The rise of global populism is driven by lack of economic opportunity and inequality. Unregulated “free” markets (aka Neoliberalism) and austerity to make up deficits from tax avoidance have gotten us tho this point
New research (Dijkstra et al. 2019) “mapping the geography of discontent across more than 63,000 electoral districts in the EU .....shows that the rise of the anti-EU vote is mainly the consequence of long- to medium-term local economic and industrial decline in combination with lower employment and a less educated workforce. ....... “anti-EU voting reflects long-term economic trajectories; once they are controlled for, only education, density, and lack of employment bear out expectations.” The Brexit vote fits and is included in the analysis of the study. Originally published at VoxEU
4
Reading this article made me wonder that maybe Alzheimer’s isn’t so bad after all.
3
Oh, for crying out loud: *The Wizard of Oz, not Alice in Wonderland.
I can’t see how a low paying job in a warehouse could be worse than working in a filthy coal mine. It appears the locals must be doing OK if they can shun such jobs. Then we hear about farmers having to hire foreign fruit and vegetable pickers because the locals prefer the dole to back breaking work picking asparagus. I myself being an immigrant endured 2 decades of humiliating back breaking work at low pay before I was in a position to see meaningful improvement in quality of life. But I put in many extra days and hours to be sure. Many just want to moan and groan over a beer at the pub and do nothing but expect high paying jobs to appear out of thin air when they don’t exist. A low paying job is a start and an opportunity And there are billions of people in the world that would love to have one of those warehouse jobs.
3
Most interesting in this excellent article is that the breakdown of fundamental governmental responsibility in both the UK and the US is traceable to reigns of Thatcher and Reagan. The push toward privatization of governmental institutions, destruction of labor unions, dissolution of important social programs, and blossoming of xenophobic attitudes in both countries are mirror images of each other.
Neither government has undertaken steps to ameliorate changing economic circumstances, and the imposed "austerity" that affects those on the margins the most has resulted in electorates that increasingly embrace hatred and leads to voting against their own best interests.
As we are now seeing, these unfortunate trends have created a level of divisiveness in both places that has led to the election of both Johnson and Trump, based on fulsome lies and distortions that only serve to confuse the public.
The major systemic changes that are needed to ameliorate the situation has been reduced to "single issues" - while the two masters of chicanery rely on the uninformed opinions of the electorate, while reinforcing the concept of "fake news" on both sides of the pond.
The divisive "road maps" to the economy-busting Brexit treaty in the UK and concurrent jack-booted Trump policies will only lead to even more harm to the working and poverty-stricken economic classes. How disastrous is that?
10
The forces unleashed during the Reagan and Thatcher era are still hammering away. On both sides of the Atlantic.
4
The delusional old song goes, "The English, the English are best, high up and above all of the rest. Examine the Irish, the Welshman or Scott, you'll find him a stinker as likely as not" as it continues on to insult every other nationality.
Unfortunately, too many (older) English have come to think of the song's insults of "others" as reality. Hence the nostalgia for the England that never was.
It is similar to the, "We're Number 1" chants over here where everything in America is the best and greatest and we have nothing to learn from anyone else.
6
"Before joining the European Union, Britain was “quite a wealthy country,” said Mr. Cann, the former miner. “Why can’t we be that again?” ......that is simply nonsense. In 1973, Britain was a basket case, its economy in tatters, virtually bankrupt, and the energy crisis caused a 3-day working week. Joining the Common Market was the beginning of an era of unprecedented prosperity. Ignorance of what really happened in the past together with wishful thinking have led Britain to this dangerous point in its history.
11
A good read. Like so many article’s written about “Trump’s” America it casts the capital city as a fountain of wealth while the rest of the country resentfully declines. It is an imperfect analogy - poverty and crime are well established in London and going nowhere - but so far the best.
For me the biggest disappointment and threat from Brexit is the manipulation of facts and narrative to describe the pros and cons.
Britain was the Sick Man of Europe before joining the European Market. This is an historical fact (easy for anyone to research). The economy was improved by joining Europe, but there remains no realistic path to replace EU trade terms in a way as favourable as today. For this reason manufacturing is in decline and people are really losing jobs.
Right now they are losing jobs.
We can argue that the economy is imbalanced and imperfect (and it certainly is) but there is no realistic argument that it will be better leaving the EU.
Immigration. In the years prior to the Referendum hovered in a net positive 300,000 mark. But only half that immigration came from the EU and had the government been deeply concerned about immigration it could have taken steps to reduce the other half. Failure to understand this led to many conversations I have heard here - “I voted Brexit because I don’t want more Pakistani’s coming to the UK.” For those of you who don’t know, Pakistan is not part of the EU.
And many other points. Shameful for such a big change.
8
When countries become open to taking fascists and would-be fascists seriously, instead of regarding them as fringe people who need to be monitored and contained, and then elevate them into positions of power - government, press, etc. - things like Brexit and the disuniting of the United States take place. As much as I fear for no-longer-that-Great Britain and its own breakup, I fear more an almost certain upcoming Civil War in the US (although I suspect it will be harder to figure out the new borders than it was in the 1860s). I don't know what reverses this headlong charge into political and social disaster, but if something doesn't, "the west" as we've known it is over. Good luck to those who haven't stopped trying to save us from ourselves.
1
A bleak and depressing view of Britain but in many ways it is a stereotype of certain areas and people in our country. There have always been grim industrial areas and as Blake put it, "dark satanic mills". I remember the endless strikes in British industries during the 1970s. The gross inefficiency and over populated iron and steel industry. I also remember a time when we were less diverse as a people, now everything is more complex. Past and present politicians destroyed the Britain of my birth. Quite a lot of our bright, pleasant, affluent and less cynical country still exists and I fortunately live in it.
2
Always feel it's important to express gratitude to the Times for in-depth up close and personal articles like this one that help bring the many stories behind today's big stories to life and light for your readers. Supporting your reporters to report in this manner is much appreciated.
1
This article reminds me so much of those "let's go talk to the rural Trump supporters" articles that the Times is so famous for. Didn't feel like talking to any young people? Aside from the guy in London, the lack of diversity in the people interviewed is telling.
2
“Most residents refused to work in such a degrading environment, so the jobs are largely taken by people from poorer parts of the European Union. In the local consciousness, the concept of regional decline then became fused with that of European immigration, instead of neoliberal economics.”
Well, isn’t it both? Doesn’t neoliberal economics allow employers to pay and treat immigrant labor abominably? No, I don’t want to kick anybody out, much less blame immigrant victims. I want the government to enforce labor law and support unionization. But neoliberal corporate democrats are no better in this regard than republicans, which is why Trump happened.
And in our hemisphere, neoliberal democrats and republicans both continue to support horrific Latin American regimes that send people fleeing for the American border in an attempt to survive. When a Honduran president attempted to institute very moderate labor and environmental reforms, Hillary and Barack backed a right-wing coup that turned the country into a horror show of death squads and drug gangs.
If you vote Biden, Buttigieg or Bloomberg, you’re as responsible for Trump/Brexit/LePen/Salvini/AfD, etc. as any desperate, angry working class white voter in America or Europe.
1
What happens to our earth when conservative government is control.4
Remember Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. It was their hallmark.
Instinctively we know that retreating from the world never works. The world has a way of reasserting itself: that’s the Brexit folly.
This sounds eerily similar to the situation in this country. Demagogues, actually snake oil salesmen, who apparently never learned to play well with others in the sandbox, promote Brexit as the miracle cure for all grievances. Too many voters believe their propaganda.
So Americans have a properly understand Brexit, imagine that without a national vote, Congress and the President join the USA to an American Union ("AU"), a replica of the European Union ("EU"). This AU is run from Bogota, Columbia as the EU is run from Brussels and will have the same set up the UK experiences in relation to the EU.
No longer is the US Supreme Court the final arbiter of US law; it can now be overruled by the AU Court of Justice in Bogota, dominated by judges from Central and South America. In huge swaths of domestic USA law, AU law is now supreme as more AU laws become law in the USA, and AU commerce regulations dominate USA commerce. These AU laws come from an unelected AU Commission and are rubberstamped by an AU Parliament dominated by Central and South America.
The USA no longer controls its territorial waters; they are shared with other AU countries as supertrawlers from other AU countries take most of the fish in USA waters. USA farmers are told what they can plant under the AU common agricultural policy.
The USA north and south borders hardly exist, as unlimited immigration from other AU countries is allowed, and all AU citizens immigrating to the USA have much the same civic, health care, and economic rights as USA citizens. So tens of millions of immigrants have joined the USA based on having AU passports. Since other AU countries have their own passport standards, the USA can't control who actually can live and work in the USA.
1
I am planning a trip to Glasgow Scotland and Ireland this
May. The only thing making me hesitant is the effect that
Brexit might have on Scotland and Ireland . I have read about potential shortages in food and other goods that
will drive prices up . And potential airline strikes.
I have hotel reservations through Booking.com that can be cancelled up to 48 hrs before - a lot of hotels were already fully booked for May 2020 . Am I being overly
cautious in fearing such an immediate effect from
Brexit ? I have been saving for this trip and want to go
while I am still able to enjoy travelling. Would appreciate
any helpful comments.
1
I don't think we can have functional democracies if everybody feels they have a right to live in a country where the government never pursues policies that they don't agree with, or ones that favor groups they dislike or don't identify with.
And while for some Britons various independence movements might look like an attractive way out of the impasse, I suspect in the long run domestic unity will prove fleeting and illusory. Right now people across Scotland or Wales might be united in their dislike for what they see as a government that places English interests above theirs. But what happens when you get rid of the English? I wouldn't be terribly surprised to then see groups forming in one portion of Scotland or Wales united in the belief that they share a distinct identity apart from other portions of the country, and thus wishing to splinter the countries even further.
Pessimistic as it may sound, I don't think Scottish or Welsh independence, or even Irish unification will do the trick. Not that I'm very optimistic things will sort themselves out after this general election, either. No, these days it seems like the path for democracies that don't succumb to the will of an authoritarian autocrat is one of permanent indecision and unresolved factionalism.
1
This is an excellent article.
I have two observations:
1. I saw an English comedian (Sean Lock) state on a TV show in the run up to the Brexit referendum, "No one under 65 should be allowed to vote. It's not their future." And then I saw his point reinforced in an on-the-street interview with two 70-ish, say, women, as they declared, 'We just want it to go back to the way it used to be.'
2. When I read Mr. Cann, a former coal miner whose age is undisclosed, state that 'Britain was “quite a wealthy country,” before joining the EEC/EU (in 1973), my eyes popped. I lived in the UK from 1968 to 1972, and it was not a wealthy country. It was obviously still recovering from WWII. A previous eye-popping experience for me was walking into a suburban USA grocery store in 1972 and comparing it the the small-town UK store I had walked out of only weeks before. It was awe-inspiring. I can't really think of an economic analogue in todays terms. It was something like the transition from B & W to color in Alice in Wonderland.
And so, my point: Many of the people who voted for Brexit hoped for a return to a situation that never was as a path to a future that cannot be: the UK was not economically better off before joining the EEC, and it will not return to and move forward into a past/future of isolationist prosperity.
24
So Kingsley wanders about and collects a smorgasbord of opinions among the hoi polloi .
Not unexpectedly, a hodgepodge if views based largely upon misconceptions results.
But why is there so little sense and sensibility to be had?
That would be more interesting, and would perhaps unveil the machinations behind Boris and the disinformation machine behind him. And the prevalence of fog. Might explain who exactly benefits from scuppering the EU role in U.K. decision making, now to be made by whom and for whom perchance??
4
"Might explain who exactly benefits from scuppering the EU role in U.K. decision making, now to be made by whom and for whom perchance??"
Putin benefits.
1
I really enjoyed Kingsley article, introducing me to the diversity that is GB today. The stories appear to illustrate the complexity of the Brexit debate and, at the same time, help explain the inability of the political class to deal with the issue.
There is one observation by Kingsley that I disagree with: Kingsley's conclusions regarding the "Troubles" in Northern Ireland.
The "Troubles," should not, and cannot not, be dismissed as simply an attempt by nationalist to unite Ireland. It ignores the then plight of the Irish Catholic community and what gave rise to the civil rights movement in the 60's. Kingsley also attributed the relative peace that followed the Good Friday Agreement to simply the "opening" of the border. Again, he is ignoring the underlying issues and the effect of power sharing and other terms intended to open up society to all communities, including Catholics.
Joe Egan
11
I returned to the UK for a visit after 17 years away, having spent the 80s and 90s working there. I took a tour of my former haunts. It was shocking. Two of the three factories I had worked in are now brownfield sites. Profitable factories have moved operations to Poland and Romania. The main shopping street (the high street) was dominated by Pound Stores and cheap tat. Many of the classic British stores were gone. Another popular shopping street was so dominated by Eastern European store fronts, I didn't recognize it. This is great news for the Eastern European immigrants, but not so great for the local population. Housing is much harder to come by since the influx. People are struggling and former ways of life have been upended. This is reality. Hence, Brexit. The EU isn't some wonderful all-caring institution. It has bought into the whole shareholder value globalist mindset that dominates in the U.S. Ask Greece and the yellow vests in France how it's working out for them. If the current system isn't working, why not gamble on an alternative. Many people have nothing to lose.
14
The pictures tell as much as the text. It all looks so old and uncared for.
7
"Austerity" was only for the working class. What "austerity" did the economic elites of London endure? None - the financial sector grew, London was happy to welcome Russian oligarchs and their dirty money. Unfortunately the average person did not benefit from Thatcherism. This is similar to Conservative economic policy here in the U.S. Conservatives complain and carp that workers - especially laborers and the working poor, are undeserving, wages and safety nets should be eliminated. The EU membership allowed unbridled immigration by poorer nations, which businesses loved as wages were compressed farther. It is ironic that the Conservatives are the ones now favoring leaving the EU. However all the subsidies Britain receives will go with their membership. Unfortunately the Brexiters are not going to be better off I fear - Britain could fracture, and all the promises Johnson and Farage have made will likely be unfilled. I can see Scotland leaving quickly, with the Welsh not far behind. How "Great" will Britain be when only England and Northern Ireland remain.
24
Even after 9 years of the worst government anyone could imagine, the Conservatives are on the brink of being re-elected because the Labour Party allowed themselves to be taken over by a bunch of Marxists.
15
@one-eighty- And I suppose you’re an expert on Marxism? What do you know about it or do you just support the violent suppression of the masses? Ain’t capitalism just the most wonderful, deity directed economic system. Well, one thing for sure, certainly all the religions are making a bundle of money from it.
9
To me as continental European it s amazing how much energy Brits invest (ed) into sheer water treading. For, none of the political camps really knows what the specific repercussions of the Brexit in day - to- day reality will be.
My best bet is: from the 'morning after' on, British people will be shocked of the natural ties to the continent and Europe as such. Then they might press to turn the clock back to the previous status regretting their bad error, profoundly.
Will Brits have the backbone to accept responsibility for their foolish approach of Brexit turning the ship around?
If that should to be the case , that chapter is to be called a super compliment to the attraction of 'European idea'.
Welcome back to Europe Brits!
11
Brexit and Trump are the fruits of liberals abandoning the working class.
18
it seems to me, Britain's or rather United Kingdom citizens have forgotten generations of they pull each other up by their bootstraps. There was a wise woman that won the popularity vote in 2016 in USA, that she kept alarming and doing her best to educate the masses, coal and steel industry are disappearing not because of Any management problems or wanting to steal jobs away from immigrants, it is because the future does not need to destroy the planet.
Stop raping the planet of its resources and emitting toxic pollution.
UK people have been innovators and creators from the dawn of mankind. It is up to the Scottish people and the Welsh oh, by the way, the highest population of Nobel Prize laureates are from Scotland! start Innovations and Creations that will be a product of the future. To be in harmony with your beautiful countryside and Earth, why have you forgotten your intellectual and Innovative history?!
9
Dear Welsh People, Boris Johnson and the Tories may say they'll love you in the morning but you know they won't.
14
this view of britain is far too dark, one sided and bleak. most people in the uk just do the routines of everyday and they get through. are the accompanying photgraps deliberately presented as so unremittingly dark as to underscore this point?
14
The middle and lower class of the developed countries need to understand that they are being left behind. The global economy is changing the world for the better, lifting billions out of horrible poverty. Get a good education and work hard and you may prosper but no politician will bring back the days when labor will support a middle class life. Also, try spending less time at the pub complaining.
9
@Chris Labor may never support a middle class life again, but working class work (whatever the 21st century version of this is) needs to be able to support a person at some level without them having to work three jobs just to get by.
Everybody is not able to become a coder, nurse, electrician or some other highly skilled, educated person. I wasn't able to; going back to school was a big flop for me. But I work hard and have for over 40 years. Can't say I do hard labor, but they do let me sit at a desk and actually solve problems and stuff without a college degree. Shocking, I know.
Finally, for everybody wondering why "they vote against their own interests" read Chris' snarky last sentence.
Post script - I think Brexit is a dumb idea.
9
It strikes me that this piece, as with many written on Brexit in the American press, affects the same incredulous tone towards blue-collar England's embrace of Brexit that most reputable news sources here in Britain have in regard to Trump's election. 'But why do they vote against their own self interest, and for such repugnant leaders!' Yet these selfsame news outlets give volumes of free coverage to Trump and Johnson respectively (in the UK there have been several 'editorial gaffes' of late that call into question even the impartiality of the BBC). It may be worth looking at our neighbours across the pond for some clear-eyed insight into our own predicaments.
14
A well researched article, whose author saw (in his words), the "Engish, Northern Irish, Scottish and Welsh" .He even noticed "Leavers & Remainers; blue-and white-collar, Jews and Muslims}'. Which is why I am surprised he never even acknowledges, far less ascertain the views of the largest minority group in Britain, namely the South Asians, whose food (Indian cuisine) had become the national cuisine of Britain. It would have been interesting to see how they view Brexit.
15
Hello Britains.
Admit it. Isn't it clear that those of you that wanted to exit the European Union were wrong?
Putin is very happy with the vote you took to exit the European Union. It continues to pay dividends to his goals every single day.
You do know that you can still take back this vote and stay in the European Union. Wouldn't you like to see Putin's head explode, an American thing to say, sort of cartoonish.
Think about it. It would be good for you economically and bad for Putin. That makes it good for you for two reasons.
I want Europe and America to be united against Putin.
Putin doesn't.
13
Why do people presume that goods will not go where
they are most desired ?
If Welch Lamb is still desired by Europeans
why can it not find its way there ?
If Ireland once again becomes one nation
where is the tragedy ?
If a nation decides its own native born citizens
should be looked after before EU immigrants
is that inherently wrong ?
It is not clear that the EU is sustainable in its present form.
Why do so many assume that it must/has to be
just because they want it to be.
Perhaps this election and its results will lead to a
restructuring of British Politics where the Tories and Labour
no longer have a stranglehold on how the country is governed.
7
@John Brown
On it is not clear the EU is sustainable: I state the opposite. It is more likely that the EU is not sustainable. How does France sustain itself? How long can Catalonia sustain the rest of Spain? How long can Germany keep it up? It is bound to break up, returning Europe to the future past.
As for the native born, we seem to be doing a good job of taking care of the descendants of white European immigrants, like myself, at the cost of those "natives" who came before us who have been murdered in the past and then put in concentration camps.
Welch lamb will be a delicacy once the monster farming corporations take over small farms and hire the previous owners to clean up what little lambs leave behind and I'm not talking about ivy. In Idaho, it would be $7 an hour.
If something changes in our politics, then something could change in British politics. Right now, both are dreams, possibly nightmares.
2
@John Brown
Non native folks, especially those from British colonies and those who were displaced by Britain’s foray into the slave trade, have as much right to be in the UK as anyone named Smythe or Johns. If the Brits don’t like it, they should have stayed out of the Empire and slavery business.
As to the EU, find another model that has a chance to keep Europe from disintegrating into the WWIII of tribal interests, and we can discuss it. otherwise we should all hope the EU continues to succeed.
Finally, this election will place the Tory Brexiteers firmly in charge. It will only after they have destroyed the UK economy that they might be driven out.
7
@John
If the EU is not sustainable, then why shouldn't
whatever nations pull out if that is their desire ?
Your blaming those who are alive for what happened in the past, changes nothing, but those now alive have just as much right to resist immigration as did the Native Peoples.
Who was put into Concentration Camps ?
I am quite aware of the Dairy Corporations and their monster dairies that destroyed all the small dairy farms where I live and how they now pay immigrates minimum minimum wage.
The days of domination by the two big parties
may be ending,
1
In 1992 the Harvard Business Review published an article by John Moore who was Financial Sec to theTreasury in the 1980s and instrumental in implementing the UK’s privatization program. The lengthy article gleefully declared the worldwide death of socialism and extolled the glories of privatization which would reclaim wealth and glory to UK business life.
Fast forward to 2019. It is morally gruesome (and should be criminal) that so many people’s lives are forever changed by the childiisly simplistic belief systems of the greedy ‘elite’.
17
Grim, grim and grim. The anguish of everyone interviewed is palpable. The photos demonstrative. We could go (way) back in history to determine how and why this happened, but it will do no good for the living and those to come.
The UK is broke and broken. Brexit or no, nothing can change the bleak economic outlook for ordinary people in the UK.
4
Britain voted for Brexit.
The US voted for tRump.
It seems like democracies like to vote against their best interests, doesn't it?
11
Brexit has transformed Britain beyond recognition. Reading this article many would hardly recognise the Britain they used to know.
Gone is the spirit of the 2012 Olympics. Back then there was much exuberance and zest for life, even in rural areas.
As the mayor of London, Boris Johnson’s unique mix of wit, bonhomie and manicured buffoonery made himself popular.
Austerity under the Conservative Tory government undermined two decades of anti-poverty policy. A report in July by the Social Metrics Commission found that of 14.3 million in the UK in poverty, 4.5 million were in deep poverty – a third of all those on the breadline.
