Big Ben. Yui Mok/Press Association. All rights reserved.
Yanis Varoufakis is one of the few intellectuals in Europe who has both the ability to think outside the box and the audacity to confront us with uncomfortable truths. This is why, before challenging one aspect of his reasoning on Brexit, I want to pay tribute to the coherence of his stance, powerfully expressed by his latest piece in the New Statesman. As he puts it : “Britain is teetering on a knife’s edge: about to crash out of, or back into, the European Union” where “either outcome would represent a defeat for democracy in the UK and in the EU.” While he joins many progressives in denouncing the economic and political risk of a calamitous no deal Brexit on March 29, he is among the few on the Left who address the great risk that by stopping Brexit trust in democracy would be undermined. I think he is right.
Yes, a unilateral revocation of article 50 is technically possible, as clarified by the EU Court of Justice and advocated by many, including former Prime Minister John Major. But how would it be democratically justifiable? Anyone who thinks that Brexit can simply be annulled with such a magic wand needs to recognise the sense of betrayal that many Leave voters would inevitably feel. In fact, neither crashing out nor crashing back into the EU are viable options for democrats, despite momentous support from two entrenched fronts.
