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On taking control.

The Netherlands has elected an anti-EU rightist, but he won't take the Netherlands out of the European Union. Britain left the EU, but net migration to the UK has soared to its highest levels. What's going on?

In this special episode, Alex treats Phil and George as interview guests and grills them over their book, Taking Control: Sovereignty and Democracy after Brexit. We discuss:

  • Why all the fuss for Brexit, when things have ended up the same as they were before?
  • Why Brexit when the same politicians are still in charge?
  • Why was no section of society able to lead Brexit with a positive vision of the future?
  • Did Brexiteers need a more concrete proposal beyond "democracy"?
  • What lessons can be learned from Brexit by others in the EU?

Comments

Eamon

Really enjoyed this and generally am convinced on George/Phil’s points. But, to the point on UK government no longer being able to blame EU, haven’t they just switched the EU out for the Bank of England / UK Supreme Court / SAGE / International Law / Consultants etc etc? And worse, hasn’t Brexit precisely heightened how much the Tories do not want to govern, since its Atlanticist wing cannot break its allegiance to neoliberalism (never mind NATO!)? It seems that the tendency to defer, deflect, consult and abdicate political responsibility has gotten worse. And this extends to Ireland discussion, I can easily imagine the greater warmth towards the prospect of a United Ireland resulting not in more sovereignty, but less. The Good Friday Agreements bureaucratising tendencies could infect the Republic under the guise of respecting British Protestants in the North, even further eroding the Irish state’s desire to do anything properly political, which would suit the EU very much.