The two factions of the Conservative Party that support Brexit have diametrically different views on what should happen next. The CLs see the new GB as being a low tax, low regulation, cosmopolitan, free trading paradise; this phenomenon is usually called Singapore-on-Thames. The Reactionaries, on the other hand, just want to pull up the drawbridge, get rid of the immigrants, and return to the happy, prosperous land of their forefathers.
How is Boris supposed to reconcile these two mutually exclusive ideas? With his mouth, mostly:
- For the CLs, make a big display of negotiating new free trade agreements with the US and other non-EU countries, even though that process is likely to be very slow;
- For the Reactionaries, growl at the EU at every possible opportunity, and make sure immigration doesn’t increase (not likely to be a problem, given GB’s economic woes); and
- Splash more cash everywhere in the hope of avoiding a Brexit-caused recession.
The problem, of course, is that reality inevitably intrudes, and it will bite. The budget deficit will soar, the pound will sag, and the British consumer will suffer. Boris will call on the spirit of Winston Churchill to carry on in the face of this ongoing disaster. But Boris isn’t Churchill, in spite of his fondest hopes, the EU isn’t Nazi Germany, and the outcome will be very different.