I'm an optimist by nature. And whilst that tends to help if you're a Liberal Democrat, there is a risk that one is blinded to the underside of politics. Being reasonable in the face of the irrational may help you to remain calm in the face of provocation, but reasonable involves measured, nuanced messages and an aversion to sound bites.
The EU referendum was, as it turned out, not a place for the reasonable. Saying that there are positives and negatives to our membership of the European Union risked being shot by both sides, and it did become a rather unedifying contest. It would be fair to say that I wasn't as engaged as I might have been, as a result. I did have the excuse of a local by-election, which took more out of me than I had expected, but nonetheless, I wasn't as active as I might have been.
But anyway, those of us who felt that, on balance, our membership of the European Union brought more advantages than disadvantages lost. And yes, a small piece of me despairs that our country has changed in a way that will only emerge over time, some of the worst has emerged already.
We have sent a message to the world that we aren't keen on foreigners, that they are at fault for the state of our country. And some of those who campaigned for Brexit never intended that or, at least, claim that this wasn't their intent (and yes, Tim Montgomerie, I'm looking at you), but I'm afraid that it is the conclusion that many have drawn.
For those who voted for Brexit probably weren't racist on the whole. The catch is those who were now think that they're in the majority. In other words, they've won. But they're probably not finished. They have other fish to fry.
After all, Theresa May has promised to reduce net inward migration to below 100,000 per annum and eschew freedom of movement as part of any package relating to access to the European Single Market. That works both ways, in that our people surely can't expect to have the same rights to move to a European Union
In other words, less people leaving the country, thus even more people prevented from coming here - any net migration figure is dependant on those leaving the country too.
That suits the racists, especially as it will doubtless make it even harder for people from non-White countries to get those all important work permits. UKIP will doubtless start agitating to restrict the number of Muslims coming here, and a country thought to be threatening to minorities is a less inviting choice.
If the economists are right, and growth in the United Kingdom stalls, unemployment will start to rise, and there will be those who will call for foreigners to be sent home. After all, they'll be holding jobs to the exclusion of native British, which would never do. The fact that they will doing jobs that wouldn't otherwise be filled is neither here nor there, they will be the 'other' that must be removed.
And yes, crops will go unharvested, our elderly uncared for, patients untreated in the absence of the migrants who currently do these things. I'm sure that those who voted for them to be excluded will happily take up the slack.
The country will become a bit meaner, a bit more insular, a bit more populist, a bit less tolerant.
I may be wrong. I hope that I am. But it will take the engagement of the reasonable, the tolerant, the rational in order to resist such a trend. And in the face of a new post-fact politics, a stand at the barricades may prove to be too unattractive. For modern politics increasingly leaves no room for those with honest doubts or who are without the sort of emotional armour that is required to deal with the abuse that seems standard in our body politic - in other words, the very people whose voices we need to hear more of.
3 comments:
I think brexit will be OK. I've just done some research on their chief negotiator, Michel Barnier. He is alright. He wanted Britain to stay in the EU and is pro business. I can think of more difficult people to have to deal with than him. He also wrote an article about European defence and security integration after brexit, hoping for bilateral co-operation with the UK too.
Eddie,
Michel Barnier is probably everything that you suggest he is. But he isn't making the deal, he's the 'point man'. It's the European Parliament, and the remaining twenty-seven Member States, who determine what he has to say. And given our wilful blindness to the internal affairs and motivations of our former partners, can you really be confident that the sort of deal David Davis et al want is going to be on the same planet, let alone on the table?
Hi Mark, thanks for the reply.
No I don't think we will get everything we want, a "David Davis" kind of deal, but maybe in the future when it has calmed down a bit we might be able to revisit.
But yes, I am worried about the European Parliament veto. I think we can get French and Italian support by helping with the migrant crisis, but others may be harder to deal with and Theresa May has already started effectively shouting at the French about Calais.
That is what I read from the events anyway.
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