Saturday, June 25, 2016

EU Referendum - The Aftermath And Why The 52% Might Not Be So Stupid After All

Totally unrelated  photo from an Around The World event at DD's school
Whilst, as an expat, I felt that didn't have any right to persuade people (if I even have that talent) living in Britain how to vote in the EU referendum, I feel very strongly about how the results are being swallowed by those who lost.

I admit that most of my facebook friends (and my real friends, and indeed myself) are educated, elitist, snobs. We make enormous efforts not to be racist, sexist, ageist or discriminate against the disabled but when it comes to the ordinary working class citizen we are, apparently, not shy to call them ignorant (stupid even) and not deserving of a vote on important matters such as this that they can't possible have understood.

Never mind that we need people to do all the manual work that we hope our children won't be doing to earn a living. Never mind that the 52% are still people and still British citizens. Never mind that maybe, just maybe, you didn't bother to campaign in a way that relates to them at all (whereas Brexit did)?

Living in Israel I saw first hand how different sectors of the population can be voting in the same election on entirely different issues. And here the scathing aftermath and howls of depression were similar. We had the security-hardliner Netanyahu running against the social-justice reformer Herzog. Those in the centre of the country were caught up in the enormous social injustice issues that we desperately need to reform. Those in Jerusalem and near the borders (not everyone obviously) are not oblivious to social injustice or against social reform nor are they uncaring about the poor and the enormous income gaps, minimum wage, the ridiculous property prices, supermarket monopolies and other mafioso controlled industries that push prices here through the roof. But they felt they had to vote for security. You can't fight for social justice if you're dead. Same election, different concerns.

In the EU referendum the broadsheet newspapers published in-depth economic and political arguments for Remain. However more than half the country don't read those papers. Instead they were listening to the PM saying "relevant" things that they could understand like students will find it harder to go Euro-railing and property values will fall. Seriously? If I were someone working my guts off with no hope of ever buying property in this market and still holidaying in a caravan in Wales because that's all I could afford, that would speak to me. But not in the way the PM intended.

Where were the adverts on television explaining to those without university degrees why they and their children will be better off staying in Europe? I saw adverts like this for the Scottish referendum. One particularly aimed at housewives just went to cast doubt and catch the undecided, with no real reasons to stay. But at least it spoke to the housewives and mothers rather than just ignoring them. In this referendum they didn't even speak to the ordinary person in the street, let alone explain anything relevant to them.

Papers like the Daily Mail, on the other hand, were actively campaigning for Brexit. Amongst all the hysteria about the millions of immigrants marching across Europe intent on reaching Britain where we have to provide all of them them with instant financial help, housing and health care, there was not one article addressing these fears in DM language and without just dismissing people's real fears (albeit fears encouraged by the media and the DM in particular) as ignorant and racist.

With all the publicity media available today, I did not see one infomercial, one advert, one open letter to the workers of Britian. Not one You Tube video that those who know how to do these things could have made viral, not one good reason to remain if you are a lorry driver or a school secretary in Carlisle.

Some of my fb friends (all with university degrees and mostly professionals living in London) exclaimed: Who are these people who voted Out? I don't know any of them! Well precisely. We all assume that the 52% were all voting against immigration and for a fascist state. Because they couldn't possible have any other concerns. Except for those over 70 of course, who are obviously expecting us to go back to the late 1950s when we never had it so good. They're stupid too. Or maybe not - who knows?

Has anyone even considered other reasons for leaving? An academic posted on fb that she looked deeply in to the workings of the EU and found them to be corrupt and self-serving, which made her very reluctantly not put her x in the remain box. Farmers and business owners caught up in EU bureaucracy and red tape might have had their own motives too.

But let's not ignore the elephant in the room. I agree that most Brexit voters are those worried about the immigration situation. Parents who have no school place guaranteed for their 5yo at a local school, schools where the level of education is tempered by language issues, families waiting for council assisted housing who see recent immigrants jump the queue. It is a racist issue but it is an issue and you can't blame people for putting their own family first.

