Written by Gwythian Prins
This article was first published in Briefings for Britain (formerly ‘Briefings for Brexit) and we republish with their kind permission
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At the end of the month we shall crest the hill; and in a series of articles, Briefings for Brexit is plotting the topography of the other side, where General Boris and his forces will needs fight our next battles. This is a conscious re-registering of BfB’s guns; for we know that, in Churchill’s words, 31 January once achieved will be a victory for democracy, of course, but it will only be the end of the beginning, not the beginning of the end.
Over the Hills and O’er the Main,
To Flanders, Portugal and Spain,
The queen commands and we’ll obey
Over the Hills and far away.
Traditional (1706 version)
We believe that Team Boris must approach everything to do with the finalisation of our exit from the EU in this frame of mind. In light of recent events, I think it would also do well to follow Her Majesty’s example in her brilliant, humane, swift and firm handling of “Megxit”. My goodness, had she been in change of dealing with a wounded, weak and angry EU in 2016, we would have been safely out – and yet the best of friends – in no time at all. Although we shall never (must never, memo to Cameron) know, let us simply hope that the Prime Minister makes the fullest use of his weekly meetings with the most experienced political operator on the planet; and keeps his lip zipped.
Some readers may feel uncomfortable that I employ such overtly military analogy here, as I did in my previous article on risks lurking in the security, intelligence and defence arenas, in which I warned General Boris both to make conscious effort to reconnoitre the Other Side of the Hill and to prepare to encounter and defeat attempts to make Brexit fail by over-complication, by misdirection, by bogging down and by delay – all classic military tactics. I make no apology. Rather, I point to General Montgomery’s First Principle of Warfare which is to “Identify your Enemy!” (The second, equally relevant, is to “maintain your aim”.) The simply disgraceful conduct in bad faith by Brussels since June 2016 – by Juncker of blessed memory, by the Enarque swordsman Barnier, by the neo-imperialist Verhofstadt who has never kept his views secret, neither in the jaw-dropping ‘fly-on-the-wall’ documentary nor subsequently at the Liberal Democrat conference last year, nor in his most recent remarks on ‘Today’ – amply justify the working assumption that we are not facing friendly forces.
In fact, we know that there are considerably more than forty shillings on the drum for those who’ll volunteer to come, to ‘list and fight the foe today, over the hills and far away. More like £39 billion, with the EU angling for another fat slice that would come with the extension that it craves and is already seeking actively to engineer, as ‘Caroline Bell’ trenchantly reminds us in her article on the likely topics for and risks of aggregation. As both I and ‘Caroline Bell’ warned, British voices from the defeated side are already opining loudly on the inevitability of acceding to Ms van der Leyen’s “warning” of the inevitability of extension. Mrs May’s recently ennobled former chief of staff, Gavin Barwell was at it on the ‘Today’ programme as I write this. The safe and the correct reply is, of course – go whistle.
Briefings for Brexit will not be ending its mission on 31st January because it is plain to us from the nature of the excellent contributions that continue to flood in, some of which I have mentioned, that our community of contributors share the editorial advisory group’s conviction that our responsibility is not yet fully discharged. The danger of falling into the trap of aggregation, where everything is linked to everything else, where nothing is signed until everything is signed, which is in the EU’s DNA, is real and present.
We take seriously Walter Bagehot’s admonition and prescription in his description of the English Constitution which the One Nation government must now begin swiftly to rescue from the consequences of the many insults and injuries that it has suffered during the Major to May era, now ended. We should have no doubt that Her Majesty will, in her private audiences with Her Prime Minister, execute fully her constitutional duty to advise and to warn; and we can thank our lucky stars that the country has such a monarch at this momentous hour, one who so entirely meets the late lamented and great Roger Scruton’s description of the Crown as ‘the light above politics.’ But academics share that duty also: it was among the reasons which caused this website to be initiated. Happily, we are not calling on our contributors to enlist for the Peninsular War. But we do invite contributions on any and all aspects of the topography which the country must now traverse after 31 January. Please shoulder your pens!
Then fall in lads behind the drum,
With colours blazing like the sun.
Along the road to come-what may.
Over the hills and far away.
Here’s the actual song
Enjoy!
Many Thanks Gwythian, and I would not have put it better my self, due to a lack of eloquence on my part ! ….. I have pure joy to share, and a suggestion or warning for all true British folk !
First of all, I am today as a dog with two tails. – I’m just so pleased that at long last we are breaking the shackles holding us to the EU, with the final break at the end of this year. Under PM Heath’s lies, we joined a Common Market. – As such, this had merit by close trade with our neighbours. – By the late 1980s it was clear that there was so much more to it than just trade. Also the referendum is at last being actioned, prompted by our GE votes that gave PM Johnson the tools to deliver real Brexit, and a backing to our British Democracy that had become badly bruised !
Second, is the suggestion ! ….. Much work is now required by Sales and Diplomacy, to open trade with the world. – I am sure that this is doable by persistent work, but such deals have to be of a mutual benefit within the trade itself. – Fight shy of adding extraneous items to a deal. – It should not be necessary to bring the family silver to a trade negotiation ! Nothing succeeds like success and it is by that, the Remain folk will come to realise that we have made the right choice, and ‘unity’ is all important to this old Nation !
Second also, is the warning ! ….. We have elected to become a Sovereign Nation again, so we must act the part ! – The Admiralty knows full well that the Royal Navy does not have the right ships for the job of boarder control and fisheries protection. – We should purchase second-hand ships, probably from the USA, that are fast and ‘positive in design’ to do this job. – Time is not our friend on this matter, so we need early action to this ! – An unambiguous approach to the EU has much to recommend it. – It is a Police job against trespassers, and that is so necessary now !
Wish we had some way to get action on that Mike. Force the Admiralty to take action. More and more it just feels right to me to make the point that Britain rules the waves, at least all around us.
Surely we havent signed up to that nonsense about ” Nothing is signed Until All is Signed ” nonsense surely. Far better ” Nothing “. It s just blatent. We just will not turn up for that pure foolishness. It’s purely political glory seeking, nothing to do with a deal. Deals are better done by buyers and sellers Other nosey interfering busibodies can f*** or**…
Quite. We’ll just have the ‘nothing’ then. Buyers and sellers make deals, make trade. There’s a whole world out there.
I’m not sure that I share such confidence in the Queen doing as she should given her past (lack of) performance. The seriousness of our loss of sovereignty should have prompted a response despite any so-called protocols. As with Boris we will see…
The Queen muckied her ticket for me when she gave Assent to the 1972 European Communities Act and subsequently on every occasion she gave Assent to EU Treaties. If she could break her Coronation Oath without so much as blinking then I am afraid, like the rest of the elites, she cannot be trusted.
Surely you are too hard on Her Majesty. I believe it is the case that, whatever her personal opinions throughout, she has little or no power under our Constitution to refuse Assent when a bill has passed both houses of parliament.
Then there is the question of Assent and Consent. If those Acts had been presented (throughout their passage) as Treaties with a Foreign Power, it may be she would have had more influence. But I am by no means an expert.
She has a voice and would be listened to.
If “The Crown” is to be believed, she is not even able to appoint her preferred private secretary if the establishment panjandrums have other ideas.