What the Hell?

I awoke a week ago with a nagging feeling at the back of my mind and it was only when the fog of sleep cleared that I realised what it was. The UK is scheduled to leave the UK next month. NEXT MONTH! For many people this may mean liberation, though from what I have long had difficulty understanding, but for many of us leaving the EU is nothing to cheer about at all. However, if we have to go then at least we can be confident that the government is doing all it can to make preparations for this leap into the dark. Right? 

It was thus rather amusing to hear the remarks from a certain Donald T. (no, not that one) who, like many of us, has spent time “wondering what a special place in hell looks like for those who promoted Brexit without even a sketch of a plan for how to carry it out.” Should Tusk have said it? Some people say not, but I am happy that he did. Was he right to criticise those Brexiteers who plunged headlong towards the cliff edge without any heed for what happens next? Absolutely. And before people get all moralistic about Tusk’s intervention in domestic affairs, let us not forget that Brexit has consumed far more of the EU’s time over the last two years than it would have wished for, particularly given all the other things it has to worry about. He is thus also an interested party. And for the likes of The Sun to suggest that “Donald Tusk’s hatred for Brexit and tantrums show his disregard for democracy” let us not forget Tusk’s background standing up to a one-party state. Recall also that this is the rag that gave us the memorable Eurosceptic “Up Your Delors” headline. So forgive me for taking no lectures from this particular Murdoch organ.

In a bid to help out Mr Tusk, it is illustrative to consider Dante Alighieri’s position on Hell set out in the Divine Comedy, in which he defines nine circles, six of which can well be applied to the hellish position we find ourselves in today. The first of Dante’s nine circles is Limbo which sounds like an accurate description of the current situation as businesses scramble to ensure business continuity with less than 50 days to go until the UK crashes out of the EU without a deal. To compound the limbo, the Brexit debate has consumed nearly all of the government’s legislative capacity with the result that many other important issues have been pushed to the sidelines.

Skipping forward to Dante’s fifth circle we encounter Anger which characterises the mood of the country today. Brexiteers are angry because they are concerned that the government is not going to deliver the Brexit they want – total freedom from the EU. Remainers are angry that the rights they derive as members of the EU will be taken away from them by the 37% of the electorate that expressed a preference for leaving the EU. What is more, neither side is able to engage with the other, such is the depth of feeling on this issue.

The next circle of Dante’s Hell is Heresy which is defined as any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs. You can argue about whether the Leavers or Remainers are the heretics, but to the extent it is the Leavers who want to overturn the status quo I will attribute the label to them. But as in any good religious war, each side believes they are in the right and the other side are heretics. If anything the intensity of the Brexit war has intensified in recent weeks. Heresy accusations will thus continue to fly. Dante’s seventh circle is Violence. Fortunately, we have been spared this to a large extent but there appears to be a lot of heavy duty intimidation going on, and the targeting of Remain supporting politicians by Leave activists suggests that outright violence is never too far away. 

Fraud is the next circle on our list. As time has passed, it has become clear that fraud was one of the features of the referendum campaign, from erroneous claims made on buses to lies about hordes of immigrants about to swamp the UK. Indeed, Vote Leave was fined after being found guilty of breaking electoral law. According to the law, if evidence of serious cheating is uncovered during election campaigns they can be scrutinised and overturned in an “election court”, overseen by high court judges. Ironically, because the Brexit referendum was only an advisory vote there are no legal channels to challenge the apparent fraud.

Our final circle of Hell is Treachery, an accusation levelled by each side against the other. Brexiteers fear that the nature of Brexit is not the one they were led to believe they signed up to, and many fear that Brexit will not happen at all, whilst Remainers believe politicians have sold out the UK’s interests by promoting Brexit.

I am not sure that this is of any help to Mr Tusk for it seems that those on both sides of the debate are condemned to live in the Hell that Brexit has created. There is no special place in Hell for the clueless Leavers – to quote former Chancellor George Osborne “we are all in this together.” Dante’s own view on Hell was to “Abandon hope all ye who enter here.” Substitute “exit” for “enter” and he could have been talking about Brexit.