In the final weeks of the European Union referendum campaign, all of the United Kingdom needs to be heard It has become a commonplace to complain that the argument about Europe has become too shrill, coarse and divisive. To which I reply: what exactly did you expect? The stakes are vertiginous, the consequences will reverberate for decades and the argument goes to the heart of what kind of country we want the United Kingdom to be and whether there will still be a United Kingdom should the decision be for Out. It is in the nature of the beast to be shrill, coarse and divisive. The referendum is a binary device. It does not permit of nuance and refinement. It is polarising by design. Some people already know exactly how they will vote. They have always known. Many others will lean 60/40 towards In or sway 60/40 for Out. I suspect that describes the feelings of a lot of voters. But you can’t play percentages on the ballot paper. It demands the taking of sides. That is the simplicity and the brutality of a referendum. This was never going to be an exercise in Socratic dialogue. If that is what you are yearning for, you will need to persuade Doctor Who to lend you his time machine and whisk back to ancient Greece. Where you may be disappointed to find that politics was not always decorous in antique Athens. Socrates’ life was terminated by his trial and execution. Continue reading...
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