“Shackled to a corpse” has become a favoured cliché among Brexiteers rationalising their aversion to formal links with the European Union. A variant of this grisly image among milder Europhobes has Britain delivering the mortal blow that will put Europe out of its misery. One way or the other, a diagnosis of EU terminal illness is now widely accepted by Britain’s dinner party consensus.
But what is the clinical evidence? Europe’s morbidity supposedly shows four main symptoms: populist politics; economic failure; geopolitical chaos on its borders; and inability to cope with immigrants and terrorists. But are these maladies connected to the EU?