THREAD: Brexit was always a stupid idea, completely detached from the realities of 21st-Century life. It's a pipe dream dreamt up in the parlours of those with everything to gain from increased deregulation and an economy at the mercy of the whims of hedge fund managers and the

elite that has successfully maintained an unhealthy status quo in Britain for generations. The irony of people from northern working class communities adopting the pet project of people who really couldn't care less about them is not lost on me. That aside, if a series of

entirely negative economic forecasts for the post-Brexit economy weren't enough to convince Brexiteers that the whole thing should be canned, then the current crisis definitely should. COVID-19 has highlighted the importance of cross-border cooperation and collaboration at a very

inconvenient time for a government trying desperately to prove that Britain is still some kind of superpower that can casually cut itself adrift from its nearest neighbours and largest export markets without serious consequence. What the crisis has also proven, much to the

chagrin of hardcore Brexiteers, is that a country CAN be a member of the EU (even part of the Schengen zone) and control its own borders, a fact completely ignored and flatly denied by many Brextremists. Worse than this wilful disingenuousness is the failure of our government to

make use of the EU's ventilator scheme or to take up the offer of bulk buying PPE for frontline healthcare staff. This is clearly an ideological decision designed to placate the likes of Rees-Mogg, François, Patel and Raab, all of whom need to be put back in their boxes rather

than humoured at a time when many people's basic survival is at stake. The transition period clearly will be extended, whatever ministers are told to say at press conferences. That's just an obvious fact. However, beyond that, the fact remains that this crisis has served to

further highlight that Brexit is unnecessary, undesirable and unrealistic. Many are pinning their hopes on Rishi Sunak being 'sensible' and seeing the inherent risks in leaving the EU at the worst possible time for an economy set to slide into the worst recession in 100 years.

This is unwise. We mustn't underestimate the Tories' ideological obsession with Brexit at any cost. We must also be aware that the added economic impact of Brexit will mean further austerity and more hardship for the very people to whom Brexit was mis-sold as some kind of

anti-Establishment rebellion. We therefore have a DUTY to actively and vehemently oppose Brexit, particularly the form that entails leaving the Single Market, which has always been a position that is untenable and makes no effort to compromise with the 16 million+ who voted to

Remain nor the more moderate Leave voters who have changed their minds since 2016. Many will say now is not the time to continue the struggle against Tory Brexit; I say there has never been a more crucial time to fight against a project that jeopardises our recovery from a crisis

that doesn't respect international borders. Bin Brexit while we still can.