I am staying with friends in Italy and we are walking around in a state of shock at the news of the Referendum. It’s like waking up in a bad dream. We have, indeed, woken up in a different world. We feel sad and somewhat ashamed at the impact the decision that only 52% of our countrymen came to. And, speaking personally, I feel angry at the way the Referendum was conducted and feel that the nature of the campaign, together with the media coverage, has much to answer for in having led us to this point.
People did think about the issues. I spoke to bankers, plumbers, hairdressers, taxi-drivers. I spoke to Jamaicans, Latvians, Lithuanians, Angolans – it was not just the white English who voted for Brexit. It was not necessarily about racism though it might have been about spacism for those living in areas where they can’t get their children into schools or find it difficult to get an appointment to see their GPs. There were plenty of thoroughly intelligent people who voted out but perhaps the majority of those voting Leave were in areas where the speed of change in their environment had most impacted them on a daily basis.
Either way, I think the votes for Leave had very little to do with individual feelings about any one European or another. It was an anger with Brussels and our Government. I suspect the majority of us in the UK acknowledge the benefits we have enjoyed from closer relationships with our neighbours and appreciate those who have come to our country to live and work.
One thing I heard frequently was a lack of trust in authority figures or institutions. Prime Ministers, MPs, the IMF, the Bank of England have, over previous years, proved to be wrong on one score or another and cases of excess or expenses fraud have left a bad taste. The media are viewed with equal scepticism. And it is dangerous when people don’t feel they can trust anyone because, quite frankly, the majority of us in England were really not equipped to understand the complexities of what the EU membership represented. Each side bandied figures about but we all knew they couldn’t be certain about any of them – as the first day of market turmoil has shown. In truth I think the issues raised in the Referendum should have been handled in Parliament. Yes, it was democracy at work but without sufficiently objective explanation of facts and consequences it made the decision extremely difficult for many. On the day before the Referendum I met two charming and intelligent young girls in their twenties in my local deli, one English and one Latvian, still thrashing out the issues and trying to decide. After all the television and media coverage they were still confused.
From the various conversations I had, I think the result in some areas of England had more to do with the alienation of a certain class who felt unheard than it had to do with Europe. The anger was at the Government, at austerity, at a feeling that they had no voice and that successive governments have simply called them bigots rather than listening to their concerns. At some point, like Paris in 1789, the people rebel and throw their toys out of the pram – and everyone around has to face the consequences.
But the campaigns did not, in my view, help them choose carefully, nor help them fully understand the consequences to Europe and the world of coming out of the EU. The Remain Campaign did not reach the people and misread the feelings bubbling up in the heartlands of England. I did not receive any information leaflet from the Remain campaign whereas I received three from Leave. The only thing I received from Remain was a poster but it only arrived one day before the Referendum.
In the countryside there were Vote Leave posters everywhere. On the days before the Referendum they popped up on cars parked on roundabouts, in laybys and in windows. I only ever saw one Remain poster – where were they? It seems to me that the Remain campaign were only speaking to their own – to the professions, the City, the financiers. They didn’t get on their Battle Bus to reach out to people and if they did speak they seemed to speak in negative terms rather than to explain to people what actions they might be able to take to ease their problems if we did stay in. Plenty of people were wavering up until the last minute: perhaps they could have got out there and talked to them on their terms. And where on earth was Jeremy Corbyn to rally these troops to Remain?
The debate between the two sides generally ended in shouting and ranting. Getting to the truth of the impact of a decision was very hard.
It takes two to tango. Any divorce is instigated by two parties. So I believe the EU leaders also need to take responsibility for their part in this outcome. I feel angry that it is only now, after the event, that European presidents are saying “yes, I can see we do need to reform the EU…” and “perhaps we should now revisit the Treaty itself”. Why did it take this desperate and tragic situation to get them to understand that it is not just the UK that has been urging them to reform.
Angela Merkel’s open invitation came at a bad time for the lead-up for the Referendum and fired fears of uncontrollable immigration that our infrastructure could not cope with. The increasingly federalist tendencies of Brussels also concerned some. In the likely review that those in the EU leadership will conduct I hope that they will analyse these problems honestly because they cannot be pushed under the table now. Otherwise the Far Right, or Far Left, will take over – they are waiting to do so.
The world is in a fragile state. Putin may well be delighted by the destabilisation of Europe. ISIS warlords will be watching our vulnerability. We need to pull together. In any divorce there is a period of shock, rejection, anger, sadness but, as I said in my last blog, I hope that the leaders of the world rise above hurt, ego, punishment or revenge and put the good of the world first. I hope there will be a willingness to cooperate and overcome divisions as fast as possible as it will benefit all nations to do so. Above all I hope all parties will apply their wisdom to this sad situation.
Call me an optimist (my business was called Positiveworks!) but could this possibly be a Hegelian moment where the thesis (EU creation and history of 48 years) has been challenged by the antithesis (UK voting Leave) which could potentially lead to a synthesis that enables all countries to review treaties and alliances and bring them up to date to last a further fifty years into the 21st century in an optimal and transformed state? I sincerely hope so.
