Brexit: The Human Cost

 

In the previous blog post, Rednev admirably sums up the hypocrisy of Leave campaigners and details the emerging economic costs of Brexit. I totally support him in this, as I endorse the views of the pro-EU groups who work tirelessly to highlight the negative impact of Brexit upon the fishing industry, on travel to Europe, the deteriorating situation in Northern Ireland and the worsening nightmare of traffic congestion near Dover. Brexit is an unfolding economic disaster, if present trends continue. I do hope things improve, but that will be no thanks to Brexit or any of the Brexiteers.

However, there is one negative effect of Brexit that cannot be improved upon, and that is the human cost. In my view, this cost already amounts to a disaster of huge proportions, dating back to the referendum campaign itself. I am sad to note that none of our leading politicians or media commentators recognise this, so I think it worth mentioning here. 

There are three broad categories to this disaster, the first of which is the rise in hate crime following the referendum. Home Office figures in 2019 bear this out. BBC Wales reported:

"North Wales Police reported 416 crimes in 2014, rising to 476 in 2016 and 858 in 2018.
Gwent Police reported a rise from 374 in 2015-16 to 651 in 2018-19
South Wales Police said there were 879 incidents in 2013-14, rising to 1,102 in 2014-15, 1,232 in in 2015-16 and 1,244 in 2017"

The human rights group, Rene Cassin, in a report submitted to the Home Affairs Select Committee commented: 

"We are concerned that reports of hate crime have risen almost by three-fifths since the aftermath of the EU referendum vote as recorded by True Vision.2 Complaints filed increased fivefold after the EU referendum, with 331 hate crime incidents reported to the site, compared with a weekly average of 63.3".

I know several victims of hate crime, and recognise what a disaster it is for them. Not that any prominent Leave politicians have ever recognised this.

This would be bad enough, but there have been unpleasant personal consequences in the social divisions over Brexit in wider society. The Independent commissioned an opinion poll, which found: 

"More than one in 20 Britons (6 per cent) say they have fallen out with or stopped speaking to a family member and almost one in 12 (8 per cent) with a friend because of rows over Brexit, according to a new survey... the polling suggested a stark generational divide over the issue, with 42 per cent of 18-24 year-olds and 28 per cent of 25-34 year-olds reporting heated arguments with other family members over the issue of EU withdrawal."

Even foreign commentators have written about this British trauma. The New York Times, in an article titled "Of Civil Wars and Family", said, in 2019: 

"Like the election of President Trump, the 2016 Brexit referendum vote crystallized divisions between cities and towns, young and old, the beneficiaries of globalization and those left behind...in the aftermath of the referendum, Relate, a counselling service, said that a fifth of the 300 relationship support practitioners surveyed had worked with clients who argued over Brexit."

Nor are these divisions likely to heal at any time soon. As the economic effects of Brexit worsen, those of us who voted Remain will justifiably speak out with forcefulness. How Leave voters and campaigners react should be interesting - some might even admit to having been wrong.

But there are two people for whom there will be no possible change in their situation: the two people who have died violent deaths following the start of the EU referendum campaign, before and after the actual vote. One, of course, was the much-loved Labour MP, Jo Cox, murdered by Thomas Mair, June 16, 2016. The other, lesser known death, was that of Duncan Keating in Ancoats, Manchester, June 25, 2016, two days after the EU referendum. Jo Cox was a passionate Remainer, while Duncan Keating had voted Leave. Thomas Mair was a fascist with a history of mental illness, but was triggered into action by the Leave campaign. As The Guardian says: 

"Brexit campaigners were claiming that a remain vote would result in “swarms” of immigrants entering the UK, that it could trigger mass sexual attacks. Just hours before the murder, Ukip unveiled its infamous “breaking point” anti-immigration poster. Mair came to regard Cox as one of “the collaborators”, a traitor to his race. The passionate defender of immigration and the remain campaign was a legitimate target in his eyes".

Duncan Keating was a 58-year old pensioner who had a violent argument about the referendum with a Remain-voting neighbour, 62-year old Graham Dunn. As the Manchester Evening News said:

"Brexiter Duncan Keating, 58, was hit with a parasol, thumped repeatedly, and threatened he would be set alight in an attack at a retirement complex just days after the (referendum) result."

Six hours after being beaten up, Keating was found dead from causes which the coroner ruled did not relate to his assault. Dunn, when taken to court, admitted assault and was jailed for four years and five months.

To conclude, I believe that, in human terms, Brexit already is a disaster. Economic harm can be mitigated; nothing can bring back the dead or truly eradicate the effects of racist violence. Leave politicians and campaigners will doubtless dismiss these matters as "collateral damage". It is up to the rest of us to condemn them for this and challenge them: in human terms, was Brexit worth it?

Jo Cox, M.P.