How UK ‘Leave’ campaigners spectacularly misread the EU
But even for the problem children, the question is more one of reforming the EU than leaving it
Berlin — Early in the morning of June 24 2016, as the UK awoke to the news that a majority had voted to quit the European Union, leading “Leave” campaigner Nigel Farage hailed what he said would “go down in history as our independence day”. Two-and-a-half years later, the terms of the exit deal struck with the EU make clear that Britain will remain tethered to the bloc for the foreseeable future. And rather than a knock-out blow to undermine the European project, Brexit has only served to galvanise the EU and its 27 remaining governments. The British side could not even unite its top ministers. After winning backing from her cabinet on Wednesday following a marathon meeting, Prime Minister Theresa May was confronted with the resignation of her Brexit secretary the morning after. She’s now fighting to keep her job against an emboldened opposition and a group of rebels within her own ranks. To even have come this far represents some sort of victory over May’s many detractors, but set ...
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