Comments by "Cinderball" (@cinderball1135) on "Boris Johnson wins Tory leadership second ballot as Raab eliminated" video.
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I'd agree with you Maanze, except to my mind, Brexit was a vehicle designed from the bottom-up for the so-called "hijackers". It was a blank cheque which, if signed, would give completely free rein to any politician ever to do whatever they wanted, and claim their mandate from that vote. Crash out and lose access to the customs union? "Leave means leave." Declare martial law and suppress riots following a crash-out Brexit? "Will of the people." Swingeing cuts to the NHS? "It's all in pursuit of Brexit, and after all, the people voted for it."
All of this, assuming it did win. If it didn't, it would've been a boon to the careers of men like Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, even Nigel Farage - an actual Brexit isn't particularly good for them, because inevitably they'll start upsetting people who don't like the outcome. But a hypothetical Brexit that they can agitate for whips up the kinds of voters that have been falling by the wayside for some time - in other words - racists and ultra-nationalists. Boris was looking to martial the votes of the BNP-loving crowd, while still keeping his "centrist" credentials intact. So in fact, had he lost, he'd have been in an even better position to go after the premiership. Winning was, if anything, a rather inconvenient upset that they themselves hadn't counted on.
That's why I voted Remain - not because I love the EU, but because I (rather presciently, if I may say so) anticipated exactly these kind of shenanigans.
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@rhyfelaherwfilwrol6732 In the past, before Brexit, I would've agreed with you. Like I say, it seems to me that the "unwritten constitution" has proven to be worth jack squat in the time since that vote - if conventions and norms are not followed, then said "constitution" simply ceases to be. Poof, it's turned back into hot air. We then fall back on our various other laws, which, I hasten to remind you, are not a formal constitution.
And I think in practice, our politicians have demonstrated repeatedly their contempt for both law and convention. Governments have attempted to operate without Parliamentary consent repeatedly, and they keep testing the boundaries of what they can get away with.
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