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The former Greek Finance Minister, Yannis Varoufakis, was in Belfast this weekend to outline plans for his new Democracy in Europe Movement 25 (Diem25). Launched two years ago in Berlin, Diem25 seeks, among other things, full transparency of decision-making at the EU level, the dismantling of corporate power in politics, and a more powerful European Parliament.
A Union Flag waves at Greenwich, London on August 28, 2017.
The former minister’s analysis shed considerable light on the complex background to the fresh round of Brexit negotiations between the UK and the EU. Above all, Varoufakis’ democratic and leftist critique of the European Union demonstrates that the Yes/No Referendum in the United Kingdom did as much to conceal as expose the nuances of a complex cross-party debate on the country’s future relations with the European Union.
During the Greek's "debt crisis" in 2015, Varoufakis briefly found himself thrust from life as an influential economics professor to the front lines of his country’s stand-off with the all-powerful "Troika" (Eurozone finance ministers, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund) after he was appointed Finance Minister in the radical leftist party, Syriza.
**‘A Dog’s Brexit’ **
Varoufakis believes that two forces are currently tearing the European Union project apart. One is the "deep establishment" represented by the Euro group of finance ministers or forces of "liquidation" committed to expanding the ranks of the global precariat by attacking small businesses and waged labors, while creating a frictionless world for the forces of accumulation: Dominant global capital or the "oligopolies."
Working in apparent opposition are the reactionary (but co-dependent) forces of "disintegration" who feed on the establishment narrative heralded by the rhetoric of "we want our country back" and manifest in resurgent nationalism, neo-fascism and populist retreats to kinship and borders.
This is the battleground of ideas behind Brexit or, as Varoufakis would have it, "a dog’s Brexit," with much of the UK Conservative Party and parts of the Labour Party captured by Europe’s "deep establishment." At the same time, Nigel Farage’s United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) and other parts of the Conservative Party (the Brexiteers) are aligned with the "disintegrationist" impulse to retreat behind borders and the restoration of British sovereignty.
Varoufakis believes that with every concession and incremental attempt to placate the insurgent forces of disintegration by representatives of the "deep establishment," the European project is losing ground in an interplay of symbiotic forces that are incapable of delivering real change that only his progressive coalition can begin to realize when Diem25 platform candidates are expected to stand for the election in every member state.
**Three-dimensional games of chess **
It is UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s misfortune – her own "Greek Tragedy" - that divisions over the future of the European project run down the middle of her party. Her Cabinet is populated by a band of Brexiteers – spooked by the populist appeal of Nigel Farage [his once insurgent UKIP is rapidly descending into obscurity and the best of British farce]. Her predicament has been compounded by a disastrous decision to call a "snap" general election in 2017 which left her more vulnerable to the demands of Brexiteers in her Cabinet and on her back benches.
The UK’s Brexit Referendum – essentially a failed attempt by the former Conservative Party Prime Minister David Cameron – to out-maneuver the Tory Brexiteers in his own party – triggered what can only be described as a series of parallel and inter-connected games of three-dimensional chess within UK politics, in negotiations with the Dublin Government who command the ear of the EU Council over the Irish border, and within the EU core where France’s President Macron is pitching himself as the champion of a transformed European Union, with a shored up Eurozone and defense regime.
Stop Brexit Pro Europe campaigners protest outside Parliament as a new analysis report suggests a Hard Brexit will cost the Scottish economy £16 billion a year causing Scottish household incomes to fall if the UK Government were to fall back on World trade Organization rules.
**Telling Times **
In what may prove to have been a pivotal moment in the UK Brexit debate in December 2017, and in a stark demonstration of the shifting configurations of power that run through and across the parties in the House of Commons, Prime Minister May was forced by a back-bench rebellion by 11 of her own MPs (including eight former ministers) – led by former Attorney General Dominic Grieve – to concede a "meaningful vote" by the Commons on the Brexit deal negotiated with the EU.
Grieve’s thoughtful and considered intervention suddenly empowered a significant consensus across the Commons that favors a soft Brexit and possibly a de facto single market arrangement with the EU, if not a new national poll that would allow UK voters to say "yes" or "no" to the terms of the eventual Brexit deal. Polling figures suggest that significant numbers of undecided and "Leave" voters have had second thoughts about the UK’s prospects outside the European Union since the "Leave" vote (51.9) narrowly eclipsed the "Remain" vote (48.1 percent) in the original Brexit Referendum in June 2016.
If May appears to pursue only a nominal exit from the European Union – with new single market access arrangements her objective – she can expect the Conservative Brexiteer voices to raise the ante with new threats to her leadership. Corbyn’s Labor Party – with an eye to a possible early General Election and returning Labor to power will modulate their response to maximize May’s discomfort. Whether the final vote takes place within the House of Commons or in another national plebiscite, time will most likely serve the voices of moderation. Whatever the outcome, Varoufakis is also preparing to seize the initiative and shift the narrative entirely at the next elections to the European Parliament. 、
(CGTN)
