( A twelve-minute read)
If we look at England going headlong to join Greece, (which has olive oil and sunshine against cider and gray skies) one has to wonder why all those that voted to stay in the EU have gone silent.
Why is this?
Where are the 48% that voted to stay in the EU?
It seems that England’s pending departure from the European Union, is driven by memories of the Empire rather than its people.
We all know that it built a fortune on the British Empire, however it used it to create pervasive banking and finance institutions, including many large value traders. It is this trade potential that made such a large economy.
Now just because it was unwilling to fight its corner we are witnessing a form of collective up in the clouds lunacy. As if Democracy is unable to reconsider a decision once vote on.
If anything one has to admire the bull dog determinism of a country that has giving many things to the world both good and bad to enact the result of a non legal binding Referendum that was won by 52% to 48%.
What can one say other than, you might like to turn your thoughts to the millions of people who will be directly affected but weren’t allowed to vote. (Not just the under-18s, but also the UK residents who come from other countries in the EU, and the UK nationals living in other parts of the EU…) The 10 million or so remain voters who didn’t show up to the polls should feel ashamed.
While Brexit likely does not reflect the sentiment of the entire electorate the result of the referendum reflects how democracy works in England.
Once the largest empire in the world its is now a shell of what it once was.
It’s too late now, but on such an important decision one would have thought that voting should have been compulsory, with a minimum majority of at least 60% to win.
Who in their right minds would run a yes-no one-off vote on such a big and complex issue? Only mad dogs and English men in the noon day sun.
Did the outcome really represent the will of the entire electorate?
Not by a long shot.
If only more_____ (fill in your choice of young people, ethnic minorities, Londoners, Scots, university graduates, etc.) had voted, then Remain would have won. At least that’s the argument.
Of course, UK voters did not have one million chances to vote to stay in the EU. They had one, and a majority of those who cast a ballot opted to leave.
There is a longstanding unwritten constitutional principle in England if you don’t participate, your voice is not heard.
Yet, when Britain renegotiates its status, with the European Union the borders will not change.
Do you know why?
Because Britain needs an open line to Europe. The most that will happen is a limit placed on immigration, something that the didn’t need to leave the EU to achieve.
So I ask where is the voice of the younger generation – which voted overwhelmingly in favor of remaining in the EU – that ultimately will bear the cost of the xenophobic pipe dreams sold to their parents by cynical politicians.
Have you all being seriously duped by a dream that wants you to believe that your standard of living will rise as a result.
What you are seeing is less secure employment, more social disease and mental health…and generally a cost of living that very few people can afford unless your one of the top 10%.
Which begs the question, is this what happens in a limited 2 party ‘democratic’ state (first past the post being the least democratic of all voting systems) when the people have lost faith in both parties?
Without the EU apparatus, your trading leverage is massively weakened, meaning that many of the free trade agreements you will sign outside of Europe will end up being less beneficial, especially in the extent that they impact upon the young.
I’m curious about exactly what England (notice I didn’t use the term UK) has to offer Europe or any free trade partner.
Heavy industry and mining is a shell of what it once was, as is the textiles industry. The auto industry is in many ways being propped by their EU agreements. Every one of your rural industries has another source within Europe itself.
You don’t have many natural resources, and even those you do have like North Sea oil will have its boundaries tested when you leave. I’m assuming this will extend to fishing boundaries as well. England, the entire UK for that matter, will be a pretty small place.
London’s status as a banking capital may be worth squat now as well. Banks will leave England as quick as they can buy new buildings in other cities.
The lost of the clearing of euro-denominated derivatives, will ultimately force tens of thousands pounds in revenue out of London and break off a key part of the City’s infrastructure.
On top of all of this we are now witnessing what I happen to think it a VERY bad idea to hand your laws into the hands of the politicians, especially when they are already rich autocrats.
All this assumes that the legislation that would be required goes through either of the houses, which is in and of itself an iffy proposition, especially with Scotland promising to block and obstruct and rest assured that the Northern Ireland DUP will more than likely be looking for additional bribery blood money to vote on any agreement.
Throughout the course of human history, wealth, or the lack thereof, has driven social unrest. The frenetic pace of change has caused enormous social disruption as entire industries and employment have migrated to lower cost centers in Asia and other developing regions.
Perhaps England should take a leaf form Isaac Goldberg, who said
” To blind oneself to change is not therefore to halt it”.
This is what England can look forward to, deal or no deal.
Your politicians say;
It simply isn’t possible to wind back the clock. The forces that have been unleashed cannot be restrained. Turning inwards, however, will not solve the problem.
A disunited Europe alienated from a disunited UK can only lead to sorry state of affairs.
With profit seeking algorithms, Capitalism as we know it is going underground, isolation will not stop this taking place.
Perhaps now is the time for the European Union to consider jettisoning the UK relationship altogether. However the EU has shown it tends to move with a glacial pace, so the thaw will be over several decades that will bleed not just your productivity, but the aspirations of the young.
The blow dealt to European unity may prove fatal but it is beyond a doubt that England will certainly feel the chill winds from the UK’s new isolationist policy.
I have always felt the UK should have try again to renegotiate the terms of its membership rather than an either / or referendum.
Now it appears that this is not possible as the damage has already been done, to an almost irreversible extent, the conditions of re-entry would not be favorable, and the cost of rejoining would be high.
The gap in EU-UK positions is wide, the risks of escalation high, and the room for compromise limited.
In or out will now weigh on Britain’s economic prospects for years to come.
If Brexit talks collapse the most likely reason will be not be money. (One way or the other the UK will pay a hefty bill for leaving EU.) The main reason is that any future relationship between Britain and the EU will take years to negotiate. The architecture of this relations depends on whether England honors the commitments which England entered into freely.
UK politics are now in a state of chaos, with European politics following suite so it is highly unlikely (whether England honors its commitments or not) that the twenty remaining EU countries will agree to anything other than to agree to disagree.
You only have to look at the Irish/ Northern Ireland border.
No other country is going to feel the fallout from the UK’s vote to leave the European Union more than Ireland. It remains at the mercy of the unfolding drama in its closest neighbor and the consequences are mind-boggling.
Brexit is not occurring in a vacuum.
Public opinion is being reshaped by Brexit however it will be the cost of inflation that will cause panic, with corporations shift their bases of operation to Europe, costing thousands of jobs it will result in more than disturbances on the street.
All human comments appreciated. All like clicks chucked in the bin.
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