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Hard remainers must stop saying that even a soft Brexit would be as economically ruinous as no deal

Brexit is a conundrum in search of a compromise. The referendum, after all, delivered a narrow majority for leave; the political convulsions ever since have torn at Britain’s democratic and social fabric; and no one credible believes a hard break from the EU can be achieved without significant economic pain. A rational approach, therefore, would focus on a compromise seeking to unite the country as much as possible, minimise economic damage and allow the conversation to shift on to what Theresa May diagnosed – and proceeded to fuel – as the “burning injustices” disfiguring British society. But the middle ground underpinning such a compromise has been deliberately shredded, torched, carpet-bombed from both directions.

The British right and their media allies have played the decisive role. Tory media outlets and the Tory hierarchy – David Cameron included – spent years demonising migrants, scapegoating them for social problems – like stagnating wages or the housing crisis – that are actually caused by those with power. George Osborne’s ideologically driven austerity project failed.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2u4Ye6f