It's a great article with his witty, sparky trademark turn of phrase, but it only tells part of the story and there is the problem. People voted Leave for a vast range of reasons some of which had little to do with "Europe" and much more to do with dislike of being pushed around by bossy metropolitan elites and their endless agendas. The arrogant, complacent twit Cameron was their perfect embodiment. Then there is the small matter of the EU's catastrophic economic record which has stolen the lifechances of millions and millions of younger people in Southern Europe who have little to look forward to beyond constant unemployment, in a "bloc" in a state of perpetual turmoil because the EU is apparently incapable of securing its borders or orchestrating an orderly writedown of its bad banking debt. In some ways the remarkable thing is that Remain got as much as 48 per cent.
I still agree with almost everything AA Gill wrote and consider myself firmly European. I spent three years living in France and loved it. France, Spain and Italy have given me many of the great experiences of my life. But looking at the other side, the economic disasters, the foreign policy, the chicanery and democratic deficit of the EU apparatus itself, well I am conflicted.
See how difficult this is? There is nothing simple about it even from person to person. And there will be nothing simple about the UK leaving or about what happens next. The people in charge of all this, on both sides, are about as low-grade as they come, imho. I don't think one can say much more than that the whole thing is a total mess and the actors involved will almost certainly make it worse. The mostly likely outcome, imho, is that we'll end up with something very like what there was before with the deckchairs and nameplates moved around a bit. Alas, they will still all be on the deck of a ship called Titanic ...
"dislike of being pushed around by bossy metropolitan elites and their endless agendas. The arrogant, complacent twit Cameron was their perfect embodiment."
Well, that's strange, somebody has to run the show, and Cameron did it rather well for quite a while. His problem was ever letting a referendum happen. He should, and could, have fudged his way out of it, as all politicos have to do at one time or another. He simply had too much faith in common common sense, which is really rather rare and not very common at all.
"millions and millions of younger people in Southern Europe who have little to look forward to beyond constant unemployment, in a "bloc" in a state of perpetual turmoil because the EU is apparently incapable of securing its borders or orchestrating an orderly writedown of its bad banking debt."
That's an extreme example of conflation! Southern Europe has been a basket case for centuries. France, until the early part of the last century, didn't exist below Paris! It was the politically neglected empty quarter. It was the British and Russian aristocracy, followed by the American version that created southern France and the eventual wealth of the Riviera; Italy was a collection of sparring states until the end of the nineteenth century when it was united into a country (there wasn't even a truly common language), and even today, the north hates the slothful south which it knows it keeps afloat, just as does much of Catalonia in the north want to free itself of the great southern wodge of Spain that it feels it finances. And again, language and culture plays a huge part right there.
The problems of unemployment in southern Europe pre-date the present European Community by a helluva long time, and owe themselves to climate, religion, gangsterism and lack of education and hope.
It's unlkely that the European Union was ever going to solve any of that: it's a southern problem too endemic and regional to permit that to happen.
And yet, we, as Britain, were able to use it (the European connection) to our commercial advantage: just think the City; our mostly foreign-owned car businesses here because they could depend on our fiscal and governmental probity regarding investment, and easy access to the greater continent from that safe base. How long will we continue to be able to play in the aircraft business? And ironically, we had all of that and didn't even need to share in the problems of the euro! Now we have a screwed pound that was once pretty good to hold. Muchas effin gracias! All it does now is fuel the sales of the over-a-million quid Balearic properties as refuge from holding it.
As for borders - we'd already opened the gates to India, Pakistan and the Caribbean shortly after the end of WW2. United Europe brought little new into Britain, other than people willing to do work Brits rather remain unemployed than do. What's the choice: keep those Europeans out and have nobody work the harvests and hotels, even greater problems of staff shortages in the National Health system? Some great minds come here from far-flung countries; we are crazy to try to keep them away because of colour or faith.
Gill was right: jingoism, pure, blind and simple.
Or so I read it.
Rob
