They knew it was a lie
Nick Cohen says pay attention to the lies.
I am not going to be over-dainty about mendacity. Politicians, including Remain politicians lie, as do the rest of us. But not since Suez has the nation’s fate been decided by politicians who knowingly made a straight, shameless, incontrovertible lie the first plank of their campaign. Vote Leave assured the electorate it would reclaim a supposed £350m Brussels takes from us each week. They knew it was a lie. Between them, they promised to spend £111bn on the NHS, cuts to VAT and council tax, higher pensions, a better transport system and replacements for the EU subsidies to the arts, science, farmers and deprived regions. When boring experts said that, far from being rich, we would face a £40bn hole in our public finances, Vote Leave knew how to fight back. In Johnsonian fashion, it said that the truth tellers were corrupt liars in Brussels’ pocket.
Cohen’s piece is absolutely blistering. It’s apparent now that Farage et al. were lying about everything, and the “experts” were right. So what now, UK citizens? Bulldoze blindly ahead, or make an emergency course correction?
One problem is that people have been told not to listen to “experts”. They have been led to believe that outsiders are more competent and better able to govern. That’s what we see here, as well. A definite disinclination to believe what is told them by the “establishment”, and especially if it’s boring.
A clever slogan, a few promises that aren’t examined fully, and the fact that most people tune out when economics is the issue, at least to the technical stuff. Having a few economics classes under my belt (but by no means an expert, mind you) I get horrified at how poorly most people process these matters. None of us like paying taxes, so we’re told lower taxes (or in this case, less money going to EU; I don’t know if that would lower taxes or not, not being British), and we cheer. The problem is, lower taxes always come with lower services, and they are usually the services that benefit the most people, and especially the services that benefit the poorest people.
I would like to see clever slogans become unfashionable, but I’m afraid it won’t happen. Brexit is much more euphonious than Bremain.