Those of us struggling to shift opinion on Brexit shouldn't let our spirits drop. Sometimes it seems as if we are fighting for a lost cause or yesterday's war. But I know we are on the right side of the argument and eventually we will succeed. I liken it to trying to shift a heavy weight or turn a heavily rusted bolt. At first nothing seems to happen. You begin by using the obvious means, testing how heavy or tight things are to get the measure of the problem. One solution after another comes and goes without success but then, almost imperceptibly, you start to feel a bit of "give" - or do you? It's so tiny you think you're mistaken but no there is a tiny movement.
This is how I see Brexit. During the campaign and afterwards people were told leaving the EU would all be quick, easy and pain free. When we pointed out the problems we were accused of scaremongering, nobody believed us. But now it's quite apparent that it isn't easy and warnings of difficulties weren't scaremongering.
Like many remainers, I wrote letters to my MP and to newspapers and I started blogging. This was during the period between the vote itself and the triggering of Article 50.
An that time, in January 2017 Charles Moore a former editor of The Telegraph and now their star columnist wrote a piece in answer to warnings of the difficulties ahead. It had the title: Only those who don't want to leave think Brexit is mind blowingly complicated (HERE). This was his opinion, that anyone pointing to the myriad problems must be a remainer. Brexit would be relatively simple, because it would be relatively simple. Brexit after all meant Brexit didn't it? He added, "Brexit is in that important category of things which are simple, but not easy?" He was speaking from the Bill Cash/Peter Lilley playbook.
So, this was allowing us to get a measure of the problem. To see what effort would be needed to shift the rusted in bolt of public opinion. From the Charles Moore article it was a big problem.
Since then millions and millions of words have been written about Brexit. I have read and written a lot - I mean a LOT! And while I don't think of myself as very smart, I'm not completely stupid either. But do I understand Brexit? No, hardly at all. The scale of it is almost beyond comprehension. But virtually all of the words written are about "the problems" aren't they? We see very little about the sunlit uplands, mainly because nobody knows what they are. Yet we often allow ourselves to think the message is not getting through.
Well, perhaps our efforts are finally beginning to have a very small effect. Charles Moore this week, (HERE) eighteen months after telling us that only people who don't want to leave see Brexit as being mind blowingly complicated has written another column. It contains this sentence "Of course the implementation of any decision that changes the life of a nation is fantastically complicated".
See how he did that? A few nifty steps in his patent leather shoes and he's facing in totally the opposite way. He has changed from being that awkward bloke in the class who keeps arguing with the teacher, to standing in front of the class himself and telling the rest of us what the teacher was telling us all those months ago when he didn't believe a word of it himself at the time!
Mind you, he might argue there's a chasm between "mind blowingly" and "fantastically" but I don't think there is, do you?
No, Mr Moore, if perhaps only sub consciously, is starting to see the problems. But he isn't all the way there yet because he is still talking about the EU threatening "absurdities such as grounding our aircraft". However, his fellow columnist Christopher Booker is trying to put him right on this by exposing how this is not an absurdity at all since Heathrow is certified by the CAA and it's certification will not be recognised after Brexit by the EU or anybody else!
Fantastically complicated? He ain't had his mind blown yet. But at least the problem might be starting to show a bit of give. The first step in solving any problem is to recognise you've got one. Perhaps Mr Moore has at least recognised that.
Incidentally, I posted a comment about this yesterday on the EU Referendum blog and I see this morning Dr Richard North has written an entire blog post about it (HERE)! I am "the reader" he refers to in the opening sentence.
