Why do so many people in Britain want to leave the European Union?

Emotionally, many British people have never felt close to Europe. On the contrary, they feel that life in Britain is so good that they don't need to join the European family at all.

Compared with the last referendum 4 1 years ago, the anti-European voice in Britain is obviously much stronger.

On June 23rd, Britain will hold a referendum to decide whether Britain will stay in the EU or leave it. The latest poll results show that those who support Britain to leave the EU are several percentage points higher than those who support staying in Europe, reflecting that anti-European sentiment is still high.

Why do so many people in Britain want to leave the European Union? This should be analyzed from several aspects.

"The British are not Europeans."

The author has lived in England for more than 20 years. I remember that shortly after I arrived in Britain, I discussed the relationship between Britain and Europe with an old British gentleman who lived nearby. At that time, the old man told me categorically, "I am British, not European." I didn't agree with this, so I asked, "Isn't Britain a part of Europe? Since Britain is a part of Europe, the British are naturally Europeans? " The old man replied, "Britain is Britain, and Europe is the European continent." The two are not the same thing. "

I admit, I didn't quite understand what the old English gentleman said at that time. But after living in Britain for a long time, I gradually understand the anti-European psychology of many British people.

Some people think that this is because Britain is an island country, and many British people have an "island mentality" and are used to "self-isolation". Professor Vernon Darnoll, a famous British constitutional and historian, once said, "Although the era of isolation has long passed, its influence on the British people is still there, making them unwilling to establish contact with the European continent."

However, as Sam Wilson, a BBC reporter, pointed out, there are many island countries in the EU, such as Ireland, Malta and Cyprus, but these countries are not opposed to handing over more power to the Brussels-based EU. Therefore, he believes that Britain's anti-European complex may be caused by the island mentality and nostalgia for the British Empire, because "British people are used to giving orders to others, not accepting orders."

Indeed, according to my observation in Britain for many years, many British people like nostalgia, especially moderns in the Victorian British Empire. And I often hear some British people say that the British are just better than the Europeans-for example, in World War II, the European continent quickly fell into the hands of Nazi Germany, many European countries were vulnerable or even surrendered without a fight, and only the "British Empire" fought alone. Although it weakened Britain's national strength, it finally won with the help of the United States. To this end, many older Britons look down on Europeans and think that Europeans are "unreliable" at critical moments.

Therefore, although many British people often take European countries as their preferred destinations every year, and even about 6.5438+0.5 million British people have chosen to move to the European continent since the establishment of the European Union, many British people have never felt any closeness to Europe emotionally, but feel that Britain is doing well and does not need to join the European family at all.

Half-hearted in Europe

In fact, the proposal to establish the European Union was originally put forward by Britain. As early as 1946, Churchill, then British Prime Minister, proposed the establishment of a "United States of Europe", but when other countries were enthusiastic about it, Britain was passive. It was not until 196 1 that Britain took the initiative to apply to join the European Economic Community (EEC), the predecessor of the European Union, but it was rejected by then French President Charles de Gaulle. It was not until 1973 that Charles de Gaulle died that Britain was allowed to join.

In 20 14, the British "Economist" magazine wrote an analysis: most of the 28 member States of the European Union joined the European Union for a very clear and long-term purpose. For example, for Germany and France, the European Union was established to heal the wounds of past wars; A small country like Belgium hopes to make a stronger voice on the international stage through the EU. As for Poland and other eastern European countries, they joined in order to stop being bullied by Russia.

In contrast, Britain has been half-hearted on the issue of joining the European Union. Later, it finally joined, which also made many people think that Britain only wanted a piece of the European single economic and trade market. For example, when I visited the European Parliament in Brussels a few years ago, I heard some European parliamentarians complain privately: Britain is selfish in the EU, always thinking about how to take advantage of it, regardless of how to assume responsibilities and obligations for the EU.

Of course, it is a bit untrue to accuse Britain of not making a commitment to the EU. According to the report on the relationship between Britain and the EU published by the British Parliament in 20 15, the net contribution of Britain to the EU budget in 20 14 was 9.8 billion pounds, more than double the 4.3 billion pounds in 2009. Because of this, some British people always feel that joining the EU is "cheated". What they paid was not any benefit, but too much and a little loss.

