One might have some sympathy for Boris Johnson’s dismissal of Theresa May’s Brexit plans as “deranged” if his own suggestions for the United Kingdom’s future relationship with the European Union were not equally insane. However, reading of this proposed multi-million euro withdrawal festival by the UK prime minister in The New European one can’t but help feel that maybe the former British foreign affairs secretary is on to something.
The prime minister has announced plans for a “festival of Brexit Britain” in a bid to quieten discontent from MPs at the start of Tory party conference.
The bizarre proposal – which is already earmarked to cost £120m – is said to have been inspired by the 1851 Great Exhibition during Queen Victoria’s reign, and also the post-war festival of Britain in 1951.
The prime minister has said the event would take place as the country goes through a period of “national renewal” as the UK looks to a future outside of the European Union.
May has claimed that the festival would showcase the best of the UK’s talent in business, technology, arts and sport, and hopes events will take place in every region, even those that voted against Brexit.
Meanwhile, in an interview with The Sunday Times newspaper, Johnson claimed that Britain should build a bridge to Ireland.
“What we need to do is build a bridge between our islands. Why don’t we? Why don’t we?
There is so much more we can do, and what grieves me about the current approach to Brexit is that we are just in danger of not believing in ourselves, not believing in Britain.”
One presumes that the proposed bridge between “our islands” will help facilitate the speedy movement of the invading British tanks come Anschluss Day…
AN SIONNACH FIONN 
The bridge idea tells us the seriousness of his ideas. For the birds.
But this ‘festival’ is as you say kind of the same really.
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The festival is scheduled for 2022. The de facto centenary of partition proper and the establishment of the northern state. If one were of a less charitable frame of mind one might see the hand of the DUP in the idea… 😉
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Any such festival could be a sort of bitter occasion to anyone in the UK, who didn’t want Brexit or who by then may come to regret voting for it-and I suspect many of the will.
It would seem that DUP or no-DUP influence the last thing I can imagine the British government wanting at this point would be anything that may look symbolic with regards to the partition of Northern Ireland.
I can remember how in the years just before The Good Friday Agreement and a for some years after, they would panic about all kinds of things (even movies) would “stir up The Troubles”.
It is amazing to me that they aren’t a lot more afraid of stirring up The Troubles at this point.
There’s a lot of claims that the Tory Party caters to the DUP. But given the fact that Northern Ireland has under 2 million people out of 65 million Britons………
…….I’m a little puzzled how their leverage manages to be that be powerful enough that it can win out over the fact that most Britons don’t want The Troubles to come back.
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The simple answer is that for now at least the Tories at WM are beholden to the DUP for their majority. Take away the support of those few extra seats/votes and the government falls.
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The government falls? Or would that simply mean that The Labour Party could dominate Parliament for a while? (That wouldn’t be such a terrible thing, would it?)
I can’t imagine that those votes would be even close to as much of a loss to the Tories as the “Solid South” was for the Democratic Party in the USA when Lyndon B. Johnson signed The Civil Rights Act. As a Texan with Southern familial roots he understood that consequence all too well-but despite the man’s flaws he knew it was the right thing to do.
Come to think of it, the US South is a lot like Northern Ireland in many, many ways…..
………if you let the DUP become the Tail That Wags The Dog of British politics, IT WILL degrade your society no matter what happens with Brexit and Northern Ireland.
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The way some Tories are carrying on you’d imagine that the Troubles never happened. Or that they didn’t end with compromises on all sides. I genuinely believe that there are Tory MPs and associates who are convinced that the UK “defeated” the IRA and that no new insurgency could challenge the British occupation again. Which is counterfactual nonsense. But the British are incapable of facing up to the real history of the conflict. The myth of “No Surrender” suits them more. The IRA, Germans, French, the EU, whatever. It’s utterly depressing.
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Good to have a hard date to achieve re-unification by. Shoulder to the wheel now!
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The UK is now beginning to resemble a certain ocean liner having a major encounter with an iceberg. If things keep going downwards like this, a border fence will be needed, keep the UK refugee’s out.
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Love the photo 🙂
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