost of living crisis Covid Energy Farming Johnson Latest Levelling up My Little Town Rwanda Ukraine Conflict Voting Whistleblower
              Central Bylines

              Central Bylines is a regional online newspaper that supports citizen journalism. Our aim is to publish well-written, fact-based articles and opinion pieces on subjects that are of interest to people in Central England and beyond.



              Learn more about us

              No Result
              View All Result
              • Contact
              • About
              • Donate
              • Privacy policy
              • Bylines network
              • Back Editions
              • Shop

              © 2022 Central Bylines. Citizen Journalism | Local & Internationalist

              No Result
              View All Result
              • Home
              • News
                • Brexit
                • Education
                • Environment
                • Health
                • Transport
                • World
              • Politics
              • Back in the news
              • Opinion
              • Lifestyle
                • Dance
                • Food
                • Music
                • Poetry
                • Recipes
                • Sport
              • Business
                • Economy
                • Technology
                • Trade
              • Regional Events
              • Donate
              • Newsletter sign up
              • A Cotswold Diary
              • Authors
              • BYLINES NETWORK
              • Contact

              © 2022 Central Bylines. Citizen Journalism | Local & Internationalist

              Welcome Back!

              Login to your account below

              Forgotten Password?

              Retrieve your password

              Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

              Log In
              X