We had to smile when we saw how a London agency took to the streets of London to place a series of "In case of hard Brexit break glass" boxes. The boxes containing emergency items such as an Irish passport, a tin of canned meat and a voodoo doll of Boris Johnson. Funny.
But at the time of writing (8th April, 2019) very little is. To be honest, I’ve actually forgotten how I voted in the 2016 Referendum. It ceases to matter now – like most of people in the UK, I just want this to end.
Current affairs are my bread and butter – as a public relations consultant in Manchester, in order to do my job effectively, I need to know what is going on in the news. Now, I dread logging on – I try to find a way I can find relevant news for my clients without having to see anything Brexit related. I invariably fail - and so I start my day cursing and muttering and generally in a very bad mood.
Regardless of whether you are leaver, remainer or couldn’t give a damn any more-er – I think we can all agree the handling of Brexit has been shambolic. The process has shown a bright light on how politicians put their careers and their Party before the country. It makes me both angry and sad to see how politicians have let their citizens down quite so spectacularly.
No matter how this plays out, the crisis of confidence faced by the political establishment is going to take some sorting out. We like to claim that England boasts the ‘mother of parliaments’ but the world has looked on in amazement. How can we in the future even try to negotiate in global disputes, voice our concerns, or represent democracy? How can any other country take Britain seriously again?
And at home, the lies, the incompetence, the uncertainty, the disregard for British business has damaged democracy to such an extent, many wonder, how politicians and politics in general will ever garner an ounce of respect again. How can we be expected to vote or be engaged in public life without a colossal change or upheaval that will no doubt be an historic event in our life time?
It’s not Brexit that has damaged Brand Britain – Parliament has. They should, when, or if, this is ever over, resign on mass. They should say sorry, they should say we are not up for the job you have elected us to do. And then, the British people who have carried on regardless ensuring Britain runs effectively on a day to day basis, despite the idiots in charge, should start again.
I’ve handled many PR crises in my long career – but my advice for this lot – you are beyond saving. Just go. Revolution anyone?