After Brexit, Ireland can form part of new ‘grit in the oyster’
After UK leaves, role of contrarian bulwark against France and Germany will be vacant
John Major in Dublin. Photograph: Tom Honan
Contrariness was the hallmark of the UK’s sometimes fractious relationship with the EU long before the Brexit vote. And it was never something for which they felt the need to apologise. Indeed they saw it as a strength, and not just for themselves.
As former prime minister John Major put it this week: “To have a grit in the oyster is quite useful and Britain has often been the grit in the European oyster.” Speaking in Dublin, Major noted that Britain saw itself as “the protector of small nations who were reluctant to speak out against the broad consensus themselves”.