Poor Cameron, things are getting out of hand. The boy is not used to have his right-wing media friends stabbing him on the back for a few thousands untaxed. Depending on how inclined you are to indulge in conspiracy-minded thoughts, you can see the trickle of bumps Cameron and his Tory supporters have experienced lately almost on a daily basis as part of a more or less grand plan, whose execution is mastered by a more or less centralised entity that has no intention to loose the once in a generation opportunity to take the country outside the EU. Myself, I see the unfolding of events of the last few weeks with increasing anxiety. The PM has clearly underestimated the length his old allies in the media, business, and party are prepared to go to unchain the UK from the continent, make the country free once again to sail through the sea to re-join the fantasy of the commonwealth – haven’t the kiwis just voted to keep the union jack on their flag? Cameron has also underestimated the extent some of his and the country’s enemies may be prepared to go. For many, Brexit is the end goal, for some the collateral damage they are prepared to pay to get rid of Cameron. So less of a grand plan (but surely there is someone who thinks they are the puppeteer) and more of an interests-based fluid coalition of forces made by political opportunists, nostalgists, nationalists, media moguls and coldwar spies. My list of conspirators (apologies to those not listed, I promise I will include them in the next post) jotted down on a napkin on the train after a long day at the BSA conference include in no particular order:
- Empire nostalgists and fantasists (including some of the royals?)
- Fish & chips nationalists a la Farage
- Some Scottish nationalists may join the party but it is a bit more complicated for them because they need a strong ‘remain’ vote to make the case for Scotland being on a different path than England and call another referendum
- Russia – to weaken the UK, the EU, and NATO and retaliate for sanctions
- National socialists – ‘British jobs for British people kind of people’, you can also hear them say without the EU we would have better working conditions (frankly a joke)
- Anglo-supremacist media moguls a la Daily Mail
- Euro-rules-sceptics a la Murdoch
- Labour opportunists – enjoying the spectacle of Tories’ civil war, waiting for the corpse of their enemy on the Thames river bank near Westminster.
- Boris Johnson – to replace Cameron
Postcards from ... 