We are going HARD BREXIT
*Takes a DEEEEEEEEP breath*
What drives me mad is that we look to be going on this 'hard Brexit' based on the fact that 52% of voters wanted to leave the EU. 'Hard Brexit' seems to be the most extreme departure from the EU, with staying in the single market and other more complex possibilities also potentially available. It should not be an option after a referendum which was won with such a narrow majority.
So of those 52% some would have wanted a full on "let's build a 50ft high wall around the UK and burn brown people for fuel" departure from the EU. Others would have wanted a deal like Norway's, where the UK would be part of the single market but would have more freedom to make its own laws. Others would have voted to leave simply to get Cameron out of office. We do not know the split across these (and other) categories, as nobody seems to have done this research which is desperately needed. But what we do know is that the vote was to leave the EU, so now we need to find the best way to do that.
I'm going to make an assumption that nearly all the 48% of remain voters would choose the softest Brexit option available. After all, they wanted to stay in the EU, so if forced to leave they probably want the option closest to remaining. But what about the leave voters? Let's imagine that a small proportion, 10%, want a very soft Brexit option. They may want more 'sovereignty' for the UK, but do not actually want things to change much. With these two groups you would have over 50% of the voters choosing a 'soft Brexit'.
We are about to make a decision for 100% of the population, based on the views of an unknown proportion 52% of the voters in the referendum. The Government can not say that they have popular support for a 'hard Brexit', because they do not know and on balance the odds are against it (almost every leave voter would need to support a full Brexit for this to be true). All we know is that 52% of the voters wanted to leave the EU. Any decisions about how the public think that should look are merely speculation and political manoeuvring.
It is such bullshit. This whole Brexit situation is like jumping out of a plane, and then realising that Boris Johnson packed your parachute. So much is riding on the negotiation ability of a group of failed Party leadership candidates.
