It's time to admit we're all bored of Brexit

From Where I Stand — There's no getting around it, talk of Brexit is becoming tiring. You're not alone in feeling like you're starting to not care. This process will be one of the most important events for generations though, so it's time we find a better way to engage with our departure from Europe than this never-ending news cycle, writes Michael Segalov.

My name is Michael, Im 24-years-old, and I’m really, really bored of Brexit. You honestly don’t know how good that feels to write. Go on, type it. Tweet it. Think it. Yell it. Scream it from the top of your Brexit-sodden lungs. Scrawl it into the slowly beating heart of Brexit fucking Britain.

To be honest, I was bored of it before the EU referendum was over. I was bored the day Britain voted for to leave, and I’ve been bored of bastarding Brexit every single day since. I’m bored when I wake up every morning and look at the headlines, I’m bored listening to interviews with ministers on the radio on my way down to work. I’m bored of the conversations over dinner, tired of the mindless chatter down at the pub. I don’t want to talk about Brexit, I don’t want to listen to you talk about Brexit. In fact, I don’t even really want to be writing this rant about Brexit at all.

It’s such a relief to get that off my chest.

It’s not that I don’t think Brexit is important, but I’m overloaded with information and news stories and quite frankly right now I feel like it’s so tempting to simply not care.

Don’t get me wrong, I do care a lot about Britain leaving the European Union. Fundamentally this really has never changed. In the lead up to the referendum back in June 2016 I did what I could to encourage people to vote to remain in Europe. I was gutted when the votes were tallied and a campaign characterised by bigotry and powerful people using our future as a political football came through victorious. I think the government were and are irresponsibly unprepared for the fallout; we’re in the midst of a shitshow that has no script, no planning, no clear goal or desired end.

And yet I can’t help but feel we’re expected to stop caring about every other important issue until the end of this long and drawn-out process: inequality and injustice taking a backseat every day. With the news cycle and Parliamentary timetable now almost exclusively committed to our departure from Europe (with an unpleasant dash of transphobia thrown in to boot), it’s as if the housing crisis, global warming and international conflicts are no longer there. Britain leaving the EU is undauntedly worth our attention, but with May’s government out of action and the Conservative ideology out of ideas, this process can’t become a cover for a failure to tackle the biggest issues of our time. It can’t become a distraction, and right now it feels like that’s the case.

Commentators and critics are likening the Article 50 process to wartime Britain, I can’t count the number of times we’ve been told to stop criticising the government and instead pull together in the “national interest” to make Britain great again. It’s a lie that some wish to peddle, but of course what our future looks like is entirely dependent on how the negotiations go.

The fatigue that’s now long set in is also incredibly dangerous, to become delirious and disengaged from a process that by all accounts will set the course of the United Kingdom’s future for decades can lead to nothing good.

Without proper scrutiny and oversight from the general public, not just by politicians and technocrats, we’ve no way of ensuring the assault on “red tape” and “regulation” the Conservative Party are intent on waging won’t see a total annihilation of vital obligations to the international community, a transformation of Britain into a glorified tax haven, a total destruction of workers’ rights. Bombarding us with endless accounts, attacks and detail though doesn’t appear to be helping ensure that, it’s in our interests to ensure we don’t end up feeling disengaged and disinterested. Right now that is what’s happening.

When we talk about Brexit it shouldn’t just be in terms of Tory infighting (however gratifying we may find it), the jingoism and platitudes are doing nothing to ensure the public have a say in what happens at the end of the day. We’ve forgotten, it seems, that whatever the outcome – whatever deal is struck – should be determined by the needs of the population and wider society. For that to happen it’s vital we continue to think about what we want the United Kingdom to look like, and that requires wider debates and discussions that we’re neglecting. Let’s talk about infrastructure, about the NHS, about education. Let’s reconsider our border policies and our foreign policy and how to reform a justice system that does so much harm.

Mondays though? They are by all accounts awful. Monday is the day of the cumulative hangover and getting out of bed on time and of that sinking feeling when you check your bank account to find there’s just £1.74 left to last you until the end of next week. Monday is the day of slowly come to terms with while regretting the stupid and reckless things you did when not thinking properly before. Why can’t Monday be the day we talk about Brexit, the day when we all catch up with what’s been happening over the seven days before.