Those who bothered to vote in the 2016 EU referendum, voted to leave, because they believed in the mendacity spread by Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage, who put the blame on EU migrants for their grievances.
Another category of voters didn’t have Brexit in mind – they just wanted to show the Tory government under David Cameron their dissatisfaction and punish them with their Leave vote.
Although Brexit dominates the upcoming election, many voters still care about economic and health care issues. The upcoming election on Thursday is going to be most unpredictable one in decades. Despite Johnson’s poll lead over Labour, no-one knows the outcome until Friday.
10
I’ve been an ex-pat in London for 10 years. London is not Britain, despite what the tourists think. And, Britain does not really exist. England dominates.
For me, this quote from the article sums up the impasse: Before joining the European Union, Britain was “quite a wealthy country,” said Mr. Cann, the former miner. “Why can’t we be that again?”
Because the world has moved on. And Britain, like the US, has a view of its role in the world that doesn’t match reality. Britain built its empire & dominance on the backs of those it continues to deem beneath them. Do we really want to be that again?
23
The EU will never allow Scotland, much less Wales, join on their own for two very big reasons.
1. That would encourage separatist movements on the continent, which is anathema certainly to Spain, and
2. Both would be an economic drain on the EU rather than a net fiscal positive. There simply is no budgetary room for additional economic takers in the bloc. Somebody actually has to pay for those Welsh farm subsidies!
Brexit may well lead to Scottish independence (Welsh independence is as likely as a Martian invasion), but Scotland will not join the EU any time soon as an independent country (probably never) and will be a much poorer place as a result, living on whisky exports and a bit of tourism as oil isn’t likely to return to $140 a barrel on a sustained basis.
3
@Will. A comparison of Scotland to Catalonia is inapt. Catalonia is a region within an existing EU nation. It is in the EU's interest to support the cohesion of its nation state members or else it will undermine its own foundation. If Scotland secedes from the U.K. it will be after the U.K. has left the EU, with the goal of secession to rejoin the EU. Such a sequence of events will actually validate the EU and burnish its status among its own member nation states.
I have no information to comment on your second reason, other than to observe that Scotland is likely to retain rights to North Sea oil. Much like coal, however, the continuing merit of this resource is doubtful.
7
@Flaminia
I was going to reply to Will, but you nailed it.
2
Britain faces an implosion. This time there are no colonies as safety valves, no new worlds to divert its restive population to, and no French or German threat in Europe to unite against. The largest recipient of funds from the Marshall Plan, larger even than Germany, Britain's postwar recovery didn't restore it to its former political or economic pre-eminence and it has been slipping downwards ever since. Now, it will need all the goodwill and assistance from the world in averting catastrophe
7
Mr McCann, a former miner, laments that before entering the EU, the UK was a very wealthy country and wonders why can’t it be so again.
It seems to me that the UK is very wealthy indeed today. The issue is that the likes of Mr McCann does not see much of that wealth. It is truly amazing that those who have benefited (and how!) the most from globalization have been able to convince those who get the scraps that the issue is those poorer than them. The case of the warehouse mentioned in the article is a perfect example on how successful that message engineering has been.
Meanwhile, back at home... it is exactly the same, just with another name. We live in interesting times.
23
I was born and raised near Shirebrook. My uncle was a mine rescue coordinator as well as a coal face miner. His sons were miners too. I remember him crying as he was compelled to go back to work following the collapse of the miner’s strike. He knew what had happened: Thatcherism had broken his union and forces within the union body had capitulated as Thatcher began to systematically close down the striking pits. The strike had played into her grasping fingers. The choice was either keep working for a little longer or not work at all. Within a breath, most of Britain’s coal mining industry with its resources of anthracite good for 10,000 years, met its abrupt demise.
Now, like then, in a form of Stockholm syndrome, the working class sympathise with their conservative captors and vote against their best interests. The same process repeats around the world, including the US. In America, Trump posits to save coal, but he won’t; that’s just another Thatcheristic come on to a beleaguered workforce who support him as a means of saving themselves. It’s tragic to watch.
Brexit is just the same process. Britain is destroyed by elites who spout mendacity, the working class, in the face of sophistication fall in line, blaming the Other while embracing the gaoler.
Labour’s alleged anti Semitism is nothing of the sort. It doesn’t discriminate against Jews, it criticises Israel, and the two are not the same. Yet, the traditional voice of the working class is muted by sophistry.
241
@Marcus Brant Excellent, well-written comment. Note that the US is one place behind Great Britain in the lack of social and economic mobility among the nations of the world. Another common denominator is the Murdoch control of the media and its intentional distortion and inflaming of social divides (divide and conquer) for right-wing political purposes.
The Putin/Russian/anti-democratic goal of weakening Great Britain and the EU is greatly aided by Boris Johnson's Brexit which will finish the transformation of Great Britain into little England.
61
@Marcus Brant I agree, a fabulous work of rhetoric. But we know coal is a dead end so at this point in time who cares if the anthracite might be sufficient for 10,000 years? London was long known for its fog not as a natural phenomenon, but simply because of the stew created by its natural humidity combined with the pollution of burning coal.
And about those 10,000 years of anthracite reserves. It's my understanding that one of chief factors behind Italy's change of allegiance from the Allies to the Axis between WWI and WWII is the interwar end of coal exports from the U.K. to Italy because, in fact, British coal extraction was declining and it became necessary to prioritize the coal for use by Imperial territories.
17
@Flaminia
A point in argument. Coal is only dead where there are no steel mills.
6
BREXIT, like Impeachment, comes down to whether or not you believe in Democracy.
Or do the rich and powerful get to find creative ways to over turn the will of the people
6
@Tim
The will of the people changes over time. That is why there are recurring elections for public office, as well as the means to remove someone from office before the next election comes around.
In the UK, Parliament is paramount, and another referendum called by Parliament is constitutionally permitted. That result would also reflect the will of the people.
3
@Tim, the “will of the people” was manipulated through a coordinated campaign of outright lies from the pro-Brexit forces, abetted by complacency on the part of educated Britons who couldn’t imagine that their countrymen would make such a boneheaded choice en masse. If a second referendum were held tomorrow Remain would achieve a stunningly lopsided victory.
3
@Tim
You might recall that the UK, through its democratically elected government, chose to join the EU, and more recently chose through a referendum to leave. Joining was well planned, well thought out, and transparent. Leaving was a pig in a poke, the consequences of which are not yet known or fully felt. And almost half the kingdom is opposed to it. It was sold as a vague shapeshifter that looked different to different people. And Nigel Farage (aka fascist bigot) is the only one who truly knows what is in store.
1
Boris closed the mine and the locals felt too proud to do warehouse work at lower wages. So others immigrated in because they were just darn grateful to have a job. But now the locals are mad that the immigrants don’t look like them and these people need public funds.
Yet, they are willing to vote for the man who started the problem to begin with!
We have the same problem in the US with meat factories and produce fields. Many of our citizens believe they are too entitled to do this work, for minimum or slightly higher wages. So others came in to do the job. And just like the UK, people are screaming about any slight public fund (in-state tuition) being given. These people are out only for themselves. They would probably kick a puppy if it got in the way. My guess both in the UK and the US, they are conservative “Fake Christians.”
11
Say goodbye! The Britain you know is dying. Next time you look, you'll be amazed how much more it looks like the USA
7
Why are Photographs by Laetitia Vancon dark and grey. I suppose this sums up British Isles.
@Harjit Singhrao Great Britain and Ireland are in a maritime climate. I've actually gone to Scotland in the middle of summer expressly to escape southern California's sun and heat. Sure enough, in Edinburgh I have a not-bad chance of being greeted by overcast skies and drizzle in July or August. Ms. Vancon's photos do a spectacular job of depicting this. And in all fairness, they were taken recently as the Northern Hemisphere approaches its winter solstice. These locales are at very northern latitudes.
6
@Harjit Singhrao Because that is her 'style' and it suits the narrative of the story..... that or the lack of a properly calibrated laptop screen!
1
A good read, but not very precise. The UK consists of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, not Britain and Northern Ireland. Britain is now a catch-all term. And in Ireland, the border does not separate the north from the south: it separates the north-east from the rest. I grew up in "the rest," in the most northerly county in Ireland--hardly the south. Tedious! But if people insist on fuzzy terminology, we get fuzzy thinking and fuzzy outcomes--like Brexit and MAGA. I grew up playing back and forward over the river that formed our part of the border. I caught my first brownies there. And that is a river with a history. It's name is the Termon, from Gaelic Tearmainn, from Latin Terminus, meaning the border between ecclesiastical and temporal authority: Tearmainn also means Sanctuary.
6
Interesting article (wish I'd had this assignment). I lived in Ealing, West London for 15 months while at grad school in 2017-2018. I loved my neighborhood, and living there definitely changed me: it was a large mix but predominantly people from upper Africa or the Middle East as well as Eastern Europe, principally Poland and Romania. Other neighborhoods were mixed as well, with the largest concentration of traditionally Caucasian Brits in places like Kensington. Immigrants from India have long held a special place in the hearts of the country, and Indian food is the unofficial national cuisine.
I think a lot of people are sad about Brexit, but I can't speak to this past year as I left in early 2019. I can't wait to go back.
26
The view we get in London is not the view from the rest of the country. It took me several years as a Londoner to learn that even places like Ealing still fall within the London bubble.
6
@ML Whitten I should have stated more explicity that I did have the opportunity to travel outside London - to Felpham, to Oxford, to Edinburgh. I definitely felt a difference in Ealing where I was staying than even other parts of London. But I'm not an expert on U.S. politics so definitely only have my small slice of an experience to share on yours.
2
Always interesting to get a view from across the Pond. Just one factual error - in 1968 the UK had a Labour government and Enoch Powell was not a minister, but an opposition MP.
6
Brexit is a monumentally bad idea, sold on lies and disinformation by Johnson who is full of it (whatever happened to the Accuri woman report and the Russian influence report ?)
Bad times........
5
"...being a European is more important.”
wisdom of an Irish Protestant so many in England are incapable of appreciating blinded by their hatred of Catholics which is greater than that of many in Northern Ireland.
4
Glorious photographs. Well done, Ms. Vancon.
1
I guess you could have used darker photos--they would have been black. I started to laugh after a certain point. I don't care how bad the weather was when you traveled, that photo of the students lined up in the dark was the limit. Crepuscular doesn't begin to cover it.
6
@jej
The UK as a whole is much further north than most of the US and so there is much less daylight at this time of year. In Newry at 54 degrees latitude, sunrise is at around 8:30 am and sunset around 4 pm.
Add the seasonal chill and rain and what you get is pretty much what is shown in these photos (which are very artful and evocative).
4
The Irish, Welch, and Scottish problems all go back to 1066, and can finally be resolved with the end of Brexit
2
Not unlike the fractured US.
2
It is time to start thinking clearly about looking forward. Scotland and Ukraine will better fit into the EU than a country so clearly wedded to its past. For all its warts the EU knows and understands that Globalism has been very good for the citizens of the world and any belief that trade is zero sum game is contradicted by real numbers.
That England and the USA think they are losers because of trade sits in opposition to the facts. England seems have forgotten the despair of the Thatcher economy and the USA more than any other nation has benefitted from a global economy. The right wing propaganda machine seldom talks about the growth in relative wealth of the USA where the wealth gap increases as all the economic benefits fall to those already steeped in extreme wealth and power.
I watch the BBC regularly and simply do not understand Brexit. England is booming after a long slow decline.
I wonder or maybe I don't wonder who will be blamed when the USA and England join Russia in a world where all but a few well connected split the bounty in an ever more wealthy world.
I was born when communism was the euphemism for George Soros. George Orwell understood and gave us Emmanuel Goldstein today George Soros represents .1% of the Hungarian population yet his image is plastered everywhere.
6
United States. United Kingdom. Perhaps it's time to get rid of the word united since no seems to know what it means.
6
Sure wall yourself off, re-open the coal mines, kick out the immigrants, and root out the 'enemies of the people', make yourselves smaller, and by all means lets make the country "Great Again". You've not only lost your Empire, but along with the us Americans, lost your minds.
16
@birddog
It seems the Tory privatization killed industrial Britain. There is no reason to open the coal mines, because there are not enough steel mills.
1
I thought that this was an entertaining piece of reportage. It conforms to a certain "narrative" (as overused a word as the personal "journey" one is now always supposed to be on.) I'm sure it is an accurate reflection of the disadvantaged and disaffected that Patrick Kingsley set out to find. (No hard feelings, I enjoyed his "How to be Danish" book.)
But it is explicitly a partial story. It's certainly not hard to find the disadvantaged and disaffected in Britain, just as they would be easy to find in California, France or Australia. However, the sense of "splintering" is a lazy identification, in Britain as elsewhere.
The communities that Mr Kingsley visited are not like any of the Britain that I know, not just economically, but socially or culturally. Multi-cultural, diverse exciting, wealthy London; traditional, stark white, culturally conservative Cotswolds; hectic but beautiful, intellectualism personified Cambridge; a rural Yorkshire of Dales and close-knit communities - all would also provide alternative and very different snapshots of a comfortable, reasonably satisfied country, although one in which the political divisions of BREXIT are quite as stark as those areas Mr Kingsley chose to visit.
Mr Kingsley's tour suits a particular and rather obvious agenda. Valid certainly, but rather tiresome and not as illuminating as investigating the differences would have been.
15
@longsummer
The argument that some folks have done well under Tory rule is likewise agenda driven and tiresome. The difference that you find so important will likely be that the comfortable folks in all the places you mention will be decidedly less comfortable outside of the EU than inside it. They will of course remain smug in their discomfort. Except for the Jewish folks and non-white folks, for whom Farage and his merry band of rabid bigots has big plans. And except for the Scots, who will leave, and the Ulster unionists who will be cut loose.
1
EXCELLENTLY written article, in depth analysis, great photojournalism. However, take issue with derogatory characterization of Conservative M.P.Enoch Powell as a "notorious racist." Au contraire a great classical scholar with a keen understanding of politics, his remarks re ghastly consequences of "immigration a outrance," admission of 50,000 immigrants annually advocated by Heath were on the mark, and conclusion that real victims of this policy would be poor and middle class whites, treated henceforth as second class citizens,"citoyens de deuxieme zone,"is true. In Britain today, so many believe they r foreigners in their own land, and if 1 objects, 1 is decried as a racist. Powell could have chosen his words better in "Rivers of Blood,"but fundamental point was sound.1 sees a similar phenomenon in France, where native born Frenchmen ,"citadins," have been forced to live in dreary h.l.m's "en banlieue"and the new working class in the cities are immigrants from France's former colonies.Recall 1 day in 1990 entered Le Provencale, bistro on the Cannebiere in Marseilles and inquired of a "garcon" "0u sont tous les Francais"because the clientele seemed overwhelmingly Mahgrebin, and he replied jovially,"Ils ne viennent plus.Ils n'ont pas d'argent!"Many a truth is said in jest!
4
@Alexander Harrison The U.K. is not France. It was appropriate for the U.K. to offer a pathway to citizenship to loyal former colonials unimpressed by the prospects of their newly independent territories. You base your opinion on a visit to France 30 years ago? Fair enough, I'll give it the consideration it deserves.
7
@Flaminia:It is no secret that the wealthy drove the middle and working classes OUT of Paris into the "banlieues"where they now live in gruesome h.l.m.'s (habitations a loyer modere)and these wealthy "citadins"who are the majority in today's Paris and in other urban centers elected Macron to the presidency who, by the way, has a soft spot for homeless mutts and 1 of whom roams the halls of the Elysee Palace at will. Recall conversation with Michel whose father had owned the Dome, standing outside the cafe in 1990, which had become a chic seafood restaurant, and he looked at me, and said,"Vous voyez, il n'ya plus rien." You have to have known post war Paris to appreciate how very French it was and how every day living there was an adventure. Avenue de la Grande Armee was once exciting to ride my mobilette down but today it looks like Queens Boulevard!
1
@Flaminia:It is no secret that the wealthy drove the middle and working classes OUT of Paris into the "banlieues"where they now live in gruesome h.l.m.'s (habitations a loyer modere)and these wealthy "citadins"who are the majority in today's Paris and in other urban centers elected Macron to the presidency who, by the way, has a soft spot for homeless mutts and 1 of whom roams the halls of the Elysee Palace at will. Recall conversation with Michel whose father had owned the Dome, standing outside the cafe in 1990, which had become a chic seafood restaurant, and he looked at me, and said,"Vous voyez, il n'ya plus rien." You have to have known post war Paris to appreciate how very French it was and how every day living there was an adventure. Avenue de la Grande Armee was once exciting to ride my mobilette down but today it looks like Queens Boulevard!
1
This situation is much worse than I thought, when you consider the history of all of the regions outside of London. Great article.
4
Anyone like a cup of tea?
5
Correction: in 1968, Enoch Powell was in Opposition and not a Cabinet Minister or member of Government when he delivered his notorious ‘Rivers of blood’ speech.
2
As a black Brit living in Germany I am so proud that the outright racism, Xenophobia towards foreigners that exists in Germany does not in any close level exists in the UK... and for that, is just one other reason why we we need to leave the racist EU as soon as possible... Get BREXIT done !!!
4
Racism is endemic through the world, and is being stoked by nationalist demagogues - most of whom are very much against the EU. Look at Farage, Le Pen, Orban et al; all of them pandering to racist, insular views. Racist incidents have increased since the UK voted to leave, as stated in the article.
I’m sorry, but although not all Leave voters are racist, pretty well all racists voted Leave.
The world needs real leaders with character and wisdom. The leaders we do have are incompetent and short-sighted just like the leaders before and after the first WW and the disaster they created in Versaille making Hitler possible and ending in the second WW.
President Trump wants more money and absolute power nothing else counts, he is incompetent and corrupt and a walking time bomb.
4
Sad, but interesting article.; echos of the de-industrialization in the U.S. and Western Europe. A well paying job and hope for a better future for their kids, who doesn't want that?
142
@Fred von Schmeling Of course, but those jobs are no longer in factories or mines.
19
@Chris
and those jobs will no longer require humans to do them...much sooner than few believe and fewer still are those sounding an alarm.
4
I spent 1974-79 in the UK earning a couple of graduate degrees. I had a chance to see my professor, now 90, this past August in Edinburgh. He told me that if Brexit takes place, Northern Ireland is likely to unite with the Republic of Ireland, Scotland will become independent, and perhaps even Wales will seek to leave. At that point he will refer to Britain as the Formerly United Kingdom, which, he added with his characteristic wit, carries its own descriptive acronym.
459
Cornwall voted leave, and now, having realized the full extent of the deception perpetrated by Boris et al, is uttering that ... acronym ... quite frequently. So maybe Mebyan Curnow will finally get their way, with independence for Cornwall, too.
12
@David Derbes : Traveling in Scotland this past summer, I often saw pairs of flags on buildings or in people's windows: the St. Andrew's Cross of Scotland and the circle of stars that represents the EU.
Meanwhile, the Republic of Ireland is no longer the near-theocracy that unnerved the Protestants in the North, so Northern Ireland may also bolt.
23
@David Derbes, Anyone looking at a map can see that Northern Ireland belongs with the Republic of Ireland. But I hope that if it comes to that, we will not see another round of the "troubles".
13
I totally get the vision of the Brexiters.
Coal mines and smoke stacks. Heavy industry. Well tiered society, everyone knows their place. Powerful unions. Cradle to grave nanny state. All jobs are meaningful and delight producing and highly paid (so no immigrants needed because there are no dirty jobs anywhere, and no low paying jobs at all).
This was all totally possible in some imaginary time when dirty jobs were done by Scots (cannon fodder), Irish and the Welsh, and uneducated lower classes, when there was a really big navy, and two thirds of the world was outright owned as a colony (unlimited supply of raw materials, endless captive markets). Misty eyed notions of pre-WW1.
Of course all that will come back in a snap - with Brexit, and deportation of all immigrants.
I this ain't karma running over dogma, I don't know what is.
9
Northern Ireland is moving proudly into the 21st century while England reveals its true nature rooted in the days of Drogheda in 1649.
from the Irish Times; Oct 22, 2019,
Northern Ireland is joining the European mainstream, and it will be a better place in which to live as a result
Two momentous changes occurred in Northern Ireland in the early hours of yesterday morning. First, the criminal ban on abortion fell. Women who seek abortions in the North will no longer be prosecuted, and investigations or prosecutions which were already under way were halted. Legislation on abortion is due to be in place by March 31st 2020.
Second, the remaining legal impediments to same-sex marriage were cleared, with the result that from January 13th next year, same-sex couples will be able to give notice of their intent to form a marriage or civil partnership. The first same-sex marriages are expected to take place around Valentine’s Day.
3
The true blame for this sorry mess are David Cameron and the warped legacy of Maggie Thatcher. Old Labour didn’t help much either with strikes that left even those who aligned with them disillusioned. Too much state ownership, too much government intervention, no balance. I know the history of the Labour movement in Britain; my late father was part of it in Scotland. So it is incredibly ironic that traditional labour voters are turning to the Tories; xenophobic rhetoric has permeated the atmosphere. I was over 5 years ago and was surprised at the international flavour of many areas of work, from hotel clerks to the vast amounts of “curry” take aways. So it’s doubly odd that an island that has embraced so many facets of multicultural society, now has a great wish to leave the EU. I only hope the Liberal Democrats win enough seats to strangle not only the foolish Boris but also to keep the anti Semitic Corbynn from gaining ground. I know how hard it is to leave an industry that is at the end of its run, one of the reasons my parents emigrated, first to Canada, then to the states: but insularity and bigotry are not the answers.
