This piece is a response to the letter shared by Mr Don Briggs, in the letters to the editor column in the Gibraltar Chronicle, on the 17th March 2016.
Yes, I agree, the EU is in a process of disintegration. It is undemocratic and the groups making important decisions are unaccountable to any Parliament - the treatment of Greece by unelected bodies is an example of such injustice. However, I cannot agree with the notion that the UK leaving the EU will make this any better or will serve to ameliorate the issues that have arisen from such deficiencies, let alone save us from the EU’s potential demise.
To encourage such thought is to fall foul to the demagoguery of the far right, the extremists, the racists and the misanthropes who are gaining so much traction on the back of the economic hardship in the block and are vying for insularity and seclusion. As you [Mr Briggs] rightly note, examples of these are already gaining traction: Nikolaos Michaloliakos’ Golden Dawn nazi party in Greece; Marine Le Pen’s National Front in France; Farage’s UKIP in UK; even Trump across the Atlantic in this US. Their rise is no longer an allegory but a reality. In my view, a Brexit would only bolster their campaigns and legitimise their claim that insular nationalism is preferable to unionism.
If we rewind to the 1930s, Europe, stuck in a mire of economic depression - similar to the perennial crisis gripping the continent today - fell for the wrong leaders pulling countries towards ultra-nationalism, dividing the continent along very strict lines. The disaffected by the great depression voted for protectionism, channelling their impulsive urge to punish the establishment towards totalitarian, fascist dictatorships who promised to make their countries great again. To encourage a Brexit is to assist in creating these same conditions for the far right to hijack a project in unionism that fought so hard – militarily, economically, socially and politically – towards the protection of the vow of “never again.”
Instead, I propose “a simple but radical idea: to democratise Europe”. Movements such as Diem25.org are a great example of how through cohesion, communication and a refusal to retreat to national trenches, Europe can be changed from within. Let’s not make the mistake that was made earlier in the 20th century and give credence to empty nationalistic fervour, pulling the union apart. Let’s vote to stay in the EU to assist in eliminating the threat of the far right and to contain the disintegration which is already taking place. A Brexit would only serve to strangle the EU further, acting as a catalyst for irrational exuberance in divestment from the block. And even if we are out, this breakdown would affect us all.
