Britain and Europe’s Fate A faltering Continent needs the U.K. more than vice versa.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/britain-and-europes-fate-1466462715
The British people go to the polls Thursday in their most important vote since they elected Margaret Thatcher in 1979. While we hope Britain votes to remain in the European Union, the reasons have less to do with the sturdy British than with the damage an exit could do to a Europe that is failing to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
America’s interests lie in a free and prosperous Europe, and we’ve long thought this is best served with Britain as part of the European Union to balance France and Germany. The British look west across the Atlantic more than continentals, and the Brits have largely been a voice of reason in Europe’s councils.
This is especially valuable today given the manifest failures of Europe over the last decade. With rare exceptions like Spain and Ireland, the EU and eurozone have failed to restore the economic growth the Continent so desperately needs. Its leaders can’t, or won’t, ask their citizens to sacrifice to reform their creaky welfare states or solve the turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa. They have bungled the migrant crisis in a way that has undermined public confidence and increased support for nativist right-wing parties.
Many British watching this from across the Channel understandably think they can do better on their own. And in many respects they have. They never joined the euro, despite predictions of doom at the time, yet Britain has prospered. Its growth rate since the financial panic is among the strongest in Europe. The British are also exempt from the Schengen rules of passport-free travel, which has spared them from the migrant fiasco.
Yet the main arguments for Brexit are less persuasive on close examination. The first—near and dear to our heart—is the promise of freedom from regulation by Brussels. No one has mocked the EU’s diktats more than we have. Yet the Brexiteers aren’t exactly promising a return to Thatcherism. Boris Johnson, the most prominent Tory supporting Leave, is happy with the National Health Service and subsidies for British business. Nigel Farage’s UKIP is protectionist. CONTINUE AT SITE
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