The UK’s catastrophic blunder yesterday (or rather, the betrayal of the sane people of London, Scotland, and Northern Ireland by the regressive elements of provincial England and Wales) has to be seen in the context of globalisation.
The same fears that are driving Trump on the other side of the pond were at play in case of Brexit. Behind the facade of concerns about the democratic deficit of Brussels, what political opportunists like Johnson and Farage exploited here are the anti-immigration sentiments of predominantly white, working class people. But to me, this begs a much more fundamental question that is behind much of the world’s malaise.
What the West has not been able to reconcile itself with is this: If you are to truly globalise, you cannot ultimately sustain the inequity of a bus driver in Birmingham making more than an engineer in Bangalore.
Indeed, in my opinion, even Islamic terrorism is, in the ultimate analysis, a reaction to this inequity. Until this reconciliation is achieved, and as the economy of the world becomes progressively more and more Asia-centric, you will see more and more instances in the West of the reactionary backlash you saw yesterday.
It also remains to be seen whether the United Kingdom’s example last night finds resonance in the remaining members of the European Union. If that were to happen, and the Grand European experiment were to fail, it would be a tragedy for Western, nay human, civilisation
As far as the immediate future is concerned, it is only a matter of time before which the United Kingdom as we have known it since 1706 will disintegrate.
The difference between Scotland and England has never been so stark since the days of Sir William Wallace.
I am sure within the year, Scotland will demand a new referendum on independence. And this time, the choice will not simply be between the United Kingdom and independence; rather, the choice will be between the United Kingdom and the European Union, and the Scots will choose the latter.
And so England will be punished for betraying the trust that Scotland had reposed in her only last year when they chose the United Kingdom over independence.
Nigel Farage may triumphantly declare that yesterday was the Independence Day of the United Kingdom, but within the year, that very Kingdom will be at stake.
Having said that, it also remains to be seen whether the United Kingdom’s example last night finds resonance in the remaining members of the European Union.
If that were to happen, and the Grand European experiment were to fail, it would be a tragedy for Western, nay human, civilisation.
For make no mistake. This very notion, born out of the ashes of World War II, that through an enmeshment of economic interest by pooling sovereign competencies in supranational institutions, you can achieve a lasting peace, where self-interest of nation states dictate avoidance of hostility towards others, is now under challenge.
Make no mistake. It is the world which was the biggest loser in yesterday’s referendum.
