A notable irony surrounding Britain’s departure from the European Union has been the heightened, almost obsessive, interest shown by Leavers in Europe’s business now that we have left.
Most, it is fair to say, are looking for little more than confirmation that they made the right choice. It would obviously be galling if Europe’s star were to burn brighter in our absence. But there are also those who insist that the whole rotten edifice is about to collapse in on itself, ending up like a white dwarf, a stellar remnant that emits only the faintest of light in a sea of darkness.
To the more extreme brand of Brexiteer, the vaccines crisis was proof, if proof were needed, that the European Project is about to hit the buffers. It will be no more. It will cease to be. Bereft of life, it will rest in pieces. It will kick the bucket, shuffle off its mortal coil, run down the curtain and join the choir invisible.
