Brexit – Putting the UK on the Road to Ruin
KUROIWA Toru / Emeritus Professor of Toyo Eiwa University
October 28, 2016
As a people, the British are well-endowed in emotional faculties, giving the world Shakespeare and Byron. Yet, they shy away from expressing their emotions outright and frown upon those who make a scene by bursting into tears or laughter in public. Emotions not only get in the way of rational thinking; they cause discomfort in others. Parents are often seen telling their children: “Don’t panic,” teaching their young that it is rude to display one’s feelings.
As far as I know, there were three occasions in the postwar era when even the usually reserved British got caught up in a rush of extreme emotion.
The first occasion was VE Day, which marked the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. Overwhelmed by joy, swarms of Britons took to the streets and joined in the revelry, drinking and singing in celebration. The euphoria of that night is vividly portrayed in “A Royal Night Out,” a recent film that follows the escapades of Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret.
The second was in August 1997, when the British public was engulfed by grief following the accident in Paris that killed Princess Diana. The plaza in front of Kensington Palace, which had been her residence, was buried in flowers, and extraordinary scenes took place there, of strangers hugging each other and weeping together.
And the third occasion was the national referendum on Brexit, which was held to decide whether the UK should leave or remain in the European Union. The referendum gave vent to the intense aversion that was being felt by the British public: “No” to being robbed of their jobs by immigrants, “No” to having social welfare snatched away by immigrants, and “No” to immigrants themselves. As a result of the vote, the UK is now set to leave the EU.
They say that in the aftermath of the referendum, not a few Brexiters regretted the unexpected outcome. That is akin to a young woman who suddenly feels ashamed after an emotional outburst, or a supervisor beset by a sense of guilt after raising his voice to reprimand a subordinate. Acting on our emotions often comes with an aftertaste of limp embarrassment.
While the emotional eruptions in the first and second instances had been transient displays of either joy or sorrow, the third instance is one that will have a lasting effect on the future of the United Kingdom. As soon as Brexit became a reality, I received a furious email from a friend of mine - a prominent political scientist in Oxford, who expressed his indignation as follows:
“The catastrophic referendum result is undoubtedly the worst political experience of my life in over 70 years. I feel like having undergone a bereavement. It's not so much the economic consequences that everyone is talking about, nor the wildly exaggerated concerns about immigration, but the cultural costs of having the future of Britain dictated by a narrow-minded, provincial, xenophobic, nationalist-conservative resurgence of fantasists headed by a collection of very unsavoury, manipulative and deceitful politicians that will set our country back 50 years, with the prospect of similar happenings in other European countries that will endanger the stability and development of the whole of Europe. That's not the Britain of whose values one could once have been proud.”
On my part, while I imagined Brexit would have a significant impact on the British economy, I hadn’t thought of the serious possibility that the cultural impact of the decision could permanently damage the relationship between the United Kingdom and Europe. As my friend pointed out, the historic declaration of British opinion could have far more serious consequences for the UK and Europe than we can hope to imagine. One day, the UK and Germany may find themselves at loggerheads again. Brexit may have laid the ground for both Britons and Germans alike to forget the lessons of World War II in the years to come, and to rekindle their view of each other as the “mortal enemy.”
Toru Kuroiwa is former European Bureau Chief of the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper.
As far as I know, there were three occasions in the postwar era when even the usually reserved British got caught up in a rush of extreme emotion.
The first occasion was VE Day, which marked the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. Overwhelmed by joy, swarms of Britons took to the streets and joined in the revelry, drinking and singing in celebration. The euphoria of that night is vividly portrayed in “A Royal Night Out,” a recent film that follows the escapades of Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret.
The second was in August 1997, when the British public was engulfed by grief following the accident in Paris that killed Princess Diana. The plaza in front of Kensington Palace, which had been her residence, was buried in flowers, and extraordinary scenes took place there, of strangers hugging each other and weeping together.
And the third occasion was the national referendum on Brexit, which was held to decide whether the UK should leave or remain in the European Union. The referendum gave vent to the intense aversion that was being felt by the British public: “No” to being robbed of their jobs by immigrants, “No” to having social welfare snatched away by immigrants, and “No” to immigrants themselves. As a result of the vote, the UK is now set to leave the EU.
