Watching the fallout of the EU referendum over the past fortnight, one phrase keeps coming to mind: a good time to bury bad news. If it sometimes suits governing politicians – eager to hide a failing policy or a damning report – for the public and media to be distracted, Brexit is the political equivalent of a never-ending magic trick. Like with all smoke and mirrors, this doesn’t mean no one is watching what’s happening – currently, it feels as if we’re glued to an endless stream of seismic news – but that whilst we are focusing on one spectacle, it’s hard to see what’s going on anywhere else.
As the country settles into months of Brexit announcements and the unfolding Tory and Labour leadership battles, the government’s actual policies will receive increasingly less attention. And without the headlines pressing it – and less of the electorate aware of it – no one will be held to account. If that feels a little chilling, it’s because it should.
For The Guardian this week, I discussed five things that have happened since the referendum result you may have missed… Read it here.
Dr. Frances Ryan 