Michael McGuire: Brexit chaos should be a warning to our pollies

Australian politicians have been putting personal and vested interests ahead of what’s best for the nation for far too long. They only need to look at the mess Britain’s in to see how that ends, writes Michael McGuire.

If you want a quick peek at what democracy looks like when it falls apart, then look no further than Westminster, England.

If watching politics Canberra-style engenders a low-grade headache and existential despair, imagine living in Britain at the moment. If Donald Trump has helped make the US a laughing stock globally, Brexit is possibly even worse for the British.

Such are the fears of the unfortunate population that the word “stockpiling’’ has re-entered the lexicon.

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It can’t be good for morale when supermarkets such as Sainsbury’s and Marks and Spencer are issuing statements that shelves will be empty unless a Brexit deal is reached. One European toilet paper manufacturer is even stockpiling supplies at a warehouse. This is a country that is deep in the poo: Toilet paper has never been more needed.

Brexit is a monumental failure of the British political system and an example to Australian politicians of what happens when personal, sectional vested interests are placed ahead of what is best for the nation.

An anti-Brexit campaigner protesting outside the Houses of Parliament in London earlier this week. Picture: Isabel Infantes/AFP

What has happened to Britain in the almost three years since a referendum decided the country should leave the European Union is the result of a shameful lack of leadership. Not just from Prime Minister Theresa May and her Cabinet, but also from Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who despite the obvious incompetence of the Tory Government, somehow still manages to find himself behind in the polls.

And it’s not just whether you agree or disagree with the referendum result. It is the complete inability to know what to do next that has so wrecked the British. The losers didn’t know how to react. The winners didn’t have a clue what to do next.

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Certainly, that poll held on Thursday, June 23, 2016, produced a result few saw coming. Those who favoured leaving the EU triumphed by 51.9 per cent to 48.1 per cent. It was a narrow victory, indicating the schism in the nation, and every misstep since then has only deepened the divide.

Remainers have refused to quietly accept the result. They point to the obvious lies that were told by high-profile politicians such as pompous blowhard Boris Johnson, who stood in front of buses emblazoned with: “We send the EU 350 million pounds a week — let’s fund our NHS instead’’.

Those committed to leaving just point at the electoral scoreboard and talk about the “will of the people’’.

The prime minister who called the referendum was David Cameron. After the result, which he campaigned against, he scarpered.

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May has provided a shameful lack of leadership in the past few years. Picture: AP/Kirsty Wigglesworth

British Labour leader and Leader of the Opposition, Jeremy Corbyn has found himself behind in the polls, despite the chaos in government. Picture: Thierry Monasse/Getty

As May campaigned to replace Cameron, she uttered the infamous phrase: “Brexit means Brexit’’. The problem turned out to be that nobody actually knew what Brexit meant, not in any meaningful sense. Not in a sense beyond how satisfying it would be to kick Johnny Foreigner out of England. We will leave Scotland and Northern Ireland out of this as they both voted overwhelmingly to remain within Europe.

But it turns out the “leave” boosters have no idea how to untangle the highly complex 40-year commercial, legal and trading relationship Britain has with the EU.

And that is without even mentioning how to resolve the issues surrounding the border that partitions Ireland.

Indeed, they pretended it would be simple.

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A fellow called Liam Fox, Britain’s international trade secretary, claimed: “The free trade agreement that we will have to do with the European Union should be one of the easiest in human history.’’

This Friday was to mark the day Britain was to leave the EU. That has been delayed and the actual date and nature of the deal is unknown.

By the day, Westminster descends into ever more chaos. A remarkable vote on Monday night took much of the power to negotiate away from May and gave it to Parliament. May said that decision would “overturn the balance of our democratic institutions’’.

Australian politics has been on its own long, slow slide to perpetual humiliation. What the Brits are showing us is the endgame if we don’t find a way to arrest the decline of our own political culture.

Michael McGuire is a journalist for The Adelaide Advertiser.

@mcguiremi