The British Unknown
(B2) At the Ateliers de la Citadelle in Lille (in which B2 participated), at the beginning of October, Nick Witney, former (British) director of the European Defense Agency, and now a researcher at the ECFR, had an interesting analysis on the "iunknown British”: the referendum on remaining in the European Union. " We are in a very dangerous position he insists. " It is in a way a form of national suicide. If we leave Europe, Scotland will leave us. And it will be an incitement to all nationalisms. "For him it was" a long-standing obsession of the right which had rather the support of Westminster, (...) which today found some popular support, around the question of migration. »
For this convinced European, the explanations lie deep within society: “We have a xenophobic current, people who have suffered from the economic crisis, who have difficulty adapting to the new economic situation. This resentment focused on free movement, with the fear of having hordes of Ukrainians and Poles arriving. » This is far from the reality. But this mechanism works. " It is a particular feeling in London and the South of the country, that there are too many people in the Kingdom, which has consequences in terms of housing, transport which suffers from a bottleneck. »
Yet the UK is in a privileged situation: we are not party to Schengen, the United Kingdom is not a member of the Euro. But we are not in a rational debate. The predominant feeling is "Let's cast off ". As for the results of the negotiation, “What does Cameron want? he is therefore skeptical. " I don't really see what he can get. He wants to develop a large European market. He wants European protection. The only thing he can achieve with a quick result is for the United Kingdom to become an attractive place. »
(NGV)
