Rule Britannia- Britain Votes to Leave the European Union- a Parallel Across the Pond
As a rule we refrain from commenting on foreign political movements, for the reason that we believe it to be a bit “cheeky” to insert our nose into the affairs of others, as it were. Back in 1980, we spent four months as an exchange student at the University of London, so we’ve always held an affinity for all things British, and have abided a keen interest in the affairs of our British allies, nevertheless.
Ironically, one hundred years following the Easter Rising in Dublin which inexorably led to Irish home rule six years later, Great Britain voted today to assert its own “home rule,” leaving the European Union more than forty years after having joined the union in 1973.
In an April 23rd essay, http://www.drewnickell.com/?p=694 , we discussed the arrogance of President Obama’s assertion that, if Britain went against his wishes that they remain in the EU, he indicated that their doing otherwise would move them to the very back of the line when it comes to future trade negotiations.
In spite of Obama, the wishes of Britain’s Labour Party, the strong advocacy of Prime Minister David Cameron that Britain remain part of the European Union, and polls predicting a win for the “remain” vote, Britons on the whole rejected the globalist agenda (one also supported by Hillary Clinton, among others) and voted to leave the union, instead. It is interesting to note that the political classes in both countries all favored the continued membership with one notable exception… Presumptive Republican nominee, Donald J. Trump, favored what was billed the “Brexit” vote, instead, and urged the British to leave the European Union and thereby reassert and regain their own national sovereignty.
The voting also revealed a deep divide within the United Kingdom. Those in England’s largest cities, those in Scotland and Northern Ireland voted overwhelmingly to remain in the EU. Conversely, those in the surrounding areas of England and in Wales, were able to parlay enough votes to leave the union as the referendum to do so narrowly won out, overall. Contributing factors in the win for leaving included anxiety over unemployment, concerns of lost national sovereignty, and uncontrolled immigration (sound familiar?). Essentially, the concept of subjugating British law and jurisprudence to the whims of non-English speaking bureaucrats on the continent, proved too much for the largely independent British people, who had also decided some years back to reject the Euro and retain the British Pound as its own currency, instead. The vote in England also revealed a degree of divide between whites, who largely favored leaving the union, and non-whites who largely favored remaining within the EU. Similar stratification exists here, in the United States, as well.
As a result Prime Minister David Cameron, whose own Conservative Party largely favored the “Brexit” vote, announced today that he would be stepping down as Prime Minister, indicating that Britain’s exit from the EU would require the leadership of someone other than himself. He did so despite the urging of his own party’s Members of Parliament that he remain in his position, and it is the early odds-on favorite that Boris Johnson, the Conservative MP and former Lord Mayor of London, will be elected Prime Minister in a national election to take place sometime in the autumn of this year. Johnson, who fiercely advocated Britain’s exit, has often described himself as a “One-Nation Tory” and has been called by many as Britain’s version of…Donald J. Trump.
If ever there was a suggestion that wholesale populist rejection of political correctness in a foreign country like Great Britain might be an indicator that this same rejection could well take place in the United States, certainly this surprise vote indicates a very real possibility that such nationalist sentiments “across the pond” might well prove to be a harbinger of change in these United States.
Advantage Trump.
-Drew Nickell, 24 June 2016
© 2016 by Drew Nickell, all rights reserved.