missing you already...

The UK bidding farewell to the EU has been the worst political experience in my lifetime. We’ve gone from those heady days of the London 2012 Olympics - when the entire country seemed to come together - to these dark days (you may have a different view on this, of course) of division, confrontation and even hatred. Despite the fact that a majority of the population voted in December for parties which supported a second referendum, Brexit has now happened (even though we still don’t know its consequences) and, clearly, we need to move on.

Today, the Guardian published a collection of impressive, thoughtful reflections from writers, artists, musicians, and cultural figures from across the EU (check it out here).

I found them hugely powerful insights into what we had lost.

Every single one of the reflections is worth reading, but here are just a few extracts:

“What breaks my heart in Britain leaving the European project is the dark message that Brexit delivers to the entire planet: every nation for itself, instead of collaborating for the common good; everybody making its own rules, instead of searching for common ground; every group competing with the others, instead of solving the common problems together. Brexit is a step in the direction of disintegration, disunity, confrontation; a path that has proven dramatically dangerous so many times in the past” (Carlo Rovelli, Physicist. Italy).

“The tragedy of Brexit is that it was shaped and designed after the referendum. Nobody ever voted for what has been done. Most people voting for Brexit had no vision or idea of all it would entail. The depth of the nonsense of ‘a little bit’ undoing 40 years of integration and shared progress only became apparent to them after the event… The other tragedy is that Labour didn’t distance itself from the Brexit project, when the neoliberal hard-right nature of its ideology came to light after 2016. Why the party and its leader remained on the fence is beyond belief” (Wolfgang Tillmans, Photographer+Turner prize-winner. Germany).

“Brexit is, above all, a lesson to those – and I’m one of them – who believe that no good can ever come from nationalism and isolationism. Brexit seduces some to fantasise about an independent Scotland and a united Ireland. Perhaps it reveals the conscious or unconscious desire to redraw borders without an actual war. Britain’s departure is not so much a bitter lesson for populists as it is a bitter defeat for those who hoped and fought for a different outcome. Ending the status quo is often not a sign of progress but just another example of the old and all too human lust for destruction” (Arnon Grunberg, writer+columnist. Netherlands).

“The EU may not be perfect but Finland has experienced unprecedented prosperity and stability since it joined. And for Finnish kids to have all of Europe open to them through Erasmus and other programmes, it’s so beautifully enriching. But more than that, the very idea is wonderful. It is utopian, it is deeply human; it puts a lot of faith in the goodness and rationality of people. I feel that there are not that many other ideas around odf that magnitude. To abandon it feels very wrong to me. The very decision to start to close your borders, to leave one of the greatest ideas of unity, friendship, liberty and peace in recent history – maybe ever – is immense” (Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor London Philharmonia orchestra. Finland).

“I am sorry the British are leaving at a time when none of the big social problems: growing inequality or global migration, the enormous power of international corporations and financial markets, or the climate crisis, can be solved by individual nation states. I’m sorry that at a time in history crying out for internationalism that the British people have given up on their European identity. I will miss the British fighting spirit, defiance and wit, but not its contempt for the collective pursuit of a more democratic, more equal, more solidarity-based, fairer and greener Europe” (Dino Bauk, columnist and short-story writer. Slovenia).

“I have admired Britain ever since I was very young for, among other things, having just the right dose of conservatism and humour. But lately, some UK politicians have been exploring a ‘revolutionary’ style that has led to a sad loss of humour. It is hard to understand how, out of all the many imperfections in today’s world, one could choose the fragile European Union as the adversary? How can isolation be a political ideal? (Andrei Plesu, Philosopher+former foreign minister. Romania).

For me, the phrase “Missing you already” is a massive understatement.

Note: “Missing You Already”, The Guardian supplement: 1 February 2020 (editors: Katherine Butler, Mark Rice-Oxley, Joe Stone and Clare Margetson).