the real reason why Brexit is a bad idea - an open letter

We recently spent 3 days contributing to the Lovelock Centenary Conference on the Future of Global Systems Thinking, which was organised by the newly established Global Systems Institute at Exeter University https://www.lovelockcentenary.info/

One of the main messages which emerged from the Conference was that the major problems facing us as a species are global in nature.

In the light of this, as we approach the possibility of a hard, no deal Brexit, it becomes ever more clear that the real reason why Brexit is a bad idea is much wider and deeper than the arguments within the narrow mantras of trade agreements and taking back control.

As global citizens faced with interconnected global problems, climate change being the most urgent, it is evident that rather than splitting off into quasi- independent nations, we need to be fostering more co-operation in an attempt to achieve globally co-operative solutions.

The time has come to ditch the dogmas of Brexit and encourage our politicians to make a bold and radical decision to stay in Europe and work to transform the EU into an organisation which is truly sensitive to these global issues. The change will need to be positive and transformative, and the knowledge and expertise to begin this process already exits, as was clear from the many contributions to the Conference.

What is needed now is for the politicians to see beyond the myth of 'splendid isolation' and to embrace the deeper understanding that, as a species, we are all in this together, and that globally co-operative solutions are possible. We need to start with a European Union whose policies make natural common sense, and this will encourage others to join in.