No Country for Old Men

As we approach the sixtieth anniversary of the Suez crisis (July 26) it seems England has learnt nothing in terms of Imperial drum beating. I feel particularly sorry for the majority of the young who voted by a considerable majority to remain in Europe in the recent referendum; sorry also for those old industrial communities who voted to leave in such huge numbers. For them it will be the maxim, ‘for those who have least, so too will they fare less’

Their decision means that Brexit is a victory for the far right and has been welcomed as such by those parties across Europe, whose hatred also stemmed from the incubus of the early Common Market after Suez exposed such Imperial illusion.

My greatest ire however is for those on the left who voted ‘No’ on an ‘anti Big Business, EU, IMF Austerity ‘ ticket, amongst whom, if left to himself, would have included Jeremy Corbyn. 

History is littered with such actions whose believers think they can ride the tidal wave of reaction and then pursue a national social agenda. They have all without exception been washed away, either by draconian law or military tunic.

Suez brutally exposed this. France read the lessons and made a bond with Germany which still remains today. Not so it seems for England and its Principality, the flower of a faded Imperial dream sixty years in the making.