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For a long time I have bowed to no one in my admiration for Simon Calder, the indefatigable doyen of UK travel pundits. Britain’s hardest-working journalist also goes by the moniker of the ‘man who pays his way’, setting himself apart from the legions of travel writers, bloggers and so-called ‘influencers’, who make a living, if not a living, from free airline and hotel travel. His honesty in speaking is a rare commodity, even among journalists, who fear losing access. It’s no wonder, then, that his flat-out blaming of Brexit for the current Dover disaster has caused such a stir.
No offense to Calder, but he was just stating the obvious. “Brexit came into force early last year, but it’s only this weekend that we’re seeing the really significant issues and that’s pretty predictable,” he began, against the now-typical Dover backdrop of unintentional truck parking. “Back in the old days, when he would show up in my car. I’d just show a passport…and if I was really busy, they’d just let me through. they can’t do that anymore because this is an external border of the European Union, so every French border officer has to say, right, we have to check your passport.”
“At the very least they have to get their passport and stamp it,” he continued. “And I’ve been timing things. A couple of people in the car: it’s 45 seconds. You have a family of four: that’s a minute and a half, compared to just a few seconds before.” As he told her, no matter how many people are on duty, Dover just doesn’t have the room to do it faster. Cue fuss. His words were immediately contrasted with those of conservative politicians like Liz Truss and Jacob Rees-Mogg who inevitably tried to blame the French. But, Calder was not “being political.” He was “simply” being a highly experienced commentator, with decades of knowledge of the subject, giving the objective assessment of it. It is only the dismal state of our current political discourse that he attributes to politics. How does it work?
One of the most vital components of populist politics is the need for a bogeyman to threaten the status quo. That boogeyman is usually someone “other.” Therefore, we see at various times in history the demonization of: Jews, blacks, Asian immigrants, Polish immigrants, homosexuals, trans people, hippies, punks, feminists, “militants”, “ecological warriors”, even vegans. I wrote “in history”, but it is still too obvious today. Immigrants remain a universal scapegoat; today, in the UK, so are the so-called “remoaners”: the EU and the French.
The Northern Ireland protocol us negotiated is a mess? He blames the “intransigent” EU. Are the legal benefits of Brexit not seen? They blame the European Court of Human Rights that “woke up”. Completely predictable chaos in Dover? He blames “incompetent” French border guards. Is UK growth lagging behind that of the EU? Only “remoaner” complaints. Prejudice, xenophobia and blame shifting hide in plain sight. Think of the word “remoaner”. It has become a knee-jerk insult directed at anyone who points out the obvious: Brexit was always going to be, and now is, an unmitigated Khazi. “Remoaner” is the best example of Orwellian doublespeak you’ll ever find. Still, at least that French immigration stamp goes on a blue passport, huh?
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