6
People get the kind of government they deserve. If they want to believe in fairy tails told by self serving liars, unproven statements, political stooges, direct threats, dreams of control and wealth while ignoring the well considered and provable advise of men and women experts with academic doctorates in social sciences like economics, history or psychology, then they will get to wallow in the severe unintended consequences their ignorance will have brought them. Not to worry you say, in a democracy the common folks can always change their mind. Yeah? Ask the Germans how the Weimar Republic worked out. Once the goons with guns get in charge, it’s all over. It’s go along or be killed. If you want to live in an autocratic nation move to Saudi Arabia, Iran or Russian. The only thing you need to remember when you move here is to do as your told. Or, if you don’t want to move that far, just keep voting as the Russians got you to vote, and wala, in the not too distance future we will be just as dictatorial an autocracy as they are. As for Brexit, it’s a cautionary tail on how ignorance, hubris and deceit can win over truth, critical thinking and good governance. The British have one last chance, if they fail to reverse course that’s their problem, just don’t ask the USA to bail them out, we have our own problems to solve.
7
Russia/Putin loves the UK Brexit Chaos. It's part of the weakening of NATO and the EU. So tragic to watch civilization crumbling and no sure sign the collapse can be stopped in time.
I know she can't publicly state an opinion, but Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II could in theory express support for remaining in the EU. What are the odds she's a Remainer? Does anyone know?
2
Re: a Britain “united only by its disunity” ...
What humankind may need to suffer in order to survive the long term—indeed, from ourselves!—is an even greater nemesis than our own politics of difference, against which we could all unite, attack and defeat; perhaps the multi-tentacled alien invaders offered up by a number of sci-fi movies.
(Albeit, one or more human parties might attempt to forge an allegiance with the genocidal ETs, thus indicating that the human condition may require even more improvement.)
There are no greater differences amongst us humans than race and religion—remove that and left are less obvious differences over which to clash, such as sub-racial identity (i.e. ethnicity), nationality, and so forth down that scale we tumble.
Yet, maybe some five decades later, when all traces of the nightmarish ET invasion are gone, we’d inevitably revert to the same typical politics of scale to which we humans seem so collectively hopelessly prone; from the intercontinental, international, national, provincial or state, regional and municipal. Hypothetically, reduce our species to just a few city blocks of residents who are similar in every way and eventually there may still be some sort of bitter inter-neighbourhood quarreling.
Brexit is due. Britain and america are the excesses of capitalism, the mindless dogmatic antithesis to socialism. Brexit is the wrench, thrown into this clockwork, it should unhinge the system, that has turned against it's citizen.
It is not going to help the britons, but it may be the next step of a bigger unrest. In the end, the real problems of britain are all domestic, and it needs more than a leave to debunk the fat cats in power selling snake oil.
4
Thanks for this article.
Here in the US,news re Britain is restricted largely to gossip re the monarchy and sepia-toned british dramas.
5
There was a time when England (and UK) was rich but it was not in the 50's or 60's. It was when England ruled the world and could export its post-industrial revolution goods to the rest of the world. Following two world wars, the Empire imploded and might I say it was saved from what surely was impending poverty by joining the EU giving it access to a market vastly bigger than its size. Brexit would be the last nail in the coffin in the collapse of the Empire. England (and some form of UK?) will survive but a return to prosperity?
Unlikely.
12
@SV When England 'ruled' the world, children were being sent down mines and up chimneys.
1
The trouble with us Brits is that we love to complain! There's
always something not quite right and at this moment it's
Brexit.
When that mess is finally resolved it'll be something else. I live in the south western part of the UK and everything feels as it
always has, which is 'not bad'.
9
Reading this excellent article, it's hard not to think that what's called "liberal democracy" is failing Britain, just as it is in the USA. Look at the leaders of both parties in the UK, and the general lack of leadership (and simple truth and facts) about an issue like Brexit. How can people possibly want to follow the leadership of the likes of Cameron, May, and BoJo? Or Trump and his extremists? With their demagogic, bad policies for their nations. Look at the state of democracy, and governments, in France and Italy.
It's hard to remember how relatively extreme some of the politics of Britain were in the post-WWI era and 1920s, when popular unrest led to widespread fear of revolution, or at least revolutionary leadership, in response to economic hard-times and inequality. And then there's the challenge to democracy in the 1930s, as extreme right-wing demagogues hijacked government in Germany, Italy, and Spain, by appealing to frustrated, angry, and fearful populations.
Once democracy and its institutions are brought into disrepute, the path is dangerously eased for right-wing extremists promising "change" via the most totalitarian means.
It happened before, and nothing guarantees that it won't happen again.
8
The problem is very much the fault of our electorate. I visit The UK as often as possible but really don't know the politics...I live in The US and I am not so much shocked as dismayed by the lack of intellect..sense of fair play...as well as the undeniable will to follow a spoiled would be king. His selfish ways are ruining our USA..We will gladly send him over to help the UK solve it's problems.
3
Perfectly summed up at the end of fine movie The Big Short. The strategy of the oligarchy is dead simple. Screw over the middle and lower middle class and blame everything on immigrants, the poor and people of color. Spend a pittance of the profits on toxic propaganda and set all these groups at each other’s throats. In other words, the Banality of Evil on steroids.
10
Is there nothing that conservatives will not destroy?
10
The photographs that accompany this excellent article are beautiful. They are exquisitely composed and capture the essence of the people and areas photographed. They enable the reader to reach through the words and visualize the world in which these people live.
7
A prediction for the next 50 years:
1. Britain leaves the EU.
2. Scotland becomes independent and rejoins the EU.
3. Northern Ireland reunites with the south, becoming part of the EU again.
4. (Years later) Wales becomes independent and rejoins the EU.
5. England, much diminished, and finding itself choked by trade barriers that never existed before, rejoins the EU.
I grew up in England. A century from now, as wealth imbalances decrease worldwide, the need for trade barriers will gradually decrease, and the need for constructs like the EU will accordingly decrease. But in the meantime, it's going to be painful for many.
14
The Spanish government has vowed not to allow Scotland to remain in the EU as that would encourage Spanish Catalan separatists.
I am sure Patrick Kingsley is well intentioned, however in the UK we have been avalanched by the media, who always talk to a few people, in a bar, in a market or are just wandering down a town centre street with a view that only Brexit matters in this election. Unfortunately, these people appear to be hand picked by journalists to vent a rhetoric that has been manufactured by the Tory Party and Boris Johnson with his bluff, bluster and lies.
The Brexit vote was a product of extreme austerity and the Tories war, on the majority of the population, particularly poor people. It is very easy for the oppressed to blame EU immigrants and not the Tory Government for their plight.
However, despite the media and pollsters predicting a Johnson majority, there is still a huge number of young people who have registered to vote, the majority of which will note vote Tory. There is also a large push for tactical voting to unseat Tory candidates.Johnson himself only has a 5,000 majority,which means his seat is potentially at risk, with the power of young students from the local university.
So despite the gloomy tone of this article, there is still a real potential, that Johnson will not obtain a majority and the UK can be saved from Johnson's delusional hard Brexit, which will be an economic disaster for 95% of the population.
6
Along the same reasons for Trump being foisted upon the American public, Brexit and other anti-government demonstrations we are now seeing around the world is the culmination of 40 yrs. of neo-liberal economic policy that has gradually eviscerated the middle and lower classes in the countries involved all caused by conservative/republican style governments who claim they can solve problems through austerity ultimately resulting in policies that harm those they claim are the ones they would help and are the most vulnerable.
It would seem now that the people have stated quite clearly, they have had enough, "soon enough coming to a country near you" whereby if Trump were to get re-elected, one of the first order of business for his administration would be to systematically eviscerate social security, medicare and medicaid all done under the guise of reducing America's deficit, a deficit they created in the first place.
7
Perhaps form a new federated nation, consisting of Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Ireland (and maybe Wales?), as a member of the EU.
2
The problem is not Brexit or NoBrexit. If the Brits leave the EU does anyone seriously believe that economically these workers lives will improve. The problem is the oligarchs, the economic elites, who own and run everything including the government. They just do not want to have to share a shred of their prosperity. Brexit won't change that.
11
@Steve
It will change things, for the worse. At least the UK had to meet some minimum EU worker and public health protection requirements. Those will be gone, and the elites (I prefer the term Tories) will be able to keep even more of their prosperity from the fingers of regular Britons.
The photos are tremendous! The dark, cloudy skies are so hones!
5
Mr. Kingsley did not need to journey so far afield to find a country filled with disunity.
5
I have been going to London since 1983 for theater. opera, dance. Love it cause it is always like being back in 20th Century, back in time, no matter how many shiny new buildings they build. That is its charm. And I love the Tube. As for their problems, what do you expect from people who drive on the wrong side of the road!
5
Alas, it's an irony that the globalists are the ones who were set to shepherd the UK into the future. But, I suppose Nige and Boris neglected to tell their sundry Leavers that the glories of colonialism and British sea power will never be revisited. Still, as the sun sets on the British Empire, they will endeavor to stuff the internet and FedEx/UPS back into their respective bottles. Surely, it's sad and magical thinking.
3
The subject matter is difficult, but the photographs are absolutely stunning...particularly the one of the Welsh sheep farmer on his farm. Kudos to Laetitia Vancon!
3
It is clear and largely unspoken that the spoils of Putin's victory in attacking a once unified Europe and a unified America are present everywhere.
Brexit and Trump are to of Putins biggest victories and the impact of decade long psyops strategy to divide and weaken the post world War II European allies and America continues.
Yet our national security appartus, the average citizen of Britain or the U.S. is all too much still beleiving that the impact of the crack Putin spread through our nations is simply their own belief and feeling about xenophobia, racism, isolationism and an orientation towards dictatorship, fascism and even the dark threat of a return to 4th Reich, run by old money and the dark side of the secret alliances between oligarchs, the Leonard Leo style Knights of Malta, Opus Day and the continuing machinations of those who seek top down suppression of the people of the world for their own infantile view on energy and power.
There are far higher callings and education and de-programming are the clarion call who choose for We The People of our nations to be in command of our governments, of our lives, of resources of the world, and thus the well being of ourselves, our family, our friends and future generations.
We must learn to better articulate and shine light on the fact that our arch nemesis is indeed at war with freedom and justice and that Nemesis is Putin and the minions he has planted in government and throughout social media.
D
5
It should be noted, again, that Cambridge Analytica was involved with the campaign for Brexit.
13
It seems to me that Brexit is the fight of the visceral with the rational.
The British citizens depicted here are mostly ignorant and wishful thinking. They are not even aware of factual realities and will believe in what provocative media feeds to them. I am not sure if they would ever read or care to understand the facts.
3
“I looked at what was around me, and I looked at the dilution of wages — because Europeans are coming in,” said Franco Passarelli, the son of Italian immigrants, explaining why he voted to leave the European Union. “We’re only a small island, and if people keep coming in, basically the country is starting to implode.”
The son of immigrants is complaining about immigrants? I should stop being shocked at the depths of human stupidity, but somehow I’m always shocked.
17
What a mess! Political fever got them brexit.
1
Putin is behind this as well and Farage is Putin’s man. Because Putin wants to destroy the EU. But these people some of them in the dark literally don’t see it.
3
I am one of those that fear we can follow the same path. The question now is will the US pull back from the brink, or will we say “hold my beer” when the English say “watch me do the dumbest thing in the world”.
5
How many immigrants does the EU require Great Britain to accept? Is their a planned quota for each EU country?
1
@Dr. John
None. That is already under the control of the UK Government.
There was an EU conference [last year?] to try to agree quotas across the EU the for the large number of Refugees arriving in Europe.
Two thirds of immigrants to the UK are not from EU countries. The number EU immigrants is already reducing, as the number of rest of the world immigrants are increasing. Brexit will not change the total number of immigrants, just their origin.
2
This has been going on forever, the rich and powerful pointing to scapegoats from foreign lands to distract from the fact that the rich and powerful themselves are the ones robbing everybody blind.
It's an old trick, and sadly it still works.
Contrary to what most Americans think, leaving the EU won't actually change this very drastically one way or the other. The Tories were already in power siphoning off money to enrich a small percentage of the already wealthy, and from all appearances they've duped voters into voting for them again this time.
Efforts to actually point any of this out are mashed into the ground in an organized effort between the BBC, the Tories, and the conservative press making up nonsense about Jeremy Corbyn while not holding anyone on the right to the same standards.
Google a piece by the famous anthropologist David Graeber about how as a Jew living in the UK he now feels actually unsafe for the first time in his life, and not from Labour supporters but from the actual Nazis and alt-right groups led by people like Steve Bannon, who in turn is a friend and supporter of Boris Johnson.
It's all been a massive misdirection and they have strong motivations to do so, namely keeping people blaming everyone except the ones who are robbing them blind, daily. And will continue to do so, with their permission.
159
@Jeo Here here! Rich upper crust types in Britain have been sucking the life blood out of people who are not like them since time began. I think of India and Ireland as examples. Now the only people they can screw over live on the same island as they but they don’t stop.
20
@Jeo agreed
8
@Jeo
Matthew Whittaker was the acting USA Attorney General and I suspect it wasn't only Joni Ernst that joined him in his opinion but maybe even a majority of the Trump base.
https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/columnists/rekha-basu/2018/11/07/matt-whitakers-troubling-opinion-judges-need-biblical-view/1923393002/
This weekend we are commemorating the 30th anniversary of the massacre of 14 female engineering students and finally acknowledging it wasn't a lone gunman but centuries old religious mysogeny.
I don't know whether Corbyn is in anyway anti Semitic but I do know a number of Jewish "settlers" who don't understand my unwillingness to acknowledge their ancient covenential ownership of lands when there were many tribes and few border crossings.
The Bible was our literature it was truer than historical truth it was our allegorical truth. It was Korach one of our own who wished to lead us back to slavery in Egypt and we obediently lined up to follow him.
4
It is almost Dickensian that some of the strongest Brexit vote comes from the most economically disadvantages groups in Britain. Much like the situation in the US where Trump's base is rooted in the declining rural economies, Brexiteers triumph by blaring the nationalistic horn to the detriment of the vary people who are most negatively impacted by such a policy.
It's nothing more than a reversion to tribalism at its most basic level.
Whatever long-term results arise from Brexit -- they will not be beneficial for the very people who support it. But they will assuage the racial and ethnic biases of the "majority".
Britain, joining with the US in denying globalization, will ultimately find itself in further and further economic decline. And that inevitable economic decline may well be the seed leading to a much greater calamity.
5
feeding the angst is Murdoch's SKY News whose reporter this afternoon (BST) propagated the Conservative Party's conspiracy theory that Russia hacked the Tory's computers and divulged Boris Johnson's trade deal with the US that includes allowing US healthcare companies a free shot at privatizing the British National Heath Service (NHS).
Johnson has yet to deny that the documents are accurate and SKY News is silent on the consequences of turning the NHS into a clone of our Corporate Health Care Service.
The Conservative Party is controlled by a cohort of English nativists longing for a return to the days of empire.
What the Britain's Conservative Party will bring about is the end of Great Britain with an Independent Scottish Nation, a unified Irish Republic and England and Wales dissolving into disillusion and despair.
Significant aspects of the City of London's financial operations are relocating to Dublin so as to avoid the massive dislocations Brexit will create.
5
"Most residents refused to work in such a degrading environment, so the jobs are largely taken by people from poorer parts of the European Union. In the local consciousness, the concept of regional decline then became fused with that of European immigration, instead of neoliberal economics."
But without free cross-border labor flow, such conditions could not exist. Open borders are a cornerstone of neoliberal economics.
1
The same thing would have happened if the mine had remained open. Wages and working conditions would have fallen to a point where local workers would not have taken jobs there. Globalization has a leveling effect on wages. It is bad for wages in highly developed countries and good for wages in less developed ones. How to manage this phenomenon is a difficult problem but this much is clear. Opting out of globalization means economic decline for the entire country. Unfettered globalization means increasing disparity between economic winners and economic losers within the country. Perhaps post-brexit Britain can find a middle path.
3
One reason England was so poor after WWII was the refusal of our government to give them any aid. FDR told Winston Churchill that he had not seen any progress in the status of people in the colonies and that European countries have been exploiting them for two hundred years. Instead, he supported the idea of rebuilding German.Later Presidents supported this view. We did bail out UK later when they were bankrupt. That was during the Johnson administration.
4
@Susan Kuhlman
After WWII, FDR was not President. He was dead. Harry Truman was President. The UK got more of the Marshall Plan money than Germany. The UK under the Conservatives was focused on going back to the Gold Standard and keeping parts of the Empire like Suez and India. Under Labour, the UK built the NHS and supported the coal miners.
1
"How Green Was My Valley", redux?
I was only a teenager when I read and enjoyed Richard Llewellyn's great novel. It captured the pain and bewilderment of losing familiar cultural patterns that had become too dysfunctional to survive.
That was when I was only a teenager in the 1950's but, an outlier from birth, I understood it in a way that our latter day philosopher , Yogi Berra, never said - but he might have:
~ Nostalgia just ain't what it used to be... probably never was. ~
(That man had an exquisite grasp of the Divine Sense of humor that is always available to save us from the torment of taking ourselves and our opinions too seriously.)
So, at 17, I left home at first opportunity to enlist in the Navy. Though I hated its incarcerating atmosphere, I was never homesick and never used my leave allotment to return. Upon my blessed release from active duty 3 years later, I did head back, only to discover the truth of Tom Wolfe's book; "You Can't Go Home Again" ... 'cause it ain't there.
Today, my advice and hope for troubled Yanks and Brits alike is, if you really want to feel good, or at least better, just be good. If you need help, ask heaven for guidance. It will be given to you. Thereby, our children may improve on our record.
6
Pretty depressing!
5
Back to the Future, and NOT in a good way. Would could have guessed that “ Brexit “ would be a Disaster ?
Well, I did. Along with many other NYTs readers.
11
It’s a disaster either way. That’s the real problem.
1
It's uncanny how Shirebrook resembles so many American towns in the rustbelt.
8
Who has more to gain from Brexit: Britons, or Russians?
2
@R
No one will gain. Not the EU, UK or Russia.
2
The Russians, of course. I remember landing in the Lviv airport the day after the referendum results were announced, and being asked by the immigration officer if I thought Russia was involved. At the time, reflecting on the fact that Ukraine was already in a two-year hybrid war with Russia, I said that this is probably a bit far fetched. Now I’m not sure she wasn’t right.
4
@R Neither. It's the USA.
Sure glad we're nothing like them!
2
As a European I feel for the people. What I simply do not understand is that people are stuck in the past with their mining and buggy whips just like here in the US. If you look at other EU member states like Germany for example they also had coal mines but reinvented themselves and changed obsolete industries into chemical and or other viable companies (I am not German). Nostalgia is dumb and so is Brexit.
18
@JMGC
Exactly! What's that saying? "people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones". Decades of failed neo-liberal policies and Republican government who blame immigrants and minorities for all the countries problems while they empty the treasury.
1
I have no idea how working people throughout the world turned to Conservative politics, got ripped off, then blamed Progressives. it's like Darth Siddious is behind the scenes of the US and UK
16
This is real journalism. The photography was excellent.
10
The pit was “like the mother,” said Alan Gascoyne, center. “The mother sort of looked after everybody”
And then mother died.... It’s sad, but absolutely foreseeable in extraction industries. The pit runs out or the world moves on from that commodity. How is Brexit going to help? Sounds like MAGA madness is spreading. Perhaps trump can license his name to Boris (wait, he doesn’t want it).
5
Before joining the European Union, Britain was “quite a wealthy country,” said Mr. Cann, the former miner. “Why can’t we be that again?”
The quote above shows just how misinformed people are. The UK was broke when it joined the EU.
See: https://voxeu.org/article/how-rich-nations-benefit-eu-membership
15
I have read this article in the NYT before - it appears a couple of times a year and it's called 'Send a Reporter to the Grimmest parts of Great Britain accompanied by a Photographer who knows how to use Heavy Gray Filters' - in short there are many other parts of the country worth covering.
The south of England - which subsidizes both Scotland and Wales, neither of which could survive without it - is one of the world's greatest economic powerhouses, fueling the fifth largest national economy on Earth.
Many parts of the west country, the midlands and the north are very prosperous - coal mining and farming gave way to finance, tech and countless other industries long ago.
Great Britain has a lot in common with the US at the moment - its people, its problems, its politics - but no article on the US would only focus on Appalachia and depressed parts of the south.
With the cosiderable budgets that NYT journalists have, maybe they could cast the net a little wider next time.
13
@George Haig Brewster
I must agree.
But, pictures of people enjoying life - prosperous, employed in good, well paying jobs, feeling generally positive about the future, aren't of much interest.
Even that picture of London Bridge - the one taking in rainy, semi-darkness, gets the 'Terror Attack' label. Yet, during the working day, it's actually heaving with people working in, arguably, the most important financial centre in the world and, in the evening, those people jam the area's high end restaurants and bars, spend money in glitzy boutiques - all a million miles from Shirebrook.
Misery, particularly Euromisery, sells American newspapers. Inequality makes good copy. But the UK is no more like Shirebrook than NYC is like rustbelt Ohio.
BTW, I lived in Nottinghamshire, worked not far from the mining areas, during the bitter 1980s miners' strike during which Margaret Thatcher destroyed the UK's coal mining industry. I'm no sneering metropolitan elitist.
4
The article misses a significant aspect. It's not just a matter of sovereignty. The fact is that when Britain joined the Club it was the EEC which was an economic organization. That morphed into the EU which is basically the federal equivalent of the USA's federal government. The core tenet of the EU is "ever closer political ties" which comes at the cost of each member state losing more of it's sovereignty to the EU - if the member follows the rules. The currency club also rips off the poorer member states who do not receive subsidies (or enough of them) to compensate for the inequalities. There are good reasons for many observers to speculate just how long this club will last given it's current demeanor and policies. So much of this is under reported, or sensationalized in a mean spirited way, but wanting to leave is not without fundamental merit.
