Gloating Brexiteers happier about beating smug Remoaners than leaving EU

In the immortal words of Barry Manilow, it looks like we made it. After 3 years of self-flagellation and tortuous political wrangling with the EU, Brexit has finally arrived, the UK has aborted itself from Brussels.

Well kind of, because while Britain officially leaves the EU today, it actually doesn’t because there’s an 11-month transition period during which negotiations over a trade deal will take place. 

While that’s happening, Britain will continue to pay towards the EU budget, Brits can still go on holiday to drunkenly and publicly urinate in European beauty spots without the need for a visa, and eastern Europeans can still travel freely to the UK to build its houses, clean bathrooms, and dig fields.

I would suggest that anyone who thinks that today is going to draw some kind of line under the tedious and endless coverage of Brexit in the media, needs to think again. If Irish backstops bored you, just wait until the arguing over the minutiae of a trade deal begins. In fact, one of the real advantages of this ‘officially but not really’ exiting of the EU today, is that the British government is now free to have its offer of a trade deal rejected by countries anywhere in the world.

Other noticeable changes from today is that British MEPs have been sent packing from Brussels, while back home proud Brits will once again be able to get passports issued in their traditional colour of blue. I imagine it will come as a surprise to many around the world that the colour of passports was even an issue, but it was, and that tells you pretty much all you need to know about Brexit.

So with all this in mind, what exactly is there to celebrate on this momentous day in British history? 

This debate has become about much more than merely leaving Europe. The process has been so painful, that it has split the nation more or less in two, the Remainers (aka, the Remoaners) v the Brexiteers. That divide is now more important in British politics than party affiliation, as the Labour Party found out to its cost. Labour’s wishy-washy policy on leaving the EU led to a historic collapse in support for its traditional heartlands, and an electoral disaster of historic proportions.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson will have to play it cool, giving the impression that while Brexit is a time for celebration, he also realises that society is riven. Even the (Tory) MPs who are the happiest that Brexit has finally happened are at pains to point out that they will not be celebrating too raucously, in public at least, and that they absolutely, definitely will not be gloating.

Because, an extremely large percentage of the people celebrating Brexit on the streets, and in Parliament Square alongside Brexit poster boy Nigel Farage, aren’t just rejoicing at leaving Europe; they’re happy about beating the smug “Remoaners” who just couldn’t come to terms with the democratic outcome of the referendum. The Farage army is definitely gloating at their anti-Brexit countrymen and women. 

Remoaners went through the traditional stages of grief, setting up camp on the moral high ground, dismissing anyone who wanted out of the EU as racists, which is a pretty big generalisation when you think about it.  

So, when you see anyone who is merrily waving goodbye to membership of the European Union, there is a very high chance that they’re also happily giving the bird to those that attempted to stop it happening.

You could call it schadenfreude, although that might be a little be too German. 

Britain is now left to its own devices, a population of 70 million people forced to deal not with the split from Europe, but the splits in their own society. An island alone, where 50% think the other half are racist, while 50% think the other half are traitors. Good luck, Boris!

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