調侃世界 倫敦就應該獨立

London does not need a mayor; it needs a prime minister. Britain is fracturing. Scotland may yet quit the union and England turn its back on Europe. The Conservatives are throwing up barricades against the immigrants who are the capital’s lifeblood. The world’s most vibrant capital city cannot entrust its fate to a little England. This is a moment to imagine a different future: independence.

倫敦不需要市長；它需要一位首相。英國正在分裂。蘇格蘭或許會脫離英國，而英格蘭可能會背叛歐洲。保守黨正對倫敦的生命線——移民設置障礙。這個全球最具活力的首都城市不能將其命運託付給一個“小英格蘭”。現在是設想另一種未來的時刻：獨立。

Boris Johnson, the present mayor, says he too wants power shifted from Westminster to City Hall. His demands — for a tad more financial autonomy and oversight of the courts — are piffling. Unsurprisingly so. Mr Johnson will soon vacate City Hall for the House of Commons. He aches to replace David Cameron in Downing Street. Mr Johnson’s loyalties to London count for nothing against consuming ambition.

倫敦現任市長鮑里斯•約翰遜(Boris Johnson)表示，他也希望讓權力從英國議會轉到倫敦市政廳。他的要求（要求更多一點的金融自治權和對法庭的監督權）微不足道。這毫不意外。約翰遜將很快離開倫敦市政廳到下議院任職。他渴望在唐寧街取代戴維•卡梅倫(David Cameron)。與強烈的野心相比，約翰遜對倫敦的忠誠毫無價值。

The economics of independence speak for themselves. With a population of 8.5m (closer to 13.5m in the wider metropolitan area) London accounts for more than a fifth of Britain’s gross domestic product and generates as big a chunk of its tax revenues. This gives it an economy about the size of Sweden. Unemployment is less than 3 per cent; the demographic profile is more youthful than in the rest of the UK. Tourists spend £20bn each year in the capital.

獨立經濟學說明了一切。倫敦擁有850萬人口（接近大倫敦的1350萬），佔英國國內生產總值(GDP)的五分之一以上，貢獻了很大一部分稅收。這使得倫敦的經濟規模大致與瑞典相當。倫敦失業率不到3%；人口狀況要比英國其他地區年輕。遊客在倫敦的每年支出達到200億英鎊。

The metropolis has become a hub for high-value global businesses reaching well beyond its traditional role as a pre-eminent centre for financial services. It is the chosen home of the footloose super-rich and those at the bottom of the pile with the energy and grit to lift themselves out of hardship. London hums with enterprise, energy and people having fun. For those who do not fret about the ethnicity of their neighbours, it is a great place to live.

倫敦已成爲高價值跨國企業的一箇中心，遠遠超越了其作爲卓越金融服務中心的傳統地位。這裏是不受約束的超富羣體以及位於社會底層有精力和勇氣讓自己脫離苦難的人羣所鍾愛的家園。倫敦充滿了幹勁、活力以及享受人生的人們。對於那些不擔心鄰居是何種族的人而言，這是一個完美的居住地。

Less well understood is that the capital has all the other attributes of a modern state: a natural frontier, superb transport links, first rate education and health networks, unrivalled heritage and cultural centres — even a ready-made head of state. Then there are the six first class soccer teams in the Premier League and the spiritual homes of cricket and rugby at Lord’s and Twickenham. Sure, independence would leave some rough edges. Assets and debts would have to be fairly allocated between the separating parties. London can afford to be generous.

人們不十分了解的是，倫敦還擁有一個現代國家所具備的其他所有特點：自然邊界、發達的交通運輸網、一流的教育和健康網絡、無與倫比的遺產和文化中心，甚至還有一個現成的政府首腦。接下來還有6支頂級英超(Premier League)足球隊，還有位於羅德和特威肯漢的板球和橄欖球的精神家園。確實，獨立也會留下一些缺憾。資產和債務將不得不在互相獨立的黨派之間合理分配。倫敦是有資本慷慨的。

The M25 orbital motorway is the ready-made frontier, providing access into the city and fast connections to the rest of England. The road’s on and off ramps are perfect sites for border control posts, though, in this the digital age, electronic surveillance and recognition devices would replace old-fashioned immigration queues. The identity chips now embedded in passports could readily be adapted for car windscreens.

英國的M25高速公路就是一個現成的邊界，它是進入這個城市的通道，還是快速連接至英格蘭其它地區的通道。這條道路的出入口匝道是邊境控制站的完美場所，在這裏，數字時代、電子監控以及識別工具將替代老式的移民登記隊伍。現在嵌入護照的身份芯片能夠輕易地針對汽車擋風玻璃進行改裝。

Heathrow, of course, is scarcely a good advertisement for a 21st century city state. But, under new management, it could be turned into a half-decent airport. The rest of England would inherit Gatwick as the entry point for airlines to the south east. Passenger ferries from London to the rest of Europe would run from the Thames port of Tilbury, while Dover devolved to the rump England.

