fahrenheit451:097

Otto von Bismarck is credited with uttering the aphorism that, " decisions are not made by the ballot box but by blood and iron ". And if you factor in the abrasive north German timbre it was originally delivered in, it will strike the largely,but not exclusively feminized 21st.century reader as being a somewhat harsh thing to say. Bismarck epitomised the art of Machiavellian realpolitik. Doing that which circumstances and logic deem it is necessary and effective to do. It's only Society's contemporary,feminized, ideologically debilitated  faux-intellectuals who would think otherwise. Let's be clear about our nation's current contrived and convoluted predicament; the Verdict of the 23rd. June referendum on the question of the UK's continued incorporation within the EU was blood and iron by other means. It heralded a singular historic moment of evolutionary transformation as significant as the Reformation of 1534 or the indictment and execution  in 1649 of Charles I or the Bloodless Revolution of 1688 ,( take your pick,since all three were intimately interwoven ). Were it not so decisive a shift in the political tectonic plates, there'd be no reason or purpose to  headlines such as this from the Independent of October 18 :-

Brexit legal challenge live: Final day of arguments heard against Article 50 being triggered without vote

" The outcome will decide whether Britain can leave the EU without it going through Parliament first." Well actually,no bloody chance not unless the bourgeoisie really do want a taste of real blood and feel some real iron.
What followed the 52%-48% Verdict in favour of #Leave was an appallingly conceited and hubristic public outpouring of contempt,loathing and visceral hatred by the supporters of the defeated Remain campaign toward those of the Electorate who voted Leave.  The  accompanying baying chorus of  stigmatisation and opprobrium was and remains breathtaking in its scope. epithets such as Racist, xenophobic, and just about every other calumny under the sun has been hurled with limp wristed impetuosity at the 17.4 million electors whose votes prevailed over the Phalange of eurozealots, Pharisees, #LabourIn etc. the ballot box is the site of struggle, it is no mere affectation or phantasm or denial of reality. Blood and iron are transcendent metaphors. Then again if those remain bastards really want to push matters...
Addendum : 19 October:- N.B. Starmer's concluding paragraph at the end of the report.