Brexit And All Saints' day

 

Brexit

The High Court verdict on Brexit could conceivably reverse the referendum result but problems remain (sic). The outrage from the gutter press and Tory Reich can simply be dismissed as the natural result of cheats seeing their spoils possibly being snatched from them. I did wonder, however, why nobody appears to have complained to the PCC at the Daily Mail's inference that judges (in general by implication) drive while using their phones. Isn't that a libel in the absence of evidence and where's the evidence? (of judges in general). I still don't understand why the gutter press in the UK hasn't been hauled before the PCC on numerous Brexit points. The outrage should also make clear to anyone with half a brain that the Tory Reich et al have no faith in parliamentary democracy. So much for their claimed belief in home rule and transparency.

However, that is a minor issue. Two important points arise. The first is whether the government can get at the Supreme Court in some way, since that is where the matter is likely to end up. I've no idea about that but it will be important. The other, assuming the Supreme Court backs the current ruling, is whether enough MPs can accept that the referendum result was only advisory and not a mandate, as has often been implied. True the referendum result can be regarded as a democratic vote but democracy in the UK has never been ruled by plebiscites and cannot be. Parliament has always acted as a filter and should do so on this matter (in my view). If it comes to this, much will depend on the pressure Remainers can put on their MPs, since the gutter press and Tory Reich are sure to do so.

All Saints' Day

I never remember All Saints' Day being noticed in the UK and I don't think that was because I was never religious. However it is a national holiday here and the shops are full of pots of chrysanthemums to be placed on graves. I can't see any harm in people putting flowers on the graves of loved ones but it appears to be more general here, something more like a form of worship of the dead, as in Mexico's Day of the Dead. I was conscious while in the UK that there was an old wives' tale that you shouldn't bring chrysanthemums into the house or someone would die but that was about the sum of it. I wonder about the connection between chrysanthemums and the dead; there must be some historical/mythic/folkloric connection but I don't know it. I guess it's all harmless. (Unlike Brexit.)