This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/dec/07/your-opinions-may-the-accidental-europe-wrecker-and-identity-politics-in-sleaford
The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Your opinions: May the accidental Europe-wrecker and identity politics in Sleaford | Your opinions: May the accidental Europe-wrecker and identity politics in Sleaford |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| Welcome to our space – open every Wednesday from 10am-2pm – for discussing the day’s Opinion articles. We’d like to begin with two articles. | Welcome to our space – open every Wednesday from 10am-2pm – for discussing the day’s Opinion articles. We’d like to begin with two articles. |
| The first is Rafael Behr who says that Prime Minister Theresa May risks becoming an accidental Europe-wrecker. He says May is feeding a Ukip-inspired image of the European Union as hostile, where any interest in the continent’s future is unpatriotic. Behr writes: | The first is Rafael Behr who says that Prime Minister Theresa May risks becoming an accidental Europe-wrecker. He says May is feeding a Ukip-inspired image of the European Union as hostile, where any interest in the continent’s future is unpatriotic. Behr writes: |
| May tells European leaders she wants a strong EU because that would be in Britain’s interests. She prefers stability and continuity to turmoil and suspicion. Unfortunately, the radical impulse behind Brexit contains a different, more destructive logic. If political union enslaves the free spirit of the British people – as the Tory high priests of Euroscepticism believe – surely it is unkind to want other nations to continue suffering in captivity. The devout Brexiteer has a missionary duty, spreading the good news to benighted foreigners under the Brussels yoke. | May tells European leaders she wants a strong EU because that would be in Britain’s interests. She prefers stability and continuity to turmoil and suspicion. Unfortunately, the radical impulse behind Brexit contains a different, more destructive logic. If political union enslaves the free spirit of the British people – as the Tory high priests of Euroscepticism believe – surely it is unkind to want other nations to continue suffering in captivity. The devout Brexiteer has a missionary duty, spreading the good news to benighted foreigners under the Brussels yoke. |
| He goes on to say: | He goes on to say: |
| Earlier in the week a spokeswoman accused MPs of “frustrating the will of the people” and failing to “back the UK team”. Downing Street is creeping into that Ukip zone where any residue of interest in European integration is unpatriotic, verging on treasonous. This is silly because May knows there is a patriotic case for avoiding a ruinously abrupt collapse in EU trade. The conflation of Brexit and patriotism also feeds an image of Europe as a hostile power with which no compromise should be brooked. That lifts the bar for any deal beyond the reach of what is possible. | Earlier in the week a spokeswoman accused MPs of “frustrating the will of the people” and failing to “back the UK team”. Downing Street is creeping into that Ukip zone where any residue of interest in European integration is unpatriotic, verging on treasonous. This is silly because May knows there is a patriotic case for avoiding a ruinously abrupt collapse in EU trade. The conflation of Brexit and patriotism also feeds an image of Europe as a hostile power with which no compromise should be brooked. That lifts the bar for any deal beyond the reach of what is possible. |
| You can read the full article here. | You can read the full article here. |
| What do you think? Does Theresa May risk feeding a Ukip-inspired image of the European Union as hostile? What impact could this have? What are the dangers of this? | What do you think? Does Theresa May risk feeding a Ukip-inspired image of the European Union as hostile? What impact could this have? What are the dangers of this? |
| In a similar Brexit vein the second piece up for discussion is the Sleaford byelection and identity politics in the north. While you could argue May ignores the remainers with her hard Brexit stance there’s certainly impatience among Brexiteers about leaving the European Union, especially in Sleaford. | In a similar Brexit vein the second piece up for discussion is the Sleaford byelection and identity politics in the north. While you could argue May ignores the remainers with her hard Brexit stance there’s certainly impatience among Brexiteers about leaving the European Union, especially in Sleaford. |
| Phil McDuff tackles this today. He says places such as Sleaford are desperate for change – no wonder they back Brexit. McDuff talks about the fact that Thursday’s byelection (dominated by Brexit, with Ukip hoping for a shock win) takes place in a region that has been crippled by a broken economic system, so of course it will reaffirm the referendum result. He writes: | Phil McDuff tackles this today. He says places such as Sleaford are desperate for change – no wonder they back Brexit. McDuff talks about the fact that Thursday’s byelection (dominated by Brexit, with Ukip hoping for a shock win) takes place in a region that has been crippled by a broken economic system, so of course it will reaffirm the referendum result. He writes: |
| Ask people on the ground in hollowed-out, leave-voting towns and they know, deep down, that a lot of their issues don’t really have anything to do with the EU, but they will say “it’s all part of the same thing”. Brexit is about reclaiming something lost. You have to recognise that, but you can’t pretend frustration is a policy. | Ask people on the ground in hollowed-out, leave-voting towns and they know, deep down, that a lot of their issues don’t really have anything to do with the EU, but they will say “it’s all part of the same thing”. Brexit is about reclaiming something lost. You have to recognise that, but you can’t pretend frustration is a policy. |
| You can read the full article here. | |
| What do you think? Is the byelection result going to be about identity politics? What can we do to combat disillusionment in some parts of the country? | What do you think? Is the byelection result going to be about identity politics? What can we do to combat disillusionment in some parts of the country? |
| We will be joined by Phil McDuff the writer of this article from 12-1pm – get your questions in for him now. Or join us to debate these two pieces below the line. | We will be joined by Phil McDuff the writer of this article from 12-1pm – get your questions in for him now. Or join us to debate these two pieces below the line. |