Other side of the Brexit

As Britain stepped into a transition zone, which will continue until the end of this year, the commemorative 50p Brexit coin, released by Royal Mint to mark it’s exit from the European Union on January 31, has sparked a controversy. The Brexit coin reads: “Peace, prosperity and friendship with all nations”. Certainly, it was adapted from the US President Thomas Jefferson’s 1801 inauguration principles “peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations”, which has been used by others on several occasions since. However, author Philip Pullman believes it is grammatically incorrect. “The ‘Brexit’ 50p coin is missing an Oxford comma, and should be boycotted by all literate people,” Pullman said.

The Oxford comma, also known as a serial comma or the Harvard comma, is used in a list of three or more items, placed between conjunctions like “and” or “or” and the final item in the list. The use of the Oxford comma can sometimes make the meaning of the sentence clearer. There are rare occasions in which it can change how a sentence is read. In fact, in 2017, this grammatical dispute became a legal battle when a group of delivery drivers in Maine used the lack of the Oxford comma to sue their employer for overtime pay. Although the use of the Oxford comma is widespread in North America, it is not as widely used in Australia and the UK. And, there are people like Frances Coppola, who writes on finance and economics, saying that the punctuation was not essential for the new 50p.

Apparently, the war that Pullman has declared on the new Brexit 50p has nothing to do with politics, though he voted for “Remain” in the Brexit referendum. Certainly, Britain, at present, is a divided nation. During the last three-four years, both the proportions of people favouring and opposing Brexit remained close to 50 per cent, with possibly a slightly higher percentage was favouring “Remain” when the UK formally untied the knot with the bloc. Thus, there will be a substantial number of people who are blatantly unwilling to use this new 50p coin due to their political belief. Several high-profile remainers have pledged not to use the coin. Political aide and author Alastair Campbell, who was the campaign director of Tony Blair, has tweeted: “I for one shall be asking shopkeepers for ‘two 20p pieces and a 10’ if they offer me a 50p coin pretending that Brexit is about ‘peace, prosperity and friendship with all nations’ given it puts all three at risk.”

As Britain exits from the UK, the Brexiteers are holding vibeless parties with a great British buffet — nothing French or German, but everything British and Commonwealth. It’s a pity that after an endless and continual struggle for such a high-impact divorce during the last few years in the history of the country, they’re now fighting about the 50p. But, it’s surely not just about the 50p coin — the public opinion is being reflected through this specially minted piece.

While the writing on the Brexit coin is the subject of controversy, the other side of the coin is quite shady and uncertain. Brexit will shrink the size of the EU economy by 15 per cent. The divorce will also rewrite the fate of the UK. However, the Brexiteers hope that this “independence” will herald democratic and economic reforms that will reshape the UK, propelling it ahead of its European rivals. The pro-EU supporters believe that the UK will suffer from economic atrophy and have little option but to move closer to the US, which, according to a cartoon of The Times, is leaping out the EU frying pan into the fire of Trump’s orange hair. In 1972, when Britain didn’t even join the European common market, British author Daphne du Maurier penned her novel Rule Britannia. In the novel, Britain joined the “common market” under the Conservative prime minister Edward Heath, resulting in severe economic instability and, eventually Britain broke out through a fictional referendum, and formed a new union with the US. So, a post-Brexit alliance with the US was predicted about five decades ago!

While the Eurosceptic newspapers are rejoicing the exit, The Daily Mail described it as “A New Dawn for Britain,” and The Sun’s headline was “Our Time Has Come”, pro-EU newspaper like The Guardian believes that it was the biggest gamble in a generation. The economy of the UK might face a disaster in the coming days, unless some magic happens. In fact, once the UK actually leaves, the 50p coin will be worth about 32p, and that’s an irony. Also, during the Brexit referendum of June 2016, Scotland and Northern Ireland voted to stay with the EU. Now that the UK is divorcing with the EU, Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon might use this opportunity to hold a second independence referendum of Scotland. A recent poll suggested a slim majority of Scots might back a split because of Brexit. So, certainly it will be an uphill task for Boris Johnson. However, as Britain has passed through the “Brexit Day”, and is going through the transition phase towards an utterly uncertain and unimaginable future, many Britons are simply relieved that four years of tiring political wrangling is over, at least.

The writer is professor of statistics at Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata