Brexit: clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right - here I am, stuck in the riddle of EU
Chris Dalton
Author, educator, facilitator and creatively bewildered human being. Associate Professor at Henley Business School, FHEA, CMBE
Every six months or so I seem unable to contain the urge to revisit the Brexit decision and assess what the issue is now and what has changed. The last such outing was in December last year, so I'm about due another eruption.
And what has changed? Well, precisely nothing as far as I can see, other than the shortening of the lit fuse attached to the Article 50 sticks of dynamite. And yet I'm no nearer to understanding any of the arguments for a vote to leave. I've seen these as variations of what are four basic propositions:
- an objection to European union on unwavering principle (come-what-May);
- a belief that as part of the EU the UK was unable to make its own laws, and/or should make very different ones once outside the EU (for some reason);
- a fear of the freedom of movement (i.e. to here?);
- that independence from a large trading block makes economic good sense.
(You didn't need to sign up to all four to vote leave, any one might trigger you).
What's troubling me is that two years after the referendum I'm still waiting for those who won the vote to get beyond slogans or egos/power-games and come up with the clear evidence that any of these things are so. In fact, much of the evidence and prediction seems to point the other way, a circumstance that pro-leave campaigners might see as propaganda from sore losers.
But seriously, it's getting serious; they just might actually get to their self-imposed execution date and do it, and I think a lot of us are really wondering why. What am I missing????
So, if anyone on either side can shed any light on this, please add a comment below. Really, help! If Brexit really is a good thing to do, then why hasn't anyone in charge succeeded in explaining this in a way that can make sense, or at least allow us to go along for the ride. But I feel the opposite is happening. I think Brexit and the Brexiteers look really, really clueless.
What I do see is the Conservative and Unionist Party of the United Kingdom's very own and very bloody Civil War re-enactment society, and we are not only having to pay for it, we're being told to smile, shut up, dress up and take part. Not on your nelly!
There, I can be calm again for another half year or so.
Director Data Privacy @ Advantage Smollan | CIPP/E, MBA, MSP, PRINCE2
6 年Hi Chris, Like you, I can see few tangible upsides to leaving the European Union. Indeed, I have campaigned vigourously to remain inside a reformed European Union. Although it is by no means perfect, I believe that we should stay in the Union and help improve it, rather than leave to the extreme detriment of our country. However, one positive result of the Brexit vote has been that Parliament is beginning to listen to more disparate groups within our society. With 80% of our working population earning less than the national average of ￡23,000 per year, most have little opportunity to buy their own house, find the confidence to pay for university education, take foreign holidays or pursue opportunities that many of us, perhaps, take for granted. In a sense, there is no middle-class in this country. The Referendum gave them a voice. We live in an increasingly divided society, and we must be mindful of our place in it and what we can do to redress the imbalances. I find that a good barometer of where one sits within our society is our group of Facebook friends. Do they really represent a fair cross-section of our society today? I believe that for diversity and inclusivity to succeed, we need to step out of our individual bubbles and get to know our communities once more. It is certainly true for me: whereas a couple of years ago I saw snowflakes and gammon, I now see an ecosystem of individuals with vastly differing opportunities available to them.