Ever since the great Brexit furore began, I’ve found it difficult to work out exactly where I stand on the issue of whether the UK should be in or out of the European Union.
I find myself tugged simultaneously in different directions. On the one hand, I shouldn’t care less. Although I was born in London, I’m a citizen of the Irish Republic, so what difference does it make to me what the cousins across the water decide about their future political arrangements? It’s up to them.
The feeling of distance from the Brexit fuss is compounded by the fact I’ve lived in the UAE for the past 10 years, and now regard the Emirates as my second home. The prospect for greater integration of the GCC is probably more important for me than the destiny of the EU, I reckon.
On the other hand, there are several reasons why I should care about Brexit. For one, it’s obvious that whichever way Britain goes will have important implications for Ireland, which depends for its economic well-being on trade with the UK. UK-UAE trade is also an important factor.
And of course, there are all those years spent in the UK. You might take the man out of London, but it’s hard to take London out of the man. So I’ll be empathising with all my friends back in the UK as the arguments heat up in the run-up to the actual vote on June 23.
So when I was invited by Christian Horvath, GM of the Capital Club in DIFC, to moderate a debate on the subject of Brexit, I was more than happy to accept. With my genuine lack of commitment either way, I was in some ways the perfect, impartial moderator.
The event took place this week, and, despite the best efforts of the protagonists, I am no nearer working out whether to Brexit or to Bremain. The panel I was nominally in charge of was committed and persuasive. On the side of the "Bremainers" was Francis Matthew, erudite and sophisticated editor-at-large of Gulf News. He was backed up by Toby Simpson, head of a recruitment firm in the region and a "passionate Briton and Bremainer", he said.
These two were opposed by “Brexiteers” Michael Champion, who when he isn’t organising interesting-sounding “defence and security special events” is also head of the Vote Leave UAE branch, and by Robert Tasker, who works in communications and who has the loudest voice I’ve ever heard on any human. There was no need for a microphone with Robert in the Capital Club’s swish surroundings.
The arguments ranged over a surprising variety of topics: Churchill, fish, trade, the United States of Europe, mackerel filleting, immigration, murder, rape, Peterborough – and these were just some of them.
There was, I felt, a lot of debate about the “big concepts” – defence, sovereignty and macro-economics – and not so much on the nitty gritty of what Brexit would mean for the average Brit’s pocket, or what it would mean for the average Brit expat in the UAE.
But the “Bremainers” obviously struck a sympathetic chord. Before the debate began, a show of hands recorded a small majority to remain in the EU. After the debate, that had widened to a conclusive victory for the anti-Brexit camp.
I, however, am still sitting on the fence.
fkane@thenational.ae
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