Prendergast’s Wig and Brexit

A reader of the Financial Times has written to the paper equating Brexit to the wig of Waugh’s character Mr Prendergast in his novel Decline and Fall. Here’s the explanation from Geoff Scargill of Stockport:

… All the boys know it is a wig. “[Prendy] knew from the start that it was a mistake but once they had seen it, it was too late to go back. They make all sorts of jokes about it.” Brexit is our wig. After months of talks and posturing about independence we can see that we are thin on top. Everyone abroad knows it and is making jokes about us. But it is too late to go back.

The letter is headed on the FT’s website with a photo of actor Vincent Franklin who masterfully portrayed Prendy in the recent BBC TV adaptation.

UPDATED (30 January 2018): Last sentence added.

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