Writer John Le Carré questioned Brexit: "It's the biggest idiocy of the UK"

In his previous novel, The legacy of spies, John Le Carré He resurrected his iconic character George Smiley. And then announced that he thought it would be his last book. However, at 88 years old, this living classic of the British letters and a reference to the stubbornness and sincerity with which he defends his sense of ethics and a fairer society model, came back with a new book, A decent man. It's a story of espionage, close to his mythical works on the cold war. The spy came out of the cold or The mole, on which floats the Brexit. With an easy laugh and hugely polite, Le Carré (literary pseudonym of David Cornwell, born in Poole, Dorset in 1931) does not hide his anger when he speaks of the Brexit or the government of Boris Johnson, which he releases all kinds of # 39; explosives. In fact, he has trouble talking about his book without changing the subject and turn on while reflecting about what is happening in your country.

The interview took place in Mallorca early August, during the writer 's vacation in the Balearic Islands, but was updated this Sunday by phone. The Square had ended up attending the protest against the Brexit Saturday in London, but the hope that his country remains in the European Union, which he still kept at bay, had already disappeared . He even believes that the survival of the United Kingdom is in danger.

He once said he saw how the Berlin Wall was built at the age of 30 and demolished at the age of 60. Have you ever imagined the Europe in which we live and the crisis caused by Brexit?

This seems a bit unthinkable. This is undoubtedly the biggest idiocy and biggest disaster that the UK has spawned since the invasion of Suez in 1956. For me, it's an auto disaster. -inflected, which we can not blame anyone, neither the Irish nor the Europeans. . We are a nation that has always been integrated in the heart of Europe. We may have had conflicts, but we are Europeans. The idea that we can replace access to the largest trade deal in the world through access to the US market is terrifying. The instability caused by Donald Trump as president, his decisions as "egomaniacs". Are we really going to put ourselves at the mercy of that instead of continuing to be active members of the EU? It's crazy, it's scary and it's dangerous. I do not like it politically, I do not believe it economically and I do not understand it. I do not understand how we come to this situation where we have a second degree government of Mickey Mouse. The Minister of Foreign Affairs is someone I really despise. I have never met these people, but it has only produced second – line reports. He's a very stupid man and a mediocre mediator. That's what I think of this situation.

Boris Johnson is a baby pretending to be the Prime Minister.

"When we reach maturity, the great spies start looking for the great truths," says his character, George Smiley, at the end of The Legacy of the Spies, his previous novel. Is this true also for writers?

This is true for me. As life progressed, I became more radical, more opposed to the war, worried about ecology and climate change. I have 14 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren and their lives are in danger and the life of civilization. The planet will survive, of course, but I am not sure that humanity will succeed. I mentioned Smiley at the end of The legacy of spies. It's interesting for me now in retrospect because Smiley, to our knowledge, is ending his life in Germany. It's there that we find it at the end of this novel and this new book tells the story of someone who has to be expelled from the UK. At present, it is very difficult to be British and European. The demonization of Europe by this horrible British press seems unstoppable. Remember that 80% of British media they are in the hands of the oligarchs They live in tax havens. Who benefits from Brexit? It's something I can not understand. If you are in a tax haven and you can bet against the pound sterling, if you manage investment funds and see where the wind is blowing, you can make a lot of money. Is that what makes them bet on Brexit with these oligarchs of the press? We must remember that we are dealing with second class people, starting with Johnson. I think it's very important that Europeans understand this. This is not our first alignment, it is our third alignment.

What do you think of the new exit agreement between the United Kingdom and Brussels?

It's a betrayal of Northern Ireland, one more nail in the coffin of the United Kingdom union. What is interesting is what Boris Johnson is going to do now, because he answered a student by refusing to sign the letter in Brussels. It's a baby pretending to be the prime minister. The essential thing is to avoid a departure without agreement, and in this respect I support the measures taken by Parliament to request a further extension.

A few weeks ago, I thought that it was very possible that the exit was impossible and that a new referendum be held. Have you lost hope?

