The "British establishment cock-up", as Andrew Marr
put it, wasn`t simply to give "the plain people" a referendum on the EU (The
biggest blunder of them all,1st July,2016). The arrogance of Cameron and his
team led them to believe that, even after imposing the cruellest austerity
policies in modern times on the generally least fortunate, whilst simultaneously
reducing tax bills for the rich and selling off the country`s assets to friends
in the City at knockdown prices, the voters would support them.
They did not realise that over a hundred
years of establishment propaganda about Britain`s greatness, uniqueness and
ability to stand alone would, one day, again in Marr`s words, bite them "in the
bottom". The Brexiters were guilty of the mis-use
of history, promising a return to a non-existent past, when Britain was "great",
and on her own, whilst the remain campaign were equally culpable, fearful of
upsetting traditional supporters with a more accurate version to debunk the
mythology.
There is nothing unique about "Britishness",
given the number of Europeans who have settled here, starting with the
Romans. Wars have never been won without the aid of allies from around the
world; the country bravely stood firm in 1940, but was never "alone". A "special
relationship" with America does not exist; our Industrial Revolution, financed
by our slave trade and the looting of colonies, was accompanied by the barbaric
treatment of workers, including children; and
even the truth about our so-called "greatest" Briton, is rarely revealed. No
wonder Gove wanted more of this nationalist nonsense taught in schools; no
surprise that Johnson`s latest "history" book was a biased biography of
Churchill.
How ironic
that recent governments have refused requests to release the secret archive
containing 1.2 million files, going back to the end of the Crimean War, and
which would almost certainly change people`s perspective of Britain`s past
roles.
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