Richard Seymour: A dark appetite for adventure is driving Britain’s hardline Brexit folly
A kind of disaster
nationalism craves the likely chaos as we head towards no deal. And Johnson is
channelling its energy
Who is really setting
the agenda on Brexit? The politician wielding the most leverage has never, in
his entire career, held a parliamentary seat, let alone a cabinet position. He
runs a party that isn’t a party, with no MPs, no members and no
manifesto. But Nigel Farage holds the fate of the government in his hands. Farage has found
himself somewhat overshadowed in recent weeks, as all eyes have been drawn to
the new power in Whitehall, Dominic Cummings. But with his threat to stand Brexit party
candidates against the Tories unless the government delivers a no-deal Brexit,
it is Farage who has blown wide open a long-brewing crisis in the Conservative
party. If they don’t give him what he wants, he will hand the next election to
Jeremy Corbyn. Most Tories, absurdly, fear Corbyn more than no deal.
The strength of
Farage’s position is derived not from what he builds, but from the weaknesses
he exploits. As a stockbroker with a nose for vulnerability, he has never led a
party capable of taking national power. Whether his vehicle was Ukip or the
Brexit party, he has always thrived in elections with low turnouts and which
depend more on brand recognition – largely his own brand – rather than on
street-by-street campaigning. Its main effect has been to sabotage the Tories.
A gambler, buoyed up by hubris, he has taken big risks that no established
politician can take. And, as with other radical-right politicians, from Donald Trump to Jair Bolsonaro, detonating a crisis of
establishment conservatism has paid huge dividends... read more:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/sep/02/britain-brexit-chaos-nigel-farage-boris-johnson