5
@Cruise Cycle
This is a commom Brexiteer trope. The idea that the EU was foisted on an unsuspecting British public through the Trojan Horse of the EEC
It's untrue. Political, economic and financial union has been Europe's objective since the 1957 Treaty of Rome. The issues of this union - loss of 'sovereignty', subjugation to supranational legal system and so on was talked to death in the UK the early 1970s. Everybody understood the cost of rescuing basket-case Britain through EEC membership.
Don't forget that, having joined in 1972, the issue of EEC memberahip - with all its political implications - was put to the British people in a 1975 referendum when membership the European project was endorsed by a huge majority.
I voted in 1975. I knew very well it wasn't 'just about trade'. So did everybody else. If you don't believe me, go to YT and watch Thatcher, Heath, Benn, Foot openly debating the political dimensions of the EEC.
1
The sooner we realize that 'no man or woman is an island' the better. The only thing achieved by this taking of sides through fear, misinformation and disinformation, is more fear.
7
@james33
No nation was forced to join the EU. The EU lifted the standards of living and quality of life for millions of people, peace and prosperity go together.
2
'Shirebrook was the third stop of a 900-mile journey I made through Britain last month. '
Almost 30 years ago, we - me, my wife, a teenage daughter and a non-teen age son - went to 'UK' for a trip. We US citizens but are originally from the Kingdom's colonial crown jewel - India.
We rented a car at Heathrow, got into the car in the parking lot of the car-rental and drove more than 2000 miles - from London to Loch Ness - and many places in-between - and back to the car-rental place, without any incidence -except, may be for the fact that the monster never showed up in the lake on which we took a cruise!
I was the only one who could drive a standard-shift car - with the steering on the right side of the car, the shift stick in my left hand, and driving on the left side of the road - and was the driver by default.
I wonder how it will be if we go now. Will it still look like UK? Or more like DUK (Dis-United Kingdom)?
10
Cameron held the referendum, where he thought the vote would be to remain, to see off UKIP. He was fearful of losing seats to them. He was also keen to slap down the Euro-sceptic wing in his own Party.
Nobody who voted to leave knew what that meant, that's not to disparage their intelligence, nobody knew what it meant because nobody could know.
As more details have become available, so too have calls for a confirmatory referendum. The argument that "the people have decided" doesn't hold any water for me. If "once the people have decided" is to carry the day, why do we bother to have elections? The answer to that is obvious; people change their minds.
It's ironic that Cameron, the Prime Minister & leader of the Conservative & UNIONIST Party, set in motion events likely to break-up the Union. May & Johnson have done nothing other than to speed Scottish independence.
The implications for Northern Ireland & the Republic of Ireland are too grim, for me at least, to contemplate.
48
Thatcherism shredded the safety net, exposing millions of Brits to the raw ravages of global capitalism- without many of the protections of a strong public sector.
The result - an angry, frightened, easily manipulated population who only needed a scapegoat. One was provided - the EU.
In the US, the destruction began with Reagan, and the results were the same. Here, the boogeyman was immigrants.
Take away all safeguards of civil society. Inflame with demagoguery and racist xenophobic propaganda. Shake, stir, and bake.
Simmer - and voila! A populace primed to hand the autocratic right wing their lives and futures.
The recipe worked.
477
@Space Needle As succinct and trenchant an analysis as I have seen.
I suppose this argues for an anti Thatcher: e.g. Elizabeth Warren.
31
@Space Needle You're right, except I'd posit that anti-immigration fervor is on par with, or more likely the core of, Brexit. To Leavers the EU = immigrants stealing the same demeaning, low wage, low benefit "jobs" that appear to be fueling Trump's "recovery" here.
23
@Space Needle
Rightly said.
Libertarian Dystopia is what Reagan and Thatcher gave us.
Everything is transactional, everything places money above other values. Every man for himself.
Countries are stronger when united, when resources are pooled. The moneyed interests have hoodwinked us. Vote for candidates who take on these people.
43
Brexit may be the root of the disunity in Britain but immigration is at the root of Brexit. The left is losing the working class allover the West because it has, generally speaking, no answer to mass immigration. People are tribal and xenophobia is the default.
I spent a week in Northern Ireland last winter and was shocked to discover that the line of separation was not as much between Protestant and Catholic as it was between Leave and Remain. The working class cab drivers, most of them, were quite xenophobic and university students, most of them, were quite cosmopolitan.
I hope UK leaves before the disease spreads to the Continent.
1
I've made this point before, but Brexit is (it seems to me) a constitutional, not a political question.
It's not (or should not be) about any particular policy...be it immigration, farm subsidies or anything else. It's about the British system of government.
The underlying question is (was!) as follows:
Do you (if you're a Brit) want the democratically-elected parliament in Westminster to be the final arbiter of what makes it into law in the UK? If so, Brexit makes sense (not for nothing was the slogan "Take Back Control").
Seen in this light Brexit is not the nationalist, xenophobic project that many both in the US and UK (in my view lazily) assume it is.
To repeat: it's a constitutional question, and—in my perhaps optimistic view—will in the long run come to be seen as such.
3
@Bruno Kavanagh
“Do you (if you're a Brit) want the democratically-elected parliament in Westminster to be the final arbiter of what makes it into law in the UK?”
The problem is that his was not the entirety of the question. It needs to include “...irrespective of the significant deleterious social and economic consequences of leaving...?”
If the answer to the whole question was yes, then we could all wish the British well as they drive off the cliff. But that of course was not how the question was posed. And still, nearly half of Britons were and are opposed to Brexit.
Conservatives cut social benefits to middle class people in need, privatize businesses and promote globalization to help the wealthy, maintain shoddy government housing, a low minimum wage, give platitudes to the middle class and then blame all these ill effects on the EU.
Many of the very people hurt by the Tories are now going to vote for them? They think Brexit will make everything better? Same party - same results.
7
I've been reading many comments and articles arguing that a second "Leave or Stay?" referendum should be held.
Not sure why. The surprising "Leave" vote in 2016 was only advisory: the UK government could have ignored it if it chose to.
This strikes me as a fairly transparent effort to have UK voters simply keep voting on Brexit until they "get it right" (i.e., vote to "Stay.") I don't think it matters much, practically, because I understand "Leave" is even more popular than it was in 2016 (though I understand that UK voters who feel that way are just "stupid"). Maybe so, but what was the point of the huge campaign in 2016 if the (non-binding) results would just be ignored?
2
"At times, I was reminded that electoral politics are far removed from many people’s priorities, which range from simply making a living to fighting global warming."
I'm not sure what the above sentence even means. Can a journalist working for the NY Times really write this with a straight face? Here's what Martha Gelhorn, journalist and writer, had to say about "politics":
“People often say, with pride, ‘I’m not interested in politics.’They might as well say, ‘I’m not interested in my standard of living, my health, my job, my rights, my freedoms, my future or any future’...If we mean to keep any control over our world and lives, we must be interested in politics.”
The vote you cast has everything to do with all of those so-called "kitchen table" issues, EVERYTHING. If people would only ever make that connection, we'd have much better leaders.
6
We read similar disunity stories as reporters drive throughout America.
I can’t think of a better excuse to dissolve the American union of states than another 4+ years of the trump after he corruptly takes the election again.
If he can’t be impeached, removed from office for crimes against the Constitution, Americans and the world, can’t even be investigated as he pardons war criminals and allies himself with America’s enemies, ignores the Constitution while continuing to corrupt elections to secure power indefinitely against the will of the majority of American’s will - America will exist only in name.
Call it trumpxit or for sure Calexit and New Yexit or New Brexit for New England states. Let red states live under a totalitarian trump theocracy (pretense theocracy) under the self-chosen-one as high priest and Caesar, see how it goes for them as Caesar builds East German style walls to prevent his citizens from getting to free former states. Though like monarchies before who battled to grow England to Great Britain, trump would no doubt try to conquer adjacent states a la Putin-Crimea and keep the oil and wealth for himself.
4
Noticeable that the photo's are all darkish, taken late evening perhaps and/or with heavy overcast, amid rain-slicked deserted streets to create a more grimmer look, accentuating the articles all too obvious political bias: this is a Conservative Tory party—think GOP—governed land.
And these meetings—seemingly chance, random encounters, as if no thought given to their geographical location—happened not by chance, rather carefully selected in advance to ensure the overall picture was the result of being governed by a conservative political party, rather than the much more Democrate-like Labor.
6
All the U.K. needs to bring folks together is small, easy to fight war. Something like the Falklands War. Maybe one with Denmark or the Netherlands over fishing rights in the North Sea. That should do the trick. Flags will wave, parades, churches blessing the troops and evoking some militaristic deity’s help. Think of the fun. While thinking about it, ignore the troops that come home. Nothing succeeds like success. Of course, you must win the war. If you don’t then I have one thought for you- Vietnam.
1
Then don't do it. Don't Brexit. It was a stupid idea to begin with.
Britain requires all of its people, not a splinter group. Given the opportunity again chances are they would not vote to leave.
5
Could this writer not find one person who owned a company and made good money?
The story is totally depressing. The UK is not this poor. Reads like she was only looking to interview the poor, why is that
5
Businesses depend on skilled labor, and are very worried they won’t be able to find it after Brexit. It is the free movement of workers throughout the EU that made UK businesses successful.
Alternative description of the article: 'Journalist determined to write gloomy article about Britain goes on roadtrip and does indeed find some evidence of "Splintered Britain"'. Caption of London photo: 'Ignoring 32 London bridges that didn't suffer stabbing, writer finds site of most divisive and unrepresentative aspect of generally successful and fairly happy capital city'....merry Christmas!
6
The country sounds like the very crabby old man who hates everyone. He was rich once but now he’s not and he’s supremely bitter.
1
Somebody please explain how the Labor leader can be so distrusted and disliked that one would vote for a person and party that hold these people upside down by their ankles and shake every last coin from their pockets. And then, as if not enough, obliterate their histories. So why Boris instead of Corbyn?
3
@De Sordures "Why Boris instead of Corbyn"? SImple: buffoonish semi-competent as Johnson is, he hasn't been the target of a rabid, years-long campaign (by both his political enemies and many nominal "allies") to paint him as an out-of-touch fringie: a political anachronism kept in power by internal cabals in the Labour Party organization. Which unfortunately, isn't all just smear: Jeremy Corbyn really DOES seem to want to utterly undo Thatcherism/Blairism, and return the UK (or at least its political structure) back to an imaginary Golden Age of the 1970s. An era for which Corbyn is quite minority in viewing with nostalgia. It's even more unfortunate for Britain, as, under "normal" circumstances, the Tories would likely be facing an electoral drubbing of historic proportions for so badly bungling the Brexit mess.
But MOST unfortunately, we don't seem to live in "normal" times.
2
Another triumph for Putin.
7
Brexit simply confirms that every country is capable of enormous self-harm and becoming stupid about itself. Brexit and Trump are peas in a pod.
10
Having closely monitoring the Brexit fiasco, it’s just amazing how the Brits have managed to screw things up to this point of absurdity. Now the country is so fractured and divided by so many factions, idealist, political baffoonery........and is currently lead by a political hack spouting vague promises while creating chaos and uncertainty. My thoughts were: how can the British people be so dumb, stupid, naive and duped into their dilemma? Then it dawned on me.....we do have Donald Trump. What’s our excuse?
7
It is ironic that anyone should thinkbthat Britain was better off before it joined the EU. During the 50s and 60s life was pretty grim. The aftermath of WWII was still there and most people were not well off or cosmopolitan. Joining the EU improved most people’s lives and exposed most Britons to a wider world. Leaving the EU will change people’s lives in so many unpleasant ways. The fact that older people favor Brexit while the young don’t points to the destruction of the future caused by a false nostalgia.
653
@Richard Guha Sadly, it seems to stem from that whole Blitz mythology that Britain survived the war alone-when really they were in dire straits before help from the US and other allies. And just like the US, many working class people who would do better under a Labour government will vote against their best interests.
131
So, you’re thinking that the older boomers are favoring Brexit, because of their want to be conservative notions… They’re probably cutting their own throat’s right? So with their xenophobic pride they’ll be Brexited, to sit in town square to pound on a lonely park bench (instead of sand, as the saying goes)
9
@Richard Guha
I love your line "...the destruction of the future caused by a false nostalgia." That one phrase sums up the whole Brexit debacle for me.
64
Reading this, I can't help but think of the people in my home state of WV for whom the coal mines were everything and seem to believe that it is their right to mine coal at a good wage forever.
The world changes, new industries and technologies come and old ones become irrelevant if not unsustainable. The job of government should be to help people move on, create new lives, assist the area to find new sources of work - not "warehouse" them in place until they all die out. This is not an easy or inexpensive thing to do, but it has to be done if democracy is to survive.
697
@CountryBoy the problem with a government retraining people so they can move on...is the rabid resistance of those people to change. WV reacted against Hillary for DARING to suggest that coal is leaving, never to return.
So politicians have to lie to get elected, I guess.
144
@CountryBoy Or worse, tell them coal is coming back, and so continue to mine in a futile manner by relaxing environmental restraints until the owners throw in the towel. The winners in this world will take bold steps towards sustainable energy.
84
@CountryBoy : Nothing will happen. Conservative ideologies seldom support substantial public investment in innovative technologies and infrastructure. Wealthier conservative supporters say that doing so is the role of the private sector - why should ‘we’ pay private companies to undertake the transformative research that will reinvigorate fading communities? What they mean is that they will punish governments promising. To use tax money to spark work in new technologies. Disadvantaged ‘traditionals’ are discouraged and distrust promises of success in the future. They feel that only conservative governments can restore vanished comforts. They are wrong, but there is money to be made and dividends to be paid in return for lobbying the right politicians in favour of declining corporate sectors. The future is bleak.
25
Until the professional classes face the consequences of de-industrialization and free immigration, as these working class Brits do, the discussion will never be honest, and the state will never be responsive to the destruction of families and livelihoods.
The consequences of Brexit may be disastrous for the British economy, but the consequences of membership have already been disastrous in the eyes of the people who don't count. Their assessment may not be quite as enlightened and measured as that of their betters, but who can blame them for resenting cheap foreign labor? How many in the City would welcome such competition in their own paper-pushing professions?
7
I doubt that the UK would have voted for Brexit in 2016 without the tipping point of 1,005,504 migrants and refugees flooding into Europe from 1 January to 21 December 2015, three to four times more than in 2014.
With the EU's policy of free movement, the incredible numbers of refugees changed Europe, and was one more reason for Brits to vote Brexit.
The US attempted regime change and its purposeful destabilization of Syria was responsible for most of those refugees.
Always, unintended consequences from US destruction of countries, Iraq, Libya, Syria...
7
Excellent article and photography. Many parallels in the US.
5
I will never cease to he amazed when people vote against their own interests. I didn’t realize what was happening in rural Britain until now. We have exactly the same problem in the US. Poor people voting to have rich conservatives fleece them because “socialism.” That “socialism” paid their bills, but now that it’s gone, they’re blaming immigrants instead of themselves. I guess it never occurred to them that immigrants pay taxes and support their subsidies.
On another note, instead of crowing about the 266,000 new Amazon warehouse jobs, the US government should also publish the median wage and the distribution. Then everyone could see that if the average salary is $85,000, it’s only because a few are getting $500,000 to $10,000,000 while the vast majority have to apply for SNAP because they’re wages don’t cover living expenses.
6
Mr Cann thinks Britain was a wealthy country before the EU came along. The reality of leaving is that the poorest will get poorer, including former mining areas, and Mr Johnson’s rich friends will get richer.
It is doubly sad that people who supported Brexit were lied to and sold a past that never existed and that they believed the lies.
Time will tell, but by then it will be too late
6
Brexit is a consequence ,not a cause , of the social contract Prime Minister Thatcher shredded. After Tony Blair’s capitulation to her revanchist revolution, The UK became an economic and regional class based oligarchy based on the free movement of goods, services and people that the EU membership enabled.
Southeast England, London and other centers of the service economy prospered because of UK membership in the EU. Rural Northern England and Scotland, Ireland, Wales, the Kingdom’s old moribund industrial centers died both socially and economically. And the national government placed prosperity above social justice.
Where will the agony end ? When the consequences of this crisis created by bipartisan political folly emasculates the economy and solidifies class tribalism, perhaps the only resolution will come with the utter disintegration of the post Thatcher order.
1
Honestly, reading this article was as if it was transposed from Canada. Somehow I feel, that a lot of Americans feel the same way. It is just so sad how politics in our countries is so removed from the reality of so many people. How could this happen?
3
What the Labour manifesto says about Brexit is very centrist. It says that (a) the UK would sit with the EU for the best possible deal and (b) place that deal vs remain on another referendum.
This should placate both sides. The key word is should. Most Leavers are voting Tory because of “too many Europeans”. At the end, feeds lives on racism and not free market capitalism.
All we can hope that there is a “Youthquake” for Labour and they come to power.
1
Just as with Trump, Brexiters find external scapegoats for domestic problems that have arisen from decades of poor domestic governance. those voting for Brexit will see their fortunes diminish even further as Britain slips further into isolation and self pity following what are bound to be economically damaging and humiliating trade negotiations as little Britain tries to take on a changed world. It’s a tragedy, ruthlessly exploited by disaster capitalists and the Russian government.
3
@Sean Taylor
What does the Russian government have to do with what the British disaster capitalists have done to themselves?
The only photo with a semblance of hope is of the schoolgirls in Newry.
As a town on the border with the Irish Republic and with a population that is mainly nationalist ie Catholic, there would be no trick with Brexit. Instead, it’s about getting a good education and getting out in the world. Contrast this cultural self confidence with much of the UK including the most deprived loyalist areas such as captured in the masked youths and murals in the photo in Belfast.
What ails the UK is a wider loss of culture and place and no Brexit is not the answer. Look across the Irish Sea and you see a much more self confident country and empowered population proud of the past but also embracing the future and being part of the EU is an asset for this.
When are people going to realize that these mock voting episodes are not binding. It doesn't matter what the British people voted for, what matters is what the British and EU politicians want. First and foremost if you are a British EU commissioner in Brussels you don't want Britain out of the EU because you are out os a great job. Lets stop making believe we live in a democracy where the lowly peoples vote counts for anything, its been 3 years since brexit and the British elites and commissioners flying on the UK gulfstream 5s to Brussels don't want it to happen...and it won't.
3
The desire for Brexit among the English working class reminds me of the South Park underpants gnomes. Their plan to make money was
Phase 1: Collect Underpants
Phase 2: ?
Phase 3: Profit
The flaw in this plan is obvious: what's Phase 2? Similarly, I don't see how Brexit is going to lead to England becoming a preeminent economic power again. All I see is a nation of approximately 55 million (England's, not the UK's, population) largely surrounded by a confederation of nations with a combined population of approximately 450 million (post-Brexit EU population) that will protect its own interests, and increasingly exposed to an international economic landscape dominated by 2 distant nations.
3
The grim run-up to the inevitable Brexit, starting way back when Cameron was elected with a minority, and had to add Clegg as Vice PM, has been just awful to watch from here. The UK was coasting into old age as a quaint tourist destination, while Europe was invigorated. Now, Britain will be isolated, likely becoming just England within a decade with the separations of Scotland and Ulster.
Did the author detect anyone looking at how to make things better post-Brexit? There must be commercial and social opportunities that will result from this massive upheaval. The Tories have no vision, just the same rabid "tear it down" attitude as Trump, except they're polite, for the most part. And Labour is a total mess, Corbyn being the worst example of a leader.
America had better look closely at this turmoil and learn from the UK's mistakes — we'll be in a similar state of despair if Trump is re-elected.
3
Putin has managed to throw two of the world's most prominent republics into complete chaos. In fact, the two political entities—the US and the EU—with the world's highest GDP—now live in the miasma of resentment and back-biting the big bear spent the early twenty-first century letting loose in the geopolitical woods.
And all this Brexit-Trumpism-Epstein-Barr gone epidemic, is a kind of genius—but it's also uncanny luck.
Maddow makes the point in her study, BLOWOUT, that Russia's economy is a lonely banana made of oil and gas.
Russia has fewer people than Nigeria, Bangladesh, Brazil, or Pakistan.
Russia's economy is smaller than California's. Smaller than Italy's.
But Russia's scientific, economic, cyber, psychological and propagandistic brainpower is harnessed by the autocratic state, not allowed to operate in the private sector. Only a few simonistic oligarchs benefit. But this enforced concentration put them in space before us, drove us to build the space station when they were first planning one, and gave them an early cyber edge.
Even so. By appealing to jealousies, racism, greed, imaginary victimization, they have been uncommonly lucky to hit an even bigger well of black ooze than that planet-destroying fossil fuel on which their entire economy teeters.
Just. Such luck.
5
Because of our iniquitous first past the post system, results will be skewed. My constituency will return a Tory with a massive majority,with about one third Labour. Despising, as I do, Boris Johnson, I agonised about how to exercise my useless vote. Refraining is out of the question: the vote was too hard won. I considered spoiling my paper, writing something like "Proportional representation is fairer", but finally I have voted Green (they will lose their deposit), because they are clear on a straightforward issue that matters. My daughter's protest vote has gone Lib Dem. My grandson, just 18, missed the date, but has been fitting the forms to get his Irish passport. Whatever happens will not be simple (oven ready and turbo-boosted!!!), it will be an elaborate and time-consuming struggle. At 86 I may not see it out.
Some story about an old mine, with lots of pictures. I don't know what his point is. I lost patience.
I don’t know what’s more disconcerting, the British xenophobic response to Thatcherism and then Conservative austerity in the wake of the Great Recession, or the fact that our Republican Party appears willing to ape Russian misinformation to save a criminally incompetent president.
I guess this is what the age of the oligarchs looks like. More and more money and political power concentrated in relatively few hands, with just a veneer of democracy and the odd referendum to placate the masses. Add in relentless climate change and there will be good times for the few until everything collapses. I wonder whether the backlash will look more like the American or the French revolutions. It will certainly be hotter.
