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| UK Chooses Boris Johnson as Prime Minister |
20th June 2019
Dear
Noel,
You
say that the British Press ignored the EU. I agree with this as a
one-liner. However, I would have put it differently, along the following
lines:
"Whenever
the British Press, notably The Daily Express and The Daily Mail, have mentioned
the EU, it has been to deride and denigrate it, with stories of such idiotic
irrelevancies as straight sausages and bendy bananas.
What
the British Press has ignored, no doubt deliberately, is the EU’s myriad
achievements: its influence in maintaining the peace in Europe while
simultaneously standing firm against a persistently threatening Russia,
developing Europe's transport infrastructure, leading the move to ecological
ways of doing things, promoting scientific research … the list goes on.
The
British Press have called into question the ‘democratic deficit’ in the EU,
ignoring the greater democratic deficit in the UK, where a mere 0.26% of the UK
electorate are eligible to participate in choosing the nation’s next Prime
Minister.
The
British Press have asked to “take back control", without identifying what
they mean. Control of what? Who will exercise the control? Who will
benefit from the control?
The
British Press have asked specifically to "take back control of our justice
system", ignoring the modernising and humane attitude of the European
Court of Justice on such matters as banning corporal punishment of children -
and probably forgetting that the European Court of Human Rights (an institution
in which we will continue to participate after Brexit) is a separate
institution from the EU. The EU itself has its own European Charter of Fundamental
Rights, which complements but does not replace national systems of ensuring the
upholding of human rights.
The
British Press have blamed the EU for increased immigration into the UK,
ignoring a number of inconvenient truths: (1) that the UK has not signed
up to the Schengen free movement directive, and is therefore not subject to the
EU’s stance on immigration from outside the EU; (2) that the UK, along with all
other members of the EU, has obligations as a signatory of the United Nations Refugee
Convention of 1951, to take in genuine refugees who are in danger of their
lives, and (3) that the UK is in desperate need of immigrants - from the EU as
well as from wider afield.
The
British Press talk about trade deals, as if trade deals are the essence of what
the EU is about - and even if they were, they ignore the certainty that they
will mostly be inferior to the ones we already have, especially the
arrangements with the EU itself.
In
short, the British Press have chosen to ignore the positive aspect of its
achievement of the EU, and have filled their front pages and opinion columns
with ‘knocking copy’. It has been a deliberate and sustained attack.
They appear to have the aim, not just of pulling the UK out of the EU,
but of sinking the EU in its entirety - without regard to (or possibly even
wishing) the possible consequence that this might have of eventually
bringing it, and Europe's position in the world, down - just as the world’s
other power blocs would no doubt like to see happen.
Brian Hardy
Oxford.
On
20 Jun 2019, at 09:34, Noel HODSON <noel@noelhodson.com>
wrote:
A very sound narrative and
historical overview. For me, this sentence stands out.
“Still
more significant, however, has been a strong tendency amongst the British
political elite, the British press and even the British public to prefer
accounts which emphasised the confrontational aspects of British European
policy.”
I think the UK media and politicians
ignored the EU until 2015 – We should have had quarterly reports and debates –
and what was reported was via Murdoch, Barclay Twins and their creature, Boris,
at the Telegraph, and Lord Whathisname at the Daily Mail – and hundreds of
other tax-evaders at the BBC (currently being investigated by HMRC) who want to
neuter EU tax courts.
Noel
Noel HODSON - Author
Dear All,
You might be interested in the
attached article on the history of the UK as "The Awkward Squad" in
the EU. It was written by Peter Ludlow, a political journalist based in
Brussels.
This article was sent to me by his
father, also named Peter Ludlow, who I met at a Wedding Anniversary in Brussels
last week. Peter Senior has been a Professor of International History at
London University, was the Founding Director of the Centre for European Policy
Studies, and is now the historian of the European Council.
Best,
Brian
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