David Davis sets a low bar for Brexit with “Mad Max” reference

Today David Davis has said Britain will not be “plunged into a Mad Max-style world borrowed from dystopian fiction” following its exit from the EU.

Delivering the third of the government’s “road to Brexit” series of speeches, the DExEU secretary said some people “fear that Brexit could lead to an Anglo-Saxon race to the bottom with Britain plunged into a Mad Max-style world borrowed from dystopian fiction”.

“These fears about a race to the bottom are based on nothing, not our history, not our intentions, not our national interest. But while I profoundly disagree with those who spread these fears — it does remind us all that we must provide reassurance.”

If Davis does not want people to think the Tory government is leading us into the apocalypse via Brexit, it might not be a good idea to suggest it could happen with the most snappy line in his speech. By doing so, he has become the person most successfully spreading those fears today.

In assuring us that Britain would not be plunged into a “Mad Max-style world” – in other words, a dystopian setting in which society has collapsed – Davis gave the impression that Theresa May’s Brexit “war cabinet” has set the bar very low indeed.

As Tim Roache of GMB commented: “If the best this Government can do is promise Britain will not turn into a ‘Mad Max’ nightmare – it’s no wonder people are worried about their post-Brexit lives”.