Brexit disaster

My reflections, at the end of an unprecedented summer of catastrophic, human-induced climate chaos, about what we can do and how we can cope with ever-increasing climate collapse in the face of a persistent refusal, by politicians and the media, to respond to the gravest existential threat in all our lifetimes with anything resembling the urgency that is required.

The second of two articles looking at how the Tory government’s vile anti-immigration policies, pursued with such vigour by Priti Patel and Suella Braverman, have their origins in the dangerous isolationism of Brexit, and its unleashing of false and disturbing notions that, post-Brexit, the UK should no longer be constrained by international law. In this second article, I examine the Tory government’s increasingly lawless and heartless approach to immigration — and in particular the small boats crossing the Channel, which refugees are obliged to use because no safe routes exist whereby they can claim asylum — as demonstrated by Priti Patel’s Rwanda plan, and Suella Braverman’s ‘Illegal Migration Bill’, which seeks to criminalise refugees entirely, and which is currently making its way through Parliament.

The first of two articles in which I examine how the Tory government’s vile anti-immigration policies, pursued with such vigour by Priti Patel and Suella Braverman, have their origins in the dangerous isolationism of Brexit, and its unleashing of false and disturbing notions that, post-Brexit, the UK should no longer be constrained by international law. In this first article, I look at how Brexit happened, how Theresa May paved the way for the shoddy and cruel lawlessness of Patel and Braverman, and how the Tories, even before Brexit, have consistently sought to undermine the European Convention on Human Rights, with a particular focus on Theresa May’s obsessive pursuit of the Jordanian cleric Abu Qatada.

Linking to and discussing my two recent interviews about Guantánamo and Julian Assange, with Jason Olbourne on TNT Radio in Australia, and with J. G. Michael for his ‘Parallax Views’ podcast, in which we also discussed recent claims by former prisoner Mansoor Adayfi that Republican presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis was present when he and other hunger strikers were being force-fed, and that he revelled in their suffering.

Now that Rishi Sunak has become the Conservative Party’s fourth Brexit Prime Minister in six years, I look at the colossal challenges he faces — on the ‘cost of living’ crisis, the climate crisis, and Brexit in particular — and express serious doubts that either he, or his Cabinet, are capable of providing anything like the leadership that we need.

Linking to, and discussing my recent interview with Chris Cook of Gorilla Radio in Canada, about the collapse of Liz Truss’s government, after just 44 days, the baleful influence of the Tufton Street ‘think-tanks’, and the unending agony of Brexit, plus discussion of the plight of Julian Assange and the current situation at Guantánamo. Chris also played the Four Fathers’ anti-Brexit anthem, ‘I Want My Country Back (From The People Who Wanted Their Country Back)’, and my article also includes some post-interview reflections on Rishi Sunak as the new Prime Minister, and the many challenges he faces, not least on Brexit.

With Liz Truss resigning just 44 days into her role as Prime Minister, after crashing the economy with her irresponsible ‘mini-budget’, delivered by Kwasi Kwarteng just 27 days ago, and with the Tories now shamelessly jostling to elect a successor in the next week, they need to recognise that they have completely run out of legitimacy and credibility, and call a General Election instead. Labour currently have a 36-point lead, but it will mean nothing, if an election does go ahead, if they fail to recognise the damage caused by Brexit, and don’t take steps to address it, if they don’t fully take on board the catastrophic nature of the climate crisis, and if they remain tied to too much economic orthodoxy.

My detailed analysis of the extraordinary coup staged by Liz Truss and her Cabinet, who, without a mandate from the British people, have delivered an energy price cap that will be paid for by taxpayers, and an energy policy that prioritises new fossil fuel extraction over renewables, and, via the new Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, a ‘mini-budget’ that further widens the chasm between the rich and the poor. This is through tax cuts that overwhelmingly favour the rich, accompanied by a promise to punish the unemployed, as well as attempts to set up rights-free “investment zones” across the country — all policies drawn from the adherence of Truss and her colleagues to the far-right ‘libertarian’ think-tanks in Tufton Street in Westminster that also helped to secure the Brexit vote, and are now seeking to fulfil their dream of an utterly unregulated Britain, with no workers’ rights or environmental protections.

As the weather turns hostile, even in London, which is experiencing its hottest summer ever, I look at the dangerous disconnect between everyday life and the grim future that awaits us if we don’t take immediate and concerted action to address catastrophic climate change. Failed by politicians, by the oil and gas industry and by the mainstream media, can we find a way out of our predicament before it is too late?

My review of the WOMAD festival’s welcome return to Charlton Park in Wiltshire for the first time since 2019, and my reflections on the festival’s history, and my 20 years of attending and working in the children’s workshops, which culminate in a children’s procession through the festival site on its final evening.