Parliament Squared by Derek Wyatt
The EU referendum has been a disaster for the political class who reside in the Westminster bubble. Claim and counter-claim by either side has disfigured the whole process. Most of us are sick and tired of the infantile name calling. And it has gone on and on and on.
How on earth Michael Gove and Boris Johnson can hope to stay in the Cabinet should there be a Remain vote will test the Prime Minister's mettle. He will have to steal himself. Of course, if it a Leave, sadly he will have to step down. This will undoubtedly cause the £ to fall 10% or more and may tip us into a general election.
Cosmopolitan Londoners will vote largely for Remain but the rest of England may not. We are used to Polish electricians, Italian plumbers and Romanian Uber drivers. Large swathes of the countryside do not like the European project especially those in Kent, East Anglia and the South West. Yet curiously, they have had substantial investment from Brussels. Undoubtedly, a Leave vote will mean a lowering of our standard of living as no-one has costed the process or the time it will take to exit with the PM saying two years and Mr Gove at least five!
Labour's part in the debate has been excruciatingly embarrassing with Corbyn giving a speech where he was guilty of putting a size nine foot in and a size eight foot out. It was that bad. It would be extraordinary if an election was called and the Tories beat themselves up and consequently lost. No doubt life rafts are being readied.
Across the Atlantic, there is a different but not unrelated storm brewing. Trumpeting is the new poison. You can take the Republican Party's nomination as Donald Trump has done without a single policy properly thought through. I mean an equivalent of a Chinese Wall for the Mexican border might take a decade to build. A ban on Muslims entering the country is an affront to the US Constitution but hey why should he care?
Meanwhile, poor Hillary Clinton has been bewitched by the brilliant campaigning of Bernie Sanders which has undermined her confidence. Nonetheless, she has become the first women of either party to be the nominated candidate. If she has the strength of character - as the fight against Trump will be unbelievably bruising - to go the final mile she should become the first female President of America and very well done to her. It is not always easy being a Clinton. Just compare the lack of intrusive investigations into any Bush candidate be that George Snr, George Jnr or Jed over the past thirty years..........
Back at base, Sadiq Khan easily won the London Mayoral election and well done him. And my how the regime has already changed for the better at County Hall with a number of initiatives announced and some wise heads being added to his team. A search party is still looking for Zac Goldsmith who was ungracious in defeat. He had not really understood London and found campaigning difficult. He should come out of hiding and make good with the new mayor.
Our nation has never gambled as much as it has with this EU referendum. It will certainly bring the curtain down on any more.. Let us hope it is also not the end of the United Kingdom. A Leave will cause Scotland to ask for independence. It will bring back a demand for a united Ireland. It will leave us with Little Britain.