As long ago as May 1942 Robert Menzies, a man who was Prime Minister of Australia many times, spoke of the Forgotten People, by which he meant the middle class, but his definition of them now applies to the bulk of the British people who, for many years, have been similarly ignored by the politicians. Menzies called these forgotten people the backbone of the country and his words could have been written to describe contemporary Britain.
Of the elite:
"I exclude at one end of the scale the rich and powerful: those who control great funds and enterprises, and are as a rule able to protect themselves - though it must be said that in a political sense they have as a rule shown neither comprehension nor competence. But I exclude them because, in most material difficulties, the rich can look after themselves".
Of those forgotten:
"They are for the most part unorganised and unself-conscious. They are not rich enough to have individual power. They are taken for granted by each political party in turn. They are not sufficiently lacking in individualism to be organised for what in these days we call "pressure politics."
Could there be a better description of those who have been treated with such contempt by our politicians for decades? These are the people who Calvin Coolidge in 1920 and, more famously, Richard Nixon in November 1969, called the 'Silent Majority', by which was meant the large group of people in a country who do not express their opinions publicly, who do not participate in public discourse, and are overshadowed in the media by the more vocal minority.
Undoubtedly it was those such as they that G K Chesterton had in mind when, in 1907, he wrote 'The Secret People', with its famous final lines "But we are the people of England; and we have not spoken yet. Smile at us, pay us, pass us. But do not quite forget".It has been pointed out that Chesterton loved the nation but loathed the state, particularly states that were heavily centralised, and run for the benefit of elites. Of this the British state in his time was a prime example and the EU is one such in ours.
On the 23rd June 2016 the British people did speak and made it clear that they had had enough of the EU and all its works. The new Prime Minister promised that the decision would be respected, and that it would now be implemented, yet those of us who have always recognized the nature of the enemy know that there's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip".
We see an oligarchy in Westminster where so many in parliament move from student politics to become political assistants, then political advisors, before receiving their reward as MPs or MEPs, without ever working in the real world inhabited by those they claim to represent. In this they have much more in common with their fellow continental politicians than they do with the ordinary British voter. The truth is that the professional politicians can no more be trusted to vote to implement Brexit than turkeys could be expected to vote for Christmas. If we free ourselves from the EU then they will no longer be able to look forward to the culmination of their careers being a very well paid sinecure in the European parliament, or its overweening bureaucracy, while, in their time as MPs, they would not be able to hide behind the excuse that they cannot do what their constituents wish, as the executive competence has passed to Brussels. No sooner had the result of the referendum become clear than we were immediately confronted with the fact that the clearly expressed desire of the people may yet be negated by the manoeuvrings of those supposedly representing them, but who will put their self interest first, and now we have the proof.
The decision taken by three High Court judges regarding Brexit confirms what has been obvious for years: that there are those, in the judiciary and parliament, who are committed to further the ambitions of those who rule the EU, and who are determined to suppress the free will of the British people. Despite their mendacious claims to support democracy Europhiles will be rejoicing at such a blatant attempt to undermine the result of the referendum, so for all those who voted to take back our nation from the control of unelected bureaucrats in Brussels the choice is now clear.
Either we tamely accept that our wishes are as nothing compared to those of the privileged, liberal elite or we decide to oppose them all the way. Although taking part in protest marches may not be to everyone's taste we can make clear to those who purport to represent us that we demand that they respect the decision taken by the electorate. Should a general election be called then only those who openly declare their support for a clean break with the EU should be supported, as this issue is of greater importance for our future than almost any other.
Those applauding the decision in the High Court concerning article 50 reveal themselves to be arrant hypocrites. For four decades they have supported the transfer of power from Westminster to Brussels, resulting in hundreds of directives and regulations becoming law in this country, without even a cursory scrutiny by our elected representatives in the Commons. Now they claim to be concerned for the sovereignty of parliament, when in fact they are aware that there is a majority of MPs determined to frustrate the will of the people, for their own selfish ends, but in a way which will suit the rich elitists bringing the case. Even worse we now see such people crying crocodile tears over a supposed insult to the independence of the judiciary, perhaps valid were judges omniscient, olympian figures whose decisions could be trusted to be untainted by bias, the reality being that, of the three involved, one was associated with a pro EU legal group, while another is known to be a friend of Tony Blair, the latter a man who would do anything to keep us in the EU.
As usual the BBC leapt right in supporting the elite. On the Marr show the rich fund manager leading this anti democratic campaign, Gina Miller, was, as one might expect, given time to spout her nonsense, following her previous arrogant statement that she felt sorry for those who had been 'deceived into voting to leave' by saying that listening to the will of the people was behaving like a "Tin Pot dictatorship", while one of those reviewing the papers on Broadcasting House said that we should stay in the EU and negotiate reforms, ignoring the fact that the Europhile Cameron had been unable to achieve anything worthwhile when he tried.
We face a constitutional crisis of more significance than any in living memory as the elite seek to once again treat the decent, patriotic majority as the forgotten people. We should be clear that Article 50 was designed by the rulers of the EU to prevent a country leaving, a trick similar to that attempted by the dying USSR in relation to the Baltic states, who solved the problem by ignoring the legalistic deceit and declaring themselves independent at once. We should emulate their brave action and go now.
Even if the Europhiles in parliament are driven back there will be long and difficult negotiations before we are free, but that is a small price to pay for the preservation of our democracy. After all, last time we had to fight a world war to do the same.