The discourse about Brexit at and around Westminster is thick with either/or thinking. Every action and every person is one thing or another. In or out, leave or remain, soft or hard. Such thinking has its value, of course, for distinctions are frequently necessary and invaluable. But they can also be dangerous if they are too tightly drawn and insufficiently attentive to detail, nuance and particularity.
Distinctions are particularly necessary, but also particularly dangerous, at times of stress, whether in individuals or collectives. The usual discourse at times of stress is one of fight or flight in situations of contest and survival – bargaining, dealing, negotiation, advantage, compromise, calculation, resistance, victory or defeat.
