人民是愚蠢的，政治家要有良心

  港股那点事 本文由【港股那点事】授权转载

编者按：英国退欧搅翻了全球，这事未来如何发展，对各方到底影响几何，市场莫衷一是。今天的英国《金融时报》发表了前英国副首相Nick Clegg的文章“Cameron and Osborne are to blame for this sorry pass（英国退欧：卡梅伦和奥斯本应该为此负责）”。 Nick Clegg 的意思很明显，人民是愚蠢的。这种大事根本就不应该交给老百姓投票，政客必须就大事做出决定，承担责任，而不是讨好所有选民。作者Nick Clegg是自由民主党的前任领导人，2010-2015联合政府的副总理，堪称英国政坛大佬级人物，他的观点无疑具有显而易见的参考价值，这也是格隆汇第一时间组织力量翻译此文分享给大家的原因。

The prime minister thought he could win avote aimed at settling a Tory feud, writes Nick Clegg

英国首相自认为能得赢得选票，解决托利党纠纷，尼克·克莱格写道。

The people have spoken. Like any democrat,I respect the outcome of the referendum and believe the will of the voters mustnow be carried out.

群众已经表明了意见。同所有民主党人士一样，我尊重公投结果，我也相信投票人的意愿应当予以实现。

But that does not mean I am not angry. Ifeel no anger towards the millions who voted for Brexit: they did so out of amixture of conviction, frustration and disillusionment with the status quowhich was sincere and heartfelt.

但这并不表明我丝毫不愤怒。对于成千上万支持英国退欧的民众，我并无不满：他们内心持有信念，有的沮丧，有的终于醒悟，他们因为对国家现状有着复杂而切身的感受才作出自己的选择。

No, I am angry that my children’s futurehas been put at risk by a needless referendum. Angry at the brazen mendacity ofa Leave campaign which has no idea what happens next. Angry at the carelesselitism of Michael Gove, Boris Johnson, Steve Hilton and other leadingBrexiters, parading themselves as tribunes of the people from their gildedworlds in Westminster, North London and California.

我之所以愤怒，是因为我孩子的未来就因为这样一场不必要的公投而受到威胁。我对退欧阵营厚颜无耻的谎言感到愤怒，他们对接下来会发生什么一无所知。我对那些不负责任的领袖感到愤怒，包括迈克尔•戈夫、鲍里斯•约翰逊、史蒂夫·希尔顿，还有其他主要退欧支持者，他们号称自己是威斯敏斯特、伦敦北区和加利福利亚这些富人区的护民官。

Angry at the years of wilfulmisrepresentation of the EU by vested interests in the press. Angry at thebetrayal that Brexit voters will feel when they realise — too late — that aland of milk and honey outside the EU does not exist.

我之所以愤怒，是因为媒体为了利益对欧盟恶意曲解。我之所以愤怒，是因为退欧支持者将来会觉得受到了背叛，因为他们会意识到英国退欧后不会成为富饶乐土，但那时一切已晚。

Angry that the political stability, legalreliability and economic openness which have marked out Britain as a globalleader have been casually cast aside. Angry that three-quarters of young peoplevoted for a future — to remain in the EU — denied to them by their seniors.

我之所以愤怒，是因为政治稳定、法律稳定、经济开放等标榜英国成为世界领先国家的要素被摒弃。我之所以愤怒，是因为我们国家四分之三的青年希望英国将来留在欧盟，但却被长辈反对。

But my greatest anger is reserved for DavidCameron and George Osborne — notwithstanding the dignity of the primeminister’s resignation . They and they alone are responsible for bringing ourgreat country to this sorry pass.

但是，我最为愤怒的，是卡梅伦和奥斯本——即便首相已经宣布离职，他们二人应当为我们伟大祖国的退欧负全责。

This need never have happened. When we were in coalition with the Conservatives I was repeatedlyasked by them to agree to a referendum on their terms.

退欧公投根本不需要发生。当我们与保守党达成联盟时，我反反复复的被保守党要求同意他们提出来的各种公投。

I refused point blank because elevatinginternal party rows to a national plebiscite is not good enough — especiallysince we had already enshrined into law in 2011 a referendum trigger to ratifyfuture EU Treaties.

我断然拒绝，因为把党内争议提升到全民公投并不是一个好主意，尤其是我们在2011的一个公投中已经把认可未来欧盟的条约纳入了法律之中。

I remember asking the prime ministerwhether he was sure he could win a referendum designed to settle an internalTory feud. I was breezily told that all would be well, of course it would bewon.

我记得当我询问卡梅伦首相是否确定将在一个旨在解决保守党内部不合的公投中获胜时，我被轻松的告知一切都将会运行的很顺利，显然，他认为会赢得这个公投。

When the Conservatives unexpectedly won thegeneral election last year their complacency only increased: they started tobelieve they could defy political gravity, on the winning side of the 2011referendum on voting reform, the Scottish referendum in 2014 and now giftedwith a majority of their own.

