High Peak Liberal Democrats
Journalist Ian Dunt has become somewhat of a favourite of pro-Europeans with his acerbic journalism on the failings of the government's approach to Brexit. His book, Brexit: what the hell happens now?, looks at what happens next, as Ian Dunt explains for Lib Dem Newswire readers:Wherever you looked, Brexit broke something. It broke the political consensus on things we never thought we'd challenge, like the dominance of the financial sector or the acceptance of social liberalism. It broke us off from our largest trading partner. And it even broke many families apart. But one of the most significant breaks was with our sense of reason.
That's not to say you can't be reasonable and back Brexit.You can be. There are many valid arguments against the EU and some are even powerful enough to warrant justifiably wanting to leave it. But the debate during and after the referendum wasn't one on contested theories of sovereignty or global trade regulation. It was a hissy fit of national proportions. British political culture became the constitutional equivalent of a child rubbing food on its face and screaming.
Senior political figures would put forward mutually incompatible statements with no evidence that they were possible and no interest in finding out. Advocates of hard Brexit would shut down debate and treat critics as traitors. And through it all, you could see the British ministers preparing to blame EU officials for their own mistakes when it all inevitably came tumbling down.
Brexit: what the hell happens now? is an attempt to address that. It is not a polemic, or even really an argument. It is simply an account, based on conversations with lawyers, trade experts, academics and economists - the experts Michael Gove dislikes, basically - of what happens next. It is an attempt to use reason and empiricism in what has become a shrill and nonsensical debate.
At the moment, that alone feels like a radical act.
Looking for some other summer reading? Here are some of the other suggestions in addition to Ian Dunt's book from fellow Lib Dem Newswire readers made on the Facebook page and on my blog:
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