Many British business organizations or think tanks have also studied the economic gains and losses of Britain after joining the European Union, but the results are quite different. However, according to the report of the British Parliament, there are at least two undoubted economic benefits brought by the EU to Britain: First, the EU is Britain's largest trading partner, with 44% of its exports and 47% of its imports coming from Europe; Secondly, nearly half (48%) of Britain's foreign investment comes from the EU, making the EU the number one source of Britain's foreign investment. Of course, the pro-British withdrawal from the EU camp retorted that even without the existence of the EU, Britain could obtain these benefits in other ways.

British political poison

The anti-European voices in British society are one after another, which will inevitably affect British politics.

From 65438 to 0994, Sir James Goldsmith, a financial tycoon, founded a referendum party to hold a referendum on the relationship between Britain and the European Union. But when Goldsmith died in July 1997, the party also disappeared.

Another right-wing political party, the British Independence Party, advocated Britain's complete withdrawal from the EU, which was established earlier. 1993. At first, the party had little influence, but in recent years, it has sprung up and gradually become the third largest party in Britain. In the 20 14 European Parliament election, the British Independence Party ranked first among British political parties with 26.6% of the votes, and its leader farage also became a representative figure in British political circles who opposed Europe.

Professor Berg Darnoll once said: "For British politics, the European issue is like a poison", which will not only lead to tit-for-tat between different political parties, but also lead to divisions within each political party.

Indeed, take the ruling Conservative Party as an example. In the past, two political party leaders were forced to step down because of differences on European issues within the party. This time around the European Union referendum, the degree of mutual attack between the "Remaining Europeans" headed by Prime Minister David Cameron and the "Remaining Europeans" headed by Justice Minister Goff and the former mayor of London also makes you wonder whether they are colleagues or political enemies.

In fact, Cameron promised to hold a referendum on the EU in 20 15, with the aim of appeasing Britain in the Conservative Party to leave the EU and preventing the split within the Party. However, judging from the current development, Cameron's risky move has made the contradictions within the party open. Some analysts pointed out that regardless of the outcome of the EU referendum, it will cause incurable "internal injuries" to the Conservative Party, and Prime Minister David Cameron may also be forced to step down early.

However, the split within the party caused by the European problems also occurred in the British Labor Party in the 1970s.

1973, Conservative Prime Minister Heath led Britain to join the European Union, but in the next year's general election, the Labour Party successfully formed a minority government to replace the Conservative Party in power. At this time, some left-wing members of the Labour Party, including jeremy corbyn, the current leader of the Labour Party, attacked and strongly opposed Britain's accession to the European Union, calling it "the product of capitalism", which would only lead to the loss of employment opportunities for British workers. In order to quell the anti-European voices in the Party, james harold Wilson, Prime Minister of the Labour Party, decided to hold a referendum on 1975. As a result, two-thirds of the British public voted for Britain to stay in Europe.

Anti-European voices are getting louder.

However, compared with the last referendum 4 1 years ago, the anti-European voice in Britain is obviously much stronger, and one of the main reasons is the emergence of immigration.

The EU began to expand eastward in 2004, which led to a large number of citizens from Eastern European countries pouring into Britain to work and live. They are accused of stealing many British jobs and creating many social and security problems. Recently, a large number of illegal immigrants from the Middle East have arrived in the European continent, which makes many British people worry that the number of immigrants will surge.

In addition, when the referendum was held in 1975, Britain was facing a serious economic crisis, and the economic level of continental Europe was generally higher than that of Britain. At that time, joining the European Union was very attractive to Britain. However, in recent years, there have been economic problems in EU member countries, especially Greece, and there is no sign of solving them until now. More and more Britons believe that the EU has become a heavy economic burden and needs Britain's constant "dedication" to help these "poor countries".

At the same time, the successive violent attacks on the European continent in recent years have also made many British people feel that only by leaving the EU and closing the border can these attacks be prevented from spreading to Britain.

In this case, the result of the referendum on Britain's withdrawal from the EU is unpredictable and imaginable. Moreover, the author believes that the voting situation will fluctuate greatly with the occurrence of certain events from now until the polling day on June 23.