Leaving EU?

On Friday the news came that the United Kingdom had voted to leave the EU with 51.9% of those who voted choosing to end our ties, established in 1975, with the Union. I was open in the fact that I voted ‘Remain’, and am upset by the result. This is the feeling shared by  many others, and a petition asking for a second referendum has reached over 2 million signatures and counting.

However, rather than reacting in anger, or ‘attending’ events on Facebook such as one movement to make London independent, which, ironically, is a reaction as divisive and anger-driven as that experienced at the hands of the ‘Leave’ camp on the night of 23rd, I think we need to assess why the majority voted as they did.

Scotland, Northern Ireland and London (as well as some areas such as Oxford and Cambridge) largely voted ‘Remain’. The ‘Leave’ movement was driven by middle England, Cornwall, and Wales, for various reasons which include farming and fishing regulations, immigration, and perhaps most worryingly a feeling of dissolution with the political parties who no longer seem to represent their concerns.

It seems that many Britons used the EU referendum to react against a political system where they have felt that their voices have been lost. This was seen when the seed of the referendum was sowed, Cameron’s promise at the last election following the cajoling of Nigel Farage’s UKIP, whose party had gained momentum in popularity, scooped up votes where Labour had lost its hold. This doesn’t mean we can blame Corbyn or a weak Labour party for what has happened, but it is concerning when people are so lost that they are willing to follow xenophobic slogans and are duped by claims from Nigel Farage which he immediately reputed on winning the vote i.e. ‘Let’s give the NHS the £350 million the EU takes every week’. Furthermore, in some interviews ‘Leave’ voters have expressed a feeling of surprise that their wish had come true, many stating that they didn’t ‘actually think it would happen’. These voters are not used to having their voice heard. That’s scary.

What’s even more scary is the fact that following the referendum the query ‘What is the EU?’ was the second top trend on Google. This begs the question that, following a campaign build-up which drifted into a blue-on-blue Boris-Cameron civil war and was fuelled by speculation as to what would happen if we left, people were still voting in the dark, and allowing other, potentially unrelated, discontent to drive their vote.

Therefore, the questions we have to face following this referendum are not just those concerning our relationship with the EU and our position in the world, but as this vote has shown that we inhabit a nation divided, we need to make sure that the cracks at home are healed before we can ever be a ‘Great’ Britain.