They say that in the aftermath of the referendum, not a few Brexiters regretted the unexpected outcome. That is akin to a young woman who suddenly feels ashamed after an emotional outburst, or a supervisor beset by a sense of guilt after raising his voice to reprimand a subordinate. Acting on our emotions often comes with an aftertaste of limp embarrassment.
While the emotional eruptions in the first and second instances had been transient displays of either joy or sorrow, the third instance is one that will have a lasting effect on the future of the United Kingdom. As soon as Brexit became a reality, I received a furious email from a friend of mine - a prominent political scientist in Oxford, who expressed his indignation as follows:
“The catastrophic referendum result is undoubtedly the worst political experience of my life in over 70 years. I feel like having undergone a bereavement. It's not so much the economic consequences that everyone is talking about, nor the wildly exaggerated concerns about immigration, but the cultural costs of having the future of Britain dictated by a narrow-minded, provincial, xenophobic, nationalist-conservative resurgence of fantasists headed by a collection of very unsavoury, manipulative and deceitful politicians that will set our country back 50 years, with the prospect of similar happenings in other European countries that will endanger the stability and development of the whole of Europe. That's not the Britain of whose values one could once have been proud.”
On my part, while I imagined Brexit would have a significant impact on the British economy, I hadn’t thought of the serious possibility that the cultural impact of the decision could permanently damage the relationship between the United Kingdom and Europe. As my friend pointed out, the historic declaration of British opinion could have far more serious consequences for the UK and Europe than we can hope to imagine. One day, the UK and Germany may find themselves at loggerheads again. Brexit may have laid the ground for both Britons and Germans alike to forget the lessons of World War II in the years to come, and to rekindle their view of each other as the “mortal enemy.”
Toru Kuroiwa is former European Bureau Chief of the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper.
The English-Speaking Union of Japan
英国破滅への道―ＢＲＥＸＩＴ
黒岩 徹 / 東洋英和女学院大名誉教授
2016年 10月 28日
