Blackfriar: In this election people are holding their noses and voting for the least dangerous

Blackfriar is old enough to remember the euphoria of 1997 when Tony Blair and New Labour stormed into power.
Boris Johnson will either have to negotiate another extension or take us out of the EU on WTO termsBoris Johnson will either have to negotiate another extension or take us out of the EU on WTO terms
Boris Johnson will either have to negotiate another extension or take us out of the EU on WTO terms

I also remember the high hopes we all had in 2010 for the David Cameron/Nick Clegg coalition.

Back in 1997 and 2010 there was huge hope and a belief that we were on the path to a better future. Blair, Cameron and Clegg were very likeable leaders who could genuinely heal divisions and attract voters from other parties.

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Indeed in 2013, Cameron made a cameo appearance in boy band One Direction’s video for a charity single. The lads danced around him while he looked bemused. Such a genuine affection for the Prime Minister of the day seems astonishing today. No boy band manager in his right mind would let Boris Johnson anywhere his proteges’ video. He might nick their phone or decide to hide in the fridge.

There is an overwhelming feeling of weariness about this election. Very few people have high hopes for the next UK Government. Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn are two of the least liked leaders since polling began and their joint popularity score is the worst ever.

In fact, this election is like no other I’ve lived through. I don’t know anyone who is voting for a party or a leader that they fully approve of and believe in. They are just holding their noses and voting for the least dangerous.

According to YouGov, two thirds (67 per cent) of us do not feel enthusiastic about this General Election. YouGov said a third (33 per cent) say they do not feel very enthusiastic and a further third (34 per cent) say they do not feel enthusiastic at all.

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Whatever happens on December 12, we have nothing to look forward to but more of the same. If Johnson gets a majority, he will pull us out of the EU and then everyone will slowly realise that the real work of Brexit is yet to be done.

Blackfriar very rarely agrees with Nigel Farage, but he was right when he said that Johnson’s “oven ready” deal is going to give everyone a nasty dose of indigestion.

Brexit won’t be done at any time soon. It is going to be a long drawn, torturous process that will grind on for years and years.

A Tory majority would see the UK leave the EU by January 31 and then attempt to do a trade deal in less than a year when it took Canada, Switzerland and Norway northwards of seven years to do their deals.

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Brexiters argue that the UK is in a totally different situation as we are already in alignment with the EU. Have they not noticed that Johnson’s plan is to totally change that alignment?

So we would have another Brexit deadline date of December 2020 and then what? Johnson would either have to negotiate another extension or take us out of the EU on WTO terms, which only the maddest of the mad think would be a good idea.

We live in an era where no-one cares if Brexit makes us poorer. They just want the agony to end.

The latest YouGov MRP poll points to a 28 seat Tory majority, but I think this will fall as social media has gone mad for tactical voting. When you learn that Dominic Raab in Esher is on 46 per cent, his Lib Dem rival is on 44 per cent and Labour is on 8 per cent, that is a pretty clear incentive for Labour voters to hold their noses and vote Lib Dem in what would be the biggest Portillo moment since 1997.

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In Shipley. The poll says Tory Philip Davies is on 48 per cent, Labour is on 43 per cent and the Lib Dems are on 6 per cent. Will Lib Dems hold their noses and vote Labour?

Who knows. All I do know is that few people are going to be all that happy on Friday morning as the Brexit saga rolls on and on.