Hi XingMing, thanks for contributing to the thread.
I've recently had some building work done on my house and have been overhearing a fair few conversations between the various trades about Brexit and politics. They've all been very pro-Brexit, even though things have been slow for them personally. Although they're salt of the earth types and I don't think they'd usually have much time for posh boys they like Johnson because they think that he's sticking up for "the people's" decision to leave the EU. They detest Corbyn as a 'parasite' - they've never discussed the LibDems or Greens in front of me.
I thought the 'parasite' comment was telling - despite the possibility that Brexit might cost them more in the long run than a couple of extra pence on their tax bills, from their perspective a Labour Government is a swindle because it'll want to take their money and give it to lazy spongers who are too idle to go out and earn a day's crust (or almost as bad, to pay all those cushy public sector salaries: apart from nurses and firemen of course, because everyone knows they're deserving!)
Now while I don't agree with them about a lot of this, it's been helpful to give me a perspective on why the message from the non Tory parties isn't resonating with lots of people, and to shed some light on what a fresh start for opposition parties might look like. I can't remember which poster recommended The Road to Somewhere by David Goodhart, but it's an excellent theory about the differences between the main tribes in contemporary Britain (NI culture is a bit too complex!) and more importantly reminds us that to move past the current stalemate we'll have to try and understand one another's perspectives better. The next political party to really grasp this, and articulate it could achieve a significant breakthrough. After all, regardless of what end of the political spectrum you come from, most people would agree that there is dignity in going out and earning a living, and that if you're doing that, and the economic system is working properly, then shouldn't you be able to afford a decent home, send your kids to decent schools, and expect them (and you) to have a stable and prosperous future?
I'm not an economist, but I do think our system is broken when it's not possible for large sections of society to be able to afford to live without direct or indirect social security benefits, and I struggle to see how it's good for the country as a whole to subsidise some very large corporations who pay crappy wages, and offer crappy working conditions.
I think the idea of the social contract is long overdue a resurgence: a philosophy that is about giving as well as taking is much richer than one which positions individuals as capitalists versus commies, and although it's easy to dismiss this kind of thinking as 'airy-fairy' I do think that it's important to try and reframe the nature of public debate about what (and who) our institutions are for so that we can make some progress instead of wearing the same old grooves out.
Uncomfortable though it can be, surely the starting point is to try and understand each other, and find the common ground? If one thing's for sure, the way politics is at the moment definitely doesn't seem to be working for many of us.
So thanks XingMIng for popping your head over the fence and saying hello - it would be good to have some more constructive debate from people who still want to leave the EU. One thing I'm really interested in is how many Leavers (like my builders) don't mind that it now seems likely that 'Project Fear' was right, and it will be difficult economically for the UK, with not much of an upside (and many, many years of trade deals etc dominating the news). How will things feel different, and better, when we're not EU members any more?