Where to start, really. I woke up on Tuesday in Great Britain and will fall asleep today (Friday) in Little England.
Hats off to the Leave Campaign. They fought a very aggressive campaign and won. We live in a democracy and ultimately we will suffer the Government we deserve. I am grateful that I have the chance to still complain about the state of the British – however – I will ask you this; when did Noah build the ark?*. I know some people (who I will let remain anonymous) who said they were voting Leave. Their reasons were manifest, but it boiled down to Xenophobia and Bigotry. Excuses to veil this Bigotry & Xenophobia were given as things like “But you have to wait weeks for a GP appointment!” :: Solution = Don’t vote in the Tories who slash NHS spending. “I have two grown kids at home, they can’t afford a house” :: Solution = build more houses and invest in the infrastructure. “I walk down the street and don’t hear English” :: Solution = live in a cave.
The referendum has left a divided nation. With nearly half the nation backing the Remain Campaign (48.1% back the Remain Campaign Nationally – Me included) this will leave a lot of dissatisfied & disgruntled people who feel they do not have a voice any more (Me included). Will this lead to revolution or apathy? If Russell Brand is anything to go by it will lead to apathy. The referendum showed a deeply divided nation by geographical region: England was predominantly Leave, Scotland massively Remain, Wales strongly Leave & Northern Ireland a firm Remain. Does this mean that Northern Ireland could now claim it has more in common with Éire than mainland UK if it wants? Will Brexit prompt another Scottish independence referendum? If they vote to leave I may claim my right to hold a Scottish passport.
The Leave campaign was based on Hate and whipped up a fury. It encourage binary thinking / black or white / in or out. There was no compromise and it was all or nothing. People nailed their colours to the mast early in the campaign and very few people I know swayed from what their initial snap judgement was when the poll was announced. If there had been a third option “Remain but with amendments” then I would have voted for that – and, I believe that that is the Campaign that would have won. However, testosterone driven blinkers led to a lot of people who are now worried about their future. I know of artists who live in this country – they came over here to study and fell in love with Blighty and did not want to return to the continent. They do not have a regular job so will be forcefully deported back to Europe when we exit. What ever happened to trying to work together as a team to achieve a greater whole.
I know of people who have actually fallen out over Brexit – we are now a deeply divided nation – with the announcement of the poll, Cameron unleashed a political Kraken and foretold his own political harakari. Cameron has announced his retirement back to his Trust-Fund and the UK will have another Prime Minister by the Autumn. The smart money is Cameron’s replacement being Johnson or Gove (God forbid it is Hunt). Time will tell and the majority of British subjects will not get a say in the matter. But, Cameron has gone … that is one small mercy.
The Pound Sterling is already at levels that it has not experienced since 1985 and the Yen is at a ten year high – Bankers seem to be making a fortune out of other peoples misery yet again. Friends in Eastern Europe are now terrified that there is little that can now be done to halt Russia’s hegemony. Nigel Farage. We seem to be the only nation on Earth who would vote to take away our human rights. There is nothing to stop a reformed Conservative Party from taking away compulsory sick pay, maternity pay, paternity pay.
However, we must as a Nation regroup and build on our collective failure. We still have the Commonwealth left over from when we pillaged the world. Will Brexit, a seismic shift in British politics, usher in a new folk art movement – like Art Noveau in the Slovak independence days? I for one am up for playing the role of Alfons Mucha but I do not think that the joie de vivre is the same as in those halcyon days of the birth of the Slovakian Government back at the start of the 20th Century.
- Before the flood: as a result I have joined Liberty