I SPENT last weekend with my family in London. We try to get away at this time of year as my annual tour and other commitments make it the first opportunity we get to do so.
Like many, I was dreading having to fly from Belfast International Airport but for once, I can’t complain about queues at security. I did, however, fly on an empty stomach as the main airport café doesn’t offer a single gluten-free option on their exorbitantly priced menu. How anyone can justify charging £12 for an Ulster fry is beyond me.
I’d promised my 11-year-old son – who is going through a Sherlock Holmes phase – that I’d take him to visit Baker Street where the great detective was supposed to live. He insisted on wearing a deerstalker hat he’d spotted earlier that day in Camden Market. Initially I’d argued he’d look silly but have to admit he carried his new look off with some aplomb.
My wife and daughter went off on their own pilgrimage to Cinnabon, a bakery specialising in cinnamon rolls.
I’m terrible with directions so was thrilled to successfully traverse the Underground and arrive at Baker Street. We were looking for the Sherlock Holmes Museum so, taking no chances, I looked it up on Google maps. The modern wizardry showed me we were on the right street so without checking further, young Sherlock and I strode off.
Fifteen minutes later, when we still hadn’t arrived, I realised something was wrong. Upon checking Google again, I was mortified to find that while we were on the right street, we were walking in the wrong direction. A 180-degree adjustment later and we arrived at our destination to discover it was almost directly opposite the Underground station we’d started from.
Not that my wife and daughter had any better luck – they arrived at Cinnabon only to find the shop closed, possibly another victim of Brexit uncertainties.
The following day, we inadvertently found ourselves in the heart of Brexit protests. We’d brought the children to see Westminster Abbey and as we came out, we walked into a march protesting the arrest of a pro-Brexit activist accused of harassing MP Anna Soubry.
Those participating were a motley crew of around 100 people dressed in or waving Union flags. I had to blink hard to remind myself I wasn’t back home.
Not far from Westminster Abbey is the world-famous College Green where politicians have traditionally given media interviews. So toxic has the atmosphere around Brexit become that newscasters have been forced to retreat into the sky in specially constructed tents on scaffolding called ‘sky platforms’. The hope was that in doing so, they’d escape protesters from both sides intent on disrupting interviews.
Even this drastic step failed as protesters improvised, adopting loud speakers and waving flags on 20ft extension poles. As we walked past Westminster, the atmosphere could best be described as a combination of a public execution and carnival. An American protester held an oversized Bible aloft, proclaiming God was taking us out of ‘EUgypt’; protesters screamed ‘traitor’ in each other's faces as street vendors offered refreshments and sold flags.
The small camp of hovering media tents, with their associated technicians, alongside the permanent army of protesters gave Westminster the appearance of a castle under siege. Not that much changes in history apart from the clothes. I could easily conjure up an image of exactly the same characters standing shouting at each other on a cold January morning in 1649, as King Charles I was brought to stand trial in Westminster Hall.
Much of the palace of Westminster remains under canvas as renovations continue, but what will remain of Westminster the parliament when the wrappings come off is anyone’s guess. Like the majority of people in Northern Ireland, I voted to remain, and if the past three years and the disastrous Tory negotiations prove anything, it’s the case for a second referendum.
A second referendum would be an informed referendum. We now know the misinformation peddled by pro-Brexiteers, such as an extra £350 million a week for the NHS, or the fantasy of Liam Fox who said a post-Brexit free trade deal with the EU would be the "easiest in human history".
And don’t get me started on those pro-Brexit ads in a London newspaper paid for by the DUP.
Sadly, there seems little chance of this government following my example and, having found itself travelling in the wrong direction, turning around. Maybe paying politicians to do nothing isn’t a bad idea after all.
