Thoughts on Brexit and sovereignty
I shared this image four years ago on Facebook, and having popped back up recently, it came as a pleasant surprise for myself as to how my own view about Brexit changed over time. Four years ago, I thought Brexit was an economic disaster and that Britain was shooting itself in the foot. I even voted for the country to remain in the EU whilst studying there.
Now I hold the belief that what Britain (mostly tories) did, apart from the chaotic negotiations, was done to regain sovereignty by seperating themselves from the EU. It came at a heavy economic price of course, which Seb Dance sums up below, but I hold the opinion that it was a necessary decision. I beleive that Britain slowly realized that European Laws were superceding British Laws and that Britain was losing say in her own sovereign governance.
“No jobs will be created, no industries saved, no community enhanced by scapegoating immigrants for our problems” — Seb Dance
This is not to say these were bad laws — they were all good laws, meant for good. But why must Britain simply accept laws that are given to her? Has she no say in it? I am more inclined now to believe that long-term this was a necessary move as a sovereign democracy. England felt the same way the Scots do today in the UK, lacking true soveriegnty.
Either that, or the City of London capitalists lobbied for freedom from offshore auditing to hide billions of pounds.
Parties in Italy and Greece are looking forward to ridding themselves of the EU as well and time will tell if they decide to formally exit. For obvious reasons, I don’t disagree that the EU is why peace prevailed, but I would like to invite thought on Greece’s bankruptcy that Yanis Varoufakis, Greece’s former economic minister, talks about in his lectures. Essentially, the bigger EU countries decided to go ahead and introduce heavy lendings and open up the Greek economy with the introduction of the Euro currency. Greece went into a downward spiral and fell into deep recession. While bombs and bullets have stopped, credits and loans have taken their place.
In the case of Italy, it wanted to enact laws that would deport illegal migrants. The EU blocked such laws and instead Italy had to face the brunt of the North African illegal immigration crisis (not all were refugees). When the coast guard got aggressive, German NGO ships loaded migrants and dropped them off near Italian coasts. If anything, that only aggravated the negative sentiments against the migrants and of course the EU. While the EU is an exemplary confederacy, it has its cracks, and populist nationalism is making these more evident.
So from a humanitarian perspective, what the Italians were doing was wrong, but the precedent is that if their elected leader has decided on a policy which is the best choice for their country based on the conditions they are presented, why are the other countries interfering in the decision-making process? One would argue that it stops them from making another authoritarian regime, but would the same restriction apply for Britain pre-Brexit? Not at all! Britain changed its immigration laws and the EU did nothing. This preferential treatment is another factor fueling the divide.
I hold this stance on ownership of problems based on my subjective experience in Pakistan, which has regained soverignty over its own soil after a long time with the election of Imran Khan. A visionary leader determined to bring back the true meaning of Pakistan. After intense debt-laden, inflation-fueled, war-ridden, economic and political instability, we are firmly on the right track to continue our vision for a prosperous Pakistan. A full re-attainment of soveriegnty from the corrupt oligarchs that destroyed every formal institution in the country. There remain many challenges still, but every Pakistani today looks forward to a bright future, while remaining cognizant of their follies — a sort of circular retrospective approach.
Regaining soveireignty is a somber pleasure that few countries enjoy and I’m encouraged that Britain has taken the first step. It is a step to recognizing its own shortcomings and accepting it as part of being sovereign and taking ownership of one’s past and future.
