Issues in Tariq Ali's support for Brexit & Colonial narratives

Issues in Tariq Ali's support for Brexit & Colonial narratives 

Although regarding massive support of youth in favor of referendum proved right yet regarding turnout of voters and victory for Brexit he was reluctant. He had a fear of defeat regarding Brexit. On the one hand he liked  re-nationalization demands of labour party but he look disturbed due to support of labour party for Remain. Tariq himself accepted that there are similarities in his pro Brexit stand and stand of racist and rightist lobbies especially UKIP in UK. But it is not knew and if you read his article published in 2000 in New Left Review AFGHANISTAN: BETWEEN HAMMER AND ANVIL you will find similarities in his narrative and point of view of colonial writers especially regarding concocted thesis of buffer Zone ,  unconquered lands, Afghan Kings etc.Even you can find low tone regarding Talibans and also a hope for Taliban's bright future which make his narrative more Royal then the King. "If the Taliban had simply offered peace and bread, they might have won lasting popular support. " The article was written in 2000 in New Left Review 2, March-April 2000, a London base left journal. He used books of John Cooley, Unholy Wars, and Ahmed Rashid, Taliban but he should expand his thesis by using books like MI-6 Secret Intelligence history from 1900-49 so that one can understand about those who had coined Use of religion theory in late 19th century. 

Here you can watch his argument at Interview: Tariq Ali, British writer and commentator and read transcript too. He accepted in this talk support of Brexit from some retired Army officers and said ''In fact, several British generals recently retired came out for Brexit, saying it would strengthen Britain's security''  interestingly he is a critic of Pakistani generals but in London he shows no hesitation to reproduce statement of army generals just to make his point. 
When he criticize EU, he used hammer of class question, democracy but when he support Brexit he even used point of view of retired general and bank on security.  
He is an internationalist but he has serious concerns against the refugees which look strange. At this point he acts like an economic adviser and his main concern is bad economic position of the Empire. He neither talk about offshore money that is under threat in EU and neither mentioned the owners of Offshore who were supporting Brexit.
Will add more soon

Read it too and compare it with Tariq's article on Afghanistan mentioned above..
click and read Afghan experts should deconstruct Old Narratives first


Transcript of T A interview

JOHN BARRON, PRESENTER: Let's take you live London now, where Tariq Ali is joining us.
He's a British writer, filmmaker and commentator from the political left, who believes the UK should exit the EU.
Tariq Ali, welcome to Lateline.

TARIQ ALI, AUTHOR AND COMMENTATOR: Very good to be with you again. 

JOHN BARRON: Nice to have you there.

It's interesting: on this particular issue, you find yourself not only on the same side as Boris Johnson, which is a little unusual, but also of Nigel Farage and the UK Independence Party, a right-wing populist, some say anti-immigration party.

I assume it's safe to say that you've arrived at this point from sort of a slightly different direction, but why do you support the Brexit?

TARIQ ALI: Well, I support it not simply for Britain, where at least if Britain elected a government - say a Jeremy Corbin government, given some of the policies he wants to implement on Trident, essentially on re-nationalising the railways, et cetera: these would not be permitted by the competition laws of the EU.

So that's a particular reason: that at least here you would get a government which, if you don't like, you can get rid of and you have an alternative. With the EU as it is presently structured, we have an extremely undemocratic, bureaucratic organisation which is not accountable to the people of any country.

And secondly, I think it's for Europe, too. I'm an internationalist. I think the way the EU has treated small countries like Greece, which has been wrecked even as we speak; Ireland; Portugal; others: they deserve to be punished.

And we need a different type of an EU which will only come if this one is dismantled. So I see a Brexit as dismantling or helping to dismantle the current structures of the European Union.

JOHN BARRON: You talk about it potentially freeing the hand of Jeremy Corbin, the progressive Labour leader, to potentially institute some of his agenda. And yet he, as I understand it, is against the Brexit, at least in a slightly tepid way?

TARIQ ALI: Well, he is against the Brexit at the present moment. But he has said and others in the Labour Party have said that: "Once we are in power, Brexit would be a different thing. If it happens now, it's a different set of Tories will take over," which in my view is an incoherent argument. Because to go, to get out now would actually strengthen Labour for a variety of reasons - and strengthen the rest of Europe, too.

I think lots of people elsewhere in Europe are waiting to see what happens here, so they can commence the debate. This EU has been a total disaster in terms of interstate relations; in terms of relations between rulers and ruled; and in terms of geopolitics.

I mean, it is effectively governed militarily by NATO. All the NATO plans that take place are backed by the EU. You have a huge number of refugees as a result of NATO's wars, launched by the United States. And you know, just in the last week, 700 refugees drowned. And this is not unrelated to the EU and NATO.

JOHN BARRON: Does it concern you, Tariq Ali, that some of those who are advocating the same position as you say that one of the benefits of exiting the European Union is: "We will have less immigrants"; and that this is clearly one of the reasons UKIP, for instance, is drawn towards this policy? 

TARIQ ALI: Well, look: occasionally one has to vote on principle and regardless of the fact that others are voting for different reasons.

