“Do you want some or not?” asked the pre-eminent voice of the French left, the newspaper Libération, in a front page that used a “British” teabag as a metaphor for Gallic ambivalence towards the UK’s potentially tenuous connection to the EU.
While the question of a so-called Brexit is set to dominate British politics, airwaves and pub conversations for weeks or even months to come, the Paris-based paper reflected on Thursday what could be a growing indifference on the part of Britain’s nearest neighbours on the continent.
Suggesting that many of its readers might give little more than a shrug were British voters to opt to leave the European Union, Libération concluded: “If it’s a yes, then good. If it’s a no, too bad…”
It went on to tell readers that France’s “partners” in Britain were preparing to adopt measures that could allow David Cameron to win a future referendum.
Underneath a teabag attached to a Union flag and the blue and yellow flag of the EU, it adds however: “But would a ‘Brexit’ actually be such a disaster?”
