Reply To: More on Brexit
Hi James
Yes I can along with what you say. My thoughts on this subject of how we ought to approach the Brexit debate are influenced by something that Alan and others have said – that many workers voted Leave not just as some racist cum nationalistic reflex but also as a protest against the austerity measures enacted by recent governments in this era of neoliberalism. There is a kind of naïve simplistic association between the EU as a formation operating in the interests of Big Business and these austerity measures enacted by governments at the behest of Big Business. As if these austerity measures would not be enacted were the UK not in the EU!
Big Business and neoliberal austerity measures would continue to apply whether or not the UK remained in the EU or left and most certainly in the case of the much touted trade deals with the US and US based corporations which the Brexiteers are hoping will materialise. These corporations will demand their pound of flesh in the form of pushing back workers rights and cutting wages. Of that we can be certain
This is perhaps an approach worth pursuing because there are a lot of gullible leftists who fallen for the lie that some how for the UK to leave Europe would represent some sort of step forward for democracy – “reclaiming our country” – and further the interests of “British workers”.
Such talk is delusional