It was the same as some years ago, when there were votes on the European constitution in countries like France. Right and left, for different reasons, voted against the Constitution and were completely ignored after they won.

So this goes on because this is an issue that divides people for different reasons. The immigration debate largely is about cheap European labour coming into Britain. But the core of the problem is not the European migrants coming in; but the state of the British economy, which welcomes cheap labour and which will not allow even, in some cases, people to be coming in to be trade unionised.

So my position is that, in fact: leave or stay, the economic conditions in this country aren't really going to be affected.

And all this fear campaign that there will be a total disaster if we leave the EU: if it's going to be such a serious disaster, why did you go for a referendum in the first place?

JOHN BARRON: Well, David Cameron is making that point. He says that half of British exports go into the European Union at the moment, but this could knock tens of billions of pounds off the GDP, almost overnight?

TARIQ ALI: This is nonsense, actually. And this is really part of campaign fear.

Most serious economists, Europeans and non-Europeans, have said that there will be very little real change. There are European countries which are outside the EU and trade perfectly normally with the EU. They have no restrictions on entering the EU without visas.

So everything is being ratcheted up to frighten large numbers of people into voting the way the government wants them to vote. They did it in Scotland: they succeeded. And so they're trying it again now. 

JOHN BARRON: And unlike Scotland, though, there is also the spectre of another major European conflagration: another, potentially, a world war that could start in Europe if Britain is not part of the EU. What do you think of that? 

TARIQ ALI: I think that's just nonsense. I mean, what world war is going to start in Europe? They've again demonised Russia, which is a country trying to assert its sovereignty in saying that this represents new dangers.

In fact, several British generals recently retired came out for Brexit, saying it would strengthen Britain's security. So these arguments which are being used by Cameron and his cronies on the frontbench of the Conservative Party really have very little value.

The problem is that his opponents within the Conservative Party are not being as effective as they could. We on the left are very weak in this particular debate: completely isolated. But the Brexit campaigners are coming up with equally crude arguments. So it is a deeply unsatisfactory referendum. 

JOHN BARRON: And historically, of course, Tariq Ali, this has been almost an internal battle fought on the Conservative side, back to the 1970s, when a referendum was held on deeper ties with Europe as well. It seems this is now a proxy, "who's going to be the next prime minister between David Cameron and Boris Johnson" matter? 

TARIQ ALI: Well, this is absolutely true. And the fight is going on. I mean, if you read the Financial Times today and other newspapers, this has become a big fight in the Conservative Party.

And relations have so bad within the government and its backbenchers that many are now speculating that, win or lose, it doesn't matter. What is going to happen is that the Tory Party, as it exists at the moment, might well split.

I mean, it hasn't split so far, ever. But if this split were to take place as a result of the referendum, that would mark a huge, huge break in English politics.

JOHN BARRON: What do you make of the intervention from dozens of leading economists, Kristine Lagarde of the IMF, US president Barack Obama, among others: all advocating for Britain to stay within the EU: to reform it if and where necessary, but not to file for divorce - maybe just a more open marriage?

TARIQ ALI: Well, this is the global elite. You know, the very names you mentioned: Christine Lagarde, who is still being investigated for some financial, you know, misdoings in France; Obama, who is a lame duck president; and others like them. I mean, the elite is very worried and they're worried...

JOHN BARRON: Plenty on the left would listen to Barack Obama, I would have thought, though?

TARIQ ALI: I don't think so. I think Barack Obama blotted his copybook quite a long time ago. And the colour of his skin doesn't make him progressive. You know, this is a big mistake that people have made.

But I think that, effectively, what we are seeing is the European elite panicking because they feel - they don't care that much about Britain as such - but they feel that, if there is a Brexit, it will disrupt the functioning of the present EU and they might have to face serious problems.

Look, under the EU as it exists at the moment, we've seen a huge rise of the far right. Austria nearly had a semi-fascist president. Big rise of extreme right-wing groups in Germany, in France, in Scandinavia.

Why has this happened? You know, they are in the EU. So why is getting out of the EU going to make things any worse on that front?

I think this is a complete panic in order to try and protect and preserve the neo-liberal economy which the EU defends, because that's all it's become now.

It's a machine for neo-liberal capitalism - and that is what it pushes, time and time and time again. 

JOHN BARRON: Just finally, Tariq Ali: you compared this to the Scottish referendum. Do you think that, ultimately, that the status quo will prevail because there is a negative campaign raising these economic, even military concerns over an exit? Or is there time for the pro-Brexit case to get up? 

TARIQ ALI: I think, at the present moment, it is looking as if the 'Remain' campaign will win. I may be wrong.

Interestingly enough, the largest support for remaining comes from young people between the ages of 18 and 26. They have an idolised view of the EU. They think it's like the modern gold standard: we can't quit it.

So 70 per cent of those between 18 and 26 are for staying in, for all sorts of idealistic reasons. If they turn out to vote, then 'Remain' will win a huge majority. But will they turn out and vote? We don't know.

So a lot will depend on the actual numbers who come and vote. And, as we know in European elections in general, the voting is very low.

JOHN BARRON: Good to talk to you. Thanks for joining us. 

TARIQ ALI: Thanks.