These people just want a job, a place to live, a decent wage, and an education for their children. They're not interested in trade treaties or the international exchange rate because they don't have stocks, shares, or investments. They don't have international business contracts and they don't travel abroad that much. What they do have is the skill and will to mend your burst pipes, drive articulated lorries to deliver your commodities, look after your children and the elderly while you're at work, keep your schools and hospitals clean, mend your roads, schlep your furniture when you want to move house, make your garden grow and build your extension.

So while you all wail about how your children will not be able to work abroad easily. How we have lost our advantage as the English speaking gateway to Europe. How your property and investment values will fall. How immigration is a positive thing, as long as they are not sending their children to your schools for the first generation at least. How England is heading towards extreme right wing fascism and dangerous isolation. Remember that you will still need plumbers, lorry drivers, cleaners, nurses, carers, movers, builders and gardeners. And that's why the 52% aren't as stupid as you think. Same referendum different issues.

Note to selves: Next time you need to speak to the people, include all the people.

And now, pick yourselves up, heads down, stiff upper lip, best foot forward, pull together, keep calm and carry on. Business as usual on Monday and for the next two years at least. All those who shouted about not being quitters - now is the time to not be a quitter.


15 comments:

  1. Hi Rachel, Lina here! I agree that unfortunately these issues are always dismissed as ignorant and racist. This is a common thread of similar debates throughout Europe and nothing is gained by demonizing people's fears. It is worrying and especially it is not tackling the issues, they are real as you say. On the other hand, the existence of these trade agreements has an impact on the availability of jobs for everybody, it goes beyond having investments and shares (although I think you were making a point here on intellectual snobs which I agree with fully). Market access can be crucial even for smaller businesses, those which precisely do not have the financial leverage to internalize trade barriers. Britain will renegotiate market access but I wonder what terms the EU will be willing to grant.

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    1. You are right of course Lina. Thank you for commenting.

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  2. Thank you so much for such a thoughtful post. I voted 'out' not simply because of immigration but because I don't want Britain to be part of a United States of Europe (or whatever they want to call it). I simply don't feel European and am appalled by the reaction of the Remain voters. They lost - that is what happens in any vote. Someone loses they have to put up with it. Frankly, I'm fed up with their bellyaching.

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    1. You'd expect some bellyaching for a few days but the acerbic disdain for anyone who voted out is what has shocked me.

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  3. Gosh Rachel, what a fabulous kick-ass article. I realise I am completely caught up between the classes (and I hate the class system). I am Uni educated and can be a bit of a snob but my roots are working class and I stand with my Mum (a shop assistant) and my Dad (a parking attendant) and see their issues first. Mich x

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    1. Thanks Mich. As I said, it's not about who is right and who is wrong, it's just about appreciating that different people have different concerns.

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  4. "And now, pick yourselves up, heads down, stiff upper lip, best foot forward, pull together, keep calm and carry on. Business as usual on Monday and for the next two years at least. All those who shouted about not being quitters - now is the time to not be a quitter."

    No offence, but as someone who doesn't have to live with the consequences of a "leave" vote, you don't get to tell me not to be upset that my future, that my daughter's future has been changed in a way I didn't vote for, that I don't want.

    Trillions of dollars wiped off the value of companies. "Oh, that's an issue for bankers". Well, no, it's not. My company has already lost contracts as a direct result of the vote. Like many companies that rely on technology, the cost of running my business infrastructure has increased by 15% in a week due the collapse of the pound.

    That effects who I employ. Or rather, don't. And when I lay off staff, that affects their families, their stability, their children.

    And all set against a backdrop of the worst racial tension I can ever remember seeing in the UK.

    There's a famous quote that for evil to triumph, all that's needed is for good people to say nothing. And I won't say nothing. I will use my voice as loudly and often as I can to say that I think this is wrong. And it's going to take a lot more than "pulling together' and "a stiff upper lip" to get through.

