Now Philip Hammond is finally Out he must shut the door behind him and take control over our laws, our trade and especially immigration
The Government finally caught up with the people as bombshell poll shows two in three voters now want a clear break with Brussels
BRUSSELS-fancier Philip Hammond finally seems to have got the message – OUT means OUT.
That means taking control again over our laws, our trade and, especially, immigration.
In a joint statement with Cabinet foe Liam Fox, the Chancellor declares: “We respect the will of the British people. In March 2019, the UK will leave the EU.”
This must have been painful for “Spreadsheet Phil”, who detests Fox and would happily shut down his Whitehall department if he could.
But something happened this summer. The Chancellor surrendered — and the Government finally caught up with the British people.
A bombshell poll shows two in three voters, including former Remainers, now want a clear break with Brussels.
People might be confused about how to untie the knot but they want a clean, clear divorce.
The survey of 3,300 people, by the pro-EU London School of Economics, is dynamite for Remainers.
It makes a fool of pro-Brussels fanatics such as Tony Blair and ex-Chancellor George Osborne, who got every Project Fear scare story wrong and is now using an influential newspaper as his personal propaganda sheet to scupper Brexit.
And it destroys the fantasy of a new political party to re-run the referendum and take us back into the European Union.
People are not stupid. They know the irresponsible scare stories peddled by Osborne and discredited Bank of England governor Mark Carney were false. And they have increasingly seen the dark side of EU bullying over Brexit.
The most significant LSE poll finding is not on the economy but on border controls. Even Remainers want to halt free movement. Terrorist attacks here and across Europe will have heightened anxiety. So will mounting anger over the way some young, single migrant men treat Western women.
The UK is not alone.
Sweden fears it is losing its identity as a nation. Germany is fighting a wave of rape and other sex crimes.
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Greece, Italy and Spain are swamped by a tide of immigration which is changing the face of Europe for ever.
Hungary and Poland refuse point-blank to accept new- comers. And still the EU has no coherent policy for dealing with the millions more on their way.
But there is one unspoken fear, gagged by political correctness, which links Britain and the rest of Europe.
The common denominator, almost unsayable until last week’s furore over Pakistani sex gangs, is Islam.
Thanks to former equalities chief Trevor Phillips, and Labour MPs such as Rotherham’s Sarah Champion, it is acceptable to say Muslims are a specific rather than a cultural problem.
One of the Pakistani perverts starkly identified the gulf between some Muslim men and the white British women they regard as prey: “They are good for one thing, for me to f*** and use like trash.”
That goes for the Albanian and Bulgarian child sex traffickers setting up shop across Britain.
The abuse of women by Muslims, says Trevor Phillips, is “on an industrial scale”. “What the perpetrators have in common is their proclaimed faith. They are Muslims, and many of them would claim to be practising.
“It is not Islamophobic to point this out.”
He blames the BBC for trying to divert attention over last week’s sex gang convictions by headlining the “utterly routine” police use of a convicted child abuser to infiltrate the gangs.
British authorities have long deliberately disregarded Muslim sex crimes — soon likely to be a racist offence itself — including outrages such as female genital mutilation and “honour” killings.
Such contemptible treatment of women, including Muslim women, is not just despicable — it would have been inconceivable here on such a scale only a few years ago.
The problem began with Tony Blair opening the doors to mass immigration and silencing critics by branding them “racist”.
It was turbocharged when German Chancellor Angela Merkel indiscriminately waved in a million more so-called refugees from Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
One day soon, if Philip Hammond and Liam Fox are right, we will be back in charge of immigration.
What will we do about the Muslim problem then?
Putney jogger
EXTREME jogging, like militant cycling, is just another thuggish form of road rage which has spread to our urban footpaths. Nobody gives way today.
In London and other crowded cities, there is no space for slowcoaches. Speed-walking, running up and down escalators, pushing and shoving to gain a few extra yards is the new normal.
If you get in the way – and even if you don’t, like that poor woman almost shoved under a bus on Putney Bridge – look out.
Jaywalking used to be an offence. Now simply walking is an offence to those in a hurry, staring at their phones and making a beeline at fast marching pace.