They are only stating the obvious about what the deal would have to be, and in any case, Leo Varadkar and Michel Barnier are the least of our worries. Those who would welcome the victories of Marine Le Pen and the AfD are a thoroughly international lot, sitting very light indeed on borders as surely as the royal and aristocratic elites of old, or indeed of the present day. They believe in a Western civilisation that transcends such matters. If they thought that that were getting a hearing in Paris, in Berlin, and thus in Brussels, then they would be as enthusiastic for rejoining the European Union as the Monday Clubbers Geoffrey Rippon and Jonathan Guinness were for joining it in the first place. Present affections for Donald Trump would easily be transferred.
The centrist affection for the EU would be baffling if we did not know that centrism and right-wing populism were con tricks to sell exactly the same economic and foreign policies to different audiences by pretending to wage culture wars, and that Fascism was the shield and sword of the liberal bourgeoisie, which for a century had always chosen it when the choice had to be made. But even so, and not least because they were only stating the obvious about what the deal would have to be, Leo Varadkar and Michel Barnier are the least of our worries.
No comments:
Post a Comment