Plenty of nonsense has been talked about Brexit but Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has plumbed new depths of absurdity.
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Nandy → talk → absurdity
In a statement marking Remembrance Sunday, her department said it was seeking to 'repair' damage caused by Brexit to 'the strong links with Europe that veterans' service helped to secure and endure after the Second World War'.
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service → mark → War
Ms Nandy is apparently suggesting that leaving the European Union was a betrayal of those who fought and died for this country.
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who → suggest → country
She believes we should honour their sacrifice by rejoining the Erasmus+ programme, the student mobility scheme that Britain left after Brexit.
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Britain → believe → Brexit
Veterans didn't serve in order to promote Erasmus or any other EU programme.
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Veterans → serve → Erasmus
They were doing their duty for their country.
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They → do → country
If anything, the defence ties between its European members have strengthened in recent times, irrespective of Brexit.
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ties → strengthen → Brexit
So desperate is Ms Nandy (along with the rest of the Cabinet) to rejoin the EU that she will even try to hijack Remembrance Sunday to advance her cause.
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she → rejoin → cause
This tells us a great deal – and it should finally wake up somnolent Brexiteers.
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it → tell → Brexiteers
Linda Nandy said her department was seeking to 'repair' damage caused by Brexit to 'the strong links with Europe that veterans' service helped to secure after the Second World War'
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service → say → War
Andy Burnham may seem a lightweight sort of fellow, offering instant running commentaries on all manner of things (his most recent concerned rape trials).
But it would be a huge mistake to think that going cap in hand back to the EU is just another idea that has floated into his porous mind.
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that → seem → mind
He believes in it passionately.
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He → believe → it
Why this should be the case, in view of the economic difficulties of the EU's leading countries and their drift to the hard-Right, isn't clear.
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be → lead → Right
Andy made up his mind about Europe when he was a young MP and he isn't going to change it now.
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he → make → it
This explains why week by week we edge back towards the maw of Brussels.
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we → explain → Brussels
The PM claims food will be cheaper if we get closer to the bloc.
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we → claim → bloc
Illegal immigration will be easier to control.
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immigration → control → ?
Admittedly, Burnham concedes that complete reabsorption into the EU won't be possible so long as the Labour Government remains bound by its 2024 manifesto promise to stay out, and not to join the Customs Union or Single Market.
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Government → concede → Union
Complete fulfilment won't happen until after the election.
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fulfilment → happen → election
Until then, Andy Burnham and the likes of Lisa Nandy are preparing the ground with extraordinary speed.
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Burnham → prepare → speed
What astonishes me is the relative equanimity of many Brexiteers.
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astonishes → astonish → Brexiteers
They believe Labour will never pull it off.
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Labour → believe → it
The EU will demand concessions that no British Government could ever accept.
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Government → demand → that
Others say the issue of Brexit is so divisive that a sane prime minister wouldn't dare reopen it.
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minister → say → it
Maybe, but what about a prime minister who never actually says he has reopened it but moves forward in quick, short steps?
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he → say → steps
Are quiescent Brexiteers frightened of raising the subject with an exhausted electorate?
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Brexiteers → raise → electorate
Or do some of them believe in their hearts that the Rejoiners' claims that Brexit has damaged the economy contain a grain of truth?
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Brexit → believe → truth
Whatever the explanation, there is a dangerous complacency.
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explanation → be → ?
I realise Kemi Badenoch has criticised Burnham's plans to finagle us back into the EU, while Nigel Farage believes they will give him the opportunity to revive the fortunes of Reform UK.
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they → realise → UK
But so far battle hasn't been engaged.
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battle → engage → ?
Rejoiners are allowed to make unchallenged assertions.
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Rejoiners → allow → assertions
Take Labour MP Stella Creasy, Chair of the Labour Movement for Europe, who was again given the floor by the BBC last week.
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who → take → BBC
She repeated her frequent claim that leaving the EU has cost the UK between 6 and 8 per cent of GDP per capita, an enormous amount.
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leaving → repeat → capita
In an article in The Guardian last year she attributed this figure to 'a major study'.
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she → attribute → study
This was carried out by the Centre for Economic Policy Research, a pan-European organisation based in Paris that describes itself as non-partisan.
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that → carry → itself
God forbid that I should suggest its findings might have been influenced in the tiniest degree by its own prejudices!
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findings → forbid → prejudices
Estimating what Britain's growth might have been if we'd stayed in the EU is a futile pastime.
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we → estimate → EU
All we can say is that since the UK left in January 2020, its economy has expanded by roughly the same amount as France's and significantly more than Germany's.
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economy → say → Germany
The International Monetary Fund thinks Britain will grow at the same rate as Germany this year, and appreciably faster than France or Italy.
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Britain → think → France
The Stella Creasy of this world want us to believe that if Britain had remained in the EU its economy would have soared.
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economy → want → EU
…and 18 more, not listed.
The Aporia