英国人はシェークスピアやバイロンを生んだ実に感情豊かな人々だが、人前で大声で泣きわめいたり、大笑いするといった派手な感情表現を避けようとする。感情的になれば、まともな判断ができなくなるだけでなく、人をも不快にさせるからだ。親が子供に「ドント・パニック（うろたえるな）」と叱る光景をしばしば見るのは、感情を露わにすることがはしたないことだと、教えているのだ。
そんな感情露出を嫌う英国人が、戦後史上きわめて感情的になったことが三度ある、と筆者はみる。
第一は、第二次大戦でナチス・ドイツに戦勝した夜、多くの英国人が街に繰り出し、喜びのあまり酒を飲んで高歌放吟したときである。その喧噪の騒ぎを最近の映画「ロイヤルナイト 英国王女の秘密の外出」が生き生きと描いている。
第二は、一九九七年八月、ダイアナ妃がパリで事故死した後、英国民を襲った悲嘆の波である。ダイアナ妃の居宅、ケンジントン宮殿前は花で埋まり、知らない人同士が抱き合って涙を流すというかつてない異常な光景が繰り広げられた。
そして第三が、EU離脱（ＢＲEＸＩＴ）国民投票である。移民に職を奪われるのはイヤ、彼らに社会保障費を横取りされるのはイヤ、移民の存在自体がイヤ――といった嫌悪感情が噴出した。投票結果がＥＵ離脱と決まった
後に、ＢＲEＸＩＴ派の中に、まさかこうなるとは思わなかったと後悔するものがかなりいたという。感情的に叫んだり泣いたりした若い女性が、ハッと平常に戻って感じる恥ずかしさ、上司が大声で部下を叱りつけた後のうしろめたさと似ている。感情に駆られて行動した後に、人は何か身のおきどころのなさを覚えるものである。
第一と第二の感情の噴出が、嬉しい、悲しいといった一過性であるのに対して第三の場合、将来にわたって英国に深刻な影響を及ぼす。わが友であるオックスフォードの著名な政治学者が、ＢＲEＸＩＴの決まった直後、こんな怒りのメールを送ってきた――。
「国民投票の破滅的結果は、私の七十年以上の人生で最悪の政治的経験だった。まるで自分が死刑を執行されたような気分だった。ＢＲEＸＩＴは、英国だけでなく欧州大陸にとっても警戒すべき結果をもたらす大災難である。すべての人が語るような経済的損失や誇張された移民問題だけでなく、英国の将来の文化的損失でもある。それは、不快かつごまかしが巧みなずるい一群の政治家に率いられた、偏狭で視野の狭い外国嫌いの国粋主義的夢想家たちが指示したものであり、わが国を五十年後退させるものである。これによって他の欧州諸国でも同様のことが起こる可能性を示し、全欧州の安全と発展を危機に陥らせるだろう。それは誇るべき価値をもつ英国とはいえない」
筆者自身、英国の経済的打撃の大きさには想像できても、文化的打撃によって英国と欧州の関係が決定的に傷つけられる可能性が大きいとまでは思いいたらなかった。わが友の指摘するような歴史的な英国民の態度表明がどれだけ英国と欧州に深刻な禍根を残したかは想像以上かもしれない。将来英国とドイツが再び対立したとき、第二次大戦の教訓は忘れられ、英国人もドイツ人も互いに「あの国はやはり永遠の敵である」と感じうる素地さえ生まれるのではあるまいか。
筆者は元毎日新聞欧州総局長
そんな感情露出を嫌う英国人が、戦後史上きわめて感情的になったことが三度ある、と筆者はみる。
第一は、第二次大戦でナチス・ドイツに戦勝した夜、多くの英国人が街に繰り出し、喜びのあまり酒を飲んで高歌放吟したときである。その喧噪の騒ぎを最近の映画「ロイヤルナイト 英国王女の秘密の外出」が生き生きと描いている。
第二は、一九九七年八月、ダイアナ妃がパリで事故死した後、英国民を襲った悲嘆の波である。ダイアナ妃の居宅、ケンジントン宮殿前は花で埋まり、知らない人同士が抱き合って涙を流すというかつてない異常な光景が繰り広げられた。
そして第三が、EU離脱（ＢＲEＸＩＴ）国民投票である。移民に職を奪われるのはイヤ、彼らに社会保障費を横取りされるのはイヤ、移民の存在自体がイヤ――といった嫌悪感情が噴出した。投票結果がＥＵ離脱と決まった
後に、ＢＲEＸＩＴ派の中に、まさかこうなるとは思わなかったと後悔するものがかなりいたという。感情的に叫んだり泣いたりした若い女性が、ハッと平常に戻って感じる恥ずかしさ、上司が大声で部下を叱りつけた後のうしろめたさと似ている。感情に駆られて行動した後に、人は何か身のおきどころのなさを覚えるものである。
第一と第二の感情の噴出が、嬉しい、悲しいといった一過性であるのに対して第三の場合、将来にわたって英国に深刻な影響を及ぼす。わが友であるオックスフォードの著名な政治学者が、ＢＲEＸＩＴの決まった直後、こんな怒りのメールを送ってきた――。
「国民投票の破滅的結果は、私の七十年以上の人生で最悪の政治的経験だった。まるで自分が死刑を執行されたような気分だった。ＢＲEＸＩＴは、英国だけでなく欧州大陸にとっても警戒すべき結果をもたらす大災難である。すべての人が語るような経済的損失や誇張された移民問題だけでなく、英国の将来の文化的損失でもある。それは、不快かつごまかしが巧みなずるい一群の政治家に率いられた、偏狭で視野の狭い外国嫌いの国粋主義的夢想家たちが指示したものであり、わが国を五十年後退させるものである。これによって他の欧州諸国でも同様のことが起こる可能性を示し、全欧州の安全と発展を危機に陥らせるだろう。それは誇るべき価値をもつ英国とはいえない」
筆者自身、英国の経済的打撃の大きさには想像できても、文化的打撃によって英国と欧州の関係が決定的に傷つけられる可能性が大きいとまでは思いいたらなかった。わが友の指摘するような歴史的な英国民の態度表明がどれだけ英国と欧州に深刻な禍根を残したかは想像以上かもしれない。将来英国とドイツが再び対立したとき、第二次大戦の教訓は忘れられ、英国人もドイツ人も互いに「あの国はやはり永遠の敵である」と感じうる素地さえ生まれるのではあるまいか。
筆者は元毎日新聞欧州総局長
一般社団法人 日本英語交流連盟