Brexit: Waking up in Little Britain

Brexit: Waking up in Little Britain

Britain's decision to leave the EU was a bad one. On Friday June 24th I woke up to find I was living in a very different Britain than I thought

Kia and I tend to stay away from politics in this blog. We have such a diverse and international audience that the politics of one region rarely interest everyone. However, last week our homeland made a decision that sent shockwaves around the world. The British vote to leave the European Union was a bad decision that I believe cannot be ignored.

Loss of identity

On Friday June 24th I woke up to find I was living in a very different Britain than I thought.

I thought I lived in a progressive, open-minded, cohesive Britain that was committed to moving the world forward in a positive way. On Thursday I was proud to be British. On Friday I was embarrassed to be British.

I was born in 1984. I was born in a Europe that was still struggling with the aftermath of the Second World War; a still divided Europe in the midst of the Cold War. In the early 90s, this Europe was united, and when I came of age and started to get really involved in politics, I was part of a free Europe full of promise.

A Europe that would be so different from the Europe I had learned about in history class at school. The mistakes and divisions of the past would never be repeated again.

I've always felt British, not English. I am part of a country made up of four very different nations, all united under one kingdom. My surname, Watson, is a Scottish name, part of an ancient clan associated with the areas of Aberdeen and Kincardineshire. We even have our own tartan.

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Divided Kingdom: Scotland and Northern Ireland voted Remain; England and Wales largely voted Leave

I have always felt like a European. Geographically, Great Britain is part of Europe. Historically Britain is part of Europe and politically Britain was part of Europe. I always had an identity. This identity was both British and European. Needless to say, Kia and I both voted Remain in the referendum.

Now my country and its identity is in flux. The referendum on EU membership changed things. We as a nation have clearly sent a message to Europe, and that message goes something like this: We believe we are better off without you.

Additionally, with Scotland voting against Brexit, it is becoming increasingly likely that they will leave the UK. For the first time in my life I feel like a stranger in my own country. I thought I understood my compatriots, but now I'm not so sure.

A divided country

Much of the toxic Leave campaign was waged on the issue of immigration. Whether you are for or against immigration is largely irrelevant as the Leave campaign leaders have never promised to reduce immigration in the UK. Instead of facts and data, xenophobic rhetoric has largely dominated the campaign, focusing on “the others” and how “they” are stealing jobs, extorting benefits, and straining our healthcare system.

This argument sucks so much. In a country built on centuries of colonization, complaining about immigration is nothing short of hypocritical. In a country where immigrants form the backbone of our public services, healthcare and education systems, it is short-sighted to suggest that they are not welcome.

Britain is a country built on over 2,000 years of immigration. Our first king was a fucking French immigrant, for crying out loud! And our current royal family is of German descent.

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Nor am I speaking from a privileged London perspective. I grew up in Caister-on-Sea, near Great Yarmouth, which has a UKIP mayor. I am intimately familiar with the specific mix of disenfranchisement, segregation, and social immobility that drives the revolt against the establishment. However, the vote to leave is not just a cry for attention; it is a deafening scream of rejection.

Do half the people in my country really have the same ideology as the extremist nationalist parties such as UKIP, BNP and EDL – the only British political parties that support leaving the EU? Do you really agree with Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and the leader of ISIS? Do they really believe in what they just voted for?

This week Britain rejected the Europeans. Who will be next?

My country suddenly feels very divided.

Lost generation

Perhaps the greatest tragedy of this referendum is that the people it will affect most - the people who will have to live with it the longest - are the very people who voted against it. A decisive 73% of 18- to 24-year-olds and 62% of 25- to 34-year-olds voted to remain. These are the generations that have to live with the consequences of Brexit.

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This widely circulated quote from the Financial Times sums it up best:

"The younger generation has lost the right to live and work in 27 other countries. We will never know the full extent of the missed opportunities, friendships, marriages and experiences denied to us. Freedom of movement was taken away by our parents, uncles and grandparents in a parting blow to a generation already drowning in the debt of their predecessors."

One Twitter user put it more bluntly:

“A generation that gave everything: free education, golden pensions, social mobility, voted to take away my generation’s future.”

Personally, Kia and I have a lot to think about. We are currently in the UK planning our next big trip. After that we wanted to go back to France for a while or maybe move further away. Maybe it needs to be further away now.

The result of the referendum will influence our future. Certain doors will now have closed and others may be harder to open. We need to let the dust settle before we decide what our options are. One thing is certain, we feel uncomfortable living in a country that has embraced the ideology of the extreme right.

The future…

I overwhelmingly believe that Britain has made a catastrophic mistake. The EU is by no means perfect, but very few unions ever are. The arguments for leaving are actually just arguments for improving the EU; to fix it, don't leave it.

I hope that the result of Brexit is more about misleading the British public, rather than making them truly believe in what they just voted for: division, isolationism, xenophobia. Either way, the conclusion is troubling - millions of people are either ignorant or intolerant or both.

My parting thoughts on this topic are the same as my opening: embarrassment. Traveling is an important part of our lives and from now on when we meet people and ask them where we are from, I will tell them that I am British and I will be embarrassed: embarrassed that my country seems to think it is better than the European Union; embarrassed that we made a stupid decision on the international stage; embarrassing that we couldn't see how good we had it and that we threw it all away.

My only hope is that the current and future member states of the European Union continue to show openness and tolerance towards the British and the rest of the world. Many of my compatriots made a mistake - please don't judge us all by our mistakes.

Mission statement: Dreamstime

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