How David Cameron unwittingly disproved himself on the Brexit

British Prime Minister David Cameron protected the Tories' right flank in 2013 by promising a referendum on the U.K.'s continuing membership in the European Union. Now, after he negotiated almost no concessions from Brussels, Cameron leads the "Remain" campaign to keep Britain in the E.U. It has been an exercise in strengthening Britain's barely concealed sense of insecurity. And somehow it is working, even if it is self-refuting.

Cameron promises that, if Britain strikes out on its own again, unchaining themselves from a continent misgoverned by Angela Merkel and the European Central Bank, and lately teeming with ascendant euro-skeptic nationalists, Britain's home values will decrease by about 20 percent, the economy will crater, and maybe the only thing that will relieve Britons of their helpless misery and depression is early death in a war. No, seriously, David Cameron said that if his campaign fails, the U.K. could risk a war. With whom? He doesn't say.

Cameron's greatest coup is getting foreigners to join in the fun of frightening the people who elected him. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe warned Britons that Japanese investors would be less well-disposed to an independent Britain. Barack Obama warned that the U.K. would go to the "back of the queue" in trade negotiations. This is just idiotic. The U.K. is a large trading partner already, and many U.S. citizens work in the U.K. and vice versa. An independent U.K., unencumbered by the byzantine demands for protection for French and German workers, would leap immediately to the front of any line for trade deals with America.

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Even wee Ireland has gotten in on the business of scaring Britons. The head of the British Irish Chamber of Commerce warned that no one could know under what terms trade would continue between the new nations. Of course, it is obvious they'd continue under liberal ones as the Irish sea is one of the busiest trade-routes in the world, and businesses on both sides, from Premier League Soccer to Irish dairy interests, would demand it continue that way. Even Enda Kenny, the embattled and unpopular Irish prime minister, joined in the fright fest. He hinted that Northern Ireland's peace depended on shared membership in the E.U. This is preposterous, as the Troubles went on for over 20 years during shared membership, and it was U.S. negotiators, not Europeans, who helped broker a peace process. It is also a bit trashy to suggest that this issue is what would send Belfast boys back to shooting each other.

But here's the thing: If the U.K. were the vulnerable weakling that David Cameron makes it out to be, it would be clamoring to join the E.U.'s common currency. Not joining the euro has worked out handsomely for the U.K. even as it slowed the ability of countries like Spain and Greece to find a full recovery after the last decade's financial meltdown. The very fact that Cameron can get foreigners to say self-evidently stupid things on Remain's behalf is pretty good proof that the United Kingdom still rates highly in the world. If it wasn't an important country, with a large economy, people wouldn't bother to give its prime minister an assist like this.

Relatively few people in history ever get any chance to make a decision on their sovereignty. Those nations which enjoy it either inherit it from their glorified ancestors, or they win it themselves on a battlefield. The United Kingdom gets a vote. And instead of being terrified about what might befall them if they leave, perhaps they should reflect soberly on what it is to spurn such a chance.