If you are concerned then click the link below:
Petition: EU Referendum Rules triggering a 2nd EU Referendum
| Petition: EU Referendum Rules triggering a 2nd EU Refere…
We the undersigned call upon HM Government to implement a rule that if the remain or leave vote is less than 60% based a turnout less than 75% there should be anot… |
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| View on petition.parliament.uk | Preview by Yahoo | ||||||
6 responses
Helen. I have petitioned for a second EU referendum and am glad to see your endorsement of the petition and to read your thoughts. I agree with you whole-heartedly. Juliet
I agree with so much of what you say. A multi facetted cause complicated by a power struggle betwween individual politicians and deceitful misinformation resulting in a misguided and tragic result.
As much as I despair at yesterday’s result and all that may follow I have an unease re. the petition to write a new rule after the event. If the result was the other way (which I desparately wish it had been) would we be happy for Brexiteers to demand a new rule/referendum?
Helen, I am appalled by the decision to leave. The campaigns by both parties were driven by fear and gross inaccuracies. The leave campaign appeared to be almost non existent on the ground. One of the many ironies is that when one of the Leave leaders Mr Gove Esq… was given the power and reign that he says the ‘country’ needs he managed to destroy the British eduction system… and return it to a Victorian ideaology that is completely irrelevant in this day and age. Mr Boris Johnson oversaw one of the greatest influx of foreigners on his watch – foreign investors, buying up all the housing in central london (which many will see in pure investment terms only) and pushing up the housing prices both in London and the rest of the UK to levels which are beyond the vast majority of the younger generations means. The one country i know about – China (where many of these investors come from) in Shanghai, you have to be a resident for a set time before you can buy. One of the most tragic features for me was the fear and loathing that was stoked up by the press and read by the very age group who swung the vote and will not be here in a few years to live with the mess. The Daily Mail, The Sun and the Express I found difficult to look at the covers, never mind the contents. They pedalled a myth about ‘British Greatness’ which may or may not have existed 150 years ago. I could go on and on… however it is time to consider… looking into my Irish ancestory/passport… and focusing my endeavours to get my business online and therefore beyond the UK borders asap… I am ashamed to be ‘British’
Thanks for your thoughts Helen, as always you have put a fair and balanced view across.
Apart from the economic and financial uncertainty, I feel very sad that the UK is changing. I am Irish and have lived here for 30 years. The level of rhetoric about immigrants, Europe and nationalism is something I have never seen before. I am sad and disappointed. And am not the only one.
Your comment about a potentially world coming out of all this is interesting. I really hope you are right.
Jox
PS: We have signed the petition!
To David Cameron the day after Britain voted to leave the European Union
~ That god that you’ve been praying to is gonna give you back
what you’ve been wishing on someone else ~ New Pony, Bob Dylan
So. Mister Cameron. It’s farewell time for you, then.
You really didn’t think, did you, that it could ever come to this,
after making your name as a King Alfred in reverse?
I’ve often wondered what the after-life would be like
for a retiring prime minister or president.
I don’t want to appear smug
about our victory over Europe –
VE Day: there’s been quite some celebration
by us “little Englandlers” – but you see,
you see, Dave, not all of us are pig ignorant
about the history of the USSR
and that murderous sovietization of the great nation of Russia,
nor about the orchestration of the murderous Chinese Revolution,
the paranoic police states,
the Red Terror murders of a quarter of a billion of their people’s best,
not to mention the brutal tortures, starvations, druggings, and enslaving gulags,
and not all of us want our noses
rubbed in that communistic dog-filth
by such a savage inner circle of controllers,
secret men, the grey men,
and to the European Union petty bureaucrats cartel
we’ve raised the middle finger,
concerning which, I suppose, Dave, you must think it a poorly shame.
Anyway, Dave,
now you’ve turfed yourself out you can lie back
in your latter years and enjoy the pleasurama
of being right, as you watch the spectacle of
this nation’s struggle and its collapsing
to its feet without that “ever closer union”,
like you told us that it will
if we get out. And in your fairy castle
you can live out the dream you’ve had for us.
Somebody you did not choose
will take over the management of your finances,
and they’ll negotiate the agreements for you
of whom you may and may not trade with,
and George will write your annual Budget,
modelled, of course, on this year’s draft;
(and not to worry if there won’t be any audits of your accountants and investors);
we’ll see to it that you’ll receive back at least some ‘substantial’ portion
of what you’ve invested;
the rules of house will be written for you
(and excuse us if some of them
might seem long and complex); your fishing rights
will be shared and extended to your neighbours;
your staff’s salaries will include bursaries and benefits and allowances
to their dependents in foreign countries;
and, one of the progresses you most wished for us,
there will be minimal controls
of your home and garden borders so that all of Europe
can have unrestricted freedom of movement
and you can lap the enjoyment
of the migrant workers
that you’re going to be so desperately needing
in such a growing economic climate:
gardeners, builders, drivers, teachers,
cleaners, lavatory attendants, and chambermaids
in your bedrooms, all exercising their rights of exchange
and employment laws in a free and open market
and without the unfair lengthy and hindering bureaucracy
of background checks;
and if any turn out to be rapists, child abusers, violent savages, and terrorists,
please don’t be frustrated when their human rights to a family life within your walls
will secure their tenure for them.
