On Bonfire Night, Remainers Keen on Burning Brexit in Effigy

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,I know of no reasonWhy the Gunpowder TreasonShould ever be forgot.So goes the folk rhyme in remembrance of the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 — otherwise known as “Guy Fawkes Day.” The Plot emerged as a Catholic conspiracy to blow up the House of Lords as James I — co-titled “James VI of Scotland” — presented the King’s Speech, before assembled peers and MPs.For 21st-century Remainers, the conspiracy de jour is none other than UK independence — “Brexit.” The original plot, planned in reaction to Protestant persecution, was fomented by ringleader Robert Catesby and a dozen allies. Today, the Brexit debate rages between Leavers and Remainers, and shows no sign of abating. For the crime of high treason, Catesby and Co. were found guilty and sentenced to be “hanged, drawn, and quartered.” Guy Fawkes is singled out by history, having been discovered in the parliamentary undercroft with matches and 36 barrels of gunpowder. November 5, meanwhile, was celebrated annually with bonfires and fireworks in remembrance of King James’s deliverance — history remains mum whether there was thanksgiving for the safekeeping of parliamentarians.As for Mr. Fawkes, he (often along with the Pope) was burned in effigy, as the foiled threat to English liberties. Nor has the tradition been entirely extinguished. A 36-foot figure of former premier Liz Truss (along with a lettuce) was surrendered to the flames in Kent this evening.Call this a “bonfire of the vanities.” Celebrities-of-all-stripes are routinely roasted in fun at the Edenbridge event, and as a fund-raising effort for local charities. Very much in the spirit of the occasion, too, considering that the Establishment emerges as one increasing threat to British liberties.G.K. Chesterton clearly saw the impact that Bonfire Night had on the modern political mind. “The historical and religious cause in which it originated is not mine,” he wrote. “And I think it has perished partly through being tied to a historical theory for which there is no future.”Certainly, the celebration of Bonfire Night has lost much of its appeal. For Chesterton, “this is illustrated in the very fact that the ceremonial is merely negative and destructive.”Nevertheless, that Remainers have taken up certain traits of Bonfire Night is no less evident. Much as Guy Fawkes and his Catholic cohort were castigated as public enemies, the ills plaguing UK society are placed at the foot of Brexit.Witness a recent Guardian editorial. “Denying the cost of leaving the EU keeps Britain locked in a cycle of falling living standards and rising anger,” reads the sub-heading.“There must come a time when the cost of Brexit is recognised by a British government, but that day is not imminent,” it begins.And ends, thus: “Economic decline stokes political volatility, which makes recovery harder. That vicious cycle will be broken when Britain has a prime minister who is willing to deal in facts about Brexit and set pernicious fictions aside.”In between are nestled all the usual suspects. From inflation, rising interest rates, and the concomitant cost-of-living crisis, to border control and immigration. Missing is reference to the continuing controversies over the Northern Ireland Protocol to the re-emergence of independence for Scotland.Add in energy supply and climate change, for good measure. One need not go far to see how Brexit is portrayed as the Prime Mover of UK “permacrisis” — the “word of the year,” according to the Collins dictionary.This pessimism would not have entirely surprised Chesterton. “Negation and destruction are very noble things as far as they go,” was his estimate of Guy Fawkes effigies — “when they go in the right direction.”Chesterton could also be optimistic about the bonfire festivities, since “the popular expression of them has always something hearty and human about it.” As, for example, the charitable impulses behind the Kent bonfire.Nor must Brexiteers be excluded from the fun. They can cheer this Daily Express headline: “Post-Brexit bonfire of trade red tape to deliver £20bn export boost for UK economy.” Government ministers can claim the removal of “192 trade barriers across 79 countries,” with a further 100 barriers to be removed in the coming months.The objective is to put to the torch one “new trade barrier somewhere around the world” every week, says Trade Minister Kemi Badenoch. “We’re slashing red tape and opening access to new markets and new customers.”The Brexit message is clear. “With these trade obstacles gone and more to follow,” says Ms. Badenoch, “make the most of the huge global appetite for your fantastic products and sell to the world.”If Bonfire Night needed a positive light to shine for the United Kingdom, as Chesterton opined, this is it.BrexitDiarist@gmail.com

On Bonfire Night, Remainers Keen on Burning Brexit in Effigy

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