I fear that reality is what it is. There is a lot of fatigue for Brexit, a lot of unpopularity of institutions. Although he was not allowed by the supreme judges, Johnson is getting stronger to a certain extent. They will close the exit door without a pact, but I'm afraid it will not win in a few days. We are facing to an increase of neo-fascism: The biggest terrorist threat currently in the UK comes from the far right, and that's what the police say. These people poisoned the atmosphere. They first play the old songs of Europhobia, then they create that feeling of rejection against each other through the popular press and they exploit it now. Somewhere in our country lies old stability and common sense, but it has disappeared from the political discourse.

Is the UK really in danger?

The risk of disintegration is real in the United Kingdom. What we say in Northern Ireland is to fuck. And all this brings more than ever the possibility of a reunification of Ireland and Scotland can take advantage of this situation. I think it's possible that the UK is dismantled. In the long run, it is possible that the Catalan problem will become much worse because of what is happening here. Johnson is a person who has no connection to the truth, he has voted against many of the things that he is offering right now. He made a pact much worse than the previous one. It's very depressing.

Do you think Donald Trump, even Boris Johnson, can be a Russian agent?

I do not see why Johnson was going to be, apart from the fact that he was still living in a raging way, that he was indiscreet and that he had a very personality. unpleasant. Trump is a completely different question. He has huge economic interests in RussiaIt seems that his people have tried to speculate on the Moscow real estate market and Trump's life is very complicated. If Vladimir Putin had evidence of financial irregularities and was willing to spread them, he could possibly reduce them. But why would he? Better to dominate the character. Whenever the Russian question appears on the horizon, Trump behaves with Putin's irrational closeness. I sometimes dream of what would happen if the British intelligence services, which have very good sources in Russia, would get irrefutable evidence that Trump is controlled by Putin. Who would listen? How would they handle it?

His last two books have regained the atmosphere of the former Cold War, even between Germany and the United Kingdom. Do you think that there is currently a deep mistrust of the United Kingdom by its former partners?

We suffer from a horrible propaganda system. Most newspapers support Brexit, demonize the Irish Prime Minister and all of Europe, although his worst enemy is Germany. They do not stop talking about the spirit of Dunkerquehow Europe left England alone. It's pure shit. But we are in the hands of manipulators and Russia is collaborating in this manipulation. The extent of Russian intervention in this referendum has not been fully acknowledged. There is more and more evidence. Call a referendum in the United Kingdom, where there is a parliamentary democracy, it's absurd. Are we doing a referendum on the death penalty and starting to suspend people on the street? The key to parliamentary democracy is that competent people are chosen to represent your community. What has happened to us, what happened to moderate, decent and pragmatic people? We have a tradition of that. The smell of autocracy is there. I am furious with all this: it is not us.

There is no leader powerful enough to show us the reality of what is happening.

You wrote that the efficiency of the secret service reflected the capacity of a country. In this novel, it does not seem that the British secret services are the most effective in the world …

We lack address. After the cold war, our thoughts were unarmed. At the present time, I find no idealism except confidence in Brexit. There is no leader strong enough Show us the reality of what is happening. In the book, we see this absolute lack of direction. If MI6 were able to show Trump's true intentions, his agreement with Putin, which government would he introduce? Which entity in the United States? The terrifying thing on both sides of the Atlantic is the lack of moral courage.

One of the great themes of his literature is the ability of people to stay moral in an immoral world. Is this also one of the topics of this book?

Without a doubt. Although acting consistently and morally can be extremely dangerous in a real world. In the period from the end of the cold war to the present day, we wanted to feel that we had a moral purpose, a great leader and a Marshall Plan. We then wanted someone to seize the opportunity to rebuild the world. It was possible. A great moment and a great leader. Nobody appeared.

To return to the scene of your book in the Czech Republic that you quoted previously, do you show that the Russians lost the cold war but won the post-war period?

Russia, thanks to a massive public relations operation, gives the impression of controlling everything, going bankrupt and the catastrophic economic situation. But he is pursuing his policy of territorial expansion, for example in Ukraine, which is disappearing. And the Russians seem to present a united front against the disunity of the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States. Putin has no qualms and thinks only in terms of conspiracy.