The Ship of English Fools

Foreseeing the rise of fascism, in 1930 the Spanish philosopher José Ortega y Gasset warned in The Revolt of the Masses of a rising demand for action and “an end to discussion”. The baying for a no-deal Brexit on the Faragista right has taken on a fascistic flavour, while debate on how we became trapped in our descending spiral has closed. The Tories and Nigel Farage will bear historical responsibility, but that is far from the whole story. Brexit, a breakdown of the national psyche, is a collective enterprise, and the sooner we talk honestly about its origins and likely results the better the chances of an eventual recovery. In two weeks the man least suited (along with the leader of the opposition) to be prime minister will settle with his suite of cronies into N0 10. How did it come to this?