A decade on from Brexit, Britain still flounders without a place in the world | Letters

Raj Parkash and Chris Manners on the lasting impact of the UK’s decision in 2016 to leave the EU

Perhaps the saddest consequence of Brexit is that it has left the UK a profoundly unhappy country (Ten years after Brexit, this is the UK: a divided nation frozen in time, 9 April). For Brexit supporters, the dream of a proud, independent Britain able to direct its own destiny in the world is nowhere near fulfilled, as if it ever could be. And they continue to grasp at the nearest proximate cause – an “invasion” of immigrants undermining British identity and draining its resources. For those who wished to remain, Brexit has left them unmoored from the security of membership of a grouping that gave them an identity and clear position in the world.

Unfortunately, that unhappiness is now exacerbated by the state of the world outside the UK. The US has upended the entire global institutional structure such that there is no certainty to be had as to how to operate in the world. And the EU seems incapable of forging a coherent identity that could forge a path through this morass. So we are left floundering without a place in the world, with the options for alignment and partnership unattractive and equally uncertain. One thing however is for sure – seeking refuge in the empty sloganeering of Nigel Farage and Zack Polanski is not the answer.
Raj Parkash
London