The sombre sense of something very much amiss is hard to shake. The Germans seem particularly angry and concerned about Brexit.
How low will Britain go? Will it try to create a cheap, regulation-free competitor on the border, will it try to destroy the EU? The announcement that the UK will leave the EU aviation regulator adds to the anxiety. Do the people who call for “a bonfire of the regulations” associate that with the Max 8 plane crashes?
Regulation is not easy. It doesn’t happen by itself. In an age of globalized meglo-corporations and dark money, it is not easy to protect the rights of the little guy. It takes a concerted effort and there is strength in unity. The UK government will no longer be shouldering its share of this burden. It is walking away from the difficult negotiation and effort that meaningful regulation involves.
Where in the world do citizens have rights these days? Not in China, where dissidents are executed. Not in Russia, an autocracy where state assassins murder journalists and others. Not in the US, which has become a rich man’s playground. The opioid crisis there was caused by a failure to regulate opiate-based medicine, which made some people very rich. Planes fell out of the sky because the weak regulatory environment of the Federal Aviation Administration didn’t uncover issues with the design.
The anger and concern that we are seeing from Germans is understandable. Germany is in a difficult moment. The Hanau Terror Attack, the rise of the extreme right-wing and racist Alternative for Germany party (AfD), Angela Merkel’s imminent departure, all create a sense of insecurity.
I wonder what my late father Arnold Kemp, newspaper editor, journalist, would have had to say? Arnold loved a ‘flyte’ or a robust debate and he did sometimes actually thump his fist down on the table in an argument. Never personal, he was passionate about ideas. One of his table-thumping themes was about the importance of defending the democratic institutions of Germany. He regarded their creations as the finest achievement of the post-war generation of Europeans, of which he was part. Germany lies at the heart of Europe, and if it is vulnerable we are all vulnerable.
The British Conservative party has already taken Britain very far from the centre-ground of European politics. Under David Cameron, they parted company with the centre-right and went to sit with dubious extremists. Since the referendum and the subsequent Brexit takeover of the party, they have moved further into the shadows. What are their values? Where are they headed? What are the implications for all of our futures?
Joe Mellon says
I currently am resident in Germany… Angry, concerned, insecure? Not that I have noticed 😀
Brexit in particular is a source of humour. Sorry UK, you are just regarded as helpless clowns who have shot themselves in the foot.
David Gow says
You may not be Joe but maybe others are…
Joe Mellon says
> The Germans seem particularly angry and concerned about Brexit.
I live in Germany (and France): there is *no debate* any more about ‘Brexit’ never mind ‘anger and concern’. There is a debate about corona virus, about the long term future of the EU, about the AfD, the future of the CDU / SPD… But a debate about Brexit? ‘Fehlanzeige’ as the Germans say.
The Germans have long since written off Brexit. They realized that ‘the Brits’ hadn’t a clue what they wanted, but had a different plan every week on how to get it. That the Uk political system is utterly broken, the debate in the Uk reality -free, the surreal comic figures occupying the stage – Farage, Johnson, Davis, May, Rees-Moog, Corbyn… – good for a laugh, but quite incapable of rational politics or even the simplest of competence.
This article seems to have roots in the Uk fantasy that Europeans / the EU are very scared of Brexit. No doubt some people – say BMW’s Uk sales manager – are in a bit of a tiz, but ‘the Germans’? I suspect the roots of that fantasy lie in the belief that the Uk is Really Important. It isn’t.
Jackie Kemp says
I’m glad to hear that Germans are not concerned about Brexit. I linked to an article by the Bloomberg correspondent in Germany about this. But it’s also based on conversations I’ve had about fears particularly of a No Deal Brexit which is back on the table. What do you think the effect might be of that?
Joe Mellon says
Well I am sure some Germans are worried about Brexit, especially those whose job it is to be worried about it such as businesses or government departments. They will have made plans A, B and C to deal with various scenarios. That is what Germans do: worry. But general ‘anger and concern’ looks different.
Fearchar says
Germany has had a serious problem which it is now being forced to face – its completely unrequited love affair with England. Turning to the reality that England is an imperialist fruitcake unable to get over the loss of empire is painful but necessary.