(The Hill)
Dov S. Zakheim 09/30/19 10:30 AM
In Newquay, Cornwall, at the westernmost edge of Britain where the Atlantic Ocean meets Fistral Bay, people are as flummoxed by the goings-on in Washington as they are by those in their own capital.
The British Supreme Court’s decision to overrule Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s attempt to prorogue Parliament, declaring it illegal, came on the same day as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s decision to begin an impeachment inquiry into President Trump’s own high-handed behavior. For people in Cornwall, it all seems either confusing or downright silly.
Cornwall has an unusual status within Great Britain. It is treated as a “minority county,” which means little other than having road signs in both Cornish and English, as well as its own flag consisting of a white cross on a black background.
Ordinary Cornish people do seem to be attached to their county and many likely feel that they are different from their English neighbors. And as anyone who has watched “Doc Martin” would attest, their accent is different, too.
Those Cornishmen and women with whom I spoke would rather discuss something other than Brexit — anything other than Brexit. All did agree, however, that the goings-on in America make Brexit look tame by comparison.
As in the U.S., families are divided over the question of whether Britain should remain in the European Union. A lorry driver in his 50s, who consistently votes with the Labour Party (“After all, I’m a working man”), told me that he supports withdrawal on the grounds that “we managed an empire and can manage on our own now.”
תגובות