Brexit: the view from France
In the days immediately following Brexit I am in France, in the valley of the Sarthe river, near Le Mans, whence the Plantagenets hailed. The long march of history and the lack of any hysteria in France comparable to that on English media reveals a sober truth, which is that we have not quit Europe or cast ourselves off into mid Atlantic. We have rejected a particular model of European plutocracy.
Our history and culture derives from Europe and our future will continue to be there in many ways. It is culture, not systems or markets, which creates civilisations, makes us good Europeans or, for that matter, racist xenophobes. This ought to be one of the lessons taught us by Pope St John Paul, who saw that a country’s soul has to be something far more deep, powerful and spiritual than the systems of politicians if it is to survive.
