Joris Luyendijk: It's time to say goodbye to the British
At a time when it seems to be nearly impossible to get away from America’s upcoming presidential elections and the presumptive candidates on either side of the isle, nearly all British and many Europeans have another important thing on their mind: the Brexit referendum.
Two days before the British people are headed to the polls to vote on the Brexit referendum on Thursday June 23, Dutch correspondent Joris Luyendijk has published an op-ed in NRC Handelsblad (6/21/2016) that quickly made it to the Reddit site in a (sorry, rather bad) English translation and really got the negative comments of Brits on both sides of the Brexit chasm flowing.
Photo: AP Photo / Matt Dunham
Luyendijk, who has been living in London for the past five years and has worked as an editor for the British newspaper The Guardian for two years, has seen enough of the Brexit debate – which toned down a bit for only two days after the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox and now has resumed in all its harshness – to propose that perhaps it’s not such a bad idea if Europe took her leave of the UK.
“Enough is enough. In normal times the British sabotage was tolerable. But these are not normal times, Joris Luyendijk ascertains. So let's go our different ways – as friends”
In the years he’s lived in England, Luyendijk has come across much ‘Euroscepsis’ in “A mix of unsuspecting indifference and self-imposed ignorance. Featuring the views of a large part of the mainstream British towards the EU and Europe.” He thinks that’s innocent enough but found it increasingly worrying to listen to a colleague at The Guardian “who recently compared the EU with the Soviet Union, ‘but without the gulag,’ a journalist dead-seriously saying: "Well, ultimately the EU is nothing more than an attempt by Germany to still win the Second World War," or hear politicians like Boris Johnson who “claimed no essential difference between Hitler's plans for Europe and of the EU.”
Luyendijk thinks that the referendum is very useful in this respect: it shows how deep the Europhobia is rooted. Many in the ‘out’ camp media use this absurd and false caricature of Europe to feel superior and dream about making Great Britain great again, blaming the EU for it no longer being a world power. The ‘in’ camp treats staying in the European Union as a favor for which the EU has to make concessions.
For a large part of the English media and politics ‘Europe’ is a dirty word. Yet Luyendijk has misgivings about the Brits choosing to leave the EU in the end. Leaving could mean that the Scots, who are likely to vote to stay, will want to leave the UK to remain in the EU. Northern Ireland is of two minds about this too, as it could rekindle the ‘troubles’. So chances are that a slight majority will vote to stay in and according to Jean Quatremer that could mean: "If the UK decides to stay then they will make the lives of the populations in the other 27 countries worse than ever before."
Is Luytendijk such a EU enthusiast then that he doesn’t want the UK to stay? Far from it; he’s a ‘Eurosceptic’ in his own right: “The EU is not in a crisis. The EU is about to collapse. Schengen is not working. The euro does not work. And the EU is simply not democratic in its current form.” But he also firmly believes that the EU is in desperate need of reforms and all member states should do their level best to bring that about successfully. Luytendijk just doesn’t believe the UK is going to do that. He’s convinced it will keep pushing for concession after concession, for having it 'their' way, not open, or rational and on the basis of a realistic self-image. What is needed are countries where public opinions are not held hostage by Europhobic billionaires, notably by mediate magnate Rupert Murdoch who has been quoted saying: "If I go to Downing Street, they do what I say. If I go to Brussels, everyone ignores me." So much for ‘sovereignty’.
Joris Luyendijk believes Europe should be the wisest of the two and stop its wishful thinking that the British are going to want to fit in some day. What is needed is an amicable divorce, it would be beneficial to all.
Before finishing this article, I watched our national news which of course had an item on tomorrow’s Brexit referendum. ‘Outer’ Boris Johnson was trying to convince undecided voters with something along the lines of: “We need to take back control…otherwise we’ll end up in the trunk of the car…not knowing where we are going to, but probably ending up somewhere we don’t want to go.” To that he gleefully added: “ and the car will be driven by a chauffeur who doesn’t speak the best of English.” Hmmm, perhaps Luytendijk has a point.
16 Responses to “As Seen From Afar 6/22/2016”
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Cross-linked with Care2
Thank you, Lona for this.
Keep us posted on the outcome, please.
Seems like the vote is going to be very tight.
Do you think the murder of Labout MP Jo Cox by the rightwing lunatic will have any significant impact?
