Theresa May signs Article 50. Number 10/Flickr. Some rights reserved.A year ago this month the referendum campaign to leave the European Union ended with victory for the EU leavers. Almost immediately both the winners and the losers embarked on a second campaign, to convince the British public that the process of leaving (“divorce”) would be protracted and expensive, possibly leading to untold disasters.
For the pro-EU side, the “lengthy-and-costly” narrative allowed claims “I told you so” – they told us during the campaign that leaving would devastate the UK economy and, they assert, how right we are. For leavers, Brexit disaster serves their broader interests, especially in the current election campaign. Their narrative also asserts a costly and protracted process that requires a strong and stern leader to stand up to the fickle and vindictive “Europeans”.
In the last days of the election, the Conservatives have placed Brexit disaster at the centre of their campaign with Theresa May billed as our unlikely saviour, telling us she would have “no deal” rather than a “bad deal”. “Unlikely” applies to the prime minister for many reasons, not least her reversal from remainer to leaver and her vacillation on numerous other policy issues.
