Well, yes, I did vote to remain in the EU, but not for the reasons many people are giving for voting either way. I voted Remain, because it is my view that David Cameron should not have called this referendum in the first place. Had he not allowed it, we would be remaining in the EU, and avoided one of the most divisive events in British political history. I believed this referendum to have been a bad idea from the very beginning, and it got worse.
In the first place, I think it has seriously undermined Cameron's own position, and the office he holds. My view is that, as elected leader of this country, and someone who supports the EU, he should have been tough enough to stick to that position, and not hazarded his future (and ours) by going to referendum. He is Prime Minister and believes passionately that the UK belongs in Europe. Why, then, has he risked losing the vote? In my opinion, he has made himself look weak, and, if the country votes Leave, his career in politics is finished.
Referenda, to use one choice of plural, are not always progressive and beneficial for society. They are used frequently in Switzerland (180 in the last 20 years, 9 this year alone), and have produced some very strange results in the past. Not until 1971 were women given the vote; not until the same year could women hold seats in parliament. Only in 2004 did a referendum grant Swiss women paid maternity leave. The Leave campaign in the present referendum campaign has seen some ugly racist and nationalist vapourings, which has done them little credit in the eyes of all but the most bigoted.
I think, though, that the most damaging aspect of the referendum campaign has been the divisions it has created between the supporters of either camp in all political parties. Even the extreme Left has been divided on this issue. The ill-will between Remainers and Leavers, sometimes between members of the cabinet, has been astonishing at times. To give but one example from many, Amber Rudd, the Energy Secretary, said of her fellow-Tory, Boris Johnson, in an ITV debate:“As for Boris, he is the life and soul of the party but he’s not the man you want driving you home at the end of the evening,”
Such invective can only leave a legacy of ill-will which could last well into the future. Instead of a house divided, we might see every political party (except the LibDems) divided into sections that have bad feelings towards each other, poisoning our political life. When the results of this referendum are declared tomorrow morning, a lot of people are going to be very unhappy, all of which adds up to an unhealthy legacy for David Cameron's misconceived referendum idea.
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This has been the worst campaign I have ever seen since I first began following politics in the 1960s: badly run, insults, abuse, condemnation by association with dodgy people on both sides, endless uninformative & repetitive coverage in the news, asking thousands of ordinary people in the street asked for their views. Why? How does that help anyone decide? Am I supposed to think: "Oh Mrs Jones of Pontypridd is voting remain, so I should too"?
ReplyDeleteI always knew that I was voting to stay in, but if I had been unsure, I would have had very little help from the media or either campaign.
With this campaign, politics in my country has sunk to an unprecedented low.
After much thought I reluctantly voted in favour of Leave, sadly reversing my decision to join the European Common Market. I believed that after 40 years both I and the ECM had changed, not for the better in my case. Most of my information was gleaned from the Times which is in favour of Remain and this is reflected in its editorials, however it allows comments from both sides of the debate and obtains responses from readers on these articles. There have been some excellent contributions from both sides hence my choice has wavered.
ReplyDeleteThere were 3 topics which influenced my decision as to whether it was in the UK's best interest to remain in the EU - these were Sovereignty, Economics and Immigration.
Sovereignty: I gained the impression that an unelected European political elite were pressing for greater European integration leading to a Federal Superstate. I do not desire this.
Economics: this is not as clear cut as some may believe. Without a doubt there will be financial consequences to leaving a Free Trade area which has done good work in harmonising standards in Europe, although I had reservations concerning the effect of CAP on African farmers. However the EU makes decisions for the good of the Eurozone which the UK is outside. If a common Eurozone Treasury with coordination of tax and spend was created what effect would this have on the UK being outside it and what effect upon the sovereignty of the UK if it joined. Finally, in this new Globalisation, does the UK have to be a member of a large trading bloc to defend itself against multinationals or be nimbler to take advantage of rapid changes.
Immigration: This has always been an issue in this and many other countries for decades. I believe the use of the word race is a misnomer - some geneticists will dispute that this word has any valid meaning. But people from different parts of Europe have differences in their culture. Peoples from different continents can have large differences. Arguments in favour of immigration range from meeting skill shortages/greater social diversity/paying existing pension commitments/etc. Anti immigration arguments range from strain on the nations infrastructure/cultural prejudice/lack of assimilation/dilution of national identity.
To sum up the 'wavering' decision to regretfully Leave the EU it was that 1) The sovereignty of the UK's parliament was in danger of being eroded.
2) The medium/long term advantage to the UK's ability to adjust to rapidly changing markets in the future would be outside the moribund EU. Plus I have no desire to be even loosely connected to an organisation that tolerates 50% youth unemployment levels in its southern members.
3) At the risk of being labelled Fascist and/or racist, I believe that immigration of 360,000pa into this country carries a high level of risk. It is manifestly the case that Europe has lost control of its borders. The large influx of war refugees from Asia and Africa, along with economic refugees, seem to be giving impetus to extreme right wing parties throughout the EU. This, coupled with a widely held perception that Brussels' concern is mainly for greater integration whatever the social costs, may be the EU's downfall. I hope not and I hope the UK's unity is preserved. But there will be interesting if troubling times ahead.
Phil - "May you live in interesting times" is a Chinese curse, and it looks as if we are in for them. The economic blowback from the referendum result, derided before the vote as "scare stories" are starting to come true. All migrants to the UK and expats living abroad face uncertainty as to their status. The only people to do well out of this debacle are the British and European Right - Far Right and Extreme Right. The prediction in your final sentence is already proving only too prescient.
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