3
“I looked at what was around me, and I looked at the dilution of wages — because Europeans are coming in,” said Franco Passarelli, the son of Italian immigrants, explaining why he voted to leave the European Union. “We’re only a small island, and if people keep coming in, basically the country is starting to implode.”
Righto, Mr. Passarelli, son of Italian immigrants, immigrants are clearly the problem that Brexit must solve. The prevalence of such hypocrisy amongst immigrant families in both the UK and in Trump’s America is quite astonishing.
3
The ONLY reason Britain is splintered over Brexit is because corrupt and arrogant MPs have decided they're going to scuttle the will of the people and do all they can to prevent it. It's really a scandal that in a few years will be looked upon as a direct government intervention to usurp an election so that the rich and powerful can continue to dominate. It appears that Boris Johnson, with all his faults, is on the verge of righting a terrible wrong.
Sound familiar? The USA is going through the same thing right now. Democrats are determined to overturn the will of the people and reverse an election that didn't turn out the way they planned it. A few years from now it will be characterized for what it is: a coup by any means possible. And the only reason it won't be completed is because few men have the guts and grit of President Trump to resist it. He has given Republicans enough backbone to stand with him.
2
“I looked at what was around me, and I looked at the dilution of wages — because Europeans are coming in,” said Franco Passarelli, the son of Italian immigrants, explaining why he voted to leave the European Union. “We’re only a small island, and if people keep coming in, basically the country is starting to implode.”
The lack of self-awareness is just astounding.
9
@Andy I am British and have lived in Portugal with my French husband and Portuguese born daughter for the last sixteen years. I know of several British people who live here permanently who voted for Brexit. It's not just an astonishing lack of self awareness it's also the utter lack of empathy and the almost criminal stupidity.
142
@Andy: I read—then re-read that quote with wide eyes and a shaking head. The irony is tragic.
It's keeping illegal, disruptive migrants out of Britain which is at the heart of Brexit and the ascendency of Boris Johnson.
I would imagine that if Britain could avail itself of the economic benefits of EU membership, without getting stuck with EU rules as to immigrants and border control, that they'd enthusiastically go along with that.
I don't blame a country for wanting to exercise border and immigration control so as to preserve its national identity and not have to deal with incompatible migrants who would dilute the prevailing culture.
The nation-state Britain is for the British and those certain select foreigners whom they choose, in their sole discretion, to offer residency and eventually citizenship. This is not something that should be forced down their throats by Germany and Merkel as a condition of EU membership.
Germany already messed up Europe twice.
Here we go again.
5
@MIKEinNYC
Most of the British immigrants come from their former colonies, they have British citizenship, they are not the million Syrian refugees that came to Germany and other places on the continent.
1
It seems odd that the Brexiteers blamed the immigrants for taking low wage jobs as if they had caused Sports Direct to lower wages. The locals instead might be more on target to blame the corporations for not only lowering wages to the level of insult but to pile on top mistreatment of workers as though they were slaves. A kind of return to the feudal state thought gone long ago.
1
The UK is having the same problems as the US. The wealthy are taking everything and telling everyone else to just get over it.
5
Newsflash -- Corbyn hates the EU. He has opposed it all of his life. If he gets in (God help us), it will be the principle impediment to him carrying out his retrograde and destructive Marxist fantasy. As a proud Leaver who embraces a return of political sovereignty to the UK, I would instantly switch to Remain were Corbyn to get into power. Interesting times.
2
I think Americans think that labour is similar to the Democratic party and the UK conservatives are similar to US Republicans. Jeremy Corbyn makes Sanders & Warren seem almost Republican!!
Before joining the European Union, Britain was “quite a wealthy country,” said Mr. Cann, the former miner. “Why can’t we be that again?”
This is an often touted reason to support Brexit but it does not reflect the reality of postwar Britain in the 1960's and 1970's. While Mr. Cann and his peers may have felt secure in their jobs due to the rebuilding of British infrastructure after the bombings suffered during WWII (especially in the Midlands) in the immediate 20 postwar years; by the mid-60's the health of the British economy as a whole was in crisis. De-industrialisation, stagnation and inflation (up to 25%) were the precursors to the 1976 IMF bailout (the largest of its' kind at the time). Britain was the poor man of Europe and had to go the IMF hat in hand.
Britain was also desperate to join the EEC. In fact, after being denied entry into the EEC (by De Gaulle) twice, the UK's application was finally accepted in 1973. A referendum held in 1975 confirmed the British electorate's desire to stay in the EEC.
So this idea that Britain was balmy before joining the EEC (now EU) is pure nonsense.
The EU has been a favoured punching bag of both the Conservatives and Labour over the past 40 odd years. It's easier to blame others than to hard look at yourself to understand your own failures.
The EU is not perfect by any means. Cameron would have served his country better if he had held a referendum on EU reform. The UK would be in a much stronger position if he had.
200
@YL This, exactly
4
@YL I agree - the 1960s and 1970s were not good in the UK. My dad was a surveyor who was considering a job on the Alaskan oil pipeline in the 1970s and we would have emigrated to Canada. In the end we didn't go, but a school friend and her family emigrated to Australia.
4
@YL I was born in the sixties and can remember the seventies well. It was difficult for my family.
2
People around the world have lost confidence in a government process that helps them.They see governments as institutions that serve the highest bidders.The corporations, the wealthy and they see that they are not included. They see politicians interested mainly in their own interests.
They see money as the great mover of policy not civic needs.
We have more wealth then ever but the distribution is more unequal then ever.
Until people see government able to represent them they will want to "burn it down".
4
During the industrial revolution, when Great Britain attained its highest economic profile, there was coal/energy and manufacturing. The economic future of Great Britain and other industrial nations that 'make stuff' will be decided on how they get their energy. Those nations that rely on coal, natural gas, and other fossil fuels but don't have the reserves, will be at the mercy of those manufacturing nations that do have the reserves, like the US, Russia, etc. A combination of superior manufacturing techniques that produce superior and more competitive products coupled with lower cost and pollution freer energy; in other words alternative energy.
Given that the future of energy will be focused on wind and solar, batteries, hydrogen, etc. those nations that lead in these areas will have the advantage. It is estimated that 15% of the electricity that flows through the grids of most nations is lost to the inefficiency of the grid due to the patchwork aspect. Rebuilding the grids would pay for itself. The initial investment with government subsidies, into wind and solar would pay for the higher wages needed locally to build and expand alternative energy sources. The money's there. The way exists. The question is why is it not being done? The answer is the status quo. Revolution is the greatest power in advancing society and redistributing wealth, the oxygen of life.
6
This was a fantastic read. I can't but help to see, especially in the comments from Shirebrook, the same politics at play in the U.S. Anger and hatred directed not at the Conservative government that closed the mine down with no real plan for the displaced workers or town, but instead at European workers taking the jobs at the abusive warehouse with low wage job. Visit any midwestern U.S. town with an aging, shrinking populace and a meatpacking plant with a large migrant community working difficult low wage jobs and you'll see the same emotions at play. We're being divided for political gain, with all of us losing in the process except those in power.
27
@Andy Agreed. And while there are many differences between the US and the UK - particularly, the UK's varied nations, histories, and loyalties, that most of us here will never know exist, let alone comprehend - one thing is for certain: ignorance and emotion will be the lever by which conservative politician's protect their power and their benefactors. Indeed, while immigration is routinely blamed for lowered wages, it is in actuality the lowered wages that fail to provide for the natives thereby causing the need for immigration.
3
The prevailing emotion reading this is sadness. The UK is rich enough for people to live well in all regions. Instead, the Conservative party has overseen a massive transfer of wealth to the rich and the gutting of public services, mostly in the last 9 years. Brexit has served Boris Johnson and his ilk too well: they have been able to redirect anger they deserve to Europe which is not responsible for Britain's austerity. Five more years of this - while negotiating a trade agreement with the EU and everyone else (Brexit is hardly something that can be 'done and dusted' in a year but nobody has explained this) may well be the final nail in the UK's coffin, with Ireland unitiing and Scotland going it alone. The Tories own this debacle entirely. The only thing they have been good at is demonizing Labour. As the government of the past nine years, they have been the most regressive force in recent British history.
17
@S North - Apparently the people of the UK forgot about their little Tony Blair foray into into Iraq at the request of George W. Bush.
2
Britain joined the EU in 1973. In autumn & winter 76/ 77 I lived in London and Essex. However, I did not experience a rich and wealthy Britain, but a Britain, which was held back from a outdated infrastructure and not as prosperous as Germany, where I am from. Therefore, I can not agree with the statement, Britain well off before joining the European Union, assuming that three years from joining to my arrival did not make much difference in Britains economy.
10
“The warehouse provides more jobs than the mine did, but it is mostly low-paid work in humiliating conditions.”
That statement in this finely written article summarizes the current plight in the U.S., Britain and other places in Europe.
Job creation, so highly touted yesterday by the republicans, should be countered by quantified by the actual numbers of ‘good’ paying jobs.
As the author explains, more jobs were created at the warehouse than the mines but look at the pay, the working conditions and how many were displaced by people willing to work for less from other parts of Europe.
Here, Americans worry that globalization has taken far more jobs than it created.
Brexit voting next week will reflect the urban/rural divide like it is in America. The rise of Trump and Brexit see to come from the same causality. Boris Johnson and Donald Trump are not the answer and voters will decide that over the next year.
47
Brexit is a symptom of first world growing pains. Our world is transitioning and the non wealthy in the first world are feeling the pain. The middle class continues to shrink, the wealthy are getting more wealthy (but not fast enough for them...)
Since good paying jobs are becoming more scarce, it is not surprising that people see immigrants as labor competition. Unfortunately this pain of first world transition is not ending anytime soon. There are no easy answers (including Brexit/no Brexit.)
36
Britain, like America, is suffering a post-industrial economy. In both countries, national governments have failed to find a replacement for the millions of well paid jobs provided by industry. There has been anger for years in the lower income parts of the country but not much in London where the most powerful figures reside.
The Conservatives under Cameron were so out of touch with the mood that the poll that they thought they would easily win a referendum on future EU membership. The result was due to anger in general not just on the EU.
(With the US Presidential elections, the voters went for Trump - same frustration).
Assuming Britain leaves the EU, some issues will have to be dealt with. Will the Scotland and Norther Ireland wish to remain in the UK? How well can the UK trade with the EU as a nonmember and trade independently with there rest of the world. They are huge issues brought about by frustration and anger by the less well off as well as dismay on the governance from Brussels.
One thing that seems fairly certain, the UK government now has a lot better notion of what matters to the country as a whole.
14
@roger
Trump lost by over 3 million votes and only about 50% of eligible voters participated in the 2016 election. That fact should not be forgotten as we view the crazy dislocations caused by Trump and his corrupt appointees and ignorant and bigoted followers.
An export-led industrial revival appears to be the only way out for the UK to survive post-Brexit, but travelling through the country leads one to believe that there's no political will right now. Britain is facing formidable challenges to its manufacturing industry from the new players - China and a few developing countries. Europe appears to be a closed door for UK industrial exports. Wherever Britain wants to get in, they'll see that the Chinese have already planted their flag with attractive financial terms. Britain will likely find doors closed everywhere and if Brexit happens, London will cease to be attractive. What the UK needs now is a statesman and not a clown as its leader, someone who can work across cultures and countries. It's no longer Churchill's world now! The world is sailing rapidly by the English waters.
30
A chilling reflection of circumstances across the Atlantic.
2
I love Britain and Brits and think they will be fine. I understand that some Brits don't want to be, or be seen as, the provincial cousins, the ones left behind, the ready-to-party dragged home by parents.
I think it's easier to make good decisions when I can listen to my inner voice, and there are good reasons, these days, to seek that kind of voice, as an individual or as a nation. Europe, like most developed places, is pretty happy with giving Greta Thunberg awards and interviews, and setting up more committees to pick at the low fruit and just maybe a bit in the middle. But it's beholden to economic drivers which are incompatible with the kinds of change that are needed, including the rejection of "growth" and a mindset braced for chronic scaling back and focusing on local ecologies.
Someday people may thank Brits for saying No, we'll figure it out ourselves, or we won't, but we're going to try. It's cynical to reject the ambitions of high-minded Europe, but there are good reasons to do so, as well as not good. If I were a betting man, I'd put my money on Britain. Hang in there, Britain! You've got everything you need. Listen to your better angels, and of course, don't coddle the wrong reasons for what was, hopefully, a good choice.
6
Looks to me like a reporter AND a photographer made this trip. I have been a reporter -- working sometimes even for this very fine newspaper. The photographers contribute. A lot. Every reporter knows it. So nice piece Mr. Kingsley and props to photographer Laetitia Vancon for the pix and other unacknowledged work.
48
There could be widespread prosperity if Governments - Labour and Conservative - had recognised that to combat climate change requires the creation of jobs: not only those designing, building and installing solar panels, for example, but those marketing them.
Here in Hove, one of many places in which rich and poor live - literally - alongside one another, I have found people in state of bewilderment during each of this year's three Election (Local, Euro and now General).
My sense is that it will be another Hung Parliament: the best result for debate to continue.
5
Having forced myself to read, and really understand what Brexit truly means, ever since the beginning, I can say possibly say I have come full circle. Meaning, Brexit is the worst thing for the UK, but the best for the people of each country. It truly represents a failure of the UK gov't from taking care of its people, allowing for the nation to separate into special interests of all four countries, working against each other and not as a union of different countries. In some respects it may be better if Brexit happens, and the UK breaks up, with England being the only country not a part of the EU. I have a feeling there will be a lot of happy people. One thing for sure, based on what we see today, the EU has more to offer each country than the present gov't of UK.
17
As an American, it struck me on my trips to England - before Brexit was a thing - that Brits have a strong work ethic. Indeed, other than the Swiss, they were the rare folk who didn’t criticize Americans’ obsession with work and productivity.
The point? Europe continues to evolve to a culture of work less and enjoy more time off. Nothing wrong with that IF you’re willing to pay higher taxes and cut your pension benefits to do so. We all know that our French friends, in general, are a prime example of wanting it both ways.
So, do our U.K. partners share the decreasing work ethic of most European countries? Not likely. Do they want to subsidize the social benefits of other countries unwilling to pay their own share? I’m no fan of Boris - he’s Trump minus 150 lbs. - and think the Brexit saga is a farce, other than its social implications.
Unity is great when all involved are willing to pay it forward and contribute to the common good . Not so much when they’re not.
8
@Robert
The British, not the EU, are in full charge of their government. In the EU they are full members with veto rights, and the EU never told them how to govern at home. Britain begged to become a member of the EU because their economy was in trouble then and most likely they will blame the EU if Brexit does not deliver as expected.
5
@ARL: Your comment would add value to mine were it on-point. The point made was why Britain/UK, now part of an EU rife with increasing economic discontent, would continue to subsidize the inequities I mentioned. Your response did not address the imbalances in funding an EU plagued by those wanting something for nothing.
2
@Robert
Wealthy states like Germany contribute more than other states, but it is well worth it, peace and prosperity go together it is beats wars and destruction that come together too.
People don't want something for nothing, they do know all have to contribute to pay for the benefits they have. People want jobs that pay enough to live in dignity. When there are jobs the unemployment rate goes down too.
Good jobs are needed for stable middle-class families. Everyone gains, and yes, there are always some people who will fall through the cracks too. There will always be problems to take care of, it is not perfect, but pretty good.
to the man that wanted to know why Britain used to be a wealthy country before the EU and why it couldn't go back to that. the short answer is because it's no longer a colonial power. Britain went from being a colonial power, to a struggling economy post two b world wars, to joining the EU (after first being rejected for membership) to remaking themselves as a finance industry powerhouse. it simply boggles my mind that so many Brits, believe that leaving the EU will translate into it returning to its previous stature as a wealthy powerhouse of an island nation, when it no longer has the same resources or access to similar resources, and it will lose its role as the financial capital of Europe, which is already starting to happen.
67
@coco
This is a false assumption and maybe a little anachronistic!
First of all Britain IS a wealthy country right now and will probably remain so, even "Little England", if she finally does leave the EU.
Secondly, I never hear from any Brit a desire to return to a colonial Empire. I only hear it from other people stuck in the past usually with an ax to grind.
Britain was a master nation builder and spreader of constitutional liberalism (on which modern democracy, including ours, is based). Do you honestly believe the United States would exist today had it not been for British people. By all means reply in English!
Thirdly, Britain, after WW2, could not afford to maintain her Empire (much of it already in an independent commonwealth especially by 1950). Generally it is considered that Britain gave more to her Empire than took from it.
The effects of both World Wars, British and World public opinion, American hegemonic imperial ambition, and Socialism (especially that instilled in colonial education) saw the end of Empire.
In 2006, Britain finally paid off her war loans to the United States thereby relieving her of a liability that helped depress its economy for sixty years!
The difficulties faced by Britain after WW2 as it adapted - something like empty nest syndrome - were to do with the austerity brought about by WW1 and WW2.
The loss of Empire was actually not the loss of assumed wealth, but the loss of liability!
3
@Adam Pretty creative spin. Interesting that the Tories (abetted by the Lib Dems) instituted yet another orgy of austerity a scant four years after paying off those WWII debts to the U.S..
Great photos! Somber. Capturing the grim mood of the people and towns the article talks about.
Please send the same two people through Mississippi and West Virginia. I would love to see what they capture.
48
The UK is actually quite progressive and not necessarily looking backward. It de-industrialized first. Contrary to your travelogue a lot of the north is economically prosperous. People don't work in satanic mills anymore they work in IT, law, media and insurance. Their costs are much lower than the south of England and work is moving north.
My family came to Canada from the UK when I was an infant, I returned after I graduated. I'm by far the most economically successful. if you have a good education there are plenty of jobs available and British culture is unmatched. Access to Europe is a bonus.
22
@AngloSaxon There is a major qualifier in what you are saying, namely "if you have a good education." If you don't for whatever reason, your prospects are extremely limited. Education or the lack thereof seems to be a crucial factor dividing the haves and the have-nots in both the United Kingdom and the United States. It was those who were left behind in a post-industrial United States, such as the former coal miners and those formerly working in heavy industry, who bought into Trumps MAGA campaign.
It seems as though the same thing may be happening in the United Kingdom. Both countries are demonizing immigrants from poorer countries who are willing to take jobs working in conditions and for wages that UK or US citizens would not accept.
Neither Brexit nor MAGA will not solve the problems of those who have been displaced. Only forward thinking can begin to alleviate these problems. This has to start with a recognition that creating more opportunities for the already wealthy to get even wealthier at the expense of the middle and working classes will only make the existing problems worse. These nations also need to recognize that fossil fuels are a thing of the past. Even if a coal mine or a steel mill were to be reopened today, it would not employ nearly as many people as it employed in the past because automation has eliminated many of those jobs. The future demands the expansion of alternative sources of energy such as solar and wind energy.
2
The core problem is that UK voters were not asked the right question several years ago when asked wether or not to leave the EU. The ballot question simply asked if they should leave. It failed to mention the myriad of major problems such as if it would be okay if the Irish border issue went one way or the other.
22
“Before joining the European Union, Britain was ‘quite a wealthy country,’ said Mr. Cann, the former miner. ‘Why can’t we be that again?’”
Really? I seem to recall that the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s were all decades of economic uncertainty in BritaIn.
41
I'm British born but, with hard work, got out.
Before Brexit, in my return trips to see family, I would note this at the airport: there would be one admission lane for British passport holders, and another for "All other EU members". (Whereas at Berlin, for example, admission for all EU members, including Germans themselves, was one line.) I would pay with pound sterling while my fellow Europeans paid in Euros. The EU in the popular imagination was a pomp and paperwork thing that happened in Continental Europe, like an aunt's quirky birthday party that you hear about and laugh fondly, or wince at the pictures, without really acknowledging: that's your actual family, you're *part* of that.
So when the UK voted to "leave" the EU, it seemed ironic. The UK only ever had one foot in the EU to begin with. It was its best foot -- its foot forward -- and by leaving it will shoot itself in both of them. But the premise of many a Leave argument was that the EU had become overbearing -- just laughable. What has become overbearing, unfortunately, is the woefully aggrandized nationalism of some of Britain's leaders. Good luck.
74
Let's face it, the EU proves that Germany won WW2. German's goal was to dominate Europe, and in this they ultimately succeeded, with France solidly standing behind them as envisioned in 1940. The idea of Britain independent of the EU is very attractive and would most certainly lead to a reconfiguration of the economic and social landscape. It would also lead to a closer relationship between the United States and Britain, something elites and their followers seem to want. But it won't be good for everyone.
8
@Antoine
Germany has the lowest per-capita representation in the European Parliament, and makes the greatest net payment to EU programs and institutions.
Apparently the plan "to dominate Europe" involved giving Poles, Greeks, Romanians, and Portuguese a lot more say in how German money would be spent?
16
@Erik Rensberger
And for many years Germany was and still is the paymaster of the EU financing the developing poorer nations, helping to lift their standards of living.
@Erik Rensberger Germany can afford to let the others you mention a greater say in how German money is spent because Germany has the greater prosperity and more money available. And yes, that's exactly how they dominate Europe.
1
Throughout it all, I still do not know if this was a necessary decision. In part I do blame the EU, cramming bureaucracy everywhere. But still, Britain is quite dependent on the rest of the continent.
2
A lot of the economic pain experienced in this article has occurred while the UK was part of the EU and because of policies imposed on the UK by the EU. Many hope that Brexit will free the UK from the endless restraints imposed on the UK by the EU. The future can hardly be worst than the past.
Welsh and Scottish independence is a chimera. The south of Britain is the economic engine pulling along the west and north. They all need to pull together and they need to get out of the EU. The EU has a lot of problems economic and social that the UK should escape.
This is an excellent article, very well written. This is why I subscribe to the NYT despite the fact that I do not always agree with its political points of view.
