No Martin Wolf! You do not get good results, for all, with Brexit negotiations, arguing that the UK holds a weak hand.

Sir, Martin Wolf, with respect to Brexit negotiations writes: “Theresa May should have realised, above all, that she holds a weak hand: the costs of no deal would be far bigger for the UK than the EU.” “Britain has the chance to secure a smooth Brexit transition” May 5.

What? Weak hand? EU has more to lose from Brexit than UK. EU gets stuck with the Euro, and so many other unresolved differences, languages included, without having Britain as a calming unofficial arbitrator. How many EU countries does Wolf think that will be glad seeing UK leave, and would settle with a high indemnity payment?

That is the only starting point that can lead to a continuous amicable and useful for all Britain and EU relation.

The more all European citizens send that message to those dummkopfs in Brussels who want to play macho men, in order to get back at those who showed so much disdain for them that they wanted to leave, the better for all in Europe.

The local European governments should be especially alert and not allow some few technocrats in Brussels to decide their future relations with Britain. It is they who will pay the costs.

Everyone might be helped by an ad campaign along the lines of: "EU, Brussels’s technocrats share blame for Brexit. If you Europeans want an amiable separation, help keep them in check"

Britain, of course, do not let these arguments I make go to your head either. It’s all a quid pro quo.

@PerKurowski

Could EU survive if it wanted to decide on an official common language different to English?

Sir, Gideon Rachman writes: “any Brits who feel nostalgic for the Anglosphere, and a little resentful about Mr Obama’s ‘back of the queue’ comments, might reflect how much they still benefit from the cultural power of the US. The traditional Anglo-sphere may be in disrepair. But a different sort of Anglosphere has emerged in Brussels, with English now the common language of the EU institutions”, “Obama and the end of the Anglosphere” April 26. Here some varied comments.

It is surprising to hear an Englishman hold that the importance of English is a result of “the cultural power of the US”. Will Rachman get clobbered or is this a generally held view?

With respect to English let me ask, when does a language become so important that it does not belong to anyone more? Scary eh?

So, if Brexit happens, should EU have the right to keep English? And if the answer to that is no, or EU having been rejected does not want it, what language would win? A German-French War? Could EU survive that?

And in regard to Obama’s “back of the queue’, and though I am not a Brit, I was surprised no one asked him: “Are you telling us it is easier for the US to negotiate with Germans and French than with Englishmen?”

Finally Sir, let me repeat two related questions that I made in a recent letter

America is home for Americans. Is not Brexit just a symptom of Europe not aspiring to be home of Europeans?

How many at FT wish one day for Englishmen to call Europe home, as Americans call America home?

PS. Or could one of you even be dreaming of calling Asia home? L

​PS. A New English Language Empire

@PerKurowski ©