Can we ever heal the Brexit divide?

An old friend of mine who has lived in Italy for the last 20 years is a passionate Brexiteer. He supported Silvio Berlusconi when the old rogue was prime minister and currently applauds the anti-immigrant stance of the Five-Star/Lega coalition in Rome. He would like Italy to leave the EU and is, I would imagine, rather disappointed that the new Government has dropped, or at least softened, its opposition to the euro. I should add that my pal is a gifted political journalist who, after some years with the national press in Britain, forged a new career for himself as a pundit in Italy.

Oh, and it may be worth adding that he retains a soft spot for Benito Mussolini, who he believes has been much-maligned by history.

I think that’s a fair description. He may disagree.

Anyway, the other day, in a comment I posted on Facebook concerning the chaos of Brexit and the growing likelihood of No Deal, I found myself lapsing into a version of what Yeats would have called automatic writing.

“Leaving the EU is the most stupid decision Britain has made in living memory. The idea that what is good for Germany, France, the Low Countries and every other EU member state, including Italy and Greece, is somehow not good for the UK is nothing short of absurd and an indication of Britain’s current small-mindedness.

“The reason why Remainers continue to explore every possible means of reversing the decision is that they know how deeply damaging Brexit would be for the people of the UK.

“A second referendum gives us the opportunity to think again. If Leave wins again I shall mourn the fact, but I won’t dispute it. Britain can then stew in its own sovereign juice.”

Take that, Leavers!

Normally, I wouldn’t write in such black and white terms. As an Ulster Protestant, I am, of course, wary of pontificating. But on Facebook, with a practising Catholic as my adversary, I can say what I like, most robustly late at night or after a good lunch.

My friend, a witty fellow, if a tad caustic, clearly felt that parody was the most appropriate response to my absurd maunderings.

“Leaving the EU,” he posted, “has been the most intelligent decision the British have made in living memory. The idea that what is good for Germany, France, the Low Countries and every other EU member state, including Italy and Greece is the reason why the British people decided in such large numbers to leave the EU is nothing short of absurd and an indication of the current blind-as-a-bat small-mindedness of Britain’s Remainers.

“The reason why Remainers continue to explore every possible means of reversing the decision of the British people to leave the EU is that they are anti-democratic stupid ill-informed racist internationalists and as such obviously quite unable to accept how deeply beneficial Brexit would be for the people of the UK.

“A second referendum gives us the opportunity to put a sock in the mouths of these anti-democratic stupid ill-informed racist internationalists once and for all. Internationalism is bad because it leads to tyranny as the EU has proved and as more and more especially young people in EU countries are coming to realize all the time. Europe’s young realize – unlike Britain’s middle-aged mighty boring Remainers – that the nation state is the only answer.”

I won’t attempt here to knock down my pal’s riposte. Nor will I comment on the irony that the two of us are expats living in Continental Europe. The reason I reproduce our Facebook confrontation is that it seems to me to illustrate the rapidly widening gap between Hard Leave and Hard Remain. If my friend and I are in any way typical of the two camps, what hope is there for compromise? And how did we ever get to this point? He thinks I’m mad and I think he’s mad. Where do we go from here?