● “Populism”. Such a lazy word. When it comes from a member of the il-liberal elite – which markets itself as representing the interests of ordinary people – it seems positively hypocritical. If voters want something the ILE approves of, it’s “democracy”. If not, it’s dismissed as populism.
● One of the German dailies (the Frankfurter Allgemeine) says the EU election result indicates an “absence of unity” in Europe. But any apparent unity which prevailed until now may have been somewhat illusory. Wasn’t it unity on the part of the elite, plus indifference or blind faith on the part of everyone else? The cracks and rumblings have been there for decades; this is merely the first time they have been publicly expressed for all to see.
● The Germans have a word for the phenomenon that’s impossible to discuss in the UK: Armutseinwanderung = “poverty immigration”.
Perhaps the point to be considered is not (a) which particular nationalities are being attracted to the UK by dysfunctional legislation, but rather (b) which sections of the total European population.
Clearly one source of influx arises from the fact that many Brits are reluctant to get their hands dirty in proletarian occupations; hence European plumbers, waiters, etc. are filling the gap.
But another source may be our loose welfare system, plus a somewhat cavalier attitude to property crime, and this generates quite a different influx.
It might be good to distinguish (a) from (b), but with the topic currently taboo that’s unlikely to happen.