12
@Robert Breeze
first, the UK chose to be a member to improve their economy, as a full member of the EU the UK participated in in the decision-making process with full veto power. The UK has a sovereign government. The mistakes they made at home are theirs, the EU has nothing to do with it.
The EU, Russia, and China could form trade agreements too. Germany has been using Russian gas for decades, they never had problems, Russia always honored the contracts. Russia is a European nation and shares a border with China. They are in the process of building an Asia/European railroad for container shipments from Central Europe all the way to China.
The UK and the US have economic and social problems they can't escape either. There will always be problems to deal with.
1
The wealthy are doing just fine in the UK and US. The rest of us need to be patient while they fiddle with the algorithms.
31
“He found a country united only by its disunity.” You could also be describing the US.
39
I find it sad and ironic that the Conservative governments tore down and privatized their only real industries, left the people in these communities with no alternatives and then proceeded to create an even worse situation by working to push Britain out of the EU. Instead, the entire United Kingdom is facing decades of chaos, probable break up and poverty created by the isolationist fictions deployed by Boris "The Human Q-tip" Johnson and his party.
In particular, the Celtic nations of Scotland, Wales and Ireland - whose best interests have never been front and center in London, will likely suffer the most. Because England, at the end of the day, will do what benefits England. The others will be forced to take whatever scraps are left.
That is: Unless they declare their independence, which frankly I hope they do. This would put a final exclamation point on over 300 years of occupation in countries that historically, linguistically, culturally and politically are not English.
The final diminution and break up of the storied British Empire will be Boris Johnson's epitaph.
292
@BothSides
Balkanization for the United Kingdom, executed by the man named Boris.
Might not be such a bad idea for the United States. Let the East and West Coast combine with some random, non contiguous states like New Mexico and Minnesota and Illinois to form the "New United States of North America" and allow the Confederacy to "rise again" and stew in its own reactionary broth with those rugged individualists in the Mountain states.
24
Having a heritage of Irish, Scotch, Welsh and French Canadian, I’ve always hoped my cousins in those countries would declare their freedom.
13
@BothSides Boris Johnson is a narcissist who cares only about hanging on to power - and keeping his ultra wealthy backers happy. He cares not a jot for the United Kingdom and the damage being done to the union, the economy and its social fabric. Ten years of a Conservative government have delivered huge inequality, the calamitous 2016 Referendum and a weakened economy.
20
So that is the view from the isles - very well! Seen from the other side of the Cannel, things are not so grim. I lived in Germany for 30 years where I finally grasped what German’s generally now want : a state devoted more to the citizen and less to corporate entities. I saw the frustrations that Germans had with the English view of class and corporate power, since for 10 years I worked in marketing in a Germano-Anglo company. Even our German boss was at time shocked by the English side’s classism. Our side of the firm was much more democratic - our boss was one of us - he left his door open when he was working. We spent leisure time together over wine and beer. Not so in London, where a strict social order was observed.
I think that Europe will thrive without the English brakes and nostalgia for the past. I do hope that North Ireland, Scotland and Wales are able to join the E-Union where they would better find acceptance for their diverse languages and traditions.
78
@Robb Kvasnak it reminds me very much of the American system.I am a German living now in he States and it is a political system hard to understand and it's working conditions are nothing like Europe. Definitely not a true democracy.
30
@GB The US has never been a democracy-it's a republic. Two different systems.
3
It's too bad the UK doesn't have a super majority standard for monumentally huge decisions like Brexit. A tiny simple majority like 51 to 49% is so close as to be immaterial. A 60% requirement for major decisions like this would have been far better in my opinion. This is the standard under corporate governance rules for major decisions for similar reasons. If the decision will have huge, far lasting impacts you should make darn sure the country is really strongly behind the change.
33
@bill That would require a written constitution in plain english so all who read it would know the rules.
The trouble is the Tory party and most of the UK media would oppose the introduction of a written constitution because any such document would reshape politics in the UK and the balance of power between the different social classes.
In 2019 who with a straight face could argue that an
un-elected monarch should have any place in a written constitution. The introduction of a written constitution would inevitably finish off the monarchy. In the UK the monarchy is and will remain the biggest obstacle to social progress.
9
Good Luck, Brits! But, no matter what, there will always be an England!
8
@Counter Measures Why would you think that?
1
@Counter Measures
Big government Democrats / Liberals/ Progressives hate Brexit, because they want to be able to control as many lives as easily as possible.
1
@Jabin
I am a Democrat and you are not describing me.
The poor Brits have a difficult choice. Crazy Boris or Looney Corbyn. In any event the UK will eventually shrink to just England. Scotland will be the first to go, then possibly Wales. N. Ireland inevitably will reunite with the Republic though the Republic doesn't want the cost of carrying the expensive North. Bottom line, the sun set upon the British Empire almost 100 years ago and what will he left is little England.
22
Great Britain, the British Empire, Britannia, all long dead words from the days when Great Britain, by way of its imperialist methods, ruled much of the world, economically and physically; those who want out of the European Union are hung up on this long dead days, tilting at windmills, harboring some impossible dream of a return to this false greatness, false because it was achieved through direct and deliberate subjugation of other sovereign nations.
Johnson is the English version of Trump, wholly aligned with his thinking, and champing at the bit to get Brexit done so the European Union rules no longer apply with respect to economic and environmental prospects, opening the door wide to allow the wholly corrupt corporate owned government of the United States access to British markets, all British markets, including Healthcare ...
The British may wake up in the few days, see how they are being manipulated, and send Boris Johnson and his Tory associates packing, and in the process destroy the society destroying trade deal Trump has waiting.
27
Again, high handed NYT commentators refuse to see the point of view of people from the “other side”.
The reason that these people voted for Brexit is that they felt completely abandoned and put down by their government and depressed by their employment prospects. After the coal mine closed, there were no more well-paying jobs. All that was left were low paying jobs in a warehouse where the workers were clearly mistreated. “Most residents refused to work in such a degrading environment, so the jobs are largely taken by people from poorer parts of the European Union. In the local consciousness, the concept of regional decline then became fused with that of European immigration....”.
Had there not been immigrants willing to take those jobs under such abusive, low-paying conditions, the towns people could have unionized to bring about fairer wages and less abusive conditions.
I dislike Brexit and Trump, but when a group (in the USA, it’s the progressive, far left) chooses to valorize immigrants over the voters who already in place, all they are doing is facilitating more labor exploitation, employer abuse and general misery for those who are left behind. The liberals I used to know would never have ignored these sorts of labor issues, but now the Far Left turns its ire on the working class “schlubs” calling them bigots instead of working with them. That is the core reason we have Brexit and Donald Trump.
29
@Swing State Voter
On the other hand, if the UK had by then somehow achieved the relationship with Europe that many Brexiters say they want now -- essentially free trade in goods without freedom of movement for people -- would the facility have been built in Britain at all? Sports Direct could have gone where the cheaper labor was, if it could not come to them. They ship worldwide anyway.
5
@Swing State Voter
I get what you mean and maybe you are right. But you can‘t blame the immigrants for that or the fact that there is a warehouse now instead of a mine. There are not many good jobs in a warehouse- and in a few years the most jobs will be done by robots anyway.
Politics need to be blamed here. They should have set the foundation in order to prepare people for a structural change by paying re-education, set incentives to open new businesses, etc..
This is what happens when you channel all the money into the big cities and into the hands of a few.
2
@Swing State Voter "Again, high handed NYT commentators refuse to see the point of view of people from the “other side”.
I didn't get that from the article at all. In fact, it made me more sympathetic to the Brexiters. There's no winning either way for them.
1
"....in Shirebrook and beyond, the frustrations were rooted in Brexit."
It's the other way around - Brexit is rooted in frustrations, which provided fertile soil for Brexiteers to plant their false promises.
Deindustrialization and the decay of services had nothing to do with the EU, but enough Brits were persuaded otherwise. As a former Brit I weep that not only that the UK wrote itself a suicide note in June 2016 but that the country has produced no leader articulate enough to talk the would-be suicide out of completing the act. In the UK's biggest peacetime crisis of modern times, it lacks a modern-day Churchill; a charlatan sits in 10 Downing Street and a self-absorbed mealy-mouthed pretender leads the opposition.
I hope against hope that the voters will deprive both of an overall parliamentary majority, and give themselves a chance to reverse the disastrous Brexit vote, which was sold by lies.
11:00 EST, 12/07
25
@mancuroc Couldn't have said it any better.
As a Canadian of British parents, I spent more than a decade (74-85) in the UK and witnessed first hand the dismantling of UK industry over that period. It was a purely-British own-goal. Starting with Thatcher's (and best bud Reagan's) religious embrace of supply side economics that led to globalisation, unchecked free markets, to the dismantling of trade unions, the shuttering of coal mines and much of the steel industries. The net effect was economic devastation of the North and Midlands. But is wasn't just the government's fault; British industry was riddled with problems from top to bottom, from lack of investment to poor management and a toxic relationship with unions, British industries demise was inevitable - and nothing to do with the EU.
Having returned to Canada many years ago I, like you, can only look on in horror at the disaster that is now unfolding. I still have lots of family and friends over there and hope against all the odds that by some miracle the Brexit nightmare can be stopped.
1
No one has yet clearly explained why anyone thought it would be a good idea to hold such a momentous vote in 2016 --arranged on short notice, with very little time for the electorate to genuinely understand the short-term and long-term ramifications of their vote, while enduring nonstop propaganda and disinformation.
Again, this next vote is rigged in favor of Brexit, with those opposed to it taking votes away from each other. I really thought the English were smarter than us. Sorry blokes -- you're equally as gullible, uninformed, and ignorant as American voters. The only question is: Will all of us start waking up soon and realize that they're being manipulated by Putin and conservatives in the UK and US. I haven't given up hope yet, but maybe I should.
22
@Jeff Why the vote? Hubris, and the gods smote mightily.
We just came back from Ireland and the locals say “it’s time all of Ireland was made whole again!” The British Empire is no more , and they feel the U.K. is holding on out of unfounded and unrealistic fear of the unknowns.
Conversely, the Irish do not recognize the fact that, after hundreds of years of servitude to England they finally gained their freedom only to give it up to the velvety largess of The European Unions slow, but inexorable stranglehold on them with new laws upon new laws being passed by the faceless rulers in The Hague.....!
2
@Moe The EU member nations have a veto. Nothing is imposed. It is consensus rule - which is why things take a while, but it is fair.
1
@Moe If what you write is true, I wonder why polls in Ireland put the support for continuing in the EU at somewhere around 90%.
As for the "faceless rulers in the Hague", Ireland is unique among all the members of the EU in that any proposed EU treaty between EU members has to go to a referendum. If the referendum fails, the proposed treaty is a dead duck, as all members must must approve the treaty.
After all the ineptitude and corruption of the mid 1990s to the mid 2000s, Ireland has settled into a modern, democratic and progressive country, quite content to be in the EU.
1
Chaos, disunity and unrest. - another win for Russia. Take another Brexit vote.
17
Picture the world as an apple pie. As more people in the world want a piece of it, the pieces become smaller to the point that some always get more and some get none. This is becoming more and more apparent not only in Britain, but everywhere. Societies move on and the progression (whether we do or don't become a part of it) continues. Some enjoy the ride and some get left out sometimes through no fault of there own, but it happens. In a planetary timeline, we're only here for a second. We all arrive here on our own and we all leave here on our own. All the struggles and fights we have along the way will go unnoticed in the end as we all fade into oblivion.....just trying to put things into perspective!
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@Bella The notion of a shortage of pie is entirely manufactured: Funny how more and more of those pieces end up in fewer and fewer hands.
10
A must read, not only for an understanding of Brexit's impact, but as a microcosm of larger global trends.
The devastating effects of the conservative policies of privatization and deregulation on the working class in the U.K. are nearly identical to those in the U.S.
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Brits by a 7 in 10 super majority voted for Brexit. Their elected leaders refuse to implement Brexit. Is Great Britain a democracy that carries out the will of the people, or a nation of peasants ruled by an aristocracy of bureaucrats who believe all power resides with them?
9
@paul The result was 51.9% vs. 48.9%. And nobody refuses to implement Brexit. The quarrel is about which kind of Brexit should be implemented.
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@paul As the above commenter noted, it was a bare majority, with 1/3 of people not voting at all. If polls are to be trusted, a vote on a 2nd referendum would vote down Brexit by a much larger majority.
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@paul Actually, the vote was far from 7 in 10 voting “for” Brexit. More like slightly in favor - 5.2 in 10. Just under 52% voted to leave. On top of that, many Britons did not take the vote seriously, and were merely trying to make a statement, thinking it would never pass. Further, campaigns of misinformation by some of their so-called leaders (including Boris Johnson) did not help matters.
14
Given 10 years of austerity and the objective material circumstances of the working class and lower middle class it should be a shoe in for Labour.
To counter and undermine the objective material reality that working class people live and see with their own eyes, the under-funding of schools, the run-down of social service provision, the food-banks in every town.The party of the ruling class the Tory party have used lies ‘post truth’ to distort the subjective perceptions of the working class. They can do this because there are no major publications that back Corbyn and in the UK especially during election time television news follows the lead taken by the print/online publications.
What remains an unanswered question is, has the media distorted an understanding of reality in enough of the electorate to ensure a victory for the Tory party. Because if there was still investigative journalism to be found in the UK press and the electorate knew of the real choice they have been offered. That the Labour party manifesto is a serious document fully costed and it’s clear plenty of research and thought has gone into its production and the Tory party manifesto is by comparison a slim document with bullet points where you would expect to find paragraphs and references. If the working class and lower middle class can still see the Tory party clearly for what it is, a political party that represents the political interests of the ruling class, Labour will win.
13
Well said; I'm betting Johnson and his ruling class lose, big time.
1
As shown in the article, there are those that will not vote Labour because of Corbyn. Why can’t Labour come up with a leader that isn’t a dogmatic socialist and has a wider appeal? Leaders such as him are living in the past as much as those pining for the good old days. Some youthful vigor would be helpful instead of the same moribund old pols. I realize this is an outsider’s simplistic take.
1
@Mel Farrell I hope you are right.
Despite what the polls here are predicting it will be close. Probably another hung parliament.
1
‘Before joining the European Union, Britain was “quite a wealthy country,” said Mr. Cann, the former miner. “Why can’t we be that again?”
This comment by Mr. Cann summarized the angst and wishful thinking that is prevalent all over the deindustrialized portions of the west. Nostalgia for the past coupled with blame of someone (immigrants) exploited by demagogues (Boris, Farage, Trump, Brannon).
In Silicon Valley, the land of startups, there is a term called the pivot. It’s what startups do when they think things aren’t working. Conservatives in the U.K. and US are pivoting.
But what the people like Mr Cann will realize is that there is no going back. Leave the EU and the mine will not come back. Only immigrants want to work at the warehouse. The warehouse will also leave once the immigrants are gone. Things will get more expensive for Mr. Cann. Meanwhile, London and Cambridge will continue to do well despite Boris and Brexit.
12
@BR
All of those wonderful, "disruptive" startups in Silly Valley are compounding the problem and making it virtually impossible for working people across the West to "pivot" to any kind of a sustainable economic model with the advent of the AI Revolution.
Things are going to get very interesting indeed when people across the West stop blaming immigrants for their plight and instead direct their anger towards "the land of startups".
That day is rapidly approaching, and the backlash is going to be unprecedented, and quite violent, I'm afraid.
Silicon Valley has one last chance to "pivot" and thereby avoid a global cataclysm.
You've been solving the wrong problems for two decades, while the middle class has spiralled downward.
Stop drinking the Kool-Aid and pivot to a model where you create economic opportunity rather than destroy it on a massive scale, as you've been doing.
Or suffer the very dire consequences.
London, Cambridge, New York, San Francisco, and Mountain View will burn before hundreds of millions of working people accept your worldview.
And finally, the US "pivot" brought us Trump. And things are only going to get worse.
So thanks for all that, Silicon Valley.
2
This is not a BREXIT or No BREXIT problem. It is a world wide problem that needs to be addressed globally by world leaders.
-Birth Control (especially in poorer countries)
-Equitable distribution of wealth (taxes & wages)
-Safety net through social programs
-Cut down on waste and preserve resources
-Stop wars and military spending
-End sanctions to curb immigration
-Vehemently stamp out corruption
-Continuous skill training and enhancement
-Address global warming
-etc...
21
I was wondering why the article was so resolutely negative and then I noticed its author is a journalist for the anti-Brexit Guardian newspaper in the UK and everything fell into place.
Nowhere does the artice mention that the United Kingdom has near record low unemployment, has a large number of jobs unfilled, is the recipient of record levels of inward foreign investment totalling more than any other country in the EU, with an economy that has outperformed both Germany and France in the last two years.
This is not a picture of my country that I recognise.
11
@Cuthbert Rizla sounds a bit like the US. Problem is that under the surface things are actually quite dire for all too many if you pay attention.
10
@Cuthbert Rizla I live in St.Helens not far from M62 and I recognise the picture painted in this article. London gets 3 times the funding from central government than any other part of the UK, so its no surprise to those who live in the North there is more of everything in the capital.
4
We’re next.
Got my mind around that happening.
And it would be for the best.
1
So how does Labour fall under the thrall of Jeremy Corbyn and discredit itself, Americans might wonder. So how does the Republican Party fall under the thrall of Donald Trump and discredit itself, someone from the U.K. or Ireland might wonder.
These are perilous times, times when nations could be transformed into unrecognizable forms, times when people who know better allow themselves to be corrupted by leaders they don’t respect and would previously have considered the punchlines of bad jokes.
Obviously the situation is different in our two countries. Here we have an abhorrent president, but we still have some prospects of turning him out of office by election, unless the inevitable failure of our effort to hold him to account for his actions demoralizes his opponents and encourages those who are eager for him to do worse. But we will have a choice that could turn us away from the abyss, at least. It doesn’t appear from here that the citizens of the U.K. and Ireland even have that.
11
"...the Ravenscraig steelworks was shut and dismantled in 1992, after being privatized by London’s Conservative government. That put an estimated 10,000 residents out of work, including Mr. Brennan."
Overlapping the same time period the conservative government cut the top tax rate by more than half, to 40%.
12
Great article. Awesome photography!
10
Several thoughts none likely to be popular:
1) Why exactly did anyone at all believe the people who's lives are getting worse & worse in the era of de-industrialization & let's ship every job we can to third world. Why would anyone believe these people would vote for the status quo? Conservatives may not be their friends but neither is a labor party more concerned with urban hipsters then the abandoned post industrial areas.
2) It is easy for my fellow commenters (Most of whom are in the upper middle class bubble) to proclaim sacrifices have to be made and necessary it was & is to destroy livelihoods and people AND THEIR CHILDREN'S futures, In the name of what? Improving the 3rd world & Making life better for Urban hipsters? Retraining for all the proclamations is a JOKE in both the US & the UK. It doesn't lead to better paying jobs it doesn't lead a future. No one hires a former Coal Miner or Factory worker when they can hire a freshly graduated 20 year old for half the price.
Lastly it is easy for the upper middle class to proclaim what a wonderful boon immigration is since they generally don't have to compete for living space, jobs & Medical care with them. For those on the lower end of the economic ladder it isn't a wonderful thing. All the benefits of immigration & Globalization? They have gone to the upper middle class & the 1%! The rest of us have been told tough luck & Shut up! And the winners wonder why Trump & Brexit won? Talk about separate worlds!
14
It’s a matter of leadership. Do you think the UK would be in this situation if a Churchill was in office? Of course not.
5
As an Irish (fallen) Catholic, I still have some affinity for the lands of my forefathers. I would imagine others like us might have some of the same feelings, too.
These days, we’re not alone – at least when it comes to politics. Once again, the NYT has deftly characterized a complex subject through an excellent narrative about ordinary people – this time – over there. It’s long but not too long since there are numerous pictures of the very gloomy weather – something that we fortunately do not share with our friends across the pond.
6
With all the descriptions of an un-united UK, why so little discussion about Russia’s role in fracturing democratic societies worldwide? Putin is winning the cyber war in the U.S. as well as the U.K. Or perhaps it is Ukraine that is behind it all.
13
I got to this part, and then started scratching my head:
“I looked at what was around me, and I looked at the dilution of wages — because Europeans are coming in,” said Franco Passarelli, the son of Italian immigrants...
The global economy has changed and it’s not going to suddenly shift once Brexit happens. The rest of the world will continue while Britain fights for new trade agreements and gets the short end of the stick because it will have lost all bargaining power with Europe, meanwhile wrestling with old ghosts in Ireland and watching Scotland break away. It’s only a matter of time. It’s a disaster of their own making.
But it’s easier to blame immigrants. So let’s just do that (says the son of Italian immigrabts). Wow.
20
This is a catastrophe. Already there are many shortages of medication which are not discussed but which one can postulate are a result of the NHS "keeping the price of medication down" and this is a preview I believe of Brexit. Further, many retail establishments have gone bust, a major travel company, N Power will basically close their offices laying off 4000 workers. The auto manufacture situation is iffy as well. As it is the cuts of recent years to try to lower the budget deficit have produced higher crime, prisoners receiving half-term sentences, an NHS that is strapped with 500,000 positions needing to be filled, and no building of additional facilities. Added to this an election which will "assure Brexit" if the Conservatives with Boris prevail. Otherwise two choices, Lib-Dem re-vote to remain, and or Labour which want to straddle the divide. But if anything the country feels poorer, and uncertain. The choice of Brexit already makes no sense and yet as with the election of DJT, there are diehard voters who insist on going forward to what appears to be a doomsday ending. Recently it is reported that voters have lost confidence in the future. No wonder.
11
“Before joining the European Union, Britain was ‘quite a wealthy country...Why can’t we be that again?’”
As in America, people’s lack of knowledge of their own history is glaring and it’s fueling the destructive nationalistic fire consuming Britain and America.
