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Vote to leave EU would 'condemn Britain to irrelevance', say historians
theguardian.com ^ | 25 May 2016 | Heather Stewart

Posted on 05/25/2016 12:10:20 AM PDT by Berlin_Freeper

More than 300 prominent historians, including Simon Schama and Niall Ferguson, are warning voters that if they choose to leave the European Union on 23 June they will condemn Britain to irrelevance.

In a letter to the Guardian, the academics and writers argue that the referendum offers a chance to underscore the “irreplaceable role” Britain has played, and should continue to play, in Europe’s history.

“As historians of Britain and of Europe, we believe that Britain has had in the past, and will have in the future, an irreplaceable role to play in Europe,” the letter says.

“On 23 June, we face a choice: to cast ourselves adrift, condemning ourselves to irrelevance and Europe to division and weakness; or to reaffirm our commitment to the EU and stiffen the cohesion of our continent in a dangerous world.”

(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: brexit; brexitfearproject; brexitparty; britain; eu; europeanunion; nato; niallferguson; nigelfarage; simonschama; unitedkingdom
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To: Cronos

The British economy collapsed, because they stupidly threw out Churchill after the war, and went full-bore socialist.


61 posted on 05/25/2016 5:08:14 AM PDT by dfwgator
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To: BigEdLB

do note that the UK is also pretty much leftist — the “conservatives” are more big government than the Democrats in the US...


62 posted on 05/25/2016 5:08:50 AM PDT by Cronos (Obama's dislike of Assad is not based on his brutality but that he isn't a jihadi Moslem)
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To: Cronos

You make some valid points, but not this one:

“unless the EU as a whole collapses and that isn’t going to happen”

EU collapse is inevitable. The refugees are already forcing EU countries to exercise their individual sovereignty more than the EU would like them to be able to.

The best reason for the UK to exit is that the Eurozone is doomed, and has been doomed from the start.

You are right Germany would dictate austerity to a far greater degree than is presently in place in countries like Greece.

Ultimately that is why the EU will fail, or at least fracture significantly.

The least productive areas have never maintained the economic discipline that the EU itself calls for - and have never been able to before the EU. Under a common currency this causes a huge burden - such as in Greece where they simply cannot and will not pay their debts (unless someone else gives them the money to do so).

The UK would be wise exit, despite the shorter term pain it would cause.

London is the financial center more because of US economic policy than their EU membership. This is likely to change with a new administration, assuming Trump wins, regardless of London’s EU status.

All that said, I have no idea what the UK voters will do.


63 posted on 05/25/2016 5:21:47 AM PDT by RFEngineer
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To: dfwgator

perhaps, but I don’t think Churchill had much of an economic policy either. Also, the UK was recovering from it’s imperial hangover.


64 posted on 05/25/2016 6:17:41 AM PDT by Cronos (Obama's dislike of Assad is not based on his brutality but that he isn't a jihadi Moslem)
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To: Berlin_Freeper

Great Britain was the dominant world power for centuries and entirely without the help of any union with European countries. In fact, it was the competition with those countries that made them great.


65 posted on 05/25/2016 6:19:41 AM PDT by xzins ( Free Republic Gives YOU a voice heard around the globe. Support the Freepathon!)
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To: Berlin_Freeper

Better to pursue the return of the mighty British Empire than be forever a pimple of the EU’s gladius maximus.


66 posted on 05/25/2016 7:00:41 AM PDT by elpadre (AfganistaMr Obama said the goal was to "disrupt, dismantle and defeat al-hereQaeda" and its allies.)
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To: Cronos

>>brexit is more likely to result in the UK being bankrupted (as it loses access to its major market and supplier and also loses the bargaining power derived from being a part of a larger bloc) and dead (If they vote for Brexit, then Scotland will move to leave the UK as the Scots are pro-EU)

It’s a common misconception that it is better to be dead than poor. The EU is dedicated to destroying Christendom in Europe, so they can have access to markets while praying 5 times a day to satan.


67 posted on 05/25/2016 7:51:03 AM PDT by Bryanw92 (Sic semper tyrannis)
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To: mj1234; Cronos
must take in ANY refugees

Not so. Cameron refused to have anything to do with Merkel's quota plan for Syrian refugees: and because the UK isn't in the Schengen open-borders area, there was absolutely nothing Merkel could do to enforce it. Hence the much-reported 'jungle' camp in Calais - that's would-be immigrants whom Britian refuses to accept. If the UK were in Schengen there'd be no 'jungle'.

Cameron gets a lot of stick over immigration on this forum, but few seem to have noticed his stand over the Merkel plan.

Cronos - thanks for your well-informed common sense about the realities of the UK/EU relationship.

68 posted on 05/25/2016 12:26:50 PM PDT by Winniesboy
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To: P.O.E.
:') And I'm sure that the EU zealots want the UK to stay in because they're all concerned about UK relevance.

