Concerns of an EU supporter in the wake of the brexit vote
I'm stunned. I'm shocked. And most of all I'm sad. Sad that brexit has unmasked the very ugly side of the U.K. (if you can still call it that, as of right now we're anything but United). I understand that a lot of brexit voters voted because they had concerns about the country... over control of our economy, our laws and our borders. I understand that a lot of people voted with good intentions. But I also feel that a large proportion voted because they subscribed to the oppositions racist scaremongering propoganda over immigration. And now that ugly xenophobic underbelly of the country has come to the surface and racist attacks are on the increase by disgusting people who believe the referendum result validates their belief that anyone who is not British should not be in this country. Anyone who doesn't look white is a target. Polish shops vandalised. Muslim children told to go home. Asians shouted at in the street. And for all those good intentions of the majority, as someone who is not 100% English, I feel betrayed. If there was a referendum and one party made tackling homosexuals their main agenda, spouting false statistics about AIDS, no matter how sound and reasonable their other arguments were, I'm sure leave voters I know wouldn't have supported them. But voting for brexit, regardless of the racial hatred propaganda promoted by the likes of the despicable Nigel Farage, seemed ok this time to some. And I can't fathom it. Not least because that racial hatred is aimed at us. Including those who voted out and aren't of British decent.
It's telling when you look at the figures and see that 19 out of 20 UKIP voters voted out.
(Stats from the Lord Ashcroft poll http://lordashcroftpolls.com/2016/06/how-the-united-kingdom-voted-and-why/#more-14746)
Those of you who moved from your birth countries to escape segregation and racism, where you were the ethnic minority, those of you who benefitted from second homes abroad in European countries... you've robbed my generation and the next those chances. You've not just stopped people coming in. You've stopped us leaving. In a country that seems to be sliding backwards into racial hatred, we've had our freedom to chose not to stay taken away.
But that's not the only reason I'm sad and upset. I'm annoyed that now the vote has been cast and our future set, I'm expected to just roll over and accept it. Accept that or future and my children's future has been irreparably damaged (yes that is how I feel, and even if you don't agree, I'm entitled to grieve that), that our economy has been tied to a lead balloon. As a home owner with savings, an employee of a multinational company which relies on business with Europe, a husband with a job in the city, I'm worried. We have so much to lose. Not to mention the small business owners who relied on an EU customer base, who are now finding business taking a massive nose dive. And what plan does the leave camp have in place now they've won? Nothing. Our political parties are in turmoil. No one wants to step up to the plate. The opposition didn't anticipate a win, nor did they really want it. Boris Johnson has been conspicuously absent from EU talks in the house of commons. The pound has fallen and continues to nose dive. The descent of the property market has already begun, with stories of homeowners already being told to reduce sale prices of their homes, and some going so far as to take their homes off the market (both my own and my friends neighbours doing so since the weekend).
So no, I'm sorry but I won't just accept and be quiet. Not when such a life changing, and in my opinion wrong, decision has been made. I read online that if someone divorces a spouse and loses their property, is forced to split their savings and goes through emotional turmoil, they're not expected to just "get over it" in a day or two. They're given months, years even, to reflect, adjust, grieve. That's what brexit is to those of us who didn't want to divorce the EU. Myself and a lot of my generation, along with the majority of London, feel we've been forced into a break up we didn't want. And we can't just shrug and say ok.
That all said, of course I still love and respect those I know who voted out. Family will always be family and we dog have to support the same side. No one I know voted because of ill intent. And I genuinely pray that the beliefs of the brexiteers play true and we do end up indeed better off. But until the future, however uncertain it is, unfolds, we have to stand together against the disgusting racial hate that has reared its ugly head and tackle it head on. But id be lying if I said I haven't been looking over my shoulder waiting for someone to about "GO HOME".
Comments