It had an impact for about two days, it seems, Nameless, but then the campaign started again and everything is back to where it was. The polls showed that the 'in' voters had taken a very slight upper hand again, but those numbers were gathered before Jo Cox was butchered. And the rhetoric, especially from the right, is back to its former level of nastiness and back to being all about (anti)immigration, exactly that which Jo Cox was so passionate about and which probably got her killed.
Wow. Well, Britain was on the other side of this issue when the Scots had their referendum – and ths Scots decided to stay. We will see. I have been watching this in my spare time (which as you point out, Lona, has not been very plentiful, the American election being what it is) and I have to say, it seems to me that, while there might be very good reasons to leave, all the people who want to leave want to do so for the wrong ones. Like Thomas Mair, they look like Donald Trump. God help them.
I would HOPE that Mair's assassination of Jo Cox would bring at least a few Brexit partisans to their senses, or at least make them question what they have been supporting, but I find it hard to EXPECT that.to happen, sadly. I truly don't know what to expect. Thanks for this.
"…it seems to me that, while there might be very good reasons to leave, all the people who want to leave want to do so for the wrong ones. Like Thomas Mair, they look like Donald Trump."
My feelings exacly, Joanne.
Thank you so much! Praise from Sir Hubert!
BTW, PS – TODAY is Elizabeth Warren's birthday!
http://my.elizabethwarren.com/page/s/happy-birthday-elizabeth-2016
I hope she has a great birthday and tops it off with another great tweet aimed at Drumpf.
But Sir Hubert? You lost me there, girl.
Regarding Sir Hubert – https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1350&dat=19440915&id=sdhOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=vf8DAAAAIBAJ&pg=3657,1817556&hl=en Article in upper left "How It Started"
Here's a prediction from someone with a pretty good track record (of course nobody's perfect): https://wellthisiswhatithink.com/2016/06/23/the-result-of-the-brexit-vote-before-voting-starts/
Thanks for the educational link and thanks for writing it, Joanne.
The second article was excellent too. It had that horrible Farage poster, which I thought of putting in, as it would have underlined parts of Luyendijks arguments well. But I didn't because he thinks the 'in' crowd is almost just as bad. Evelyn over on Care2 stressed that point too, and I have to agree with her.
I think the Brits will stay in, but I doubt that the last line of the article is true: "In 24 hours, Europe will be calmer again. With Britain inside it, and by then, presumably, permanently." The divide the referendum has created will know its aftermath, and as this wasn't the first referendum on leaving and some diehards are already clamoring for the next one, especially when it's very close, it'll remain unquiet for some time to come.
Unless it festers in dormancy for 150 years, like our Confederacy.
Thanks Lona. I hear themes that have US parallels with billionaires wanting equally loud voices in the larger pond as they believed they had at home and the UK sounding like Wall St. or one or more of our states on occasion when they are out of step with the majority and fearmongering politics.
Definitely many parallels, too many for comfort.
BTW, SPLC weighs in on Brexit et al here –
https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2016/06/21/thomas-mair-brexit-and-us-uk-neo-nazi-connection
UPDATE
Of the people who went to the polls (72%) the majority (52%) has voted for a BREXIT. Prime Minister David Cameron has just resigned, and the fight for a new leader to guide and negotiate them through Britain's exit from the EU in the next two years will continue to the Tory's party conference in October. Scotland has clearly voted to remain in the EU, as has Northern Ireland, but voters in Wales voted to stay. The turnout in these parts was lower than in England. Talk of independence from the UK for Scotland and Northern Ireland uniting with Ireland are surfacing immediately. As soon as the decission to leave became known, the pound (and the stock market) plunged the fastest and deepest in 30 years.
My congratulations to the Brexit voters and it's campaign leaders, my commiseration to those who wanted to remain in the EU. I sincerely hope it turns out well for all of Britain.
Great article Napster!
I see Geert Wilders started talking about the Netherlands leaving the EU even before the votes were counted in Britain. http://globalnews.ca/news/2783859/first-brexit-then-nexit-netherlands-geer-wilders-calls-for-referendum/
It seems that this right wing nationalism is poised to take over in too many areas. Shades of the early 20th century in Europe . . . a fear of change.
And the US is not immune. Donald Trump and Republicans lead that charge. The difference, the US is not involved in the EU.