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LONDON – “Macron he was a sinister genius, ”he says. Howard Jacobson, “When he officially blocked ports and the border between Dover and Calais due to the new variant of Covid, he made us British understand what would happen in the event of a no-deal exit from the EU,” the so-called and feared “No deal“This,” he continues, “broke the resistance of Johnson and his government and it was decisive in reaching an agreement with the EU ”. 78-year-old English novelist, Booker Prize winner with “Finkler’s enigma“He is sure of the role, unconscious or not, of the French president in the agreement of the Brexi reached on Christmas Eve of a very complicated year like 2020. “Then of course,” Jacobson adds to the phone from his home in Soho, in central London where he has been locked up for many months to protect himself from Covid and complete his next job in Salida, “it is difficult to get up for a thousand pages in which we talk about agreements on fishing and free competition.”
Why, Jacobson?
“Leaving the EU would have been much worse. But this is a bitter, very bitter relief. Let’s remember: we will have less than we had in the EU, and if we abandon the euphoria of the present for a moment, nothing can cancel the total madness of leaving the European Union. Although Johnson and his team will present this deal as a great success. But the majority of the British know that it is not thus, although now this does not count for anything to change the things ”.
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So don’t you think Johnson’s deal and political success could make him forget his first year as Prime Minister in Downing Street, marked by mistakes and criticism?
“Johnson will have a spike in popularity after this deal with the EU, for sure. But many people can no longer support it because of the chronic insufficiency that it has shown in recent months, especially with respect to the Coronavirus crisis: it was terrible, and my wife Jenny, who helped monitor exposure to those infected with Covid, you know how good this is. The system (and not only) has been disastrous. This recalled many of those abstruse promises from the prime minister during the 2016 Brexit referendum campaign. All of this fits into the forced optimism and untruth that characterizes Johnson. “
What do you mean specifically?
“When Johnson says that we British are the best in the world, that we have the best things in the world, and so on. But that is not true at all. It would be enough to be efficient when doing things. Instead, this government has recently repeatedly shown that in some cases we are the worst in the world and in that case we should be ashamed. Of course, we were the first in the West to administer the Covid vaccine and this is great news. But at the same time, some in the London government boasted that this vaccine is English, while it is American, German, and made by Turkish immigrants. All the things that have disappeared from our narrative ”.
Is British Exceptionalism Irreducible?
“Yup. And also the notion of sovereignty, or sovereignty, that Johnson has been filling his mouth with in his Brexit propaganda all these years. Ursula Von Der Leyen, the president of the EU Commission, repeated it emphatically. If the mantra is sovereignty, it is difficult to negotiate with someone. It is the same mechanism that makes you say that the UK is a wonderful place with no buts or buts, without a modicum of self-criticism, as Johnson’s disposition embodies, that everything It must be a victory like a war. While he, apart from yesterday’s agreement, continues to lose. Boris’s main problem is personality: he doesn’t believe in anything. And if you don’t believe in anything, you don’t know how to act. “
Do you think Johnson’s political fate is sealed?
“He certainly would have been if he had returned without a Brussels agreement. Now, after the agreement with the EU, you can take some time and breathe for a year, which, however, in my opinion will be very long for everyone, because I am convinced that Johnson will continue to make mistakes. In the long run, I don’t think I have much hope and I don’t think I can get a new term. Even at yesterday’s press conference to announce the Brexit deal to the nation, he did not appear as triumphant as he thought and his spirit was marked by something. Perhaps from the inner conviction that, despite everything, he will not get very far ”.
