Daiwa Ichiban Lecture: Lionel Barber on “Britain after Brexit”

On 29 September 2016, in collaboration with the British Embassy in Tokyo, Lionel Barber, editor of the Financial Times, spoke on the subject of “Britain after Brexit” at Ambassador Tim Hitchens’s Residence. This was the second lecture in the ongoing Daiwa Ichiban Lecture Series.

In his speech, Barber recounted the historical significance of Europe for the UK and the consequences of the lack of cohesion following the financial and Eurozone crises of 2008 and 2009. He then went on to propose the most plausible scenarios for Brexit, and Britain’s new role in this changed world, stressing proactive engagement in politics and finance, rather than a regression to “Little England”.

“Back in 1877, Lord Salisbury, then UK prime minister, wrote a letter to Lord Lytton, then viceroy of India, in which he said: ‘English policy is to float lazily downstream, occasionally putting out a diplomatic boathook to avoid collisions.’

“This lazy mantra will not do for Britain in 2016. The next five years will undoubtedly be bumpy…We cannot afford to pursue the politics of inertia… The big question is: Are we sliding toward being a middle-ranking power on the edge of Europe doomed to relative prosperity and gradual decline, or does Brexit offer Britain new opportunities as an agile trading nation?”

The full lecture can be found here.