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The Great Brexit Swindle: Why the mega-rich and free market fanatics conspired to force Britain from the European Union
‘If you voted to Leave the European Union, the chances are you’ve been swindled...’
In his urgent new book, T. J. Coles uncovers the forces seeking to uncouple Britain from the European Union. Allied to an expanding core of free market fanatics in the Conservative party is a powerful group of globalists and financial traders. Their political ideology is neoliberalism – a worldwide agenda that seeks to deregulate markets and maximize profits for global elites at the expense of working people. The effect is a growing gap internationally between rich and poor.
Digging deep into the funding campaign, The Great Brexit Swindle documents the potent, self-serving interests behind Brexit. In the wake of the financial crisis of 2008, mega-rich hedge fund managers and billionaire CEOs are keen to be rid of Brussels and its ‘red tape’ regulation. Their anti-European political allies, meanwhile, are preparing to corner markets in Asia and South America, whilst expanding Britain’s military capacity as a back-up to economic penetration.
Brexit was sold to the public as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to regain sovereignty, control immigration and increase the nation’s wealth. But, despite the manifold promises of Brexiteers, Coles demonstrates that economic globalization will lead to growing job insecurity and greater immigration, once British workers are put in direct competition with the huge, poor populations of countries like Brazil, China, Mexico and India. Increasing ‘free market’ trade worldwide leaves Britain open to low-quality products, such as hormone-treated American beef and genetically-modified foods, whilst the new planned trade agreements would only accelerate the privatization of public services. Although Coles is not an advocate for the EU, he argues that the Brexit agenda is designed only to serve the interests of the wealthy and increasingly powerful 0.1% of the population.
In his urgent new book, T. J. Coles uncovers the forces seeking to uncouple Britain from the European Union. Allied to an expanding core of free market fanatics in the Conservative party is a powerful group of globalists and financial traders. Their political ideology is neoliberalism – a worldwide agenda that seeks to deregulate markets and maximize profits for global elites at the expense of working people. The effect is a growing gap internationally between rich and poor.
Digging deep into the funding campaign, The Great Brexit Swindle documents the potent, self-serving interests behind Brexit. In the wake of the financial crisis of 2008, mega-rich hedge fund managers and billionaire CEOs are keen to be rid of Brussels and its ‘red tape’ regulation. Their anti-European political allies, meanwhile, are preparing to corner markets in Asia and South America, whilst expanding Britain’s military capacity as a back-up to economic penetration.
Brexit was sold to the public as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to regain sovereignty, control immigration and increase the nation’s wealth. But, despite the manifold promises of Brexiteers, Coles demonstrates that economic globalization will lead to growing job insecurity and greater immigration, once British workers are put in direct competition with the huge, poor populations of countries like Brazil, China, Mexico and India. Increasing ‘free market’ trade worldwide leaves Britain open to low-quality products, such as hormone-treated American beef and genetically-modified foods, whilst the new planned trade agreements would only accelerate the privatization of public services. Although Coles is not an advocate for the EU, he argues that the Brexit agenda is designed only to serve the interests of the wealthy and increasingly powerful 0.1% of the population.
172 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 21, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 13, 2019
Useful, brief overview of the key political and economic forces behind Brexit: the mega-rich, the hedge fund managers and the Tory right. Coles is under no illusions about the EU, pointing out that it has adopted Anglospheric neoliberalism almost wholesale - yet not quite enough to satisfy the free-market fundamentalists who are desperate to do away with all regulation and restriction, so that they can make the most fabulous profits, pay the lowest possible wages, and sell anything that people are willing to buy.
February 19, 2024
Farcical, but on how Capitalism works in UK it’s excellent
As a discussion of the notion that the Brexit campaign was conducted by a small group of finance capitalists who deceived the public on what Brexit would do for them, this book is farcical. Most of the book has little directly even to do with Brexit. The best reasons to leave Brexit aren’t mentioned in the book. Reasons given for opposing Brexit are often very good reasons for Brexit. The structure of the logic of the book is ridiculous.
However I could see this book is silly, it presents itself as a cartoon. I bought it because I picked up threads in the book descriptions that it might present the actual reasons why many middle and upper class people and financial interests supported Brexit, and the book does THAT astoundingly well. The book focuses far less on hedge fund investors, who indeed are presented more as an example of the extreme irrationality of Capitalism, than on how England’s corporations shape its financial decisions. If something different underlay leaving the EU I’d have been astounded, but I could not find it until now. In fact this book makes the first sense I’ve seen of the EU itself. This book even makes sense to me for the first time of how so many Indians, Afghanis and Africans came to be in England’s ruling class and even heads of its government. We know that England put itself into the position of not being able to not treat them as Englishmen, but, it seems these particular people are extraordinarily wealthy, represent corporate interests, and they’re extremely right wing. If it were up to them the English working class would look like the slums oh Calcutta, and it could be up to them.
As a discussion of the notion that the Brexit campaign was conducted by a small group of finance capitalists who deceived the public on what Brexit would do for them, this book is farcical. Most of the book has little directly even to do with Brexit. The best reasons to leave Brexit aren’t mentioned in the book. Reasons given for opposing Brexit are often very good reasons for Brexit. The structure of the logic of the book is ridiculous.
However I could see this book is silly, it presents itself as a cartoon. I bought it because I picked up threads in the book descriptions that it might present the actual reasons why many middle and upper class people and financial interests supported Brexit, and the book does THAT astoundingly well. The book focuses far less on hedge fund investors, who indeed are presented more as an example of the extreme irrationality of Capitalism, than on how England’s corporations shape its financial decisions. If something different underlay leaving the EU I’d have been astounded, but I could not find it until now. In fact this book makes the first sense I’ve seen of the EU itself. This book even makes sense to me for the first time of how so many Indians, Afghanis and Africans came to be in England’s ruling class and even heads of its government. We know that England put itself into the position of not being able to not treat them as Englishmen, but, it seems these particular people are extraordinarily wealthy, represent corporate interests, and they’re extremely right wing. If it were up to them the English working class would look like the slums oh Calcutta, and it could be up to them.
December 16, 2019
Informative read
This book opened my eyes to how politicians really think .Some of it was quite hard to understand when talking about hedge funds and trade agreements.There are some seriously greedy people in this world with no compassion for anyone else .
This book opened my eyes to how politicians really think .Some of it was quite hard to understand when talking about hedge funds and trade agreements.There are some seriously greedy people in this world with no compassion for anyone else .
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews