Watching them watching us

It is always interesting to read what outsiders think of Brexit, so I recently did a quick trawl of some of the main international newspapers to get a handle on the issue. One of the best places to start is with the excellent Irish Times, largely because it is a newspaper similar in tone to its more rational English cousins, but also because Ireland is the one EU economy likely to suffer heavily in the event of a nasty turn of Brexit events. 

This piece by Chris Johns argues that the attitude of the British government is reminiscent of the Charge of the Light Brigade. In his words, “Theresa May has just ordered ‘charge’ and an incredulous Europe stands, like the Russian gunners at Balaclava, ready to shoot as soon as the British come into view. It’s as one-sided a negotiation as they come.” He also notes that “the UK is facing into the most challenging set of decisions since the second World War and is being led by May, Johnson, Davis and Fox, all of whom appear to have been completely captured by the Daily Mail … it is rare to see such a lethal combination of incompetents and ideologues. Even Margaret Thatcher had a deeply pragmatic side and was able to populate her administration with people who knew how to get things done.” Clearly, it is not just me.

The Irish Times’ Berlin correspondent Derek Scally wrote in a recent article that  “for seven decades, most Germans idealised Britain much as many Brexiteers idealise Britain’s past and its post-EU future: a thriving, open-yet-closed land of cricket, cream teas and fair play. But Brexit has toppled Britain from its lofty, post-war pedestal in Germany.” I can attest to the fact that the German view of Britain is very different to that which many Brits have of their country. The Germans have failed to understand how the UK domestic political landscape has changed and how the right-wing capture of the centre ground has made the political debate a lot harsher. Those who come to live here soon notice that beyond the flashy façade of London, the public finance squeeze makes the UK look pretty shabby in contrast to most German towns. Those who have been here for any length of time understand, just as the natives do, that there is an increased degree of mean-spiritedness about Britain which is far from the idealised version of the story books.

What about the view from Germany? The conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung argued in an editorial last week that Germany was likely to be a big loser from Brexit since it will reduce Germany’s blocking majority against the creeping trend towards turning the EU into a transfer union. An online reader survey in the same newspaper, which polled more than 20,000 readers, showed that 64% are opposed to the idea of the UK leaving the EU, versus 30% who believe it to be a good thing with 6% undecided.

Die Welt was rather less sanguine, with one story about Theresa May carrying the headline “The Iron Lady of Little Britain.” The range of views amongst reader comments was also interesting and echoed many of the opinions one often hears outside the rabid UK tabloids. This one from Ulrich H. particularly caught my eye, “For many jobs there are no British candidates, not because they are badly paid, but because the British are too poorly trained. Note also that the UK voluntarily opened its doors to the likes of the Poles, when Germany and Austria did not do so due to transitional arrangements. The fact that the number of foreigners is now regarded as a problem and a cause for Brexit has more to do with xenophobia - which does not really fit with a country which is open to the world.”

The French newspapers, perhaps surprisingly, also took a conciliatory approach. Le Monde reported in an editorial that “Now begins the enormous task of undoing all the ties that have united Great Britain to the life of the Twenty-Seven. And the ties that bind them to the life of the British. We must forge a new relationship that minimizes the damage for both. This will be all the harder since Theresa May, the British Prime Minister, has set goals that ultimately will hurt her country's economy and, most likely, inflict collateral damage on its ex-partners.”

The article also highlighted the extent to which people have crossed borders and made their lives in other countries, Brits in the rest of the EU and continentals in the UK. It thus concluded “now that Article 50 has been activated, this issue has to be dealt with separately, not as a "parameter" in the talks, which will be tough. We suggest starting the talks on a positive gesture: let's first deal with the question of our nationals trapped by Brexit. The four European dailies signing this editorial call for an agreement between London and the 27 to guarantee the rights of these five million people.”

Whilst this trawl was, of necessity, a fairly quick exercise I believe it shows there is sufficient goodwill amongst other EU nations to ensure that a reasonable settlement can be achieved as long as both sides approach the talks in the right spirit. But perhaps what it shows most of all is that the sheer nastiness of the domestic debate, in which the press has played a key role, is in stark contrast to the more reasoned view elsewhere in Europe. The British pride themselves on their good manners. Perhaps some of our commentators and politicians should look across the channel for lessons on how to conduct themselves with dignity.