Brexit Is Not The End of Britain As We Know It

I landed at 6 a.m. on June 24th in London, as the world woke up to fully contemplate the shocking news: Britain had voted to leave the European Union.

As an American, it was fascinating to have a front-row seat at a moment that will forever be remembered, a point in time that was - no exaggeration - truly historic. But here’s my take: we should acknowledge that the UK may have voted this way not for the nasty anti-immigrant reasons many have pegged as the culprit of the outcome (although there is certainly a terrible and vocal strain of that sentiment). Instead, let’s consider the very real possibility that the majority of Leave voters were wary of being controlled in their daily lives by unaccountable, democratically deficit bureaucrats in Brussels. (It’s true that many of these civil servants are smart, well-intentioned and technocratic - but it’s equally true they’re not elected political figures who can be held accountable to a given electorate).

In some ways, this may actually be a hopeful moment for the EU in that it could stimulate a rethinking of its own architecture and perhaps a more effective reframing of it. After all, rarely has the first draft of anything been its most perfect iteration. We need only look back at our own history here in the US to see that’s true. The Articles of Confederation, for instance, were poorly architected and poorly constructed - and then replaced by something that has collectively held us together as a functioning democracy ever since: the Constitution. Perhaps the Brexit outcome could eventually inspire a different, more functional EU in the same way the US came together differently in a post-Articles of Confederation world.

More pragmatically, despite the posturing of EU leaders, the UK is still a very desirable partner in Europe and in the global community. It’s going to take two years - as established by ratified treaty - for Britain and the EU to figure out the contours of its departure. But as the negotiation of the dissolution begins, we may yet see that the UK has the strength in hand to win major concessions, which actually might inspire the EU to rethink how it runs itself. You can be virtually certain that the things most British people - on both sides of this issue - care about will remain in some form: freedom of movement, freedom of labor, some of the benefits that come with free trade.

It seems to me that the majority of the Leave voters actually have that in common with the majority of the Remain camp: both value the best parts of the EU community, chiefly the freedom of movement and labor, but not necessarily currency. However, much of the Leave bloc is likely anti-bureaucracy. They wanted more freedom for themselves in their daily lives, to stop chafing under overseas regulation that lacked accountability to the very people it was imposed upon.

That said, in talking with European immigrants here in London, it’s clear that this referendum has sent a strongly anti-immigrant, anti-”other” message - and they naturally feel it viscerally. The vote raises some worrisome logistical questions: Will immigrants now have to get work visas - or will they be grandfathered in before the door shuts? How can they support families in other European countries given the collapse of the pound against the euro? If they need to refinance mortgages, will those payments increase because of the pound’s falling value?

Beyond the question of how a devalued currency effectively makes their work less remunerative, the referendum has already had a more fundamental impact on immigrants, who now question how welcome and even how safe they are in Britain. It feels like they have more to worry about now than they did just several short days ago.

As an American citizen, part of a nation of immigrants presently facing its own surge of right-wing populism, I was very sad to hear these people’s  - quite understandable - reactions. But I’m hopeful that the best is yet to come from European governments and from the government here in the UK. Keeping the free movement of people and labor intact - at least as much as possible - so individual dreams can be realized is a goal that’s worth the effort and negotiation it will take to achieve.