當然，希斯羅機場很難算得上21世紀城市國家的一條好廣告。但在新的管理下，它可以變成一個還算不錯的機場。英格蘭其它地區將接手蓋特威克機場，將其作爲航空公司飛往東南部的入口。從倫敦坐船去往歐洲其它國家的乘客，將通過泰晤士河港口蒂爾伯裏轉船，而多佛爾港將留給英格蘭其它地區。

With its boroughs and town halls, London has the political infrastructure for a new democracy. Their electoral registers would determine eligibility to vote in an independence referendum. Assuming a Yes — I cannot imagine any other possibility — a new parliament would be established at Westminster.

倫敦有自治區和市政廳，擁有建立新民主的政治基礎設施。它們的選民名冊將決定是否有資格在獨立公投中投票。假設投票支持獨立（我想象不到其它可能性），新議會將設在威斯敏斯特。

London would eschew centralised government, adopting instead a federal constitution modelled on the one British officials wrote for the German Federal Republic. The city would thus recall a lesson Britain has forgotten: power is best exercised close to the people. Queen Elizabeth would retain her home at Buckingham Palace as the city state’s constitutional monarch. Membership of the Commonwealth would follow.

倫敦不會選擇中央集權政府，而是將以英國官員爲德意志聯邦共和國撰寫的憲法爲模板，實行聯邦憲法。因此，倫敦將回想起一條已被英國忘記的教訓：權力在距離民衆近的地方會得到最好的發揮。伊麗莎白女王(Queen Elizabeth)將作爲這個城市國家的立憲制君主，仍然居住在白金漢宮。接下來倫敦將成爲英聯邦的一員。

The new state would join the EU, lifting the threat to the health of its global financial institutions and other professional services. Free of the influence of the europhobes (Nigel Farage’s UK Independence party scores badly in the capital), it would join the border-free Schengen area, ensuring its doors remained open to Polish doctors, Italian designers and French mathematicians. For a time, at least, London would keep the pound. The rest of England would be free to share the currency.

這個新成立的國家將加入歐盟(EU)，消除其跨國金融機構和其它專業服務機構的健康所面臨的威脅。在擺脫了疑歐派的影響後（奈傑爾•法拉奇(Nigel Farage)領導的英國獨立黨(UKIP)在倫敦的得票率很低），倫敦將加入無國界的申根區，確保其大門向波蘭醫生、意大利設計師以及法國數學家開放。至少，倫敦將暫時繼續使用英鎊。英格蘭其它地區將自由地使用該貨幣。

Thus liberated, the capital would recognise that diversity is its strength. The children already doing most to raise standards in its schools are the offspring of first-generation immigrants. For non-EU citizens, there would be a liberal, points-based immigration regime to attract the best and brightest from around the world and match employment openings with skills.

獲得自由的倫敦將認識到，多樣性是其優勢所在。那些已盡力提高英國學校標準的孩子們是第一代移民的後代。對於非歐盟公民而言，倫敦將實行自由的積分制移民制度，以吸引全球各地最優秀和最聰明的人才，讓就業機會與技能相匹配。

Special arrangements would operate for workers travelling into the city from England. This should not be a problem. Britain already has an open borders model in the common travel area with Ireland. If England chose to build a fence on its side of the M25, however, its citizens would have to compete with Indian IT engineers and Brazilian entrepreneurs for work permits in London.

那些從英格蘭到倫敦的員工將實行特殊安排。這應該不是問題。在與愛爾蘭的共同旅遊區，英國已實行一種開放邊境模式。如果英格蘭選擇在M25高速公路一側修建圍欄，其公民將不得不與印度的IT工程師和巴西的創業家爭奪倫敦的工作許可。

Doubtless, the pinched English nationalists of Ukip and anti-immigration pressure groups would cry foul. Tant pis. Their vision of statehood, fixated on the proportion of the population that is “white”, is confounded by London’s success. Saloon bar bores in the home counties can be left to their anguished debates about identity. Londoners should break free.

毫無疑問，滿面愁容的英國獨立黨民族主義者和反移民壓力集團將怨聲連連。算了。倫敦的成功證明他們對獨立國家的遠景是錯誤的，他們的遠景聚焦於這一部分人口：“白人”。倫敦周圍各郡那些高級酒吧裏的那些無聊傢伙們，可以進行痛苦的身份辯論了。倫敦人應該擺脫束縛。