Diary 2018
Achievements
On my 30th birthday, I entered the kitchen for breakfast and said to my mother: "What have I done with my life? Nothing!"
Walking over Chelsea Bridge yesterday afternoon, I reflected on my achievements and decided that they number two: pulling my cleaner off cigarettes, and getting my personal trainer pregnant.
Remain's failure
I came across this on CIX this morning (written by David Mather):
Absolutely they did. They based their entire argument on how bad it would be to leave, and most of that about the economy and trade. They spent their time and money countering Leave arguments, thus allowing Leave to set the agenda, but failed to tackle the thorny issue of immigration at all. "Leaving will be bad"; "The Leave campaign are wrong". You don't inspire populations by talking about negatives all the time.
The country needed a campaign that highlighted the real benefits of EU membership, now and in the future. How Britain has prospered since 1975 and how we have the sweetest membership terms ever (no Schengen, no euro, social chapter opt-out, a handy rebate of contributions) with one of the world's three major trading and political entities. How EU funding is the difference between a good living and insolvency in so many of our farming communities. How we are not passive recipients of EU legislation from Brussels, but active participants through our Commissioner - who held the powerful financial services portfolio up to the vote to leave - and through our own MEPs. How the EU is genuinely democratic in its activities. How we have the power to veto stuff we don't like.
Most of all they needed to change the language around us and the EU. We are part of the EU, not in a deal with it. The word "Europe" includes us; so when TV interviewers ask employers how many of their staff are "from Europe" the answer should really be "all of them". Legislation is not "imposed by Brussels", it is voted on by us in the European parliament and the result democratically put into UK legislation. How the EU "bureaucracy" is one tenth the size of our own, despite having to operate in over a dozen languages, which gives a bit of a clue where bureaucracy problems truly lie. Finally, how our own politicians routinely blame "the EU" for unpopular stuff, even though we have in most cases either done it ourselves or voted for it in the European parliament.
Sorry for what is no doubt a lengthy repetition; I'm sure all these matters have been well rehearsed here in the past. The point is these matters were not part of the Remain campaign's pitch, and I firmly believe Brexit was the result.