Richard Seymour: A dark appetite for adventure is driving Britain’s hardline Brexit folly

By Dilip -
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

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