In How to Stop Brexit (and Make Britain Great Again), Nick Clegg offers a short, accessible book seeking to persuade the ambivalent or undecided that Brexit should be stopped; to suggest what the average voter can do about it; and to propose an alternative model for relations between Britain and Europe. While this is an engaging and lively read with a number of thought-provoking ..

Ledger, Robert

LSE Research Online

Book	review:	How	To	Stop	Brexit	(and	Make	BritainGreat	Again)	–	Nick	CleggIn	How	to	Stop	Brexit	(and	Make	Britain	Great	Again),	Nick	Clegg	offers	a	short,	accessible	book	seeking	topersuade	the	ambivalent	or	undecided	that	Brexit	should	be	stopped;	to	suggest	what	the	average	voter	can	doabout	it;	and	to	propose	an	alternative	model	for	relations	between	Britain	and	Europe.	While	this	is	an	engagingand	lively	read	with	a	number	of	thought-provoking	suggestions,	Robert	Ledger	questions	whether	the	book	willsucceed	in	changing	minds.How	to	Stop	Brexit	(and	Make	Britain	Great	Again).	Nick	Clegg.	BodleyHead.	2017Find	this	book:	Nick	Clegg’s	new	book,	How	to	Stop	Brexit	(and	Make	Britain	Great	Again),	catersprimarily	to	the	many	‘Remain’	voters	who	have	been	asking	themselves	a	verysimilar	question	ever	since	23	June	2016.	Clegg,	former	leader	of	the	pro-EuropeanUnion	Liberal	Democrats	and	—	until	the	2017	General	Election	—	MP	for	SheffieldHallam,	puts	forward	a	number	of	suggestions	as	to	how	Brexit,	or	at	least	the	hardor	cliff-edge	variety,	might	be	prevented	by	citizen	action.Clegg	has	well-known	and	often-articulated	pro-European	views,	so	one	couldprobably	conclude	that	this	book	is	aimed	at	Remainers.	This	is	not,	however,Clegg’s	stated	objective.	The	book	is	‘mainly	for	those	people	who	don’t	hold	theirviews	for	or	against	Brexit	especially	strongly’,	and	‘who	voted	for	Brexit	knowingexactly	what	they	were	doing	[…]	but	who	now	see	that	Brexit	is	not	turning	out	theway	they	were	promised’	(2).	Clegg	wants	to	change	these	voters’	minds,	for	‘thereis	nothing	wrong	with	revisiting	a	decision’	(1).This	short,	accessible,	book	is	set	out	into	a	number	of	sections:	a	broad-ranging	analysis	of	Britain’s	relationshipwith	the	EU	to	date;	why	Brexit	should	be	stopped;	what	the	average	voter	can	do	about	it;	and	an	alternativemodel	for	Britain	and	Europe.	Yet,	Clegg	has	no	doubt	that	Britain	will	remain	close	to	the	EU,	however	Brexitworks	out:in	the	end,	a	simple	truth	will	prevail:	we	are	condemned	by	history	and	geography	to	be	allies,neighbours	and	friends	sharing	the	same	space,	the	same	seas,	the	same	continent	and	the	samevalues	(137).The	historical	analysis	of	Britain’s	at-times	awkward	relationship	with	the	EU	will	be	familiar	to	many	readers.Nevertheless,	it	provides	an	informative	overview.	British	policymakers	in	the	1960s	and	1970s	saw	the	EuropeanEconomic	Community	as	a	collective	based	upon	trade,	and	through	a	transactional	and	un-ideological	lens.Britain	never	had	the	same	attachment	to	the	project	due	to	events	of	the	Second	World	War.	When	the	EUintegrated	more	deeply	and	expanded	ever	wider,	a	hardcore	rump	of	British	nationalists,	conservatives	andThatcherites	—	however	unfaithful	this	interpretation	is	to	the	Iron	Lady’s	actual	views	towards	Europe	—mounted	a	long	campaign	of	insurgency	to	withdraw	the	UK	from	the	European	club.	Despite	Clegg’s	earlierambition,	this	analysis	will	probably	already	diverge	sharply	from	many	of	the	narratives	harboured	by	Brexiteers.They	may	also	point	to	—	as	anti-EU	opinion	sees	it	—	a	‘democratic	deficit’,	the	stifling	effect	of	Europeanbureaucracy	and	the	assault	to	British	parliamentary	sovereignty.LSE Brexit: Book review: How To Stop Brexit (and Make Britain Great Again) – Nick Clegg Page 1 of 3		Date originally posted: 2017-11-28Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/brexit/2017/11/28/book-review-how-to-stop-brexit-and-make-britain-great-again-nick-clegg/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/brexit/Launch	of	the	GREAT	Britain	campaign	in	Tokyo,	2012.	Photo:	Number	10	via	a	CC-BY-NC-ND2.0	licenceThe	2016	referendum,	why	it	was	called	and	the	conduct	of	the	campaign	are	also	discussed.	The	LeaveCampaign’s	claim	that	the	NHS,	once	Britain	was	outside	of	the	EU,	would	gain	£350	million	a	week	is	one	ofseveral	used	to	demonstrate	that	the	British	people	were	sold	a	false	prospectus.	Clegg	also	discusses	theassertion	that	Brexit	is	an	anti-establishment	endeavour,	stating	that	the	referendum	campaign	was	financed	by	ashadowy	cabal	of	business	people	and	financiers:	‘wealthy	individuals	with	personal	motives’	(135).	These	aredescribed	as	the	‘Brexit	elite’	(63).	