1 of 1- Goose
- Cogito ergo sum
Offline 
- Registered: 1/29/2015
- Posts: 13,427
Will the EU Survive? Will Great Britain?
European? British? These ‘Brexit’ Voters Identify as English
Will Britain vote to leave the EU? If it does, will Scotland vote for independence?
If Britain votes to leave, it will be in large part because of strong anti-Europe sentiment in much of England, the heart of the movement to divorce Britain from the Continent. Pollsters and analysts say that while Scotland and Northern Ireland are expected to vote overwhelmingly to stay in the bloc, England, far more populous, is likely to go the other way, reflecting a broad and often bluntly expressed view that English identity and values are being washed away by subordination to the bureaucrats of Brussels.
That sense of resurgent Englishness is palpable in places like South Benfleet, in the heart of a district that is the most ethnically English part of the United Kingdom, according to the Office of National Statistics based on the 2011 census, with nearly 80 percent describing themselves as purely English, while 95 percent are white. They are older than the national average, and only about one-quarter of 1 percent are foreign nationals, very low compared with the rest of Britain.
South Benfleet is a suburban and largely working-class town in the Castle Point district of Essex, full of people who have made it out of London’s tough East End to a kind of English paradise with lots of single-family homes, lawns, beaches, seaside amusement parks and fish-and-chip shops.
The people here are fiercely English, fiercely Conservative and fiercely pro-Brexit, as the possible exit is being called, and many feel that their sovereignty and identity are being diluted by a failing European Union and an “uncontrolled” influx of foreigners.
Their nationalism is proving to be a key part of the exit debate. It embodies national pride, nostalgia and a sense that something precious to these islands is being destroyed by the many European Union citizens who, allowed by the bloc’s rules to move to any member nation without a visa, have come to Britain to live and work, attracted by a vibrant economy and jobs.
Last edited by Goose (6/16/2016 5:28 am)
We live in a time in which decent and otherwise sensible people are surrendering too easily to the hectoring of morons or extremists.
- tennyson
- Exchanger
Offline
- Registered: 2/06/2015
- Posts: 6,654
Re: Will the EU Survive? Will Great Britain?
They may wish that they never had joined the EU, but if they pull out they might wish the reverse (as well as a lot of other nations). The collapse of the EU could send a shock wave through financial markets akin to 2008.
"Do not confuse motion and progress, A rocking horse keeps moving but does not make any progress"
- Goose
- Cogito ergo sum
Offline
- Registered: 1/29/2015
- Posts: 13,427
Re: Will the EU Survive? Will Great Britain?
Also, in the 20th century Europe was the region of the world with the most consequential instability.
The continent spawned two world wars, and then a frightening, nuclear, cold war.
The EU, along with NATO brings the area stability.
With the continent facing a newly resurgent and belligerant Russia, a refugee crisis, and a huge terrorism problem, they need to stick together IMO
Last edited by Goose (6/16/2016 9:16 am)
We live in a time in which decent and otherwise sensible people are surrendering too easily to the hectoring of morons or extremists.
- •
Thread Starter