Fear and Loathing in The Septic Isle....

'This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle,
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-paradise,
This fortress built by Nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of war,
This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in the silver sea,
Which serves it in the office of a wall
Or as a moat defensive to a house,
Against the envy of less happier lands,--
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.'

William Shakespeare, "King Richard II", Act 2 scene 1

The current build-up to the EU Referendum on June 23rd is hotting up and becoming more and more acrimonious, with insults traded by both the Stay and Leave sides. Colleagues from both main political parties, who find themselves on opposite sides of the argument, and who presumably will have to go back to working together once the dust settles and the result is confirmed, are continuously upping the ante in vitriol and abuse directed at each other. These are the ruling classes, and the climate they are creating for the ordinary person like you and I is quite frankly embarrassing and presents a terrible picture of our country to the rest of the world's watching TV and social media audiences.

This is rubbing off though across the country. I have seen a number of friends over the past week or so getting increasingly animated and argumentative. People who are normally mild-mannered are becoming aggressive and angry about this claim or that by one side or another. People who would quite happily agree to differ on some point or another in a normal election campaign, if they're even bothered.

But the simple truth is nobody has the full picture, nobody has all the answers, certainly not the In and Out camps who are trying to get us to vote their way. Never has so little been known by so many about so much. So many of the arguments are based on what ifs and suppositions. Lies, damned lies, and statistics. People are crying out for accurate information and guidance.But nobody really knows, so scaremongering and suspicion become the order of the day. Accusations fly, assumptions are made, and mucho cojones is talked.

There is now less than 2 weeks until it is time to vote. Which ever way the vote goes though, this sorry episode in this country's history has stirred up something rotten and opened up some deep divisions and feelings that I doubt will go away for some time, if ever.

What would Shakespeare have made of it all?

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