The Causes and Consequences of Brexit: Timothy Garton Ash
Some have called it the unravelling of Europe, while others claim it may signal the end of liberalism. Brexit both surprised and confounded experts who never thought it would happen. Sound familiar? Timothy Garton Ash is an historian, political writer and newspaper columnist. He teaches at Oxford and Stanford, and delivered this talk, the Donner Canadian Foundation Lecture, in Toronto on November 21, 2016. **This episode originally aired January 26, 2017.
The election of Donald Trump. Brexit. The turn towards the hard right across Europe. We're in a new era, according to celebrated historian and political writer, Timothy Garton Ash. One in which populist, anger-fueled movements are gathering increasing momentum, not only in the West but throughout the world.
Understanding the causes and consequences of the UK's decision to leave the European Union may provide a case study in understanding this global phenomenon, and what can be done about it.
PERSONAL REACTION TO BREXIT:
"Let me immediately put my cards on the table, and tell you where I stand on this question of Brexit. I said the day after the referendum that the best day of my political life was the 9th of November 1989 with the fall of the Berlin Wall. And the worst day of my political life was the 23rd of June 2016 [Brexit vote]."
POPULISM:
"Now, I used to be a skeptic about the label 'populism'... I now think it has quite a coherent analytical meaning. Populists speak in the name of the people. Donald Trump: "I am your voice". And their claim is that the direct legitimation they get from the people trumps -- the verb acquires a new meaning -- trumps all other forms of legitimation. Forget your Constitutional Courts, your Supreme Court, your Parliaments. The people are supreme, and we speak for the people."
READING HISTORY:
"I think there are wave patterns in history. We've seen a forward wave of liberalism over roughly the last 40 years. Now we're seeing the counter-tide of illiberalism and anti-liberalism. I have to say -- and I say this without any superficial flattery -- that Canada really stands out in this picture... as does Germany. I would say that Canada and Germany are two points of light in a fairly dark picture."
ON THE FAILURE OF THE PRESS:
"The Daily Mail, The Sun, The Daily Telegraph, The Times -- for some of its time -- constantly keeping up a barrage over more than 20 years of hostility to the European Union. Particularly The Daily Mail which is incredibly powerful. We now have studies that show that power. And this went in the campaign to the extent of saying, as you know, on the front page of The Sun, across an enormous picture of Her Majesty the Queen in full regalia: Queen Backs Brexit. A complete fabrication. Even the toothless regulator of the press said that it was so. Totally unabashed, The Sun did it again a few days before the referendum, quoting Her Majesty as saying, 'Give me three reasons why we should stay in the EU.' And then under this front page -- because she had allegedly said this at a lunch in a private lunch, of course -- and under this it said, 'Ma'am we can't give you one.' It was relentless. It was extremely powerful."
POWER OF LYING:
"In this campaign, there was one, literally big lie -- namely on the battle bus of the Brexiteers, painted in huge letters: 'We send the E.U. 350 million pounds a week,' which is simply a lie. But it went on being repeated and repeated and repeated. And as we know from the history of propaganda, that's how lies become successful -- by sheer repetition."
Related websites:
- Timothy Garton Ash
- European Studies Centre, St. Antony's College, Oxford
- Dahrendorf Programme for the Study of Freedom, St. Antony's College, Oxford
- The Donner Canadian Foundation
- Free Speech Debate
**This episode was produced by Greg Kelly