Last week, I told you that I was in London and had just voted in the European Union, EU, Referendum. The British Prime Minister, David Cameron, had triggered off the Referendum to give citizens and residents of the United Kingdom, UK, a chance to decide whether they wanted the UK to leave or remain in the EU. By now, most Vanguard readers will be aware that the majority stubbornly ignored sound advice from august bodies and serious individuals – the International Monetary Fund and Barack Obama, for example – and voted to leave the EU. Jeremy Corbyn and Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Corbyn and Jeremy Corbyn Most of you will also be aware that this decision has had devastating consequences, the most obvious being that the Pound plunged to its lowest level for over 30 years.
Meanwhile, Cameron has shocked almost everyone by resigning, thereby plunging his ruling Conservative Party into a period of chronic uncertainty and into the disruption of having to elect a replacement Prime Minister at very short notice. Lacklustre campaigning The opposition Labour Party is also going through turmoil. Many Labour parliamentarians are convinced that their leader, Jeremy Corbyn, is partly to blame for the Referendum result because of his lackluster campaigning during the run-up to the historic vote. They say that Corbyn did not “sell” the benefits of EU membership vigorously enough to the ordinary working people who are Labour’s backbone; and they have just passed a No Confidence motion in him. Scots and the Northern Irish are also furious because most of them voted to stick with the European mainland and don’t see why they should be dragged out of their comfort zone by the English and Welsh…so much for “the United Kingdom”! Despite the above economic, regional, political and psychological tensions – and my own disappointment about the Referendum outcome – I believe that Britain will overcome the multiple downsides of its exit from the EU (“Brexit”) within a reasonable time span…and that it will eventually find positive new ways of relating to Europe and continue to be held in high esteem in other parts of the world. I voted “Bremain” (for Britain to remain in the EU) because I felt and still feel that while the EU is and will always be far from perfect, it is an essentially benign institution that is not flawed enough to justify an anger-fuelled withdrawal.
Yes, the EU is too bureaucratic. Yes, the EU is full of unelected officials who are not answerable to EU electorates. Yes, many EU executives enjoy excessively high salaries and expenses. Yes, the EU passes laws that challenge the sovereignty of the British Parliament and its legislative counterparts in other member nations. Yes, because of the EU’s rules about free movement of persons across borders, Britain attracts hundreds of thousands of immigrants from poorer EU countries who are putting pressure on public resources like the National Health Service. As a matter of fact, the immigrant influx was the single biggest concern that those who voted Brexit expressed. The xenophobic politicians who lobbied for Brexit exploited their fears. And there have been hard-working, honest and useful. Anyway, at the end of the day, the EU does a lot of good overall. In addition to promoting enlightenment, a healthy tolerance of diversity, pacifism and unity, the EU delivers substantial amounts of concrete development aid to deprived areas within and outside Europe.
It helps Nigeria, for instance. And quite a few British locations, organisations and people have also benefitted from EU funding. My son, Oliver, is 21; and he and his friends all – like most youngsters in the UK – voted Bremain because they are instinctively cosmopolitan and enthusiastically committed to multiculturalism; and they are incensed that their elders (a vast swathe of Brexiteers are pensioners who yearn for a return to “The Good Old Days” when Britain was largely white and monocultural) tipped the balance. Oliver, his generation and some of their parents believe in the concept of the Brotherhood Of Man and feel completely comfortable about the fact that the new Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, is the Muslim son of Asian immigrants. But, sadly, London – which voted overwhelmingly to remain in the EU – is not typical. There are many traditional Britons outside the sophisticated capital city who are bewildered and appalled by Sadiq Khan’s elevation, regard such developments as suicidal and are grimly determined to prevent “foreigners” from “taking over.” I like Cameron. But I wish he had not tried to be a Great Democrat! There are times when an authoritarian approach makes sense! He didn’t HAVE to cave into Eurosceptic/Europhobic demands for a Referendum. It was an unnecessary gamble. Ah well. Never mind. No use crying over spilled milk. Britain is, in my opinion, a special country. It has always punched above its weight. At one point, during its imperial era, this small island controlled a quarter of the earth’s surface. And it still has a mighty Commonwealth, comprising its former colonial territories. English, meanwhile, happens to be the most widely spoken language on the planet. And while I reckon that the British would have been much better-off staying in the EU, I’m pretty sure that Britain will, ultimately, not drown without the EU. Frivolous show-offs — follow up Last week, I complained about a recent British TV programme that starred the youthful scions of two famous Nigerian clans – the Otedolas and Mbadiwes. I accused them of being frivolous, boastful, vacuous, pretensious and insensitive. Several Vanguard readers have subsequently contacted me to ask how they can access the documentary I complained about. For those who are interested, it is titled “Lagos To London: Britain’s New Super-Rich” and available on You Tube.
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