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| 'A vote for freedom': Jacob Rees-Mogg joins Lionel Shriver and Matt Haig in Brexit anthology | 'A vote for freedom': Jacob Rees-Mogg joins Lionel Shriver and Matt Haig in Brexit anthology |
| (6 months later) | |
| Jacob Rees-Mogg has contributed to a forthcoming literary anthology about Britain’s exit from the European Union, with the Eurosceptic backbencher’s unlikely voice joining those of authors including Ian Rankin, Sarah Perry and Lionel Shriver. | Jacob Rees-Mogg has contributed to a forthcoming literary anthology about Britain’s exit from the European Union, with the Eurosceptic backbencher’s unlikely voice joining those of authors including Ian Rankin, Sarah Perry and Lionel Shriver. |
| Publisher Orion has gathered 46 contributors for its collection Goodbye, Europe, out on 16 November. A mix of letters, fiction, illustrations and reminiscences, it is described by the publisher as an examination of “the political, emotional, historical, gastronomic and cultural influence of Europe on the United Kingdom”. | Publisher Orion has gathered 46 contributors for its collection Goodbye, Europe, out on 16 November. A mix of letters, fiction, illustrations and reminiscences, it is described by the publisher as an examination of “the political, emotional, historical, gastronomic and cultural influence of Europe on the United Kingdom”. |
| Shriver has contributed a short story about a relationship ending in the wake of the referendum, Jessie Burton has written about her first visit to the continent, Perry of her love affair with Prague, and Robert MacFarlane about the flight paths of the migrant bird species that the UK shares with Europe. | Shriver has contributed a short story about a relationship ending in the wake of the referendum, Jessie Burton has written about her first visit to the continent, Perry of her love affair with Prague, and Robert MacFarlane about the flight paths of the migrant bird species that the UK shares with Europe. |
| How to Stop Time novelist Matt Haig writes in the anthology of how he “would never understand why anyone would want to shrink their identity rather than broaden it”, while writer and Orange prize founder Kate Mosse describes Brexit as “an act of unparalleled national self harm, brought about by arrogance, incompetence, dishonesty [which] has, in the space of 14 months, unleashed an alarming level of xenophobia and ugliness”. | How to Stop Time novelist Matt Haig writes in the anthology of how he “would never understand why anyone would want to shrink their identity rather than broaden it”, while writer and Orange prize founder Kate Mosse describes Brexit as “an act of unparalleled national self harm, brought about by arrogance, incompetence, dishonesty [which] has, in the space of 14 months, unleashed an alarming level of xenophobia and ugliness”. |
| While most of the contributors are pro-Europe, Rees-Mogg emphatically is not. The Conservative MP, who was recently chosen as the best candidate to be the next party leader in a survey of Tory supporters, writes in the anthology that: “Leaving the European Union is a great liberation for the United Kingdom, as worthy for celebration as victory at Waterloo or the Glorious Revolution.” | While most of the contributors are pro-Europe, Rees-Mogg emphatically is not. The Conservative MP, who was recently chosen as the best candidate to be the next party leader in a survey of Tory supporters, writes in the anthology that: “Leaving the European Union is a great liberation for the United Kingdom, as worthy for celebration as victory at Waterloo or the Glorious Revolution.” |
| “It fits the democratic spirit of the British and was a vote for freedom,” he says, adding that “it was bold of the electorate to ignore the experts”. | “It fits the democratic spirit of the British and was a vote for freedom,” he says, adding that “it was bold of the electorate to ignore the experts”. |
| Rees-Mogg’s views sit uncomfortably alongside those of Goodbye, Europe’s other writers. Cathy Rentzenbrink, the author of the bestselling memoir The Last Act of Love, said on Wednesday that she decided to contribute to the collection because she “wanted to write about how, as a grateful immigrant’s daughter, I’d always rather liked this country – flawed but not bad – and how angry I feel about Brexit, how it feels like a coup, and what it feels like to have my Dutch husband who has lived here since 2000 be rebranded as an EU National”. | Rees-Mogg’s views sit uncomfortably alongside those of Goodbye, Europe’s other writers. Cathy Rentzenbrink, the author of the bestselling memoir The Last Act of Love, said on Wednesday that she decided to contribute to the collection because she “wanted to write about how, as a grateful immigrant’s daughter, I’d always rather liked this country – flawed but not bad – and how angry I feel about Brexit, how it feels like a coup, and what it feels like to have my Dutch husband who has lived here since 2000 be rebranded as an EU National”. |
| “A few days before I was asked to contribute, my seven-year-old son came home from school and said: ‘Mummy, if you die, will Daddy and I have to go and live in Holland?’ I wanted to write about the rage I feel at what has happened, how embarrassed I am every time one of our stupid, venal politicians crosses the channel and how powerless I feel to do anything about it,” she said. | “A few days before I was asked to contribute, my seven-year-old son came home from school and said: ‘Mummy, if you die, will Daddy and I have to go and live in Holland?’ I wanted to write about the rage I feel at what has happened, how embarrassed I am every time one of our stupid, venal politicians crosses the channel and how powerless I feel to do anything about it,” she said. |
| Haig, who in his essay recalls the French pen pals he wrote to as a child and the happy times he spent in France as a teenager, said that: “There has never been a more poignant and appropriate time to remind ourselves of our European identity.” | Haig, who in his essay recalls the French pen pals he wrote to as a child and the happy times he spent in France as a teenager, said that: “There has never been a more poignant and appropriate time to remind ourselves of our European identity.” |
| “We often see Europe in the abstract, so it is good to take a fresh and personal look at all the cultural and emotional benefits of being part of this endlessly fascinating continent. To me and many others Europe isn’t about politicians. It’s about pen friends, and good wine, pizza and tapas, football and flirting and music, Flaubert and Lorca and Da Vinci and a shared history going back millennia. I hope this book will be a little piece of group therapy for the potentially choppy waters ahead,” he said. | “We often see Europe in the abstract, so it is good to take a fresh and personal look at all the cultural and emotional benefits of being part of this endlessly fascinating continent. To me and many others Europe isn’t about politicians. It’s about pen friends, and good wine, pizza and tapas, football and flirting and music, Flaubert and Lorca and Da Vinci and a shared history going back millennia. I hope this book will be a little piece of group therapy for the potentially choppy waters ahead,” he said. |
| Alongside Rees-Mogg, the pro-Brexit contributors include Shriver, Ben Collins (the former “Stig” from Top Gear), who considers “the Napoleonic origins of driving on the left-hand side of the road”, and the historian Andrew Roberts. | Alongside Rees-Mogg, the pro-Brexit contributors include Shriver, Ben Collins (the former “Stig” from Top Gear), who considers “the Napoleonic origins of driving on the left-hand side of the road”, and the historian Andrew Roberts. |
| “The idea for the collection came about from feeling that we’ve got plenty of current affairs coverage, and that what I really needed was to hear from some of the best writers working today on the personal, rather than political, side of the debate,” said Orion editor Emad Akhtar. “It’s as much about what will never change, about things that politics can’t touch or transform.” | “The idea for the collection came about from feeling that we’ve got plenty of current affairs coverage, and that what I really needed was to hear from some of the best writers working today on the personal, rather than political, side of the debate,” said Orion editor Emad Akhtar. “It’s as much about what will never change, about things that politics can’t touch or transform.” |
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