Brexit killed the politics of left and right and we need a new alternative

Because of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s intransigence on Brexit and his adherence to some out-dated student political ideology about the EU, the main opposition party has failed utterly to bring order in the wake of the Tories’ internal implosion and their self-inflicted Brexit burach.

On the contrary, the Left has unintentionally merged with the Right as members of the Conservative government tie themselves up in knots over Brexit with one-sided allegiances to the right-wing European Research Group and the small but disproportionately powerful DUP.

Meanwhile, the voters watch on helplessly as either the Corbynistas or the unholy Brexit trilogy of Michael Gove, Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg wrestle for control of their respective parties. It almost doesn’t matter who gets their way, as post-Brexit our hard-won workers’ and human rights will slip through our fingers.

In this new political landscape the divide is now between short-term and long-term gain; Brexit’s false promise pretends to offer satisfaction now, with problems shelved to be dealt with later, when the decision-makers are far, far away in their sunny, tax-free havens.

Nigel Farage, leader of the new Brexit Party, is the living embodiment of this kind of short-term politics. His few and far between appearances at the European Parliament – where he spouts two minutes of vitriol against the so-called “elite” in Brussels before promptly leaving again to jet back to Rule Britannia – are more about raising Farage’s profile on YouTube and stoking populist unrest than anything near telling the truth about what Brexit will actually mean for his subscribers.

But then chronic job losses, economic catastrophe and never-ending austerity are hardly pithy, attractive soundbites.

READ MORE: Hitting out at a liberal elite when Brexit is attacked? That’s rich​

The same charge can be laid at the door of  the men who made millions on the night of the EU referendum result, when Farage issued his forlorn statement that Leave had probably lost, followed by his second statement just hours later that, whoops, funnily enough, they’d won after all. In the interim, certain people allegedly made a lot of money: a short-term boost for their personal finances while sacrificing the future prosperity of the great majority of the rest of the UK.

To quote high-profile former Brexiteer and Telegraph journalist, Peter Osborne, whose explosive essay on Open Democracy last week admitted that the economic case for Brexit had collapsed: “When hedge-fund managers and the Communist Party see eye to eye on any question, it’s time to be concerned.”

For his part Corbyn’s desire for Brexit has encouraged him to ignore how it will destroy the livelihoods of his core base. It’s a question of responsibility. Corbyn may not have made rash promises about the golden age that lies ahead post-Brexit, but nor has he made any real attempt to stop the unicorn from galloping towards the cliff edge.

Speaking of responsibility, the possibility of a hard border with Northern Ireland is a classic example of how hardened Leavers are happy to sacrifice future peace and prosperity far from their front doors if it means as quick an exit from the EU as possible.

Mythical technological solutions to the hard border question have been floated as a get-out clause, but as the anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement passed last week, the importance of protecting human rights, the long-term ambitions of reconciliation and hope, and the duty of the UK to continue to honour its commitment in this partnership have never been starker.

While we are on the subject of duty, Tory austerity, a policy allegedly brought in to stimulate a struggling economy after Labour’s admission that that there was no money left in the Treasury, has failed to live up to its economic raison d’etre and election promise, with the national debt now at an eye watering £2.2 trillion.

The recent opening of a coal mine in Wales under the devolved Labour assembly is just another example of a political decision made to secure votes now over the future of the planet, a short-term fix for job creation with the shattering long-term climate repercussions left to be tackled by the next generation.

The same thing is happening in the US, where Donald Trump has bulldozed his way into the White House with promises to the coal industry that are impossible to keep in the long term.

This desire for votes at any cost has also reinforced the insidious legitimisation of religious bigotry and prejudice against minorities by language used from certain public figures in both the US and the UK. Misinformation and falsehoods about immigrants and refugees have combined with controversial policies such as the hostile environment and galloping inequalities enlarged by the political choice of austerity.

Now Brexit threatens to make a bad situation even worse.

It’s taken the European Union to step in and save the UK from crashing out with the ultimate short-term non-plan, a no-deal Brexit. This extension has literally rescued the UK from the cliff edge, with another six months tagged on in the hope that Westminster can get its act together.

It means we’re almost certainly in the EU elections, which, in the absence of  a People’s Vote, at least gives voters across the country an opportunity to makes their feelings known on the long-term project that is the European Union.

This will be an election about important issues such as climate change and resisting far-right populism in all its short-term climate denial and xenophobia.

READ MORE: Anti-Brexit campaigners take over Nigel Farage's new party website

If recent predictions are accurate Scotland will vote for Remain candidates in even higher numbers than the EU referendum result suggests, with Scottish support for remaining in the European Union is at 75%, up from the 62% in 2016.

Scotland wants to stay because we want to be part of a wider supportive community, to consolidate our internationalist perspective and continuing ambitions.

One of the EU’s central and defining tenants, freedom of movement, is vital to Scotland. Our welcoming attitude to new Scots and EU nationals is the antithesis of the Brexiteers celebration of splendid isolation, of closed borders and protecting national identity with hostile immigration policies.

Shutting borders may give immediate satisfaction to Boris Johnson supporters or those still drinking from the infamous Controls on Immigration Labour mugs, but it spells disaster for the Scottish economy in the future. Scotland’s long-term ambitions and desire to forge a different future from the rest of the UK has been ignored by the Tories and Labour but recognised and celebrated on the world stage.

 Former US vice-president Al Gore has praised Scotland for its leadership and  our investment in renewable energy. Last year, Democrat Bernie Sanders highlighted the Scottish Government’s commitment to worker’s rights and the living wage and the UN described our successful and positive integration of refugees as the blueprint to be used across the globe.

If Brexit has taught us anything, it has shown that quick fixes, leaps of faith and knee-jerk politics have failed. The big questions facing the UK and Scotland need long-term analysis, empirical research and detailed planning. Ideas plucked randomly from the days of the British Empire are divorced from the reality of 21st century politics.  It seems the traditional left and right have got it all wrong. For those of us looking to create a better future, the answer to our problems lies in new alliances, internationalism and equal partnerships. And none of this happens overnight.