The answer just now, but even an hour is a long time in politics at the moment so caution, is both. Not only does there appear to be no way forward which with any certainty can deliver an orderly Brexit, but the main parties are splintering and with multi-coloured reasons, ranging from the bitter to the naive. If there were splits between pro and anti Brexit it would make sense, but this is not the case. Although the Brexit theme is everywhere like seeping fog, within it there are so many opposing and fractured opinions, nothing concrete or reliable is offered. Moreover although Labour is not fully united over Brexit, the biggest schism is in the Tory party and it is the government. May stumbles forward trying to go backwards at the same time.
The whole world is gobsmacked. Two years ago on the list of countries likely to fall victim of dysfunctional government, the UK was just about the last. So the fact that it is now even less coherent than Greece in the Euro crisis or more capricious than Italy under Berlusconi, is almost beyond comprehension. That is a worse shock than Brexit itself. It also begs the question. Can Britain govern itself outside the framework and discipline of the EU? Or will she head for a never ending populist squabble?
It is a chilling thought. At the heart of all those problems, which now threaten both the future and stability of Britain as a country as well as the integrity of the Union of four nations which compose the UK, is the nationalist wing of the Tory party now morphed into the ERG. This is a poisonous grouping which led the various bits of the leave campaign making false promises, stoking real fears and raising hopes with outright lies. It sees a disorderly Brexit as a wonderful and cleansing experience, it cares not a fig for the suffering and chaos it may cause, because it is anti-foreign, anti-Europe and pro an illusionary vision of something it calls Global Britain.
Well this blog opposes it hook, line and sinker. As do millions of Brits. My proudest possession is my European citizenship. As it is for millions, especially the young. It may be the ERG and those who believe in its fraudulent prospectus will succeed in having their day. But it will be short. And then there will follow a new day. A day of reckoning. For them.