How can Britain's divisions be healed?

The country is massively divided on Brexit and these divisions are only getting deeper. Here is when Owen Jones, a prominent left-wing Guardian journalist, went to interview people at a rally for Nigel Farage's Brexit Party. He got insulted and shouted at by almost everyone he was filmed interviewing. The main points made by these people were about democracy but ironically almost nobody tried to engage him in rational discourse and one person even said that the Guardian newspaper should be banned:

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sltIisHseA]

The mood at the Brexit rally was one of right-wing anti-establishment anger fuelled by tribal bitterness against anything that they disagree with. Obviously, its a rally and it's the hard-core rather than the majority of party support, but they are the hard-core of a party which is polling very well.

The Brexit Party won't win a UK General Election, but they will probably push the Conservative Party into supporting a no-deal Brexit. Boris Johnson, now the clear front-runner to replace May, has already said that Britain must leave the EU by October 'with or without a deal'. There is no deal that could conceivably be negotiated that would appease the majority of Brexit voters.

The anger and sense of betrayal felt by the people at the Brexit rally is only likely to increase. If the unscrupulous and caddish Johnson walks back on his no-deal promise then Farage and our right-wing tabloids will further inflame these tensions. If there is a no-deal Brexit then there will be a huge recession and people will feel betrayed again. This anger could go in different places but some of it will go further down the well of the nationalist right.

This page is a permanent link to the reply below and its nested replies. See all post replies »

whowasthatmaskedman · 70-79, M

Which divisions did you have in mind? The Brexit ones. The age ones (closely related to Brexit) The economic ones? Or the racial ones? That is a fragmented nation and it will need to find its own level and a whole new position over time.

Burnley123 · 41-45, M

@whowasthatmaskedman All of the above but Brexit has inflamed it. We have all of a sudden landed in a huge American style culture war.

Its always been here in way, as it is everywhere. Its just so much bigger and nastier since Brexit. Watch the video and think about how traditionally Britain has been famous for political moderation and civility.

whowasthatmaskedman · 70-79, M

@Burnley123 Agreed. Trump style politics is a cancer and its contagious.

Burnley123 · 41-45, M

@whowasthatmaskedman I actually think it's now getting worse here than in America

whowasthatmaskedman · 70-79, M

@Burnley123 I would disagree. But Its been a while since I was in the UK.. and on the other hand America is really several nations in one.

Burnley123 · 41-45, M

@whowasthatmaskedman Well we are at least two. I've never known anything like this.

room101 · 51-55, M

@whowasthatmaskedman With respect, everything that you have listed (other than Brexit) fragments every social construct. None of that is new and does not make the UK any more fragmented than any other nation out there.

I have friends and family members who are diverse in every way imaginable. And yet we are still one cohesive social unit which is brought together by all manner of shared experiences etc. Some are Leavers and some are Remainers. Some are passionate about Brexit, some are not.

The point is, Brexit has not divided us. And no, the UK is nowhere near as divided as the US.

Burnley123 · 41-45, M

@room101 I dunno. There is probably gonna be either a seconds ref, a no deal Brexit or both. Things are gonna escalate.

room101 · 51-55, M

@Burnley123 Both of those things have become increasingly possible. And yes, things will certainly escalate. They have to because of our current deadlock. What I don't see is an escalation in terms of division among ordinary people.

I think that we are still a pretty civil bunch who can argue passionately but are bound by basically common ideals and values.

whowasthatmaskedman · 70-79, M

@room101 The division I speak of are not universal. If you are your community have maintained cohesion in the face of all this I applaud you all. But those divisions do exist in many of those group. I tend to agree that the problems of division are much worse in the united states. But we could write volumes on why that might be , outside of the current President and his politics of division.

whowasthatmaskedman · 70-79, M

@Burnley123 My Money has always been on a No Deal Brexit ever since the EU put such a ridiculously high exit price on the deal.

room101 · 51-55, M

@whowasthatmaskedman Every country on the planet has disparate age groups and that disparity causes various types of divisions. Similarly with economic disparity and (occasionally to a lesser degree) racial disparity.

Ergo, those divisions are indeed universal. What may not be universal is the degree to which those divisions become problematic.

whowasthatmaskedman · 70-79, M

@room101 Agreed. I speak of those "problems" as being the real divisions. Otherwise they are just differences.

room101 · 51-55, M

@whowasthatmaskedman The UK has all sorts of real divisions. It's made up of four different countries. It is a an absolute melting pot of ethnicities and races. We have the North-South economic divide. And so on and so forth.

I think that we can agree that there has been, in the last five years (if not longer), an increased focus on those divisions throughout the Western world. That's what's given rise to the various right wing populist movements. It's something that Bannon and his ilk have exploited.

It's also something that the EU has underestimated for a very long time. In their march for creating a unified Europe, they have ignored the strength and importance of cultural identity.

whowasthatmaskedman · 70-79, M

@room101 We can absolutely agree on all of that.