A Less United Kingdom?

Published by Rick on Tagged Uncategorized

Whew, I’ll be glad when tomorrow passes, though a lot less glad if Britain votes Brexit. It’s been a real chore every day filtering through the Daily Mail’s first 18-20 pages all devoted to either the advantages leaving the EU pose, or how all the people in the Remain camp are using scaremongering and lies to get us to vote to stay, which the Brexit Camp is equally guilty of.  So why don’t I just read another paper? I guess I’m a glutton for punishment, plus their trivia sections provide good pub quiz questions.

In the past, whenever an election would be approaching, and especially if there was bond issues or other initiatives to vote on, I’d skim through the pamphlets where both the pro and con sides of each issue are discussed, then bolt right down to the bottom where it says who endorses each side. That’s helped me understand the Brexit campaign too, even though I can’t vote here. With the Brexit campaigners including former London Mayor Boris Johnson (slightly left of Donald Trump with equally bad hair), Nigel Farage (leader of the far-right UKIP party), and blowhard bitch Katie Hopkins, UK’s version of Ann Coulter, the decision is pretty easy. Celebrity endorsers include Roger Daltrey and John Cleese, both a bit surprising.

I remember once considering citizenship in UK, but decided I couldn’t do that while my dad was still alive. I settled for what they call “Indefinite Stay,” which cost me £950 in 2008, is probably more like £1200 now. In US dollars a few months ago, 1200 would have been about 1600, but with anticipation from the various world banks over Brexit NOT passing, the value of the pound against the dollar has been moving up rapidly. And sure, the Remain campaign has the support from a lot of big money men, but we’re talking the Richard Branson slightly left of centre type of billionaires, not the Donald Trumps (Trump of course supports Brexit).

This whole campaign, while trying to say it’s about freedom for a New, Independent, United Kingdom, is still about controlling the numbers of immigrants, no matter how much they dress it up. Sure, it’s a problem, and there’s only so much space in these islands, but (illegal) immigration is something the US has been dealing with a lot longer, and every time some similar initiative has been put to vote, particularly in California, its tone comes out so racist the voters can usually see through it and veto it. In my area of London, I have yet to see a single “Vote Leave” sign in any window, though I’m sure in my old stomping grounds of Dagenham, Essex, I’d see a lot of them.

Last Sunday afternoon, the choir I sing with did a couple of songs at a vigil for both the victims in Orlando as well as for slain MP Jo Cox. One of her best friends gave a tearful speech about her late friend’s convictions and beliefs in what’s right, plus we read aloud the names of all the Orlando victims. Not surprisingly, I did not see, in this crowd of several hundred, any Leave paraphernalia. I thought I heard a heckler at one point, but I also saw uniformed police moving in that direction, and things calmed down quickly. The Remain campaign was accused by the Brexiteers of politicising Cox’s brutal murder, but hey how could you avoid it? The assassin shouted “Put Britain first” as he was stabbing Ms. Cox, then when the nut job was asked his name in court, he stated it was “Death to Traitors, Freedom For Britain.” Not exactly the endorsement the Leave campaign needs.

It looked pretty scary there for a while, as even the left leaning press was reporting polls showing Brexit leading, but more encouraging has been Daily Mail’s admission, in a very tiny box in a corner of Monday’s paper, that some polls had shown Remain retaking the lead. If Jo Cox’s death had anything to do with that surge, then we can say she didn’t die in vain. Prime Minister David Cameron, certainly not a favourite of his party now, has faced a tough several months for endorsing Remain, and probably regrets allowing it to be put to public vote. If he loses, he’s gone, and Boris Johnson will become PM of a less than United Kingdom. I could imagine Scotland calling for another vote to go independent so they could rejoin the EU, and this time the vote would more likely carry. Also there would be a massive recession as the country tries to right itself.

I’m sure there’s plenty of pundits who would tell me those last two statements are completely wrong, and I’m willing to say I’ve only been here 13 years so I don’t understand everything, particularly where UK politics are concerned. My heart tells me it’s wrong and a major gamble to strike out on your own at this time.  I would agree there’s only so much space in this island nation, and it’s already terribly congested. I DREAD having to drive to a comedy gig I have on the South Coast this Friday, as congestion on the roads has gotten continually worse over the years. I just don’t believe that isolating the country is the answer.

June 22nd, 2016



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