Let’s make Monday the day of Brexit, and leave the rest of the week for us to talk about other things, work on other projects. Let’s let our politicians get on with actually governing and scrutinising our media report on topics that matter in areas that otherwise now so often feel ignored. By the time we come back to Brexit just seven days later we’ll be able to cast our eyes afresh, have debates and discussions. Who knows? We might even be enthused and engaged.

The biggest threat to democracy is apathy, it’s all too east to fall into a trap of feeling tired and as if you no longer care. If we carry on talking Brexit as we have done for over a year now, there’s a real risk of a sense of disillusionment prevailing. If we’ve any chance of building something better on the crumbling foundations of Britain in Europe, we can’t let our departure consume all we do. If we don’t it’ll be those with power when we all lose interest who benefit.

Michael Segalov is News Editor at Huck. Follow him on Twitter

Enjoyed this article? Like Huck on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.


Latest on Huck

Smiling person in black wetsuit riding surfboard on calm ocean with rocky hills in background.
Sport

Maryam El Gardoum is breaking new shores for Morocco’s indigenous surfers

The Amazigh Atlantic — Through her groundbreaking career and popular surf school, the five-time Moroccan champion is helping women find their places in the waves.

Written by: Sam Haddad

Dimly lit underground carpark, long winding corridor with concrete walls, floor, and pipes above.
Activism

Youth violence’s rise is deeply concerning, but mass hysteria doesn’t help

Safe — On Knife Crime Awareness Week, writer, podcaster and youth worker Ciaran Thapar reflects on the presence of violent content online, growing awareness about the need for action, and the two decades since Saul Dibb’s Bullet Boy.

Written by: Ciaran Thapar

Colourful embroidered jackets worn by two people, with skateboarder visible in background. Bright colours and graphic designs on the clothing.
Sport

Volcom teams up with Bob Mollema for the latest in its Featured Artist Series

True to This — The boardsports lifestyle brand will host an art show in Biarritz to celebrate the Dutch illustrators’ second capsule collection.

Written by: Huck

Black and white image showing a group of shirtless men socialising, some laughing.
Culture

A visual trip through 100 years of New York’s LGBTQ+ spaces

Queer Happened Here — A new book from historian and writer Marc Zinaman maps scores of Manhattan’s queer venues and informal meeting places, documenting the city’s long LGBTQ+ history in the process.

Written by: Isaac Muk

Four persons - three women and one man - posing outdoors. The women are wearing elaborate clothing and jewellery.
Culture

Nostalgic photos of everyday life in ’70s San Francisco

A Fearless Eye — Having moved to the Bay Area in 1969, Barbara Ramos spent days wandering its streets, photographing its landscape and characters. In the process she captured a city in flux, as its burgeoning countercultural youth movement crossed with longtime residents.

Written by: Miss Rosen

A person wearing a black cap and holding a sign that says "What made me"
Music

Tony Njoku: ‘I wanted to see Black artists living my dream’

What Made Me — In this series, we ask artists and rebels about the forces and experiences that shaped who they are. Today, it’s avant-garde electronic and classical music hybridist Tony Njoku.

Written by: Tony Njoku

Huck is supported by our readers, subscribers and Club Huck members. It is also made possible by sponsorship from:

Signup to our newsletter

Sign up to our newsletter to informed with the cutting edge of sport, music and counterculture, featuring personal takes on the state of media and pop culture from Emma Garland, former Digital Editor of Huck, exclusive interviews, recommendations and more.

Please wait...

Accessibility Settings

Text

Applies the Open Dyslexic font, designed to improve readability for individuals with dyslexia.

Applies a more readable font throughout the website, improving readability.

Underlines links throughout the website, making them easier to distinguish.

Adjusts the font size for improved readability.

Visuals

Reduces animations and disables autoplaying videos across the website, reducing distractions and improving focus.

Reduces the colour saturation throughout the website to create a more soothing visual experience.

Increases the contrast of elements on the website, making text and interface elements easier to distinguish.