“Order, order!” – The humoristic relief provided by John Bercow

The political situation in Britain seems to continue to be quite tense and chaotic, these days. The Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow has managed to maintain some sort of sanity and humor amidst all the mayhem. He has become a surprising star in Europe and elsewhere.

Some stories and videos about John Bercow:

1) “‘More animal than ever’: Europeans find joy in John Bercow ” The Guardian 17.1.2019

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jan/17/more-animal-than-ever-europeans-find-joy-in-john-bercow

2) “VIDÉO. « Ordeuuur…» Quand John Bercow, le Speaker de la chambre des Communes, devient la star du Brexit” Ouest France 17.1.2019

https://www.ouest-france.fr/europe/grande-bretagne/brexit/video-order-quand-john-bercow-le-speaker-de-la-chambre-des-communes-devient-la-star-du-brexit-6178881

3) “‘Order! Order!’: Parliament Speaker Is Brexit’s Surprise Star and Villain” The New York Times 19.1.2019

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/19/world/europe/brexit-speaker-john-bercow.html

What British hardline Brexiteers say about Brexit

The Brexit chaos continues and Britain seems more divided than ever. The British hardline Brexiteers have defended Brexit enthusiastically, sometimes even aggressively. Here are some comments made by them:

Jacob Rees-Mogg, chair of the hardline European Research Group ERG, hosted a champagne party after PM May suffered the historical defeat in parliament on Tuesday (1). Rees-Mogg, as many other supporters of No Deal, wants UK to leave on WTO terms:

On Twitter 15.1.2019: “The law is in place for us to leave on WTO terms. The Government ought to go back to Brussels and say: if we can’t agree anything in the interim that is what will happen.” (2)

Rees-Mogg was interviewed by Professor Anand Menon on Wednesday evening. Rees-Mogg believes that Theresa May’s cabinet is “the most pro-European part of the Conservative Party” and that 70 per cent of the people who are voting Conservatives seem to be Eurosceptic. Rees-Mogg said that No Deal would be better alternative than the deal offered by PM May or no Brexit at all (3).

One of the architects of the original Brexit campaign in 2016, former UKIP leader Nigel Farage has been criticizing PM Theresa May and the EU and he has also been promoting Leave Means Leave campaign on his Twitter page (4):

15.1.2019: “Parliament has voted down Theresa May’s terrible Brexit deal. Join us on Thursday in Westminster as Leave Means Leave pushes for a WTO Brexit!”

16.1.2019: “If the betrayal becomes complete and we are forced into a second referendum then some will be in for a shock, the British people will be even more defiant than they were before.”

16.1 2019: “Mrs May’s cross-party talks are all with Remainers and weaken Brexit. She cares about Parliament and not the people. This is betrayal, sadly we must prepare to fight again.”

UKIP leader Gerard Batten has attacked PM May, the British political establishment and the EU:

14.1.2019: “Mrs May’s so-called deal would turn Britain into a vassal state of the EU prepared to go back in in a few short years. What we are witnessing is the political establishment fighting over their preferred method of stopping Brexit – should it be through Mrs May’s surrender document, a General Election or another referendum? In their arrogance and contempt for the will of the 17.4 million who voted to leave the European Union, the political establishment have embarrassed the nation in the eyes of the world. At this point, it is clear that the only way Britain will leave the EU is if the people choose to remove the political establishment through the ballot box.”  (5)

16.1.2019: “The British Parliament has the opportunity to redeem itself. If it betrays the result of the referendum then it will destroy what remaining belief or faith there is in our democratic system, which isn’t very high to start with. But they can turn things around if they want to. They can take the initiative, they can stop asking you (i.e. European Union) how we can leave and they can start telling you how we are going to leave, and I can tell you that the British people will never surrender!” (6)

British poster-girl for far-right Katie Hopkins is an ardent admirer of President Trump and she has supported No Deal Brexit. However, she had some kind words for PM May:

“In many ways, I look to America as kind of hope, like inspiration. You’ve got someone tough in the White House that’s determined to get things done. You’ve got a whole group of people who believe they’ve been forgotten which to me is the Brexiteers. It’s the same, it’s the rest of the UK, it’s the rest of America that isn’t California or isn’t New York, and the rest of America got their voice heard and that really speaks to the Brexiteer in me.”  (7)

On Twitter 12.7.2018: “No deal Brexit looks exactly like the Brexit I voted for.” (8)

On Twitter 16.1.2019: “Come on @theresa_may You may have really p*ssed on my chips over Brexit. But you are one tough, tenacious bird. And I completely admire you for enduring and withstanding it all. You go girlfriend. Grip that lectern like a sausage in a roll. And Sock it to them.” (8)