Britain’s economic height was the 19th Century as it led the world in the Industrial Revolution. It was devastated by WWII and even though it had improvements at the consumer level through the 1950s, it was already in post-industrial decline, having been the first to industrialize. Furthermore, its enormous debt to the US hobbled reinvestment. Europe’s greater loss of infrastructure and its late conversion from agrarian economies meant it could build more advanced infrastructure and stimulate growth. Britain held its aging infrastructure and serviced debt instead. By the time it entered the EU, it was not “a quite wealthy country” compared to Europe and the US.
I’ve visited the UK many times and lived in Edinburgh for four months. I’ve loved much about it and consumed its culture since childhood. I already knew a bit of its economic history but context and details in post-war dynamics of British and European economies were easily found in Wikipedia.
As in America, the answers to decline are education, adaptation, and investment. The wealthy and powerful are to blame for refusing to reinvest in our countries but it is the people who are to blame for continued willful ignorance that imprisons hopes and dreams.
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@left coast finch
I totally agree. The responsibility lies with people who refused to open their eyes and adapt to a changing world by advancing their educations even with another trade AND the greedy rich and the politicians who cater to them in order to gain power. Of course, that is also true in the U.S. we can all play the blame game but who wants to be REALLY honest?
9
@left coast finch
Good points.
It's also worth noting that Britain had been previously devastated by World War I, economically, psychically, and in terms of the loss of a generation of potential leaders and workers, from which it hadn't recovered, as France, Germany, and Russia were too.
3
Even with all the uncertainties and confusion caused by the Brexit dilemma UK might return to its old form and elan after the elections as much clarity on the Brexit issue will emerge now.
This is an interesting article in that it highlights the fact that the proposed overarching solution - the UK’s departure from the European Union - will not in any way address the serious issues suffered by the kind of people interviewed. Just as Trump has done little to address the concerns of those in the Rust Belt, instead concentrating on reducing wealthy people’s tax bills, we here in the UK are being led to the Promised Land by a person who went to the most exclusive private school in the UK and who is funded by hedge funds. Furthermore, to suggest that his relationship with the truth is tenuous would be a diplomatic way of putting it. Remind you of anyone?
The impact here will be tragic, But how else will people learn other than suffering - personally - from their choice? At least the US has only five more years - at most - of Trump. Here, there’s no way back to sanity.
64
We've got less than one year before Trump is given the boot by an electorate which is finally awake.
To know what loosing will do to his ego gives me exquisite pleasure, and makes the last three years bearable.
If Brexit actually follows an election then those who are now decrying the loss of economic might in the 21st Century will have even more to whine about in the future. First off will be the fragmentation of Great Britain into Little Olde England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland will become fully incorporated into the Republic of Ireland. And unless all major parties in England come up with innovative ideas about how to rejuvenate England's economy to bring it fully into the 21st Century, even more will be dissatisfied with their lives and the government they chose.
The exact same recommendations must be made for both American major parties as well. But, at least the Democrats have a few candidates trying to pull Americans (albeit kicking and screaming) into the 21st Century, while the Republicans are sticking with Trump on their way to the 19th Century.
16
@JePense there is precisely zero chance of that.
13
A newspaper headlined "Fog in channel; continent cut off" typifies the British attitude toward the EU. The much-vaunted "special relationship" with the US and the Commonwealth kept Britain alienated from the rest of Europe, while the longstanding deep French suspicion of the British, now lumped with the US as an "Anglo-Saxon" culture inimical to French values, kept the rest of Europe alienated from the British.
France blackballed UK membership in the EU (which had its genesis in the speeches of Winston Churchill, who promoted it). After it did join, the UK refused to join the euro, and Margaret Thatcher was constantly at logger heads with other leaders about payments. It's sad but not all-that surprising that the British want out of the EU.
8
@HKGuy
Well some of that attitude, the continent cut off, goes back to the hundred or more years where the British economy Had higher GNP than the entire continent combined. Europe spent the entire 2nd half of the 19th century catching up behind tariff barriers and customs unions so they could catch up industrially. Germany passed up Britain in the first decade in the 20th century, then waged war against Britain (and the rest of Europe) in the second and 4th decades. Through all of that, Europe looked like a wilderness compared to England.
@HKGuy It is more I would say "stupid" and based on a feeling of superiority, which is not shared by their neighbors (about the UK) they rush toward folly. It is not America's fault though...it is Europe's partially, but mostly England's. They cannot see the writing on the wall, they are basically mesmerized by the vote of D. Cameron, and mainstay politicians who are fighting this are ignored.
For an article that’s about a changing Britain, the photographs were remarkably monochromatic, and the people featured mostly of the same hue. While this was an interesting and well-written piece, it did bring forth the sense of a lost Albion, yearning for a white knight to restore its lost glories, rather than one looking to fit into a heteredox and heterogeneous fabric of nations.
27
@Aaman lamba In the 2011 British census 87.1% of people idetified themselves as Caucasion/white. So only 12.9% identified themselves as non-Caucasion/non-white. The photographs do represnt the majority population of Great Britain. Not making a social comment good or bad, just stating a fact. Maybe this has changed over the last 8 years, the next census may tell a new story.
3
Anyone who wants to see what Britain was really like before joining the EU should watch season 3 of The Crown for some historical context. The 60's and 70's consisted of social unrest, rolling blackouts, massive miners' strikes, near default on national debt, an attempted right wing coup, devaluation of the pound, and so on. It was only after Britain joined the European market that things started to improve.
The poor, unemployed and disaffected will never get a better deal under any conservative government in any country. Britain is surely living proof of that. Thatcher and subsequent Conservative governments have done nothing to assist the poorer areas of the country as massive economic shifts occurred. The most recent proof is the austerity program that starves local councils, closes essential services and leaves the poor and the elderly without hope. There is no vision. There is no plan. There is no compassion. And after Brexit, as London loses the economic advantages it gained from being part of Europe, there will be even lower tax revenues available to help the rest of the country. It is all madness.
227
I wholly agree with your brief synopsis. It was clear to me over my 30 year plus international career centered in London that the rest of the UK was not at all like the capital city where I was able to progress. This is true of the 80’s, 90’s and the entire 21st century. Thankfully I was able to remove myself and my willing family temporarily and now permanently. I am now relegated to merely spectate. I have paid more than enough into the UK system, I admit many across the country are not in a position to, but no more. I never had an expectation the NHS would nurse me through old age and regional social services adopt me towards end of life. The trouble with the UK is that it celebrates mediocrity all too willingly, one example was how the Olympic opening ceremony in 2012 turned into a festival of the NHS... seriously, every year this stretched to the limit service challenges the nation. This was a socialist construct, championed by free market capitalists and leaving the masses disgruntled. The nation does not know what it wants, so how can it choose appropriately at election time? I feel for what will become, because as you suggest the Tory party have no inclination to remedy the ills of the UK. Leave or Remain.
6
@Lucy "Conservative governments have done nothing to assist the poorer areas of the country as massive economic shifts occurred. The most recent proof is the austerity program that starves local councils, closes essential services and leaves the poor and the elderly without hope. "
Welcome to the United States of the United Kingdom. Great Britain has become a mirror image of the U.S., who began it's social unraveling with Ronald Reagan's gigantic tax cut for the wealthy, followed by more tax cuts for the wealthy by Bush Jr. and Donald Trump (GB has cut it's top tax rate by more than 50%, the U.S. even more). The tax cuts are combined with cuts to social programs; just the most recent example, the U.S. now in the process of trying to cut three million people off food stamps.
24
The problem with the EU has always been the fact that it is an overwhelmingly bureaucratic organization that lives through arcane rules and immense regulation and sticks it’s nose into every aspect of life. It forces governments to raise taxes to the point of squeezing the life out of businesses and individuals. It always surprises me that the UK, which generally is a forward thinking and risk taking nation, has not done better with technology entrepreneurship, and next generation companies. I grew up in Brussels in the 80s and 90s and saw the EU take shape into the spirit crushing enterprise it is today. The best thing Britain can do is to run away from EU and show the path for other countries to do the same. And for those in the US looking to vote in 2020, keep the high tax, high regulation EU failures in mind when choosing a candidate.
9
@Nick Cadbury In fact, Britain is one of the leaders in technology development. Cambridge is England's Silicon Valley, and London is full of tech start-ups; Edinburgh is also a center for tech innovation. I don't disagree about overreach by bureaucrats in Brussels; but the UK could have fought that by remaining in the EU and joining with other dissatisfied EU members, of which there are many. Instead, it cut off its nose to spite its face.
50
@HKGuy But this is being superceded by Brexit. There will be fewer coming to the UK to do science and some have left. Many English leave for the US as it is...that is scientists and engineers. The UK is on the way to further demise. I do not think their departure will hurt the EU as much as it was initially feared. And Boris lies and claims their will be no tariffs or customs issues, when it is already certain this is not so.
6
@Nick Cadbury
Except that the policies which brought about a good part of the deindustrialisation reported here, were neo-liberal and Mrs. T's Guru was by Milton Friedman . This dogma also prevented the Conservative governments (and to a lesser extent the following New Labour government) "interfering" to effectively find replacements for the lost industries.
The UK looks a lot like large parts of the US. You should not pat yourself on the back too soon
Was Great Britain ever truly part of the European Union? They did not join the predecessor EEC until 1973, after years of negotion. When the EU formed they did not adopt the Euro. There is great British distrust in continental European countries, andon my last trip there earlier this year I heard this voiced by many people I came into contact with in London. Mainly working class people who feel that they will lose their British identity if they remain in the Union. Not sure how this is going to fall out, and my own family over there is greatly divided. I guess we'll have to wait ans see, and hopefully the will of the people will be honored, whichever way it falls.
3
Econ 101
Why Britain splintered
When Britain joined the EU, it joined a Union of equal worker wages . Workers wages were more or less equal in the UK, France, and Germany.
It also joined a Union where people could move freely - outside the control of national governments. But although Brits could now move to France, French to the UK few did, given similar economies.
That changed when the EU enlarged and added Poland (wages 1/4 th ) Bulgaria (1/6 th) and Romania (wages 1/10th ) . Polish plumbers moved to Britain in large numbers. That pleased the London elites that could get the plumbing in Victorian Mansions now fixed cheaper and more promptly - but not British plumbers that lost their jobs
Industry spotted the lower wages and manufacturing jobs moved to Eastern Europe. British farmers lost money competing with Romanian beef import and Polish potatoes, grown at much lower wages
All this was welcome by the urban elites who also got cheaper shipping from that warehouse mentioned in the article as a place where " Most residents refused to work in such a degrading environment, so the jobs are largely taken by people from poorer parts of the European Union. "
Imagine the US would form a economic Union with Mexico, that allows unlimited amount of Mexicans legally migrate to the US and goods made in Mexico stream freely into the US
It would not be tolerated by American workers, either
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@Woof So the problem are the immigrants, not the fact that the company operating the warehouse pays low wages?
11
@Woof The USA already have a defacto economic union with Mexico, The US ships a high proportion of its technical jobs to auto plants and the like in Mexico. Iin exchange, the Mexicans come to the US for the low paid, low benefit jobs that Americans refuse to do. American Workers vote for Trump even though Trump and his Republicans refuse to make the Federal E Verify program mandatory. The Republicans i will never make E-Verify mandatory bear it would lower the profits of their donors who would finally have to provide living wages and benefits.
11
In other words, unhappiness with capitalism caused Brexit.
4
Vancon's (literally) dark visions of contemporary Britain communicate their emotional message more powerfully than words. Bravo, and thanks to the Times for sharing them.
3
Seems like May's compromise - basically free trade without free movement - would address most of these peoples' concerns. EU markets would still be open, farm subsidies could continue (merely cutting out the EU as middleman), the Irish problem would be solved, and surely there would be less resentment of immigration if people felt they had some control over it. Instead, both sides are going for all-or-nothing. Brexiteers fantasize a return to Britain's swashbuckling glory, bravely forging trade deals around the globe that will somehow exact better terms from trading partners than the much larger EU could. Meanwhile, Remainers hope to simply delay and delay until demographics give them a slim majority by which they can reverse course and force their will on the Leavers. Either way, it will be a diminished and divided Britain that finally emerges.
4
@Larry It is worth remembering that the UK chose NOT to use the available immigration controls when the EU expanded. They were there - Germany for one used them - but the UK /wanted/ them - then. It was an active choice.
4
Deindustrialization has ravaged western societies, both through automation and offshoring of jobs. One reason people support trump is because of this - whether they or even I understand the nuances of if tariffs help or not, and accepting people like mnuchin and Cohen would sell out millions of Americans for better cuff links, he is the first president in decades to directly try and protect industrial America. Brexit, and trump, are obviously more complicated than this one issue - but I don’t think any other thing is as important to voters. Drive by the old steel plants in upstate and western ny and talk to those communities - they have been left out and marginalized in the name of “shareholder value” with people on Wall Street reaping the profits of offshoring jobs to 3rd word countries and then trying to block any impediment to importing these products for “efficiency”. The people in the nation paying their taxes didn’t figure into those decisions one bit
16
Really illuminating article. I really liked small snippets into the different lives faced in these rural areas, and how some of them turned to politics to find a culprit for their troubles, and others simply tuned politics out completely in the struggle to keep up. Was also interesting to hear how rural communities respond differently given their context.
15
Those old enough to remember the mine closing 20 years ago are engaged politically, and half of them forget it was the Conservatives privatization drive that led to it. The one too young to even know about the mine is too keeping herself and her kids alive. tragic.
14
Before joining the European Union, Britain was “quite a wealthy country,” said Mr. Cann.
It was anything but. Britain, as they say, won the war but lost the peace -- along with its empire and much of its prestige. Overall, membership in the EU has been economically advantageous to Britain. It's too bad that the sight of workers from EU countries so upsets people, including someone who's father migrated there from Italy, no doubt also thanks to the EU's cross-border policy.
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@HKGuy GB last its empire which was its paycheck after the First World War. Without the massive aid that it got in and after the Second World War, it would just be a poor, backward little island. the Brits love American SPAM. Why? Because t kept them from starving during the Second World War. SPAM is the acronym for "Specially Prepared American Meat."
"The warehouse provides more jobs than the mine did, but it is mostly low-paid work in humiliating conditions."
And there lies the issue of jobs these days both in the UK, US and elsewhere.
Last month the US reported 266,000 new jobs and a reduction in unemployment. That seemingly good news hides the fact that many of these jobs are seasonal ones that involve the very warehousing and associated services tied-in with Amazon and other warehousing and delivery services that provide physically demanding, low-paying jobs.
This is why nominal wage growth has been far below target in the recovery since 2007 in the US, UK and elsewhere and is the main contributor to increasing income inequality.
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@GerardM Without a good education, one is trapped in the Walmart Warehouse. Think about the facts tht Republicans and other American conservatives are always attacking the funding for American schools.
3
@GerardM "This is why nominal wage growth has been far below target in the recovery since 2007 in the US, UK and elsewhere and is the main contributor to increasing income inequality." You can add conservative tax policies to that too "American billionaires paid less in taxes in 2018 than the working class, analysis shows."
4
@Jeff
Exactly!
1
Behold the power of the fourth estate to shape narratives held dear by non-critical thinkers, and thus the power to shape politics and society. This is frightening, as there is no end in sight. Manufactured consent creating social realities. Sigh.
6
I wonder if anyone predicted a 100 years ago that the UK would be on the edge of collapse into its separate pieces and that China would be the 2nd biggest economy of the world or at the end of WW II predicted Germany would end up being the strong man of Europe.
10
@Steve We're definitely not on 'the edge of collapse into separate pieces'. Welsh nationalism isn't a serious threat to the union and most Scots want to stay British. NI is threatened by violence that has been a problem for centuries, that isn't new and certainly not as ever present as it was 100 years ago.
4
I always find it fascinating that so many working class people direct their anger and accusations of blame at OTHER working class people.
You've missed the point entirely.
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All the mainstream media cares about is driving the "political polarisation" line so that you can get more clicks. People are more than politics. Let's emphasise values of love and togetherness and common humanity. Stop trying to divide us at every turn.
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@cobi You knew this was an article about how the British were reacting to politics when you clicked on it.
Much of this disruption is the direct result of malicious Russian interference. And we continue to let it happen. Why?
27
You radically overestimate the power of Russian information games; which means you radically underestimate the larger forces in our society and economy that are inviting so many more individuals to question the traditional societal institutions that bind diverse territories together. You should reprioritize.
3
Born to an American Mother and English Father we lived in London for awhile but I was raised in the beautiful town of Windsor, really a suburb of London . I have to say my perspective on reading this article is that not too much has changed i. There has always been a divide between the Londoners and those living around the capital and the rest of the country .
What has changed is the color of the immigrants that are now being vilified , it used to be those from the Commonwealth that were treated so poorly by the British , now it appears to be Eastern Europeans . One more change now is the prevailing Anti Semitism , of course it was always there an underlying issue that mostly did not impact on Jews in our everyday. Today however it has come to the forefront right in your face , like in New York Jews are being beaten on the street. The Rabbi is correct the issue is labor and mostly Corbyn, but the threat is from the Right and British Nationalism.
I fear for a post Brexit Britain and I am not alone, I have one brother remaining and he leaves with his French wife in early 2020 to return to France .
27
This valuable reporting shows that the conservatives' austerity program really softened the ground for Putin's campaign of civic division, driving the wedge into the soft underbelly of the nation.
Putin took advantage of the fact that the Troubles are still too close, the pain too fresh, to not cause explosive civic reactions.
The UK is known for producing great comedy, theater, land many practical innovations. It's going to take some powerful innovation in political action to bind people back together by improving on-the-ground conditions, and consciously working hard on healing the wounds accelerated by Putin's slimy interference.
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It is very unfortunate, but the next time the writer attempts this journey she could be crossing over real borders with gates and checkpoints, because Scotland and Wales have elected to leave the UK and remain a part of the EU. The UK will be no more, merry Old England will be alone, poorer than it was before it joined the Common Market fifty years ago. Johnson will have presided over its disintegration.
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@Rick Morris Scotland and Wales have NOT "elected to leave the UK," at least not yet. In the referendum for Scottish independence a few years ago, the Scots voted to remain in the UK.
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@HKGuy
As I wrote in the first sentence, 'the next time' a similar trip is taken, thus implying the future. They are, presently, still a part of Great Britain. That is obvious.
I find Brexit to be a convenient muse to oppose pretty much everything. To colloquially paraphrase, “I’m not gluten free, I’m just anti-gluten.”
2
The primary cause of present disunity is so many people naively believing the kind of right wing propaganda such as promoted by Fox News in the US and much of the media in The UK. The propaganda serves one interest: the maintenance of power by concentrated wealth, power necessary to the preservation of its status.
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Sigh. People are just blinded by populist rhetoric and don’t know the facts.
“Before joining the European Union, Britain was “quite a wealthy country,” said Mr. Cann.”
Far from it. Britain joined the union in 1973 because, years prior, is was in economic decline and GDP was way lower than the rest of Europe from 1945 to 1972. That stabilized from 1973 onwards. Alternates to EU membership (like bilateral agreements or a more robust Commonwealth) were proven to be weaker alternatives to EU membership.
Sadly, the EU has helped the UK in some of the poorest parts of the country and the Conservatives have destroyed it through austerity, but people choose to believe the opposite.
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@Alisonoc "GDP was way lower than the rest of Europe from 1945 to 1972" This fundamental fact, and the loss of prestige associated with Suez has been simply forgotten by the vast majority of the Brexiters who bask in a golden glow of Empire and Winning WWW2 ALONE.
Complete nonsense, but that has become the unshakable myth. Facts won't dissuade them - anymore than you can convince an anti-vaxxer, or a Build The Wall MAGA - they life in a fact-free, populist bubble.
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@Alisonoc
They completely mismanaged their automotive industry which was once one of the finest in the world. By the time they joined the EU their domestic auto industry was down to one consolidated player. They could have restructured their labor/management along the lines that Japan had in the 1950s, the real secret to Japan’s success. But the financial and CEO elite in Anglo-Saxon countries absolutely hates the working class and thinks they should live in squalor and tenements.
The EU pumped new life into UKs automotive sector. Competitive parts manufacturers could sell to the continent. Ford and GM were cross-national entities with substantial investments in the UK and they could rationalize their organizations better. And thanks to the use of English important Japanese transplants chose to invest their European plants in the UK - negating much of the loss of their mismanagement of their auto industry.
But the hatred of working class by the CEO & Financial establishment torpedoed what remained of the manufacturing sector over time. As Ross Perot once famously said, we can’t just sell insurance to each other. A country has to make something. Ironic that the first nation to industrialize did not value manufacturing enough to hang on to it.
1
Nationalism and anti-immigrant feeling are driving Brexit. They are normally thought of as unifying forces among the white protestants of England. So why are England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland disintegrating?
3
@Diogenes
Ni and Scotland may well wisely leave a post Brexit Britain, but the bulk of Wales is politically and culturally indistinguishable from England. Only in north Wales, largely in in welsh speaking counties does rationality rule the day. Rural central Wales in particular is suffering from massive cognitive dissonance—nearly no immigrants and huge Eu subsidies and yet they voted Brexit.
Nicola sturgeon of the snp is about as decent and honest a leader as there is in the world these days. I’d gladly vote for her over any of the current crop of badly flawed pretenders.
1
@Swift Thank you. That is illuminating.
Writing from London
The fundamental issue, not addressed in this otherwise excellent article, is that politicians and thought leaders have persistently lied to the electorate for the past 30 years, blaming the EU for the consequences of their own folly.
The previous Tory government of the Thatcher/Major years created the belief that deindustrialization was a result of EU regulation. A lie. Blair's New Labour followed suit. This created an atmosphere of distrust by the public of the EU and its stabilizing institutions. Every bad consequence of poor management was blamed on the person not in the room: the EU. And there was little countervailing argument from Brussels.
