As a contrast to the increasingly jingoistic British Right-Wing media, it’s interesting to reflect on the following op.ed. article published in the Irish Independent. The author, Dan O’Brian is Chief Economist at the Institute of International and European Affairs, a columnist with Independent newspapers and senior fellow at University College Dublin.
Dan O’Brien: ‘Britain is leaving Europe. And it is not coming back’
Not being a historian, I am unable to challenge the factual representation in the article but it is well researched and argued. It’s powerful and well written, providing snippets of key events in British history going back to the Hundred Year War and tries to distill a common theme. Of course historians would perhaps take exception based on a different world-views or question the methodology. Notwithstanding these caveats, I was very surprised by the strength of the conclusion – it really is relevant and probably generalizable. Read it for yourself and share your own opinions. A friend in Dublin brought the article to my attention and I thank him.
At the moment, the British media is in a frenzy and pumping out highly biassed viewpoints, with newspaper owners and editors looking to be on the winning side.
Yesterday, I critiqued an excellent article from the editor of the Spectator: Opinion – Battle begins – the Spectator – Fraser Nelson
My personal conclusion remains gloomy. History reminds us that when the jingoism subsides, there is often much blood and tears before victory or defeat.
Opinion?
Dr Alf's Blog 
The article which Dr Alf has kindly made available to us is a good rendition of official history but it is nevertheless nonsense.
The British public or at least the bulk of it sees Europe as a place which is ,”over there” and somewhere where they can go on holiday and if they have money buy somewhere in France or Spain and quietly drink wine,eat French cheese and enjoy a more relaxed existence.
Those running the country and the UK monarchy plus monied interests based in the City and Corporation of London see Europe as a place to be financed and controlled.
The makeup of all Central banks,the ownership of reserve banks,investment banks andretail banks reveals those interests as does the makeup of all the banks in Africa where Europe’s former colonies lie.
Thus Britain whilst “leaving Europe” is in reality not leaving at all at least as far as the country within a country ,the City and Corporation of London is concerned.
If we look back as far as George 3rd attempts were being made then to create a single Government for the whole world starting with Europe.
Cecil Rhodes,William T Stead,Milner ,the King and Sir Edward Grey operationalsed World War 1 to break the rise of Germany which was seen as a threat to the emerging empire which according to Rhodes was going to be an Anglo American Empire.
That empire was to be financed with “All the wealth of the world” starting with the war chest that the gay Rhodes left in his will.
The original conspirators met in a chilly London drawing room in 1892 but the plan for that war and the reordering of power in Europe was conceived in 1871 some 6 years after the end of the American Civil War.
The same is true for World War 2 which had different objectives including making Europe the outer ring in a concentric set of defences for America and the new hidden empire represented by Britain and all the former European colonies plus supposed republics whose leaders were appointed as stooges still loyal to the crown.
At the same time as we are leaving the EU the UK is deliberately reducing its military so that it is now little more than a cipher and a “plug and play ” component of NATO and the emerging European Army.
There are also moves to abolish cash within 4 years and replace it with digital currency.
Mark Carney the UK’s Bank of England Governor and ex Goldman Sachs banker was in Jackson Hole in America only last month arguing for LIBRA ,Facebook’s crypto currency to be the replacement for the American dollar,the Euro and the pound.
Centralising both military and financial power in one place doesn’t look to me like “leaving Europe” but of course the public and the writer of the article will focus more on the appearance than the substance.