An article in the FT recently by Simon Kuper claimed Brexit perfectly summarised Britain's three great flaws. Trying to run a country on rhetoric alone, the insularity of our ruling class and the enduring delusions of grandeur that we have suffered from for years. I think it's an excellent article, unfortunately behind a paywall HERE. Mr Kuper says Brexit is like putting an Oxford debating society in charge of building a spaceship. The debating society of course includes people like Johnson, Hannan and Gove.
Running a nation on rhetoric is an excellent example of the British flaw. We are good at selling things because this involves rhetoric alone. One can be very successful as a salesman using rhetoric and little else. I know this having been a salesman most of my life and watching hundreds of colleagues at work.
This is how the Brexit referendum was won. Rhetoric, lies and a lot of hot air were the leave camp's main tools. It is why we are good at importing stuff but bad at exporting. Importing is frequently seeing a way of making a quick profit by selling something for considerably more than you paid for it using mainly smoke and mirrors. Exporting is different. You need world class products or very cheap ones and this is our problem. We make a lot of things that other countries can easily make themselves. Making exceptionally good or exceptionally cheap things takes detailed know how, determination, long term investment and a committed workforce. Rhetoric doesn't help at all except to render all the other essential ingredients more difficult to procure.
One can always get a first order with rhetoric, the problem then is trying to fulfil it, as the Brexiteers are now discovering, and laying the groundwork for a lot of future orders. This is where we fall down and where Brexit will founder on the rocks of reality