Most perniciously the current Tory government entered into a prolonged period of Faux Austerity, diverting funds from the poor regions (everywhere outside London) to enrich the already well off ... and blamed the shortfall in public services on immigration. Another lie. Immigration is essential to the UK economy for demographic reasons, and as in the US immigrants are net contributors. But if you increase the population and skim the proceeds life becomes harder for the elderly and sick.
Combine lies about the EU with lies about immigration with a toxic image of the UK's role in recent history and you get the insoluble problem that is Brexit.
Things will only get worse for the foreseeable future. Totally the fault of liars and cheats at the heart of government.
Brexit is MAGA and a warning to us all.
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@David Rose The Eu's "stabilizing institutions"? Surely you jest! The EU is a wholly corporate-run enterprise. It was created exactly to facilitate the things this article discusses--to allow businesses in wealthy countries move their factories to cheap-labour EU countries such as Poland and Romania. To facilitate the free-movement of labor between EU countries so that (for instance) Polish workers can move to Britain to work for slave wages and under dreadful conditions such as in the warehouse describe in this article. These things undercut the wages and conditions of the British working class, but middle-class commentators simply are blind to this. Do you see the EU lifting a finder to prevent this exploitation? I don't. Exploitation of labor is the entire point of the EU. I will grant you that various Tory and About govts have participated in this rapine & plunder, but this doesn't let the EU off the hook.
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@David Rose Excellent comments, and I would add the lies about the NHS, and plans to privatize it.
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@Lotzapappa always remember that the UK has/had full veto power. Nothing was 'done to' the UK
You also need to remember that the UK chose NOT to use the available immigration controls when the EU expanded. Germany did. The elected government chose the path - it was not imposed on them by anyone.
15
‘A worker gave birth in the warehouse and left the baby in a bathroom. Others were penalized for taking short breaks to drink water. A parliamentary inquiry found that the owners, Sports Direct, treated its workers “without dignity or respect.”’
Way to go!
And these people blame immigrants and the EU for being treated like cattle by their own oligarch?
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Someone please correct me if I’m off base but from here it seems like the pro-Brexiteers are startlingly quiet on the specific steps Britain can take post Brexit that will benefit Britons.
1. Brexit
2. ???
3. Prosperity!
Aside from less immigration and the fanciful idea that Britain will negotiate perfect individual trading pacts with everyone, what else are the current selling points of Brexit?
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@William The solutions post Brexit? "Everyone else stinks but us."
it's basically selling the population on some vague idea of anarchy with a slant towards hating everyone not born on British soil thinking that somehow Brits will all suddenly reclaim the seas without having to build even a small plastic row boat much less large majestic steel ships. Maybe they'll strike some great trade deal, but who are the trading partners? China? The US who gets most of our imports from China already..
The US doesn't really need much the UK has to offer other than outdated TV shows showing a quiet, quaint country side. We certainly don't need British coal or steel and few Americans eat lamb or British meat. They're ready to toss aside the European trading partners in hopes some other nation will fill the void and as an American I don't think I'm quite ready to give up my own future to ensure Brits can live happily ever after at my expense.. So what's left? Nationalism? Not much good ever comes from nationalism unless you plan to export war making.
5
Same here as in the UK. That’s what decades of neoliberal Reagan/Thatcherism have created: a failed system where the rich make out like thieves while the big majority of working people were left in the dust and end up turning to xenophobia and nationalism.
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I live just outside Leeds in a Tory island surrounded by a Labour sea. The divisions are stark but more subtle than laid out. First, if you look at the voting map, it is pretty clear that England is dominantly Tory with clusters of strong labour support in certain areas. The SNP has devastated them as it took away a core to historic labour support. Hence, Brexit is not really about Scotland or NI. Brexit is England exiting the EU dragging along the Irish and Scots. Second, if you look at the splits they are dramatically related to education (nearly all areas with strong University presences voted remain, even in the Midlands and North) and income. In this sense, you are right to imply that Tory austerity has pushed a lot of people into the 'rebel' camp. Third, Brexit is the result not just of a doofus of a PM (Cameron) but also because of the failure of Labour to find someone other than unrepentant 1970s Trotskyite (Corbyn) to oppose him. While Cameron was followed by two even more useless PMs (May and now Bojo), Corbyn is so toxic to the average voter that they will hold their noses and vote Conservative (as the LibDems seem to have suicidal tendencies as well). Third, Brexit is simply not an outcome that can lead to clear 'win-win' scenarios. Ultimately, the question is who pays. May tried to make it fair (and failed). BoJo is clearly throwing the NI'ers under a bus (red no doubt) as he believes he will get a majority in England w/o needing the DUP.
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@Anonymous
Agreed, but for one minor correction: "Brexit is England exiting the EU dragging the Irish and Scots down with them."
14
My first known white European ancestor was born in London in 1613. He was married in the Virginia colony in 1640 where he died in 1670.
I have been to London and beyond to Birmingham, Dover, Liverpool, Manchester, Stonehenge, Canterbury, Greenwich, etc. on business and pleasure.
'Two people divided by a common language' Winston Churchill on the difference between his English father and his American mother
Thank you for this context and perspective on a myriad of other divisions in the 'United' Kingdom.
13
When I think of Brexit, I think of the rebellion against EU regulations. For example, it tried to ban restaurants from refilling olive oil containers. Then it tried to limit the amount of cinnamon in pastries.
The EU has often been referred to as the "food police."
9
@AACNY Danish baking companies were using cheap Cassia type 'Cinnamon' which has high levels of Coumarin a substance known to cause liver damage.
And restaurants were refilling prime (high price) bottles of olive oil with cheap knock-off oil and passing that off to their customers.
Explain to me again why stopping that sharp practice is a bad thing. For every one of these shock-horror stories there is a vested interest blaming the EU.
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@David Rose
Why, it's silly government regulation he is railing against.
1
There is a lesson for us here.
Social cohesion is not to be taken for granted. Once its gone, its really gone, at least until a new vision arises which can draw people into some kind of upward unity. Or, horrifically, into a death spiral.
We are only a few turns away from being in a similar position as the UK, permanently fractured due to divisive and unwise leadership.
Vote, vote, vote.
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@Saddha I believe, and fear, that the U.S. has tuned the corner already.
7
@Saddha "We are only a few turns away from being in a similar position as the UK, permanently fractured..." Social cohesion has a lot to do with there being a perception of fairness, so when you pick up the newspaper and read "For the first time in U.S. history billionaires paid a lower tax rate than the working class..."
18
@Saddha
Social cohesion depends upon citizens speaking the same language, sharing similar cultural, ideological, political, and economic values.
I will certainly vote...but not for the party that cheerleads, ad nauseam, on behalf of de facto open borders and sanctuary for millions of foreign nationals who reside in our country illegally while exploiting our public services and labor market... costing American taxpayers $Billions year after year.
What I take from this splendid piece of reporting is that as long as there is enough money, or short of that, meaningful employment which provides dignity, people are fine with diversity of race, religion and thought. But when the money dries up, people tend to blame their fall from grace on the "other."
Of course, it was coal that came to claim the butcher's bill for many of these folk. They cared nothing about being part of poisoning the planet, such was their own self centered world. Now, poetic justice: the money is gone and they know nothing else but how to kill the planet.
If Britain, or the US had leaders who could say: Look, there is money to be made in solar and wind factories and installation, kumbaya, likely a new political reality could dawn.
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@Claudia
When the coal industry was booming in the UK, there was little concern about climate change.
Contrast that to the U.S. where despite everything we know there are still people clinging to the desire to have coal still as a major power source just for their economic benefit.
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@Claudia
We need to change the use of the vague "other" to "them".
11
@Claudia
Every miner complains about working in coal mines until the mine closes.
32
It's amazing the complete lack of irony in many of the statements made by those interviewed for this wonderful piece. A son of Italian immigrants complains about the "Europeans" coming in. A former miner says that Britain was a rich country before joining the EU - it wasn't. GDP has skyrocketed in Britain since it joined in the early 90's. Coal was killed by Thatcherism and decreased demand, not the EU.
What's concerning is the continued divide, the lack of adequate leadership on either side of the issue and how much it echoes the political and economic divide in the US. I wish I knew what would bring us back together again on common ground. Meanwhile we watch Britain destroy itself as we destroy our own democracy.
420
@Indulgent Nonsense Are you sure GDP is the best measure here? Suppose, hypothetically of course, but suppose this increase were to have occurred simultaneously with a great increase of wealth among the very rich and a decrease for most of the rest of the population.
A rising tide need not raise all boats.
13
@Indulgent Nonsense
Britain didn’t join the EU in the 1990s, it joined in the 1970s because of the prosperity it spawned on the continent.
GDP by itself is a poor measure. A better measure is the median (meaning everyone’s) wage. If all the benefits of a rising GDP goes to 1% of the people the 99% don’t care about that statistic.
Europe, including the UK has the same problem as the U.S.: a political machine that only responds to the <1%. Getting out of the EU won’t fix that problem in the UK.
21
@Tim Kane UK - real per capita GDP growth has averaged near 2% since 1949, before and after joining. But probably inequality has increased, like everywhere.
2
The one constant theme, too many people and not enough of everything else. People emigrate for freedom, for opportunity, to just survive. You can’t just place all the blame on immigrants, but how many can any nation absorb. I can imagine what our planet will look like in 50 years time, it won’t be pretty.
16
The more immigration, the more prosperity. They go together. Immigrants are not taking handouts. They take care of what others won’t do and eventually bring ideas of their own that add to the prosperity of where they arrived
2
I hope that Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland declare independence, than Boris can lead England back to the world power it once was.
9
It is a sad postscript to the glorious history of the country I love. But before we hear the usual suspects inveigh against globalization and “elites”, let’s remember that it is a disaster of political blindness and overreach, not of economic necessity. Yes, mines and factories have closed. Yes, the old style welfare state is no longer sustainable. Yes, too many immigrants threatened the national identity. But all these problems could have been resolved in the framework of the EU. The birthplace of the industrial revolution could have transitioned to a post-industrial economy based on high tech and services. People could have been retrained. Immigration quotas could have been enforced. I am writing from Switzerland which has successfully weathered the same challenges as the UK and is blooming in its special arrangement with the EU, while the UK is tearing itself apart. My heart breaks for the plight of the British Jews caught between the nativism of the right and the appalling antisemitism of the left. No surprise that so many of them are buying apartments in Tel Aviv - “just in case”.
25
Great article. I find https://mainlymacro.blogspot.com, the blog of Simon Wren-Lewis, an Oxford Professor, very helpful in sorting out what is happening in Britain--my former home. As in the U.S., Brits attribute their economic problems to immigrants, rather than the policies of laissez-faire conservative or in our case, Republican administrations. Thatcher, like Reagan, was the first big de-industrializer, she with privatization and Reagan with the sky-high interest rates and "free" markets that brought in Japanese and European industrial imports, broke unions and rolled back protections. I fear the U.K. will go back to what it was before it joined the European Union: very poor, in debt, crumbling---as I remember it in the mid-1950s.
55
Here in the US, we very rich, in debt and crumbling!
3
A lot easier to blame immigrants for economic privation than the more complex stew of technology, poor education, global trade deals, outsourcing, misdirection from partisan bad actors on behalf of the super rich, dismantling of welfare safety nets, corporate and finance sector greed and centrist/center right politicians who take corporate funding and betray their wider constituency.
Brexit will be the loose thread that unravels the entire garment. But stubbornness in the face of a mountain of conflicting evidence is a very human trait. Leavers were lied to, and they voted a set of prejudices and nostalgia for an era that won’t come back. They never bothered to contextualize the determined anti-Europe propaganda from Murdoch’s stable of tabloids and broadsheets over the long decades. Boris himself was a player in this dishonest enterprise in years gone by, and freely admits it.
Leavers were wrong. Period. Britain will be weaker and more vulnerable out of the EU. It’s just a shame the understandable contempt for an establishment class that betrayed them made them deaf to a warning that needed to be heeded. Conservatives are about to be rewarded for their mischief, incompetence and contempt with an increased majority. The sheep are going to vote for the wolves.
175
@Xoxarle You are 100% correct about leavers being lied to. Carole Cadwalladr who gave a Ted Talk mentions the program of disinformation on Facebook and in pro Brexit newspapers particularly about the supposed hordes of immigrants swamping the UK and stealing all the jobs
1
Consumers wants cheap goods, employers want cheap labor. Congratulations. Where has it led us? To poverty, rage and resentment. Western de-industrialization and an ever-shrinking world have given rise to slimy predators like trump, johnson and their ilk, leaving communities to sharply bifurcate into haves and have-nots. It's not gonna be pretty again for a long while.
63
Just wait until they figure out that, just like in the US, the 1% have a bigger piece of the pie. Thank you Ron. Thank you Margaret.
42
The Brits put themselves in a box based on fantasy and fear. It still comes down to the basic conundrum of every country that bases its government on democratic principals. When citizens receive no education in history and what we used to call "civics", that is, lessons in how government is supposed to function, ignorance gets the win. When citizens allow themselves to be convinced by rhetoric, unquestioned disinformation and emotional appeal and cannot change opinions even when confronted with overwhelming evidence, cognitive dissonance becomes a civic poison. When the rule of law is disregarded and abused from the top, there is no limit to what anyone will consider acceptable behavior. Irony that the convergence - unity - of these and other factors leads to social disunity and the potential for civil strife. The elected leaders have gotten elected by playing on the fear and strife and will continue to do so as long as it gets them elected. If lessons in history were a requirement, more citizens would understand this is the cycle of dissolution, destruction and war that serves no good result. Ignorance reins, so the uncivil firestorm appears inevitable.
394
@Rmayer
If Brexit was such a good deal, one wonders why before the referendum the supporters had to lie about all the money saved from it going to the NHS which they immediately walked back the day after the vote. Some government figures who supported even lied about their saying it despite recordings to show they did.
42
@Rmayer
I’m glad you mentioned Civics classes. You don’t hear much about them these days but they’re really vital.
Many of our problems stem from lack of understanding how actually government works.
32
@Rmayer This is why the US is in such disarray as well. Too many Americans are intrigued and seduced by Trump's rhetoric and ignoring the racism, the lies, the corruption, the amorality of what he is doing.
30
I think the one aspect that the article doesn't mention is the war between the Conservatives (and much of the rest of the country) with the National Union of Mineworkers led by Arthur Scargill. Keep in mind the infamous Three Day Week to conserve electricity as a consequence of the union's strikes. This, among other forces, initiated a national move from coal to natural gas in electricity generation. The citizens in the Midlands and the North were caught in the middle of this battle, and they are still paying the price. Some can blame neoliberalism (which is getting to be a tired explanation for virtually everything these days) for their lot, but much of what they endure is the result of political decisions--both far-left and far-right. Brexit isn't going to help the victims anytime soon.
16
Politicians used to promise a better future. The mantra now is to elect leaders that can promise a better past.
238
@Daniel B I like your wit, Daniel, and will shamelessly steal it.
7
Excellent article with issues playing out across the wealthy west. How does a country maintain a vibrant economy and society without sacrificing historical identity and culture? Brexiteers, like Trump, played on the fears of the specter of unlmited immigration and implying a correlation between immigration and economic stagnation. People are right to fear unfettered immigration and wonder if the incoming culture overwhelms the existing culture or if the newcomers adapt to their new home. Politicians have done a terrible job of explaining how they will manage this change, how globalization has brought pluses/minuses and what they are doing to help citizens move forward in this environment. If managed properly, immigrants bring economic growth, new ideas and provide a connection to the outside world in all its diversity without destroying what gives a country its unique identity and culture. It is a shame these days that the dialogue degenerates into zero-sum xenophobic arguments led by zealouts on both sides when we all know it is possible to strike a balance satisfying nearly everyone.
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The irony, of course, is that the USA is a nation of immigrants and our vibrant past is the result of the contributions by the people of many lands who came here and became Americans. They were often reviled by misguided Nativists who forgot where they themselves came from. But the immigrants, whose origins and languages and religions changed from one decade to the next, persevered, motivated by looking forward and joined with those who came before them to embrace opportunity. Our future could be more vibrant still, if we can remember the true lessons of our history, reject negativity and the naked opportunism of those who peddle it, and commit ourselves to making our nation a better place for all.
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I don’t see the UK scenario as being a whole lot different from the US, especially if you think of the European Union as similar to the US federal structure unifying the states. There is a global change going on, affecting all countries. Mass population shifts, end of industrialization, and large scale income inequality.
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@ellie k. Wrong, the UK and US are very much more similar as they share the results of decades of failing Reagan/Thatcherism while the EU has still more of the traditional social democratic systems in place.
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Thank you for this enlightening article. And thank you to Laetitia Vancon for the beautiful photography which brought it to life.
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@Mike Klingele Yes, and add to that my apology for referring to Laetitia , in my comment, as "he".
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@Mike Klingele
The photos make the whole country look dark and miserable. I can assure you it is not. I'm afraid they have been taken by a photographer with an advanced set of filters at her disposal, and who wishes to convey a particular mood.
British writer Ali Smith's quartet of novels (three published, one to go), maybe especially the most recent, "Spring," convey the feel for what it's like to live in contemporary England - a disorientation re: the future, malfunction of ordinary institutions (libraries, for example), the erosion on kindness, fracturing of families. In her novels, it's art that persists as a source of inspiration and the young (often born outside the UK) who are able to pierce the obscurity of language and rhetoric who offer hope. I recommend these to those who want to get a feel for what it's like to live in the UK these days.
I am a very frequent visitor to Scotland and have many friends there. They were always skeptical of the British Empire and knew well that Britain was never self-sufficient but rather thrived on the backs of those the empire exploited.
The capacity to realistically see a country for what it is and has been historically is a source of resilience that we in the States could adopt to our benefit. Nostalgia and romanticism are traps for a healthy future.
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I am a critical pro-European who has lived in the UK for many years and owes the country much. Brexit is sad and, in my view, a huge mistake. But it is time that they leave. Europe cannot work with societies that have so little in common with the rest of the EU. 52:48 for leaving was a tragedy. 52:48 for remaining would have been worse.
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"In the local consciousness, the concept of regional decline then became fused with that of European immigration, instead of neoliberal economics." There is no "instead" here. The two are inextricably intertwined.
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It isn't just Brexit that's splitting the nation. The economic problems in the regions, the feeling of being ignored by London, the undermining of the welfare state go back a long way. Anybody who lived in Thatcherite Britain in the 1980s could have seen this coming...It's the outcome of Conservative policy and ways of thinking forged in the 1980s.
The anti-immigrant mindset is even older. In too many British minds, it's the British who do the immigrating. Not the other way around.
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@Oriole
Right, and Reagan is Thatcher's counterpart here. It was the rise of the supply-side economics and privatism that broke down the political economic system of the post-WWII era that caused such economic distress that Washington and London ignored. Milton Friedman economics. Really it is libertarianism that is so destructive.
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The irony of these populists revolts is the thinking on the part of the working class that Trump and Johnson in particular and conservatives in general are their friends. No, Trump and Johnson use working class alienation as one of their tools in their political toolbox---to be discarded when they win election.
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And the REAL reason the loser and de Pfeffel want the Brexit trainwreck is to preserve their rich owners'[1] offshore hoards, to rob us of OUR TAX MONEY.
[1] Not their own; the not-even-a-millionaire in the White House only wishes he had that cash. de Pfeffel, maybe.
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@Amanda Jones
The puppet master Putin has his hands on the string.
He likes nothing better then to break up the EU and NATO to revenge the downfall of the Soviet Union.
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@Amanda Jones You're exactly right. What working class voters have to ask themselves what conservatives have done to help them. Sure conservative pay lip service to improving the lots of regular people, but have they done anything to raise wages, improve healthcare or lower the cost of higher education? Of course they haven't and they never will.
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Brexit is the most counterproductive, self-sabotaging, unnecessary act of economic suicide. It never should have been the subject of a referendum, at least not in the form it took, and won the vote via lies, misinformation and apathy. It’s every bit as regrettable as the US electing Trump and will have longer term adverse consequences.
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@Andrew Britain had the best of both worlds, EU membership with their own currency. My prediction is that after a few years, they will go back into the EU but without all the advantages they had-as Brussels will want to send a message to other countries who might want to leave.
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@Andrew -- "and won the vote via lies, misinformation and apathy."
I'm surprised that no one has commented on the Russian Mis/Disinformation campaign in the UK. Isn't that their specialty; tear the US and the UK apart by sowing seeds of division?
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@Andrew
Touché
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Neoliberalism. When the Democrats embraced it wholeheartedly, joining the Republican establishment, we were bound to get a Trump.
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Disunity seems to be the common condition these days.
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Next up, "A Splintered America..."
Many of the problems faced by everyday Brits/Welsh/Irish, et al,
can undoubtedly be seen across America. Right along with, as described in the last paragraph of the article, the problems with voting.
Submitted 12/7/19, 8:34am
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@Joseph Gardner And for the most part, Americans, unlike the British, are armed.
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@Sue Yes, and that's a potential problem as well.
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This is what happens when prejudice over-rides facts.
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@alan I heard very little prejudice from the people in the article. They spoke of an uncaring and out of touch government and the effects of economic dislocation on their lives. The social classes that have done better in the new world tend to hurl insults at the working classes. I think what people don’t understand is that the conditions described in the article are very very dangerous. These are the conditions that war and revolution are born from.
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@Mandrake Prejudice us what got Brexit passed.
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More than two hundred years of colonialism and imperialism. Your chickens are coming back to roost.
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@Hal It has been happening for even longer than that. Ireland was colonized for 500 years.
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@Hal
Yes, the chickens are coming home to roost but in defense of most of these folks, they’re not the ones that reaped the rewards of colonization.
Most British peasants just evolved into industrial laborers. The nation flourished but most individual Britons - not so much.
The great British “victories” of the Napoleonic War, WW1 and WW2 also exacted a terrible price.
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@Hal
And it's the same here in the U.S.
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