The continuing difficulty of, or obstinant defiance of, implementing the will of the British public, which voted in 2016 for “Brexit” (to leave the European Union), powerfully illustrates that the best course for the British, or any other nation, including the United States, is not to get into these globalist organizations and deals in the first place.
British Prime Minister Theresa May said Wednesday that a draft to implement the Brexit referendum has been agreed to, but the opposition to the draft by both pro-EU and anti-EU factions within Britain threatens the draft’s ultimate acceptance and even the survival of May’s Conservative Party government.
May sounded almost like U.S. President Trump when she said the United Kingdom would “take back control of our borders, our laws and our money … while protecting jobs, security and the integrity of our United Kingdom.” She told members of the House of Commons that the draft deal “takes us significantly closer to delivering what the British people voted for in the referendum.”
But many Brexit supporters within May’s Conservative Party — even some members of her own Cabinet — are not so enthusiastic about May’s negotiated draft. They have expressed fear that the agreement will still leave the U.K. tied to the EU, and unable to have a free hand in creating its own trade policy, independent of the EU. Conservative MP Peter Bone was blunt, telling May that “if the media reports about the EU agreement are in any way accurate you will not be delivering the Brexit people voted for and today you will lose the support of many Conservative[s] [in Parliament] and millions of voters across the country.”
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Mentioned most often as the biggest sticking point of drafting a deal with the EU to implement the will of the British public in the 2016 referendum is what to do about the border between the republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland (which is part of the United Kingdom). As of now, there are no customs posts or any other border control between the U.K.’s Northern Ireland and Ireland, which is still a member of the EU. This is a particular problem because an open border between Northern Ireland and Ireland was part of the agreement that helped settle the long-running controversy between the largely Catholic republic of Ireland to the south and the largely Protestant Northern Ireland.
What has been proposed as a solution to this problem is for a customs arrangement for the U.K. and the EU, which would eliminate the need for any border control. The May government assured Brexit supporters that this would only be a temporary solution, but Brexit supporters fear that it will instead be permanent.
Boris Johnson, a former foreign secretary, and staunch supporter of Brexit, had favored a looser trade relationship with the EU. He tweeted opposition to May’s draft deal: “Cabinet must live up to its responsibilities and stop this deal.”
On the other side, the Democratic Unionist Party in Northern Ireland, a necessary part of the governing coalition of the U.K., along with May’s Conservative Party, opposes any deal that would leave Northern Ireland under any different rules than the rest of the U.K., when Brexit is finally put into effect.
“This is not something we can support,” Jeffrey Donaldson, chief whip of the DUP, told the BBC.
Not surprisingly, all these difficulties are emboldening the pro-EU members of Parliament to call for a new vote on whether to leave or stay. In other words, they contend that the 52 percent of the voting British public made a mistake by voting to leave the EU, and they should now be given a chance to re-vote, and remain in the EU.
This is typical of the authoritarian attitude by the globalist elites who run the European Union. It is the same type of thinking found in the globalist Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) of the United States. In their May/June 2018 edition of their magazine, Foreign Affairs, the theme of that issue was, “Is Democracy Dying?” It is quite clear by the articles found within that they view President Donald Trump and his anti-globalist statements as an impediment to the type of society they desire for the planet.
The question, “Is Democracy Dying?” presupposes that the form of government created by the U.S. Constitution is a “democracy,” and that “democracy” is a good thing. Actually, the constitutional framers crafted a federal republic, a system of limited government, with religious liberty and private property among those liberties placed beyond the reach of majorities. In other words, liberty trumps democracy. The purpose of government is to protect life, liberty, and property, not ensure that a majority can vote to strip the wealthier minority of their wealth, or to impose a particular religion, for example.
What is noteworthy about the tone of these articles is that the writers appear to believe “democracy,” or government by the people, to be a good thing, just as long as the people favor the policies of the global elites. In fact, the overarching theme of the articles is that “the people” are not compliant enough in favoring those policies so dear to the global elites, such as with open borders.
“Democracy” to these elitists does not mean so much government by the people as for the people, or what these elites believe is good for the people. The rising opposition to the EU in European nations such as the U.K., Hungary, Poland, and Italy, is taken by the CFR’s Foreign Affairs as an example that “democracy is dying.” In other words, if the majority vote to exit the EU, then that is an example of their thesis that democracy is dying. Really — if democracy means their policies are defeated, then democracy is dying.
It is clear that the will of the British public is not respected by these global elites. The problem that the U.K. government has had in getting out of the European Union should provide a good lesson for Americans. The best way to avoid the problems that Britain is facing with exiting the European Union is to avoid ever joining entangling alliances.
Photo of Brexit poster: Kenneth Allen / “Vote Leave” poster, Market Street, Omagh /
