Blog 2023 Malcolm Blair-Robinson

With Boris now in play, Cameron badly damaged and morphed to Dodgy Dave, with Osborne devalued by his budget disaster, Remain is in trouble. The dozens of bankers, foreign leaders and business men pleading for Britain to stay are no match for one Boris arguing to leave. So it could very well be that the world will be rocked, and believe me it will be, by the unthinkable spectacle of Britain walking from Europe.

Everything now hangs on Labour and the Unions. Largely united and backing  Remain, the latest polls reveal Labour ahead of the Tories for the first time in this parliament and guess who is trusted more on Europe by voters than Cameron, Osborne or even Boris? Jeremy Corbyn.

This blog is chuffed because it backed Corbyn from the start when he was a no hoper standing for the Labour leadership last year. Why? Because my friends we are in an historic vortex of political change. A change of political weather as many would put it. And when that happens all the verities about political realities, all your accumulated skills and wisdom as a politician, commentator, academic or observer which you have built up since 1979 and the advent of Thatcher, count for nothing. That software is obsolete and no longer recognised by the people who will not open it again. The hardware has been upgraded to different values. The era of Me First is over. Self Interest is supplanted by the Common Good. It will be the people’s judgement of where that lies which will determine how the UK winds up in June.

Boris Johnson in a flurry of rallies, interviews and speeches yesterday took command of the Leave campaign and injected a sense of passion, pride and self belief in Britain and its potential which has energised the whole debate over Europe. Never mind all these world figures he says; they all have an axe to grind as does the British establishment in keeping to the status quo. Obama was creamed in a withering dismissal as a hypocrite and Cameron, though unnamed was branded a Gerald Ratner, not just selling dodgy goods, but doing so knowing full well they were dodgy. So we have a political drama in two parts. The country torn by a decision about its future and the Tory party now in open civil war torn asunder and scattered, with the current prime minister leading the Union and the next or likely next one leading the Rebels.

Meanwhile the latest polls reveal Leave and Remain neck and neck with Leave advancing. This could be serious.