Brexit: The highs and lows

The inevitability of toothpaste squeezed out of the tube is that it can't be put back in. Such is the implication dilemma that Britain now finds itself in. It brings to the fore that those who voted for Brexit; indeed the politicians that led the exit war cry, didn't delve as much in to the detail as they ought to have. In an environment where economic thinking tends to blinker nationalism (in certain cases the opposite is as true), the speak of democracy has divided rather than unify the United Kingdom.

Theresa May is huddling with her party MPs to cobble together a post-Brexit customs union agreement that ensures a divorce without infringing in popular ideas of borders. The question at hand is a frontier post that will be considered as a customs entry point to the UK through Ireland. It is something the Irish people and their politicians don't want; a physical border with Eire. The un-beloved Euro bureaucrats led by Michel Barnier who almost seem to wield more power than elected representatives, have said this physical demarcation is a must. Ms. May's approach precludes that. And that too, isn't guaranteed yet. Options are limited. On one hand Ms. May, for all the powers at her disposal, cannot drive the issue against Irish concerns due to her dependence on them to stay in power. Add to that her personal views against exiting and it becomes a heavy burden to carry. It's a high point in democracy; it's a low point in democracy.

The Brexit referendum was a vote of conscience for MPs, crossing party lines. As more and more constituents see the stark realities, their resolve grows weaker. The less-suburban areas continue to be supportive while urban abodes resonate with opposition to Brexit. In terms of a high, individual area constituents' views are being given priority. In terms of low, even a referendum hadn't sorted matters out. It is a divide that can't be bridged through democracy alone. As it is, the UK has agreed to go back on many of its principled stands on issues already, creating dissonance in, among all people the Brexit Minister David Davies.

Another high is that despite a slim ruling coalition majority, decisions of a few overriding concerns of the many, aren't, yet being forced. The talk of a 'third' political force has proved difficult in spite of funds and now an unfamiliar bandwagon of David Milliband, Nick Clegg and Nicky Morgan from the three political fronts are donning gloves to work on an anti-Brexit stance with echoes of a call for another referendum. Undoing a doing is difficult. The ramifications send it to the borders of impossible. The attempt at Brexit suggests as much. Attempts at another referendum will be as painful.

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