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    1. That last paragraph was facetious I admit - I was trying to lighten the tone a bit. You can be upset, and angry, and frightened about having your world turned upside down. I'm not even saying which side I think is right and which is wrong. My two points here are that I was disgusted by IN voters who went n social media saying that Brexit voters are too stupid, selfish, and racist, to know what they are doing. I think they knew very well what they were doing - they were voting against the things that effect their lives now and what they are scared of in the future. And secondly, that Remain lost the vote by completely disregarding the ordinary working person with less academic education and not addressing their concerns.

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  5. A fantastic post, really well written (and much more 'ballsy' than mine!) P.s I love the 'totally unrelated photo' - can't not have a photo ;)

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    1. You need a photo for Pinterest otherwise it doesn't accept the post. :)

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  6. You could say that this referendum won't affect me as I have made my home in Ireland and have been here so long that I could not vote in the referendum. But it already has. My very small pension has already taken a hit. My family in the UK are worried sick, and I may need to organise passports for me and the children. I dread to think what will happen next, but as always I believe that it will not be as good or as bad as the media, politicians and commentators would have use believe.

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    1. It actually does affect me in thus way too - I have a UK pension coming when I get to that age and I have some savings in the UK. I had thought about bringing some money over to cover things we need now but the exchange rate means I'd get far less for my money. So we'll struggle though another summer and see what happens. Things are not good but they are not as bad as was threatened.

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  7. I think people voted leave for sovereignty reasons, they think we don't make our own laws. We do. The EU provides a balance and has implemented very positive parental and working rights. Before we leave sovereignty, let us not forget we elect our EMP's and we have an unelected House of Lords influencing our laws. I think people voted based on the issue of immigration. It was used by leave, it's a complex issue. We HAVE to take asylum seekers and refugees under the 1951 UN convention, nothing the EU does changes that. We also (as the Chilcot report found) have a responsibility in those states where people are fleeing from. Lack of Social housing is not an EU issue, it is not an immigration issue. We have less social housing, it was sold off (rightly or wrongly) and has never been replenished by countless Governments. There are significant issues in some areas re. school places and again it is not all to do with immigration. I've lived and worked in some of the poorest areas of the UK. I understand the different pull factors. What has been over looked is the huge numbers of migrant workers who contributed significantly to our economy. Who care for our needy and pick our fruit, long hours in factories and warehouses. These people are our plumbers, lorry drivers, cleaners, nurses, carers, movers, builders and gardeners, believe me. Jobs employers struggle to fill from within the UK. The right wing newspapers have their own agenda. The leave campaign told significant untruths, which it has since admitted where 'mistakes'. This is my country, this was my tolerant country. I don't feel like forgiving their mistakes. I've seen a rise in hate crime fuelled by the cheap and simplistic ideas of the leave campaign. When friends who were born here are told to "go home" whilst doing their job. A horrible division has been created by misinformation, that is stupidity. Mark Carney economics expert and Governor of the Bank of England, said we shouldn't leave. No one listened. I took my information from university lectures in EU law. The predictions of experts aren't just based on the wealthy it is based on the economy as a whole, and geo-social politics beyond that. those people say remain. Against, people like Gove, Johnson and Farage who notably have all washed their hands and stepped and back. Unfortunately, it isn't business as usual, we have a divided nation and if we avoid a recession we will be extremely lucky. There are countless examples of people who voted based on the wrong reasoning, this vote does not solve immigration. People who voted and now admit they don't understand the EU. Who regret their vote. I not found a single remain voted who wished they voted leave. To be honest, I've not found a coherent leave argument. I am angry at the result for a range of reasons including social and economic. Unfortunately, it is not business as usual.

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  8. oh and I would add that we are one of least bureaucratic countries in the UK and our tax system is more complex that EU compliance. Cornwall voted leave. It's council are not extremely concerned about the loss of EU subsistence and it isn't a case of just re-distributing what we pay them. Equally, in Wales the first minister was "deeply disappointed" because of the money wales receives. UK farmer is supported and regulated by the EU. The EU protects our environment and some of our poorest rural areas. Areas largely ignored by the Westminster elite. It is not as simple as it appears.

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