Would you be surprised to learn that a large proportion of pro-Brexit voters are left-wingers like me?
The substantial Leave vote in the North and Midlands -traditional Labour strongholds - shows that one of the driving forces of Leave was not mindless nationalism, but the general perception that the EU was and is a front for global capitalism. The left wing of British politics, including former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, had always been opposed to the Common Market and the EEC for that reason.
Ultimately, a large minority (or even a small majority) of Leave voters wanted no part of the swivel-eyed Little Englanders of UKIP. What they wanted - what most still want - is a return to the mixed economy of times past.. Nationalised utilities and railways, municipal housing and public transport, a properly-funded NHS with targets based on people treated, not money saved, and a private sector where bosses could be held to account by strong trade unions. The general opinion was, and is, that the EU would do everything it could to prevent this at the behest of the corporations it answers to.
Unfortunately, the political partiies of the time failed us. The Conservatives under May were centrist and pro-EU, seeking to delay Brexit until a formula could be found that would allow the UK to 'leave without leaving'. Meanwhile Corbyn was hamstrung by the Blairite majority in the Parlaimentary Labour Party -also centrist and pro-EU.
But while Corbyn lacked the numbers within Parliament to rid himself of the Blairites, the Tories only had to shift May. When it became clear that the 2019 election was going to be fought over Brexit, Tory movers and shakers had no qualms and fewer problems in replacing May with Johnson (Rees-Mogg was seen as too risky, his anti-EU credentials were impeccable, but his social views too far out of date). So the Tories could campaign on 'Get Brexit done' while all Corbyn could do was attempt the compromise of another referendum -a "Peoples' Vote", when they'd already voted!
Thus the current version of Brexit is the result of the desire to win an election and nothing else!
