We're all backing Boris?

So here it is, 2020, everybody’s having fun, to paraphrase Slade. Actually, in contrast to the Christmases of my earlier years, when fun really was the object, along with peace and goodwill of course, this season was just a continuum of the same old enmities played out against the backdrop of booze and Brexit. I may be misty-eyed about this but back when we only really had one culture it somehow seemed easier to put aside the grievances for a few days at and just get on with each other.

Only this morning an avowed leftie @SocialistSuzy jumped into a discussion on Twitter about the resurgent trending hashtag #OhJeremyCorbyn and how indicative this was of blinkered thinking. Corbyn lost, he will never fully accept that he lost, he is convinced he ‘won the argument’ and he has been putting out propaganda shorts as if he was campaigning for a general election. Even his detractors actually credit him with generally being a good campaigner, but to continue to do so after such a disastrous rout is simply denying reality.

Anyway, our tame lefty trotted out the usual tropes; people didn’t know what was good for them (she does, though), stupid people voted for their own downfall, the masses (99%, apparently) supported Saint Jeremy, therefore, he could have only lost because of the media onslaught on his character. They do say you can fool some of the people all of the time. The ‘discussion’ ended, predictably enough, with Suzy blocking me. All the animus was from her side, but to save her from having to experience a contrary opinion, she chose the coward’s way out.

I hope this won’t set the pattern for the coming year, this refusal to face reality, this inabilty to engage. When even Gary Lineker has come out and finally accepted the referendum result, surely we can persuade more lefties down from their high horses and lofty moralistic positions to have a national conversation? We have a big enough battle ahead trying to forge a working relationship with the EU without having to also prosecute open warfare in the country at large.

Boris Johnson’s message for the new year was one of hope, of inclusiveness of coming together and making this country what it could be. Whatever you think of him personally, he has the necessary charisma to bring people on board in a way that the borderline sociopath, Jeremy Corbyn, never did. Had Labour won the election you can guarantee that we would have years ahead of internecine squabbling, ineffective policy and deep divisions in our society. Under Johnson, who knows what might be achieved?

This is what we escaped

A new start? Absolutely. The twenties could be the decade of Britain, but it won’t be unless we make it. We should have at least five unfettered years with unprecedented access to the hearts and minds of the population. Interconnectivity means that government can talk to the governed in a way that was just not possible before. While the losers will spit and snarl the winners should be gracious and accepting and find ways to engage as many as possible in a forward-looking plan for the future. I never thought I’d say this but perhaps we should all strive to be more like Boris.