Analysis & Opinions - Foreign Policy

Welcome to the Fantasy Island of Little England

| June 17, 2016

The pro-Brexit campaign is fudging numbers, reimagining history, and undermining the Great British tradition of common sense.

At some point during the final weeks before Britain's June 23 referendum on membership in the European Union, the rhetoric of its debate became disconnected from reality. Appeals to passion have left no space for rational persuasion. A body politic that sees its serving justice secretary claim that "people in this country have had enough of experts" on national television in a formal debate, is an etiolated one, a shadow of itself. It is a country in which mock naval battles on the Thames have somehow come to be considered more effective rhetorical devices than deliberation and discussion.

This surreal, and pathetic, political atmosphere was punctured yesterday by the appalling murder of MP Jo Cox. It was fitting that all campaigning was suspended out of respect; it is fitting that the democratic process will ultimately not be impeded; and it now befits this land for the debate to return to sanity in its final days....

Continue reading: http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/06/17/welcome-to-the-fantasy-island-of-little-england/

For more information on this publication: Belfer Communications Office
For Academic Citation: Simpson, Emile.“Welcome to the Fantasy Island of Little England.” Foreign Policy, June 17, 2016.

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