Trafalgar Square, London

A week ago the United Kingdom was full of hope and politics. Now, after the general election result, the politics goes on but there’s one big question: how do we get out of this?

We knew there would be a muddle, but I don’t think we ever imagined it would be quite so complicated.

The Union Jack

Bewildered is the word … we all are. Even the Queen is speechless.

What happened?  Well, the one leader, who was so far ahead you could hardly see her, was almost overtaken when it came to the vote. In the end she did win … just, but not enough. And the man she beat … nearly … now has so many new friends we can’t see what he means to do next.

So that’s us … stuck in a teapot without any water.

Really Good by David Shrigley

There are scowls and glares, and grumpy whisperings. The Prime Minister is after one set of friends in particular, but they bring barrels of problems … the kind of problems you wouldn’t want to whisper to the wind. But, she thinks it has to be them, so the flirting has begun.

There is one good thing that might come of it all … an elite squad of negotiators, who could then escort the UK through Brexit. If the politicians can get a deal out of this mess, the impossible comes much closer.

Nelson’s column in Trafalgar Square, London

So, being a never-daunted nation, perhaps it’s time to turn to Shakespeare again. Last time he took us to leadership strife in Rome.  This time the most appropriate destination has to be the tangled relationships in the world of  A Midsummer Night’s Dream:

“And ere a man hath power to say, ‘Behold!’
The jaws of darkness do devour it up:
So quick bright things come to confusion.”

To help clarify what’s going on in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, difficult by any standards, here’s a summary from the Royal Shakespeare Company:

That’s clear then.

Can the play give the UK hope it will get through the muddle? Well, it does leave us with this to think about as we all try to join hands for Brexit:

“The course of true love never did run smooth.”

On the Edith Cavell memorial in Trafalgar Square, London

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2018