Edmund Burke's pamphlet written in 1770 was focused on what he saw as the malign influence of the Court operating through the Royal prerogative on the operation of Parliament and in particular the House of Commons. Those favouring exit from the European Union have a similar obsession about the degree to which the sovereignty of Parliament is being trammelled by others. Even if that is a stretch it's still a neat title for some reflections on just why we are so unhappy as a nation at the moment as to do something as ridiculous and self defeating as to leave a trading bloc with our major partners and turn our back on an institution which was founded in large part to prevent a return to war in Europe. The single most depressing aspect of the result is what it says about us culturally: insular, nativist, backward looking, increasingly xenophobic and in some respects simply bigoted and with a wholly misguided view about taking back our sovereignty in a world which is in fact in
Occasional musings about time spent in museums, galleries, theatres, cinemas and other dark settings ..