American power and money were clearly signaling where it wanted Britain to line up. The extension of Wall Street to Europe by way of the City of London, which had defined international finance since the 1970s, was on the line. Little wonder that the leading intellectual journal of the Left put the choice as follows: “[A] vote to remain, whatever its motivation, will function in this context as a vote for a British establishment that has long channeled Washington’s demands into the Brussels negotiating chambers, scotching hopes for a ‘social Europe’ since the Single European Act of 1986.”
