This is the next part on the tale of the new start our family has decided to embark on, here is Part 1.
So I suppose the next thing I could tell you about is the referendum on the 23rd of June 2016. Overall the sentiment was that the Leave campaign could not win, it was madness to leave the European Union after 7 years of austerity. With wages dropping, part-time and zero hour contracts at an all-time high, a dying public health system, worsening education, collapsing social care and welfare... This could only worsen the situation.
However, the Leave campaign, aided by the right wing tabloid papers (such as The Sun, the Daily Mail, the Express) had run, for years, a very effective campaign against the EU and immigration. Their target was emotion, not facts, and there was a real sense that this hate and fear campaign would make a dent on the values that the UK was well-known for; tolerance, progressiveness, social justice and an appreciation for diversity.
Here you can read a good summary of the arguments that were used in the campaign.
To make matters worse the Remain campaign was lacklustre, appealing to people's sense of logic and understanding of economic policy and the complex and dire consequences of untangling the UK from EU policy and trade. That was their big mistake. Without wanting to offend, the average Joe in the UK just has no understanding of how the EU operates, why freedom of movement is an advantage or why it is that EU regulations needed to be enshrined in UK law to facilitate trade, the very concept at the heart of the single market (I may do a post about this at some point for those that might be interested in understanding it better). The average Brit is, unwittingly, conditioned and educated to think that the UK is above the rest, that it can always do well alone and that there is no benefit of being part of a system where one puts in more capital than it gets... You might disagree with what the EU stands for, I for one have many criticims of it, but regardless of your leanings what is clear is that the UK leaving the EU only leaves one losing side in today's globalised world; the UK.
At this point I did not know what to think or expect, but my hopeful side deep down agreed that it would be madness.
Then this happened....
I went downstairs to hear the news. Shock does not quite describe it... I was in tears, I was due to go to work and I was besides myself... And then it began. I called work, to warn them that I was struggling and that I was going to try to go in but I did not know if I would manage and that was the first time I was met with what now has become the expected response; complete lack of understanding. My manager's words were "Really, why? What is wrong?". I was even more shocked so I said "Well, the UK has voted to leave the EU and I am an EU national.... can't you see the issue here?".
Needless to say things just went from bad to worse. I made a post on FB simply saying "Oh Britain, you arseholes, what have you done?" Which was met with a few responses reflecting complete perplexity and a couple telling me to get over it, 'it was our decision, not yours'. One in particular, from someone I had considered a 'friend' up until that point, read "Don't you dare speak ill of MY country". From that point onwards I knew things were going to get a lot worse before they got better, but I was not prepared for what the following year would bring.
In the next part I will tell you about the experiences I went through and the things I saw and heard that made me fall out of love with the UK. It will be a difficult write up, relieving all that, so bear with me.
