Letters & opinions
David Cheshire, Verwood
letters@prospect-magazine.co.uk
Grand Britannia
Joris Luyendijk (“Narcissist nation,” November) nails the ridiculous national grandiosity that lay behind our Brexit vote. Jeremy Paxman identified its root in his 2012 book Empire; post-empire, we British simply cannot bear to think of ourselves as just the same as our neighbours. My fear now is that we will bounce out of the European Union due to another British character flaw: we know that we’ve made a terrible blunder but we’re too embarrassed to admit it.
I doubt this letter will be published since it is in favour of Brexit; I wish to express my opinion regardless. I was disappointed to read Luyendijk’s narrow-minded argument. While it is true that Britain has feelings of grandeur, the real reason why people voted Leave lies in a discontentment with the EU.
You only need to look at other European countries to see that Britain is not the only one that feels aggrieved. For Luyendijk, however, Britain has shown a lack of empathy for taking action. The French President François Hollande has also exhibited this characteristic through his demand that Britain pay for leaving the EU. I believe that countries should have the right to join or leave, without blackmailing or name-calling.