It's sickening to see what Johnson and Corbyn, in an unholy and unintended alliance have conspired to do to traditional Labour areas. On BBC News Tuesday it was shocking to hear a retired trade union official from Grimsby admit to voting Tory for the first time in his life. Last week Grimsby elected its first Conservative MP since before the Second World War.
They didn't believe in Corbyn or Corbynism while Boris beguiled them with his three word slogan and they duly voted against their own best interests. It will take a period outside the EU to convince them there are no quick fixes, no easy wins and the EU is not responsible for their local problems.
The Grimsby trade unionist, who was a leaver, said you can't ignore 17 million people and that Britain had "never belonged in the common market".
The single market is simply that. A market where the playing field is level so that no county or company has an unfair advantage. If Grimsby can't make it in the single market one assumes they are seeking an unfair advantage of some sort and must expect the EU to treat us accordingly in the future trade talks. They are soon to find out what taking back control really means. In a globalised world you have to be among the best or the cheapest and if possible, both. Too often Britain is close to the worst and most expensive.
In their actions there is a remarkable similarity to the workers in the car industry in the 1970s who were constantly on strike and seemed unable to connect their own prosperity to that of the company who employed them. Strike action at BMC Longbridge was often voted through almost unanimously led by Derek 'Red' Robinson. Was it in the workers long-term interests? No. The site once employed 25,000 people but does it produce cars now? No. Chinese owned MG closed Longbridge in 2016 after a long period of decline.
What is Boris Johnson going to offer Grimsby? Singapore on The Humber? He perhaps thinks a lightly regulated, low tax economy will benefit North Lincolnshire although I fail to see how. More importantly, will the voters think so in five years time?
The phrase 'light regulation' doesn't appear in the Tory manifesto but there are six mentions of regulation. There is better regulation, good regulation alongside sensible and proportionate regulation, forward-looking regulation and regulations that maintain 'high-standards'. You can be sure of only one thing they will not contribute to the improvement of the social fabric of North Lincs or the security of employment of people in Grimsby.
The Conservative party has systematically cut every public service, not just because it was essential after the financial crash, but because they believe in it as a policy aim. There is never a question of asking how much we need to spend but how little we can get away with spending. Once you have this mindset you are pretty well stuck in a low tax economy with minimum regulations. Social models in Europe with good infrastructure and health and social care rely on high taxes and high levels of regulation. What we want is the opposite.
Ben Bradley, Conservative MP for Mansfield was on Newsnight later talking about how trade can help his constituency. He is a Brexiteer who wants to leave the EU and expose his constituents to the full force of global competition.
Priti Patel, Dominic Rabb and Kwasi Kwarteng wrote a book in 2012, 'Brittania Unchained' which described British workers as "among the worst idlers in the world. We work among the lowest hours, we retire early and our productivity is poor. Whereas Indian children aspire to be doctors or businessmen, the British are more interested in football and pop music."
Johnson's attitude to the children of single mothers is well known. He thinks they are "ill-raised, ignorant, aggressive and illegitimate children"
Oddly, the more Johnson and his cronies insult them, the more they vote for him. Amazing. It seems they don't believe he is speaking about them but about their neighbours and friends.
