We've come a long way from those times. Our laws seek to protect the weak and vulnerable, we bend over backwards to embrace people of different cultures, different religions and different sexual proclivity and yet when it suits us we still drag down our adversary when they show weakness.
And so it is this morning with Mrs May. The morning after her proposal, "to reach out to other parties and find consensus", her ears must be deafened by the criticism from all and sundry, it's as if, not to criticise her, not to put the proverbial boot in as she figuratively lays prone on the ground, is somehow to miss an opportunity to revert to savagery.
Brexit is an almost impossible conundrum if you wish to carry the people with you.
From Middlesbrough to Milton Keynes the image of Brexit and what it means is different. From "I want out" to "staying in at all costs" the gulf is wide and unbridgeable. The Brexiteers claim that 'it's the will of the people' is clearly flawed since roughly the same number voted to stay in. Do the wishes of the 'Remainers' count for nothing. Is the argument that we didn't understand the consequences of leaving any clearer since even now, the pros and cons are hotly debated and no definitive answer has emerged. The surety of the political Brexiteer, that WTO rules will suffice, at least until we get our act together and form trade deals with other nations, including Europe has the ring of optimism about it, particularly if, at the same time, we release ourselves of the straight jacket which is Europe. Of course the straight jacket has not been all bad. It has made us recognise the responsibility to our own citizens in terms of many things which sadly, our class ridden system of governance has often ignored in the pursuit of self interest. Being beholden to others is no bad thing if it forces your own standards upwards. From pollution to food standards, we benefit from Europes insistence that we take measures towards maintaining standards regarding for instance water purification or vehicle emissions which sadly behind all the high flown words in Parliament I doubt there is the will in our own establishment unless it is thought to be 'financially' beneficial.
The Remainers, who wish the whole referendum thing had never happened readily accept the constraints Europe puts upon us, they also accept the development in Europe, toward a more feudalistic system, where a financial collective is properly collective with the debits and credits shared more equitably. There is also the admittance of a growing need to be more assertive in so far as Europe's military capability as America pulls back from what has been an expensive protective umbrella.
With the rise of Russian and Chinese nationalism the need for Europe to also become a military force is sadly upon us.
In other words the Europe we are choosing to leave is mutating into something else and whilst we are geographically European the sheer proximity may demand an alignment leaving us with no choice to join them either from within or from outside.
Watching the playground which has become the House of Commons one would be forgiven for assuming that these important issues are secondary to a party political jamboree in which sloganeering is all that's required to win. The very thought of replacing Mrs May, who in my opinion has always represented the post she holds with statesmanlike poise, a man like Boris Johnson fills me with dread. He barely held the much lessor post of Foreign Secretary with any acclaim, rather the opposite. He bumbled his way through his brief, making the country look like a kindergarten.
But of course we are in the position we are in because of the pathetic quality of political leadership. It strikes me more and more each day that the divide in this country, based on class and patronage has finally led us to an impasse which there seems, no escape. Perhaps we will manage to solve the short term problems but as to the long term future I see no light at the end of a very long tunnel.
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