The British are split almost 50-50 over exit from the EU. For remaining in Europe are 91% of Guardian readers, 73% of young people under 30, 47% of Labour Party voters, 70% of graduates and the professional classes, and the majority of those from London, Scotland and Wales. Ranged against them are less educated people, semi-and unskilled workers and most old people. The Conservative Party is split 56-44%. The polls confound the words of Winston Churchill: “Youth is for freedom and reform, maturity for judicious compromise, and old age for stability and repose”.
Under an Epicurean government all young people under 30 would be given one and a half votes for every vote made by older people. Why? Because young people will have to live for decades with the decision, and I fear that if that decision is “exit” it will be a decision that the young people will resent all their lives. It’s one thing to vote for a five year term of government; quite another to tie the hands of the younger generation for 70 or more years.
Into all this wades President Obama, who virtually tells the Brits not to expect any special privileges from the United States if there is a Leave vote. He is quite right. There is a misguided and romantic idea among some British conservatives that there is a “special relationship” between the US and the UK. Yes, there is a special relationship but it is with Israel, not the United Kingdom. There is nothing about Brexit at all that is in the American interest. On the contrary, Americans who have any knowledge of foreign affairs are very worried indeed about the centrifugal forces operating in the EU (see Poland for one).
To The Times
Lord Lawson of Blaby is mistaken in recently claiming that, post-Brexit, the UK’s trade access to the rest of the world could continue as it is today. This access was secured (inter alios by me) in protracted and difficult negotiations, in the World Trade Organisation and other world bodies, in return for foreign access to the whole EU market. UK access would have to be renegotiated, over a period of years, from a less strong position. We would not secure renewal without much greater sacrifice on our part. (Sir Leslie Fielding, director-general for external relations, Brussels, 1982-87)
Be careful of the unintended consequences of Brexit. There are definitely things wrong with the EU, over-expansion and resulting unwieldiness being one of them. But Epicureans take the world as they find it and try to reform what’s wrong. They don’t put blindfolds on, leap off a cliff and hope for the best.
I don’t think its a good idea to give young people a disproportionate say in government (I can’t tell you’re being tongue in cheek here but the principle remains the same.) Older people may not have to live for as long with their decision, but they care deeply about the sort of world they leave behind. In contrast, many young people are indifferent to politics, which is why they don’t vote as much. I’m opposed to votes for 16 year olds because I think they lack the maturity and intelligence required to make political decisions. Even as a young person, I wish left wing people would stop telling us how important our vote is. Our country is ageing, the Left should focus more on the elderly if it wishes to win elections.
I also take issue with your use of the word ‘educated.’ Just because someone didn’t go to university, doesn’t mean they are more ignorant than someone who did. My grandparents didn’t go to university, and they are some of the most educated people I know. On the contrary, many of my friends at university have said the most fantastically ignorant things, such as the claim that the US is majority Hispanic, or that the armed forces ought to be abolished. Moreover, I think the opinions of semi-skilled and unskilled workers matters just as much as those with more academic skills- the Left ignores them at their peril.
I agree that the US does not have a special relationship with the UK. But I also think that Obama’s pleas for us to stay are motivated by self interest, not by concern for Britain. Obama sees the UK as an instrument of American influence in the EU; if we were to leave, America’s influence on the EU would weaken. For instance, Britain is opposed to the creation of a European Armed Forces, as is America, which wants to preserve the supremacy of NATO. On a different note, I would say the only truly special relationship America has with any country is with Saudi Arabia, and even that is likely to weaken given increasing US oil production. Ties between the US and Israel have severely weakened thanks to both Obama and Netanyahu.