69 posted on 05/25/2016 3:08:46 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (I'll tell you what's wrong with society -- no one drinks from the skulls of their enemies anymore.)
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To: Cronos

Hyperbole? You are sorely misinformed. Crime is through the roof after they outlawed not only guns but knives and mace. (yes really...you can’t lawfully give your daughter pepper spray to keep the chavs off...a woman was arrested for carrying oven cleaner in her purse as an alternative)


70 posted on 05/25/2016 6:20:32 PM PDT by Laser_Ray (Another nifty idea)
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To: IncPen

brings to mind that song about “should stay or should I go”


71 posted on 05/25/2016 6:25:02 PM PDT by Nailbiter
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To: Nailbiter

And if they stay it will be double.


72 posted on 05/25/2016 6:28:01 PM PDT by dfwgator
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To: Nailbiter
Vote to leave EU would 'condemn Britain to irrelevance', say historians

"Let's patch together a confederation of nations with thousand-year-old gripes, and force some to carry the burden of others, and randomly penalize others while giving credits and debits arbitrarily to sovereign banks"

What could go wrong?

And don't forget, the EU was a Bill Clinton Production, right after he got the Ukraine to disarm.

73 posted on 05/25/2016 7:27:25 PM PDT by IncPen (Hey Media: Bias = Layoffs)
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To: Gaffer

Yep


74 posted on 05/25/2016 7:36:55 PM PDT by b4its2late (A Liberal is a person who will give away everything he doesn't own.)
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To: Laser_Ray
I fear that it's you who are 'sorely misinformed'. Inter-country comparison of crime rates is notoriously unreliable because of differing definitions and reporting methods, but here is a useful summary of UK as compared with USA crime statistics:

Country vs country: United Kingdom and United States compared: Crime stats

And no, as has wearily been pointed out here ad nauseam by British Freepers, knives have never been banned, nor have many types of gun.

75 posted on 05/26/2016 1:00:43 AM PDT by Winniesboy
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To: RFEngineer
The EU isn't going to collapse -- you may say that from an outsider's perspective, but I can tell you that for all the angst against it, the countries are too tightly integrated and see too much of commonality not to stick together. THey may reject the Euro, but the EU will remain.

Don't conflate the eurozone with the EU -- your post is doing that.

76 posted on 05/26/2016 1:40:07 AM PDT by Cronos (Obama's dislike of Assad is not based on his brutality but that he isn't a jihadi Moslem)
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To: xzins
Great Britain was the leader among world powers only from 1753 when they defeated the French in NA and defeated the Marathas in India. They became the predominant power only from the defeat of Napoleon 1815. THey lost this during WWI, so it was about a century, not "centuries"

also, their rise to dominance is heavily endebted to the Dutch -- they learned from the Dutch and then, callously stabbed the erstwhile teachers in the back with the Anglo-Dutch wars.

77 posted on 05/26/2016 1:42:19 AM PDT by Cronos (Obama's dislike of Assad is not based on his brutality but that he isn't a jihadi Moslem)
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To: xzins
Great Britain was the leader among world powers only from 1753 when they defeated the French in NA and defeated the Marathas in India. They became the predominant power only from the defeat of Napoleon 1815. THey lost this during WWI, so it was about a century, not "centuries"

also, their rise to dominance is heavily endebted to the Dutch -- they learned from the Dutch and then, callously stabbed the erstwhile teachers in the back with the Anglo-Dutch wars.

They did form this "union" with the Dutch and then allied with various other powers to keep checks on other powers.

78 posted on 05/26/2016 1:42:53 AM PDT by Cronos (Obama's dislike of Assad is not based on his brutality but that he isn't a jihadi Moslem)
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To: elpadre
The "return of the mighty British Empire" is as much possible as a "return of the mighty Assyrian Empire" -- Britain as a project is in disintegration and has been since 1920 with the Irish leaving and soon the Scottish (the latter is only a question of when, not if)

The British Empire was possible due to a weakness in Spain in the late 1600s, then in France in the 1700s when Louis XIV focused on wars with the Holy Roman Empire on the continent and also due to the disintegration of the Mughal Empire in India

for the Mughal Empire piece remember that until the end of Aurangzeb in 1707, the English had to go cap in hand and had no chance against this unified Empire. Aurangzeb went against the policy of his grandfather Akbar who had a strict "all religions equal" policy while Aurangzeb was a strict Sunni. this created tensions in India and within a few years of Aurangzeb's death, the Maratha confederation took over much of the empire, but they were a very, very loose confederation and the BRitish played one against the other to win.

ditto in China which was also conquered by the invading Manchu (Qing dynasty) and fought brutal wars against them -- a disunited empire open to outside interference

The British Empire was a product of its time and has no chance of rising again.

79 posted on 05/26/2016 1:50:25 AM PDT by Cronos (Obama's dislike of Assad is not based on his brutality but that he isn't a jihadi Moslem)
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To: Bryanw92
Dead as in BRitain will be dead -- there will be no Britain any more as the Scots will leave and so will the Welsh. Both Scotland and Wales would then apply to join the EU.

This would leave England as the bottom half of the island that is non-EU

80 posted on 05/26/2016 1:51:26 AM PDT by Cronos (Obama's dislike of Assad is not based on his brutality but that he isn't a jihadi Moslem)
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