Geenstijl

Fare thee well, and then some

June 23rd, 2016. We were there when it happened, with Nigel Farage at his campaign closing party. It took forever to count the votes, and for long hours through the night it seemed the balance would tip in favour of Remain. We distinctly remember walking back to our hotel along a quiet Thames at first light, while seeing mainland Europe wake up on social media. Europeans awoke in immense surprise, and quite often in agony. What no one in mainstream media and politics had expected or even thought possible, had happened: the UK voted for Brexit. For sovereignty, for self-rule, and against EU undemocracy.

January 31rd, 2020. Today is the day the United Kingdom leaves the Union. No more Guy Verhofstadt - what a grand feeling of liberation that alone must be. We understand why countries want to be in a European Union, but we actually more easily understand why one does not want to remain in this financially corrupt, undemocratic and morally insular European Union. So, you voted for Brexit, and democracy prevails now that it actually happens. That is not often the case in the EU: we Dutch saw two referendum outcomes against the EU buried by Brussels. In 2005, and again in 2016.

But in the UK, democracy won. Nevertheless, the real challenges of making new deals and new friends, and of carrying the responsibility for a strong, self-sufficient, and better United Kingdom are only just beginning for you. We can’t help with any of that - we’re just a Dutch blog with a loud mouth and a deeper love for a little anarchy. In the UK, and in the Netherlands. For now, we simply want to wish you good luck, and dogspeed, in achieving all your sovereign goals of democracy, prosperity and eternal economic growth.

And we want to thank you, for giving Brussels a big kick in the balls. They need it more than they will ever admit. Cheers!