So it is done. On Friday night, 47 years of British membership of the European Union and its forebears came to an end. It was a moment that will irrevocably shape the course of our nation’s history, but in quite what direction it is impossible to tell. The paradox of Brexit lives on.
Britain has taken a monumental decision from which there is no retreat in the foreseeable future. And yet, three and a half years on from the referendum that heralded our departure, nothing of substance about what it means for our future has been resolved. Brexit continues to be defined by its champions’ hostility to the EU, rather than a realistic vision of what we could become.
Brexit will also fundamentally alter our role in the world. Britain’s most pressing diplomatic challenge will be how to deal with the US at a time when there has never been a more hostile president. Trump lobbied for Brexit because he regarded it as in America’s interests.
He saw in it the potential to weaken Europe, while rendering Britain more compliant with American demands. Trump has already demonstrated that he expects high fidelity, if not subservience, from Britain in his approach to Iran and Palestine. Which side will Britain choose if Trump decides to ramp up US tariffs and sanctions with the EU?
In the coming months, Britain will have to pick a careful path in the shadow of an increasingly for-or-against-us president. US bullying over the Huawei “security risk” and digital taxes on the technology giants is a sure sign of things to come. The other big challenge concerns Britain’s future dealings with China and other authoritarian regimes such as Russia, Brazil, Israel, Turkey and some of the Gulf states.
The government covets a trade deal with China and investment from Beijing, but how will it trade off China’s bulging chequebook with its deplorable record on human rights and free speech? And how would greater cooperation sit with a US that is increasingly hostile to China? If Johnson creates a diplomatic gulf with Europe through the course of the Brexit negotiations, it would be to our peril. Britain could find itself caught between two superpowers without the protective shield of European solidarity to fall back upon.
Read more at: We need to stay close to the EU – for the good of the economy and the cultural ties that bind us | Opinion | The Guardian
Britain has taken a monumental decision from which there is no retreat in the foreseeable future. And yet, three and a half years on from the referendum that heralded our departure, nothing of substance about what it means for our future has been resolved. Brexit continues to be defined by its champions’ hostility to the EU, rather than a realistic vision of what we could become.
Brexit will also fundamentally alter our role in the world. Britain’s most pressing diplomatic challenge will be how to deal with the US at a time when there has never been a more hostile president. Trump lobbied for Brexit because he regarded it as in America’s interests.
He saw in it the potential to weaken Europe, while rendering Britain more compliant with American demands. Trump has already demonstrated that he expects high fidelity, if not subservience, from Britain in his approach to Iran and Palestine. Which side will Britain choose if Trump decides to ramp up US tariffs and sanctions with the EU?
In the coming months, Britain will have to pick a careful path in the shadow of an increasingly for-or-against-us president. US bullying over the Huawei “security risk” and digital taxes on the technology giants is a sure sign of things to come. The other big challenge concerns Britain’s future dealings with China and other authoritarian regimes such as Russia, Brazil, Israel, Turkey and some of the Gulf states.
The government covets a trade deal with China and investment from Beijing, but how will it trade off China’s bulging chequebook with its deplorable record on human rights and free speech? And how would greater cooperation sit with a US that is increasingly hostile to China? If Johnson creates a diplomatic gulf with Europe through the course of the Brexit negotiations, it would be to our peril. Britain could find itself caught between two superpowers without the protective shield of European solidarity to fall back upon.
Read more at: We need to stay close to the EU – for the good of the economy and the cultural ties that bind us | Opinion | The Guardian
