The EU Election Results Show That Nothing Has Changed in UK Politics
We’re as divided now as we were then.
The votes have all been counted from the UK’s EU Parliament election. We weren’t supposed to be taking part in these elections, and perhaps it would have been better if we didn’t. The results haven’t given us worthy candidates to represent Britain’s interests in the EU; we have instead elected a protest vote into reality. It was a waste of time even asking us. This was not a second referendum, but it might as well have been. And just like any real second referendum would, it gave a result similar to the first.
And yet, in spite of what the actual results say, we have a vast range of interpretations as to what they mean. Remainers see a clear victory for Remain, and Leavers see a clear victory for Leave. And both sides have found a way to blame it on Jeremy Corbyn. I wrote about this problem earlier in the year — that there is no point holding a second referendum because the conditions that gave the Leave result back then have not changed. We would just get the same result all over again.
Perhaps the worst aspect of the result from June 2016 is that it was almost an even split. OK, it was a bad idea to rip up our constitution over an incredibly close vote as well. But let’s just look at the numbers: Britain is completely divided on the…
