Nearly a decade after the Brexit referendum, a dwindling band of true believers gathered in Westminster for the Freedom Association's Brexit Unleashed conference. The event, attended by around 120 people, was described as a gathering of 'weirdos, misfits and losers' clinging to the certainty they were right, untroubled by evidence to the contrary.
Former MEP David Campbell Bannerman opened the proceedings, praising the UK for having the integrity to leave the EU. He quickly introduced the theme of betrayal, claiming Brexit had been undermined by a political class that never believed in it. 'Brexit has not failed,' he said, insisting it was merely a catastrophic failure awaiting the 'One True Brexit'.
Lord Frost, the former Brexit negotiator, then took the stage. He called for a revival of the excitement of the day after the referendum, despite reports that key Leave figures had appeared shell-shocked the morning after. Frost blamed the EU for ongoing issues in Northern Ireland and accused Labour figures of plotting to rejoin the EU, a claim described as 'deranged'.
The conference was marked by repeated references to the 'Great Betrayal', with speakers arguing that Brexit had been sold out by politicians who never believed in it. Attendees appeared desperate to recapture the optimism of 2016, even as the realities of the post-Brexit economy and political landscape set in.