We	also	learn	about	the	negative	impact	that	Brexit,	particularly	the	no-dealversion,	is	likely	to	have.Having	ascertained	that	EU	membership	is	in	Britain’s	interests	and	that	the	referendum	was	fought	on	adisputed,	if	not	outright	dubious,	set	of	promises,	the	former	Deputy	Prime	Minister	sets	out	how	Brexit	can	beaverted.	His	main	points	for	action	revolve	around	political	engagement.	Voters	are	encouraged	to	join	eitherLabour	or	the	Conservatives,	and	then	lobby	its	politicians	in	a	pro-European	direction.	Although	this	is	admirablynon-partisan	—	indeed,	both	parties’	leaderships	are	correctly	described	as	being,	at	best,	lukewarm	towards	theEU	—	it	may	come	as	a	surprise	to	readers	that	they	are	not	advised	to	join	Clegg’s	own	Liberal	Democrats,	who,after	all,	are	the	most	pro-EU	of	the	mainstream	parties.	Clegg	writes	that	‘if	1	in	100	Remain	voters	were	to	jointhe	Conservative	Party,	they	would	outnumber	the	current	membership	of	the	party’	(103).	On	the	other	hand,	aquick	check	of	the	numbers	also	shows	that	if	1	in	35	Remain	voters	joined	the	Liberal	Democrats,	it	wouldbecome	Britain’s	largest	political	party	and	surely	exert	more	influence	than	is	currently	the	case.	That	Cleggavoids	partisanship	is	refreshing	compared	to	the	literary	work	of	most	politicians.	It	is	nonetheless	curious	thatthe	author,	by	and	large,	does	not	involve	his	own	party	in	his	strategy.Finally,	Clegg	sets	out	a	possible	future	arrangement	between	Britain	and	the	EU,	and	it	is	this	section	thatreaders	will	find	most	thought-provoking.	Short	of	full,	core,	EU	membership,	the	UK	could	sit	in	an	outer‘concentric	ring’.	This	is,	more	or	less,	the	current	–	if	unacknowledged	–	de	facto	situation	in	Europe,	wheredifferent	countries	sign	up,	a	la	carte,	to	the	various	EU	initiatives.	The	idea	has	influential	proponents,	such	asFrench	President	Emmanuel	Macron	and	ex-German	Finance	Minister	Wolfgang	Schäuble.	Angela	Merkel	hasalso	signalled	she	might	be	open	to	this	kind	of	arrangement,	at	least	in	principle.	Clegg	moreover	suggests	that	anew	relationship	could	be	(according	to	the	concentric	circles	idea)	arranged	via	a	joint	UK-EU	Convention	andco-chaired	by,	for	instance,	Sir	John	Major	and	current	Dutch	Prime	Minister	(and	a	friend	of	Clegg’s)	Mark	Rutte.Major	would	be	an	‘honest	broker’	and	has	previous	experience	negotiating	at	the	European	level:	for	instance,the	Maastricht	Treaty	(122-24).LSE Brexit: Book review: How To Stop Brexit (and Make Britain Great Again) – Nick Clegg Page 2 of 3		Date originally posted: 2017-11-28Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/brexit/2017/11/28/book-review-how-to-stop-brexit-and-make-britain-great-again-nick-clegg/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/brexit/How	to	Stop	Brexit	(and	Make	Britain	Great	Again)	will	appeal	to	the	general	reader	—	it	is	written	in	an	engagingand	lively	manner,	and	makes	a	number	of	thought-provoking	suggestions.	Whether	it	will	be	of	interest	to	thosewho	support	Brexit	or	will	achieve	its	stated	intention	of	changing	people’s	minds	is	less	certain.	There	arecurrently	a	host	of	books	being	published	on	Brexit,	from	analysis	of	the	machinations	of	the	2016	campaign	toproposals	for	the	various	future	directions	for	Britain	and	the	EU.	Nick	Clegg’s	book	provides	a	fast-pacedcommentary	on	the	topic.	The	nature	of	the	subject,	however,	means	that	it	will	not	be	for	most	Leave	voters,	andwill	struggle	to	break	through	the	echo	chambers	that	have	emerged	around	the	EU	issue.This	post	represents	the	views	of	the	author	and	not	those	of	the	Brexit	blog,	nor	the	LSE.	It	first	appeared	at	theLSE	Review	of	Books.Robert	Ledger	has	a	PhD	from	Queen	Mary	University	London	in	political	science,	his	thesis	examining	theinfluence	of	liberal	economic	ideas	on	the	Thatcher	government,	and	an	MA	in	International	Relations	from	BrunelUniversity.	He	has	worked	in	Brussels	and	Berlin	for	the	European	Stability	Initiative	–	a	think	tank	–	on	EUenlargement	and	human	rights	issues.	He	has	published	widely	on	European	and	British	politics,	editedthe	Journal	of	International	Relations	Research	and	is	also	a	regular	contributor	to	Global	Risk	Insights,	a	politicalrisk	group.LSE Brexit: Book review: How To Stop Brexit (and Make Britain Great Again) – Nick Clegg Page 3 of 3		Date originally posted: 2017-11-28Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/brexit/2017/11/28/book-review-how-to-stop-brexit-and-make-britain-great-again-nick-clegg/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/brexit/

Book review: how to stop Brexit (and make Britain great again) - Nick Clegg

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