The EU and the Ghost in the Machine

How Brexiteers constructed an EU bogeyman from thin air.

The use of the EU as a bogeyman in British politics is no new phenomenon. In 2003 — when the EU was in its infancy — the Daily Express warned that the EU wanted to ‘ban playtime’ under new safety regulations. The story was false, of course, on many levels as the guidelines which apparently threatened playgrounds were optional, not overly-strict, and suggested by a non-EU body (the European Committee for Standardisation). Politicians also use the EU as a scapegoat, dodging legitimate criticism by passing it onto the EU, as do many members of the general public. For example, EU immigrants are often blamed for negative effects on the British economy through overpopulation, refusing to take up jobs, and relying on state benefits. Aside from the fact that this claim is (unsurprisingly) factually incorrect, Nigel Farage found himself somewhat caught out when Femi Oluwole, a political activist, pointed out to him that under EU Directive 2004/38/EC (the Citizens’ Rights Directive), any EU immigrant can be ‘expelled’ if they become ‘an unreasonable burden on the social assistance of the host Member State’. I could go on with more and more examples detailing the use of false information, sophistry, and fear-mongering from Brexiteers in an attempt to make the EU look scary but I’d like to take a step back and look at how such a scary…