dominic sandbrook: brexit

© Mark Hawkins/Composed Images/Barcroft Media via Getty Images © Gareth Fuller/PA Images via Getty Images And it would, I think, be a brave man who would bet against them.So, on the one hand, you have the streets of the capital paralysed by protesters who want Brexit to be cancelled; and on the other, you have the nation’s motorways paralysed by protesters who insist it must go ahead. The only thing that changed was the speed of the journey, never the direction.But it speaks volumes about the weakness of the European project that when, in 2016, the long decades of argument came to the crunch, the Remainers had almost nothing positive to say.Set against the old story of a free, independent Britain, their cliches about world peace and continental brotherhood looked pious and flimsy, like the kind of thing an earnest headmaster trots out for his weekly school assembly.So instead they fell back on Project Fear, insisting on the dire economic consequences if we left the EU.In truth, that was probably their best card. And even at the time, there was no real evidence of pro-European enthusiasm.Soon public opinion reverted to its natural scepticism. © Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty Images Brexit protesters outside Westminster in London, England on Aug. 28. It is, of course, easy to sneer, especially if you agree that a second referendum would be a betrayal of democracy and an insult to the 17.4 million people who voted Leave.Yet no sensible observer can ignore the sheer numbers who turned out for the march, the five million who signed a petition calling for Brexit to be revoked, or the fact that across much of leafy, middle-class Britain, agitation at the prospect of a chaotic No Deal Brexit is now turning to outright rage.The BBC, entirely predictably, gave blanket coverage to Saturday’s march in central London demanding a second referendum, which may well have been the biggest convocation of Waitrose regulars in historyBut it was another protest in the last few days, which attracted rather less attention from our metropolitan public broadcaster, that struck me as much more ominous.This was the go-slow on Britain’s motorways at rush-hour on Friday evening, which saw chaotic tailbacks on traffic arteries such as the M1, M4 and M6, as well as on major A roads everywhere from Devon and Cornwall to Lancashire and Humberside.The organisers, who call themselves Brexit Direct Action, make no secret of their ambition to bring Britain to a standstill if the Government continues to delay Brexit, or even cancels it altogether. People gather to take part in the 'Put It To The People' march on March 23 in London, England. Anti-Brexit protesters demonstrate outside the Houses of Parliament on Sept. 25 in London, England. Anti-Brexit demonstrators gather outside the Houses of Parliament at night time in London, England on Nov. 5.

Nigel Farage reacts as he arrives at the end of the first leg of the March to Leave campaign on March 16 in Hartlepool, England. An anti-Brexit protestor releases colored smoke outside the Houses of Parliament in London, England on Aug. 28.A pro-Brexit campaigner wears the Union flag colours and holds placards as he demonstrates near the Houses of Parliament in central London, England on April 3.

Demonstrators hold placards and EU and Union flags as they take part in a march by the People's Vote organisation in central London on Oct. 19, calling for a final say in a second referendum on Brexit. It resonated with cautious, risk-averse people who were worried about the lack of a strategy for when we left.That's why I voted Remain — not because I have any fondness for Brussels or any great affection for the European project, but because I instinctively dislike the thought of change.But the fact that, after almost half a century, this was the Establishment's only card speaks volumes.For the fundamental truth, obscured by all the years of hysterical argument, is that a very large proportion of the British people have never seen themselves as European and have never been reconciled to the European project.So where does all this leave us?

A man stands near a 'Leave Means Leave' banner as pro-Brexit activists demonstrate outside of the Houses of Parliament in central London on Feb. 14. Pro-Brexit protesters at the Churchill statue in Westminster Square in London, England on Aug. 31.