Top

Brexit tragic Cameron views May's troubles from a distance

The ironies were proving inescapably noticeable as Cameron opened his heart out in Chennai.

The suave former British Prime Minister skirted the slippery slopes with finesse on his oration stop in Chennai even as his successor was probably chewing her nails and eating spoonsful of peanut butter straight from the jar. What unites them is the spectre of Brexit, which neither may have wanted. While Brexit sank one, it appears weighty enough a problem to sink the other too.

The clock is ticking down on the March 29 deadline. David Cameron could mull that at a distance at least in the day he spent in India and in the few hours in Chennai where his fluency as a speaker floored the audience at the KS Narayanan Centenary event. On the other hand, his successor, the vicar’s daughter, was spending an exasperating time in Westminster trying to convince her MPs that an altered soft Brexit was still possible in re-negotiations with the European Union.

The ironies were proving inescapably noticeable as Cameron opened his heart out in Chennai. The referendum tragic may have been trying to unravel why he was such a conscientious democrat that he agreed to hold the darned thing when the outcome was uncertain. To be fair to him, it did seem the ‘Remainers’ were set to outvote the ‘Leavers’ when the referendum was ordered. Maybe, it was a touch of overconfidence or, more likely, the inability to read the young minds of UK, that may have led to the disastrous Brexit vote.

There is a story doing the rounds that Cameron did not think that the referendum would take place because he was expecting not to have a majority in the 2015 election. He believed he would be back in power in coalition with the Liberal Democrats who would not allow the referendum. This was narrated by Donald Tusk, the Europan Council president, who revealed that Cameron had told him he was relaxed about promising the referendum, which he had done only to please the Eurosceptics in his party. Of course, this was denied on behalf of Cameron. Bu who knows?

The basic irony was that the unabashed votary of globalisation in Cameron should have been the trigger that is leading now to the beginning of the end of globalisation, which a Brexit, hard or soft, represents as the UK strives to exit the EU. Cameron reasoned it out very well as he spoke of how it was just a common market to begin with and how the problems began with some countries being in the Euro common currency zone while others stayed away from it and how Britain felt cheated of its 1,000 years of parliamentary history in having to work with a European parliament.

The bottom line may be drawn around whether the EU could force Britain to pay the @39 billion divorce settlement, an original offer that may not even come back into the negotiations if a no-deal Brexit is on the cards. There is a lesson in this somewhere for all nations that speak of unity and harmony solving everything whereas innate differences could still tear the friendliest of allies apart, as it did the 46-year marriage between the UK and the EU. Cameron’s experience of coalition politics may have been warmer than his successor’s allies from Northern Ireland who are watching developments with a hawk’s eye as the Irish backstop is at stake.

To Cameron’s credit, he had stood down the moment he knew he was defeated in the ‘Yes’ vote as the ‘Leave’ brigade outvoted the staunch ‘Remain’ army. How many thick-skinned Indian politicians would have considered such a defeat so morally crushing as to quit their post, that too as Prime Minister. His conciliatory stand that it is still possible for Britain to Brexit Europe as friends and neighbours - “we can’t change geography’ Cameron lamented - sounded reasonable, but only because he was saying it several thousand miles away from London and Brussels.

If the thought cropped up on how there could be a British PM’s speech without humour - although followers of British politics might pop the name of the career politician Theresa May could point to her as an example - up came Cameron with a Modi quote. Speaking on India-UK links, Modi had said “India and UK have James Bond, Brooke Bond and Rupee Bond.” These were the delicious moments in going to hear a British (former) PM’s speech despite the kind of security measures that may have led to a media boycott in the UK. As an aside I have been to meet the Indian Prime Minister, who is one of the most protected men in the universe, with far less cumbersome security in Chennai.

The self-deprecating humour came through best in his descriptions of his cricketing exploits, especially the hilarious one of pleading with the spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan to bowl him an absolute lollipop, which the Kandy man did and Cameron hit it for four. The next ball spun so much that amazingly the middle stump stood while the off and leg were knocked over by a standard fizzy off break from the quirky spinner. And then there was this tale of his being bowled by a woman cricketer in a charity game and the Fleet Street (though they have long moved from there) press finding endless mirth in ribbing Cameron on it.

( Source : Deccan Chronicle. )
Next Story