When I spent time there, what was interesting was not the rather silent battle between the parties, but a glaring generation gap, which became apparent as soon as I started talking to people. At one end of the spectrum, most people over the age of 60 were still dealing with the EU, just as they shouted about a series of issues swirling around it and worried that Westminster might somehow grab Brexit. But anyone under 30 answered questions about such things, either with views in favor of staying or with an indifferent shrug. “I think the seniors voted to go out,” said one woman, who fit comfortably into the first category. “They want to see this country as it was,” said her husband. “All the old values are gone, aren’t they? “There does not seem to be much pride in the country.” As has long been the norm, these sentiments were often blurred by fairly strong views on immigration and allegations of shadowy forces trying to deny Britain’s fate. But when we spoke to students from a nearby college of higher education, the only political issues that seemed to count were the almost inability to get somewhere to live and the lack of good local jobs: any discussion of nationality and belonging was endless. . blank stares, almost as if I were speaking another language. Six years later, despite the government’s declining popularity, Boris Johnson continues to ignite this division. His efforts to move away from the recent no-confidence vote focus on his government’s battle with “liberal left-wing lawyers” and the European Court of Human Rights over a truly shocking asylum policy. and its reckless approach to Northern Ireland protocol has to do with the idea that if all else fails, the Brexit wars will have to start again. The mixture of nostalgia, war and jealousy for “sovereignty” – whatever that means – that came to the fore in 2016 has never disappeared. After all, offering conservatism to anyone who is not moved by such narratives is once again a mystery. What the current distortions of the government really betray is its anxiety about the long-term survival of the Brexit project. As they try to support an increasingly weak prime minister, the Brexiters are not behaving like people who have won, but people full of fear and paranoia. On the day of Johnson’s no-confidence vote, Jacob Rees-Mogg warned – despite much evidence to the contrary – that the Tories, opponents of the prime minister, were “hostile to Brexit” and that the vote “would undermine the Brexit referendum”. Suella Braverman, the government’s internal confidant and attorney general, last week dismissed concerns about Northern Ireland as a “remaining fantasy”. The right-wing press is full of rumors about other conspiracies, including Keir Starmer’s alleged secret plan to take us back to Europe. Somewhere in their souls, the smartest Brexiters obviously know two things. One is that there will be no material benefits from living outside the EU and that its dire effects on the economy are now becoming clear. The other echoes what I found in Sleaford: the fact that the vote to leave the EU was the product of a unique political moment based on age-sensitive demographics that have already changed, which confirms the feeling that nuclear Brexitism is a doomed doctrine. It will weaken as the future unfolds and the dire consequences of Brexit become inevitable. But as panic prevails, the Tories’ strongest instinct is not to think about it again. On the contrary, the most dogmatic and foolish Conservatives see no choice but to double. This is how history often works. The partisans sometimes rejoice in seemingly historic triumphs followed by defeat and retreat, something that may still apply to both the referendum and Johnson’s victory in 2019 (here nuances of George Dangerfield’s famous critique of his Liberal landslide 1906: “from this victory it was never recovered”). Between revolutionaries and zealots – a description that certainly fits many Tory Brexiters – there is always a tendency to assume that if things slip away, the obvious proponents of a cause will be just as passionate and guided as the people at the top, and just as attached. with their great ideas. The truth is that if a revolution fails to bring the most basic benefits to the people, sooner or later it will be established. and that in any case, most of us tend to get bored quickly and get frustrated by the fanatics. Johnson once showed signs of understanding this: it seemed to be the essence of his promise to end Brexit. In this context, in the midst of a cost of living crisis, the spectacle of himself and his allies threatening to undo it and sink into complete hiding is something more than that. At Sleaford and elsewhere, I suspect that even many of the seemingly hard-core Brexiters of 2016 will be cold, but that’s only half the battle. Remember: 73% of people aged 18 to 24 who voted remain. In the 25-34 age group, the rate was 62%. Three years ago, when the hardline Tories raised the jackpot and flirted with a Brexit without a deal, 68% of people over the age of 65 said they supported this course of action, but the figure for 18-24 was a miserable 14%. . Does this indicate some sort of solid foundation for a Tories future based on the flag-waving war and the endless battles with Brussels? Clearly not, and the same, refreshingly hopeful argument can be made for the political present. If the Conservatives lose next week’s primaries in Devon and West Yorkshire, we will probably hear a lot about Partygate and citizens’ doubts about the prime minister’s suitability for office. What we also need to look at is something that will become increasingly obvious: the fact that Johnson and his stubborn allies are beginning to look like generals fighting the last war, deliberately ignoring how much their homeland is changing, and the uselessness of torn maps their.
