The winning hypocrisy of Theresa May
The British prime minister's double-talk on Brexit is gobsmackingly transparent. It also might just work.
![Hypocrisy all the way!](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/kYBdD4iURuoRLRC9DJMVQB-415-80.jpg)
Does anyone envy Theresa May? Her task as U.K. prime minister is to extricate Britain from the EU without too much economic pain, without an exodus of European talent from London, and without accidentally restarting the Troubles in Northern Ireland. And at the same time, she has to keep Scotland from leaving the clutches of her own much older political union.
You see the dilemma. After the head of the Scottish Nationalist Party declared her intention to ask for another referendum on independence, May's job description could be reduced to a single task: Talk out of both sides of your mouth and make everyone agree to what you're saying.
On the one hand — her Brexit one — sovereignty is the precious good that gives democratic government legitimacy. To be routinely outvoted or overturned by a political body whose own interests diverge from your own is rank effrontery. Even a little economic pain, political turmoil, and uncertainty is worth enduring to preserve a unique identity and a nation's genius from the smothering embrace of a political union that distorts its self-government. The conveniences of the union are not worth the national self-abasement that the EU requires. The precious good of peace will survive Europe's political re-division.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
![https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516-320-80.jpg)
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
On the other hand — the Unionist one — sovereignty on the Isles has always been a matter of degrees and self-effacement, governed by prudence. And the political upset caused by these questions of national identity enflame our worst passions, don't they? Maybe better to delay them until tempers have cooled from the last time. And you may have seen the forecasts for oil prices over the next few years, which makes you wonder how Scotland could afford all the services it loves. Recall that David Cameron called this the "best political union ever," one that effectively ended war on an island that had known little but since the Middle Ages.
But, surprisingly enough, May has a chance of pulling this off. The Brexit negotiations really are coming at a moment of low morale for the Eurocrats. In Poland and Hungary, Brussels has to deal with member regimes it claims to hate. Within critical member states like France and Italy, it has to fight the political forces representing EU dissolution. Turkey is also turning up the pressure, threatening to cause turmoil in the hopes of boosting dissatisfaction with the status quo.
Rather than high-tailing it to Dublin and Frankfurt, the financial industry seems to be effectively lobbying for mercy for the U.K. Peripheral states in the EU, like Sweden and Ireland, benefit immensely from liberal trade policies with the United Kingdom. Do the French and German hardliners really believe that after EU-defender Emmanuel Macron raised such huge sums of money for his presidential campaign in London that his patrons will be pleased to be bidden home under punitive Brexit terms?
And Scotland may be sore about Brexit, but its prospects for independence really are materially worse than previously thought. Everyone now knows that the SNP used ludicrous projects based on oil wealth in the last IndyRef. And with the forces of nationalism stalking Europe, there are big EU member states like France and Italy that would rather discourage secessionist movements in their own countries. They'd be very hesitant to grant expedited membership to Scotland. That means Scotland would have to create its own currency and have some kind of defense policy on top of recreating the National Health Service without nearly as much money to fund it.
In other words, May's double-talk has a good chance of succeeding in its political goals. If she sounds silly for a few months so be it. Great political victories occasionally demand a certain amount of hypocrisy and foolishness.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Michael Brendan Dougherty is senior correspondent at TheWeek.com. He is the founder and editor of The Slurve, a newsletter about baseball. His work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, ESPN Magazine, Slate and The American Conservative.
-
Simone Biles: Rising – an 'elegantly paced and vulnerable' portrait of the gymnast
The Week Recommends Netflix's four-part documentary is more than a 'riveting comeback story'
By Irenie Forshaw, The Week UK Published
-
Paloma recipe: the cocktail of the summer
The Week Recommends This refreshing drink balances the fresh and fizzy taste of grapefruit soda with a subtle flavour of smooth tequila
By Rebekah Evans, The Week UK Published
-
Mushroom edibles are tripping up users
the explainer The psychedelics can sometimes have questionable components
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Venezuela election: first vote in a decade offers hope to poverty-stricken nation
The Explainer Nicolás Maduro agreed to 'free and fair' vote but poor polling and threat of prosecution pushes disputed leader to desperate methods
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
How could J.D. Vance impact the special relationship?
Today's Big Question Trump's hawkish pick for VP said UK is the first 'truly Islamist country' with a nuclear weapon
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
The Tamils stranded on 'secretive' British island in Indian Ocean
Under the Radar Migrants 'unlawfully detained' since 2021 shipwreck on UK-controlled Diego Garcia, site of important US military base
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
The campaign of destruction against 'sea gypsies'
Under the Radar Malaysia targets traditional seafaring Bajau Laut tribe in crackdown on undocumented migrants
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
New Panama president vows to halt migration
Speed Read José Raúl Mulino will stop migration through the Darien Gap
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Bolivia general arrested after coup attempt
Speed Read Gen. Juan José Zúñiga led what appeared to be a bid to unseat President Luis Arce
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Who will win France's election of extremes?
Today's Big Question Voters face a stark choice between far-right party and left-wing alliance as centrists lose ground
By Rebecca Messina, The Week UK Published
-
Bolivia's battle to decriminalise coca leaf
Under the Radar WHO study boosts South American nation's desire to export cocaine ingredient
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published