My letter to the NY Times re: Brexit as Escape from the Nascent EU Empire

 From: Patrick Barron

Sent: Sunday, March 21, 2021 11:46 AM
To: NY Times <letters@nytimes.com>
Subject: Brexit as Escape from the Nascent EU Empire

 

Re: Legacies of Imperialism by Samir Puri, reviewed by Fareed Zakaria

Dear Sirs:

If Fareed Zakaria's review of Samir Puri's The Shadow of Empire is correct, I believe that Mr. Samir has picked in Brexit a poor example to support his thesis that the world is still recovering from the fall of empires. Britain's participation in the Iraq War may have been ill-advised but it was not an attempt to rebuild the British Empire. Nor was Brexit another such attempt. Quite the opposite. Brexit was the culmination of the growing realization that Britain was becoming a vasal state to the ever-expanding and intrusive, both geographically and politically, EU superstate. Puri's Boris Johnson quote of ""global Britain" continuing its historic mission around the world" is political hyperbole and to be expected from elected officials. Nevertheless, undoubtedly it is true that Britain wishes to renew and reinforce its ties to the English-speaking world. The English-speaking world shares three traits not found in the European Union: that the people bestow ultimate legitimacy on government through representative bodies; that human rights are God-given and inalienable and not the gift of privileged political elites; and, that law emerges organically from society (the Common Law) and not from the administrative state. All three of these traits spring from perhaps the greatest political document in the history of the world: Magna Carta.

Sincerely,

Patrick Barron

20 McMullan Farm Lane

West Chester, PA 19382

Phone: 610-793-3605