Brexit used to dominate the news from the headlines themselves to those who would interrupt the headlines with their at-first comical and, later annoying, booming cries for change or continuity. Though monotonous, rarely enlightening and often infuriating, I’m sure we all would much rather Brexit re-dominate our lives again (even if it does mean seeing Mark Francois go red in the face about the country ‘exploding’ on a near-daily basis). However, just because the Brexit crisis was – and is – less horrific than that of the Coronavirus, is it one that we truly want and need? Or has the pandemic turned off our desires for nationalism and a break away from Europe?

 


Nationalism is certainly no new idea with evidence of its belief and usage in ancient Greek civilisations; and with a continual undertone of Euro-scepticism from the Tony Benn of the left and Nigel Farage of the right, one could, perhaps, argue that Brexit was always an inevitability when David Cameron put himself up against Farage and Johnson. Indeed, nationalism – in theory – is not necessarily a bad thing, based around a strong patriotic view that one country can succeed and govern best alone and with only its domestic interests at heart. However, in practice, it often gets misconstrued and used to justify horrors such as that of the Nazi regime. Whilst Brexit is not synonymous with becoming a Nationalist state – and there is little immediate risk of developing a Hitler-esque regime – it is certainly a move towards a more nationalistic status and the coronavirus begs the question whether the UK can survive without Europe louder and clearer than any bureaucrat, politician or economist can.

 


The fight against coronavirus has shown the true extent to which the United Kingdom is reliant on other countries, seeking Personal Protective Equipment from China and Turkey, flying in over 150 Romanians to pick our fruit and vegetable and – as always – a reliance on European and ethnic minority NHS heroes to save lives: even that of our anti-EU Prime Minister, Boris Johnson. And this is just the first phase of tackling the virus…

 


Later phases will bring up the challenge of reversing damage and restoring our economies and lifestyles somewhere nearer the norm. In these areas, one cannot help but look at previous crises and how we got out of them: in the more-recent 2008 Financial Crisis, it was the international collaboration of world leaders with the International Monetary Fund that saw some stability and quick-paced recover; in the second world war – the event most have compared to the pandemic – it was the formation of the EEC (pre-cursor to the EU) that saw some real stability. Therefore, surely it is far from the UK’s best interests to leave any establishment, which could see us emerge from the current crisis speedily with the hoped-for “bounce-back” effect economists are hoping for.

 


Conversely, some believe the crisis has proven the failure of global collaboration. Italy saw a spike in Euro-sceptic action as they feel let down by its “lack of solidarity” and co-ordination as EU leaders seem yet to reach a consensus over how to deal with the pandemic. Outside the EU, America has furthered its nationalistic ways with President Donald Trump ending funds to the World Health Organisation, claiming it to be too China-centric.

 


President Trump’s acts have been attacked by entrepreneurs like Bill Gates and prominent figures such as the former Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, who described it as “an unconscionable act of self-harm”. Whilst Brexit is not about leaving the World Health Organisation, and the European Union is far from a perfect union, it strikes as odd – and potentially harmful – to continue to cut ties with allies as the country reaches a historic moment of crisis. Despite this, the government still endeavours to make a full break from Europe, promising to reach a deal no later than the 31st December this year. Whether it is possible to form a deal is one issue, but – perhaps – the greatest one is whether it is what the country needs or wants.

 

 

By Alexander Chopra of Wilson's School