By
Rob
What
normal person understands, really, how the European Union works? It's
made up of seven institutions, twenty-eight member states (for now),
and operates largely out of immediate view. Our relationship with
this organisation has never been straightforward: we're in the
Customs Union, but not the Eurozone; we're in the Single Market, but
not the Schengen Area.
The
pros and cons of our membership are so numerous and complex that you
cannot reasonably expect, say, Jeff the window cleaner to be au fait
with the regular minutes of the European Parliament. Instead, we
expect our politicians – whom we elect – to understand this detail,
and to act on it accordingly in our best interests.
It
made perfect sense, therefore, that in 2016 the Prime Minister – David Cameron – decided to hand this intensely complicated,
multi-faceted question over to the people, and to reduce it to a
binary choice: in or out? An attempt to resolve a many-layered
question with a yes/no answer – a bit like asking someone to capture
the Mona Lisa on an Etch-a-Sketch. It was always going to end well...
***
A
referendum?! As we set out elsewhere in this blog, Andy and I always made sure to
meet up, and drink, during the big votes. General elections were
normally spent with a Chinese (a takeaway, not an individual) and
some beers. Now it was time for another enormous democratic exercise,
and this one would be no exception.
As
with any major UK vote, the results weren't expected until late,
giving us the necessary time to fit a couple of pubs in. We were
planning to watch the results at mine, in Broomhill, and so headed to
nearby Crookes in search of some pre-referendum tipple.
Our
first stop was The Punch Bowl – a Greene King pub, more catered
to selling food than pouring pints. It looked every inch the standard
chain pub: clean wood benches, bright lights, spacious rooms, and an
obvious focus on serving grub.
But
let's not hold that against them! The beer choice was not so dismal,
and we each ordered a pint of Born in the USA – a "mosaic citra
equinox IPA" (no? me neither) coming in at 6%. It was,
basically, a strong IPA with a lemon aftertaste – perfectly nice.
However
sweet the pint might have been, it paled in comparison to Andy's
glass-full of actual sweets, which he wolfed down like a crazed,
juvenile diabetic.
Sitting
there, sipping our drinks, with Andy bouncing off the walls in a
sugar high, we started to discuss the upcoming vote. In some ways, we
figured, it was more exciting than a general election – after all,
this was a vote to decide on Britain's place in the world, with
results that would last for a generation.
On
the other hand, we thought, it was less exciting. General elections
could be unpredictable, whereas the referendum was a sure thing.
Nobody expected Remain to lose. Preparing ourselves for an uneventful
evening of predictable politics, we drank up and headed to the next
pub.
Rating:
6.5/10
Pint: Born in the USA
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