And then, when age creeps in on you and Sam,
you can manage well on that somewhat reduced pension
you told us that our elderly and vulnerable old gits would get for voting ‘Leave’,
and you can hand down, after tax, your capital and estate
to your children and their children’s children –
after their very gay gay gay gay weddings.
* * * * *
And …
For me Friday was a happy day of great rejoicing. The British showed their strength against the EU dark controllers, the bullies, the dark men of corruption.
The issues of economy and migration are unmeasurable and secondary. The central factor to me is what nobody has talked about: HISTORY. Where did these EU plotters come from? Who were they? Exactly who and when and where said what? What secret meetings, secret purposes? Let’s have the dates and times and places, and the names and character sketches. What did they really envision? I know the exact dates and place and the name of one of the men in a founding meeting about forming a European Union: yes, he was an outright Communist.
Do not be fooled. There are very dark and dangerous people behind the EU project.
There was deceit by the EU plotters from the beginning. What was first said in propaganda to be only about a trade bloc suddenly became traces of a super-state with fat snakes enforcing over us their multitudinous petty and annoying laws and regulations. All this originated in the eras of the evil Soviet and China Communist empires, which both ran savage – and China still does – in the Red Terror murders of a quarter of a billion of their people’s very best, and thugs were promoted to carry out terror, not to mention the brutal tortures, starvations, druggings, and enslaving gulags.
The EU project of lies and deceit and secrecy and controlling fangs – under the same sinister controllers, bankers, top freemasons, economists, avowed communists – is an experiment of a different kind, a new face of Communism, without the (yet) mass brutality and murders. Nasty people were behind its origin, nasty people are behind it now, and it will end extremely nastily for any whom Orwell ironically called wrongthinkers. Divided from wrongthinkers, goodthinkers, brainwashed by the ubiquitous media apparatus, will serve the World State without thought or conscience. Anybody who doesn’t support the super-state is a bigot, a racist, a doom merchant, a little Englander, a jingoist, old-fashioned, looking backwards, divisive, right wing, insular, Victorian. When all we actually want is assurance to live in peace and safety, free from Communist death-squad tentacles and torture. But it is even more than wrongthinkers who will be murdered, enslaved, and tortured. Even many of the goodthinkers themselves will be butchered.
There are very nasty people behind this EU project, and they do not wish us well. Three marks of the Communists, who, seared in conscience, consider morality “bourgeois”, are lies, theft and murder. The EU snakes have already done the lies and the stealthy theft. Murder will not be far away. The EU is not just about some trade bloc agreement.
The vile Engels and Marx wrote: “‘Once we’re at the helm, we’ll be obliged to reenact the year 1793. After achieving power, we’ll be considered monsters, but we couldn’t care less.” That is the Communist mind “couldn’t care less”. Couldn’t care if others get butchered.
I’ve written a poem-letter to Cameron, envisaging his home and estate run strictly along EU rules. He wouldn’t like it! Nobody would. Under this EU inner circle of corrupt controllers and incompetent and petty bureaucrats with their heavy imposing and undermining, the UK has probably never been weaker than it is now – weaker morally, politically, economically, militarily, judicially, and spiritually.
The Petersfield Post has published two fine and alarming letters from a Russian who lived under the very evil Soviet regime. Tania Mitskevich describes her recollection of life under the evil USSR Communists and how she is now seeing in the European Union a similar “oppressive totalitarian regime” of “self-serving bureaucrats” with “heartless economic policies” – an “ungodly… corrupted EU empire” (Petersfield Post, June 8 and 15). If only the mighty Alexander Solzhenitsyn were here to educate us: he would be telling us just the same things as Tania Mitskevich. The evil USSR Communist Politburo began with violence and perpetuated violence, murdering, torturing, and deliberately starving millions of its innocents and best. The EU totalitarian cartel came in with a new tactic: deceit, stealth, and secrecy. This is THE NEW EXPERIMENT. The NEW COMMUNISM. The new Big Brother – as the sinister Left’s project marches smugly towards its ultimate goal.
It is an absolutely wonderful thing to have escaped from such scum. We have the literatures of Dostoievsky, Orwell, Huxley, Solzhenitsyn, warning us about totalitarian states and their mass brain-washing apparatus and murder. What irony to have all that and then to actually vote – to ask – to be crushed in their tentacles. “We want Big Brother … We want Big Brother … We want the Communists. We don’t care if wrongthinkers are going to get killed and tortured.” Because they think Communism will bring them favour and promotion and money – never mind if millions of others die, as long as I get my money. They are utterly deluded, of course, that they themselves are goodthinkers who are going to be safe. Far from it! In the USSR under the sick monsters Lenin and Stalin and Trotski they had “death quotas”. And that is where the EU would be heading in the end.
We can see just how oppressive the EU totalitarian regime is in Merkel’s threats to punish us if we leave and in Cameron’s vicious (and false) threats of reduced pensions. Now, mercifully, we have voted out that big left iron boot before we might become totally sovietized.