References:

1) “Jacob Rees-Mogg hosts champagne party after May Brexit defeat” The Guardian 16.1.2019

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jan/16/jacob-rees-mogg-hosts-champagne-party-after-may-brexit-defeat

2) Jacob Rees-Mogg on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/jacob_rees_mogg

3) “Beer and Brexit with Jacob Rees-Mogg” The UK in a Changing Europe 16.1.2019

http://ukandeu.ac.uk/multimedia/beer-and-brexit-with-jacob-rees-mogg-mp/

4) Nigel Farage on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/nigel_farage

5) “Political establishment fighting over their preferred method of stopping Brexit says UKIP Leader” National UKIP News 14.1.2019

https://www.ukip.org/national-ukip-news-item.php?id=155

6) “‘The British people will never surrender!’ – UKIP Leader tells EU Parliament” National UKIP News 16.1.2019

https://www.ukip.org/national-ukip-news-item.php?id=158

7) “‘We are the forgotten voices!’ Hopkins blasts ‘Londonistan’ saying Brexiteers need Trump” Express 3.8.2017

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/836625/Brexit-eu-uk-Donald-Trump-Katie-Hopkins-Dave-Rubin-youtube-us-london-brexiteer-europe

8) Katie Hopkins on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/kthopkins?lang=fr

Tensions and hate crimes in Brexit Britain

Britain’s decision to leave the European Union has turned out to be a chaotic cliffhanger. Brexit has divided the nation, it has torn apart political parties and even families. Britain has also seen significant rise of far-right populism, xenophobia, racism and hate crimes. According to statistics published by the police in England and Wales, over 94 000 hate crime offences were recorded during 2017/18, an increase of 17 % compared to the previous year. The increase during 2016/17 was even greater, 29 %. The number of hate crimes recorded by the police has more than doubled since 2012/13. Even though the increase can be partially explained by improvements in crime recording by the police, there have been clear “spikes” in hate crime after the EU Referendum in 2016 and after the terrorist attacks in 2017 (1, 2, 3, 4).

One form of far-right populism has been the increasingly aggressive activity against politicians and other people who support the Remain option. Tory MP Anna Soubry was intimidated and abused by British far-right mobsters and supporters of Brexit on Monday. The pro-Brexit protesters called remain-backing Soubry “a Nazi”. Mrs Soubry was harassed and intimidated the same way already in December last year (5). Other people harassed on Monday were journalist Owen Jones from The Guardian and Femi Oluwole, chief spokesperson for Our Future, Our Choice. Mr. Oluwole condemned the abuse and threatening behavior of the pro-Brexit protesters. He added:

“Plenty of people around the country are frustrated with the Brexit process – and all but a tiny minority continue to engage in reasonable democratic debate. This debate is absolutely crucial given the vastly different and country-defining options the UK faces. We must be able to have it without feeling like some options are unacceptable because a tiny minority of people are willing to go further, and shout louder, than everyone else. The answer to the far right cannot be to give in. We have never, and will never, let them dictate the terms of debate. When they argue for less democracy, we must call for more.”

However, Mr. Oluwole also condemned aggressive verbal attacks of far-left activists:

“…there’s a key difference between intense political discourse and gratuitous abuse, no matter where you are on the spectrum.” (6)

References:

1) Hate crime, England and Wales, 2017 to 2018 Home Office Statistical Bulletin 20/18

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/748598/hate-crime-1718-hosb2018.pdf

2) “Hate crimes soared after EU referendum, Home Office figures confirm” The Guardian 13.10.2016

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/oct/13/hate-crimes-eu-referendum-home-office-figures-confirm

3) “Hate-crime reports rise by almost a third in a year as Home Office figures illustrate EU-referendum spike” The Independent 17.10.2017

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/hate-crimes-eu-referendum-spike-brexit-terror-attacks-police-home-office-europeans-xenophobia-a8004716.html

4) “Hate crime surge linked to Brexit and 2017 terrorist attacks” The Guardian 16.10.2018

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/oct/16/hate-crime-brexit-terrorist-attacks-england-wales

5) “MPs raise safety fears with police after Anna Soubry subjected to ‘Nazi’ chants” The Guardian 7.1.2019

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jan/07/john-bercow-urges-police-to-do-more-after-nazi-taunts-against-anna-soubry

6) “I was harassed outside parliament. These thugs must not stifle Brexit debate” The Guardian 9.1.2019

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/09/harassment-mps-parliament-stifle-brexit-debate-femi-oluwole