当保守党出乎意料的赢得去年的大选时，他们就开始自鸣得意了。他们开始认为他们可以对抗政治的“地心引力”，在2011年的改革议会选举制度和在2011年的苏格兰公投中位于不败之地。

They forgot that less than a quarter ofeligible voters voted Conservative. Last year’s election victory was no mandatefor the Tories — it was a vote against all the other likely alternatives.

他们忘记了去年大选中仅仅只有不到四分之一的合格选民把票投给了保守党。对保守党来讲，去年大选并不是注定的胜利。选民只是排除了其他的选项而已。

But they pressed on regardless — cloggingup parliament with petty, partisan measures to clip the wings of trade unions,remove public funds from opposition parties, slash tax credits, grant tax bungsto their wealthy supporters and fiddle with constituency boundaries to cementtheir electoral advantage.

但是他们开始变得激进，通过鸡毛蒜皮的小事阻塞国会，利用政党手段来阻碍工会的正常运营，移除敌对政党的公共基金，猛砍税收减免，利用“税收阻塞”来帮助资助他们的财团减税，通过玩弄选民的底线来巩固他们的选举优势。

After Mr Osborne’s first budget unravelled I expected that theywould tread more carefully. But still they pressed on — and the chancellor’s second budget was alsoeviscerated in the face of parliamentary opposition.

在乔治奥斯本（英国财务大臣）财政预算被驳回的时候, 我希望他们能更加小心谨慎。但是他们依旧不知悔改。这位财政大臣的第二个财政预算方案依旧遭到国会的反对被驳回。

But their greatest failing was this: havingspent two decades striking poses as Eurosceptics to curry favour with theirparty they believed that they could change their tune in the last second of theeleventh hour in the referendum.

但他们最大的失败在于：为了党派的利益，花费20年摆出鄙视欧洲的样子，却相信他们可以在公投的最后一秒改变他们的形象。

Voters are not stupid. I met many people inmy own constituency in Sheffield who refused to follow Messrs Cameron orOsborne because they had been told the exact opposite by them for years.

选民们并不傻，我在自己的选区谢菲尔德和很多人交谈过，他们拒绝听从卡梅隆和奥斯本，因为他们多年被告知的都是完全相反的内容。

Like all pro-Europeans, I sought to helpthe No 10-led referendum campaign — providing private advice and publicsupport. But as the campaign wore on, it became clear that the prime ministerand his chancellor were prisoners of their past: having spent so many yearsdenigrating the EU, it was impossible for them to make a positive case.

就像所有的亲欧人士，我试图帮助全民投票的宣传阵营，为他们提供私人建议和公共支持。但是随着宣传的进行，我越发觉得卡梅伦首相和他的大臣反而变成了自己曾经所作所为的“囚徒”，他们以前花了太多时间来说欧盟的坏话，这样不可能给投票者留下积极的影响。

They were condemned to make a negative case— the EU is not great, but leaving would be worse — which lacked any emotionalimpact, culminating in the dismal “punishment budget” proposed by Mr Osbornelast week.

 “欧盟并不好，但离开欧盟会更糟”，这缺乏任何情感上的影响，最终导致上周奥斯本提出的令人沮丧的“惩罚预算”。这是他们自己所要吞食的恶果。

I feel for Mr Cameron and his family today— as I know well, abrupt defeat is not easy. My head is less forgiving. His andMr Osborne’s fair-weather approach to Britain’s vital national interests inEurope has let future generations down.

我替卡梅隆和他的家人感到难过，我很清楚，接受突如其来的失败一点都不容易。但我并不能宽恕他们，他和奥斯本先生对英国在欧洲至关重要的国家利益所采取的政策会让未来几代人大失所望。

The message for internationalist,pro-European politicians in all parties is clear: we must never again allow ournational interest to be hijacked by internal party feuds; we must take on thepopulists who only know how to destroy the links that bind nations together; wemust work across parties to safeguard the Britain we believe in — a greatpeople engaged with, not divorced from, our own European continent.

我想对国际主义者、各党派中的亲欧政治家们说的是，我们绝不能再让我们的国家利益被党内争斗所绑架，我们必须迎战那些只知道摧毁国家凝聚力的民粹人士，我们必须超越党派相互合作，捍卫我们深爱的大不列颠——我们相信英国当与整个欧洲融为一体，不可踽踽独行。

The writer, former leader of the LiberalDemocrats, was deputy prime minister in the 2010-15 coalition government

转自港股那点事 作者  Diana 自由民主党的前任领导人， 2010-15联合政府的副总理。

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