So they actually did it. My home nation, the United Kingdom, voted by 52% to 48% to leave the European Union and go it alone.
And while the Leave campaigners will say democracy won, and the British people have spoken, it’s not quite as simple as that.
If you look at the breakdown of the votes, it was England and Wales who voted the UK out of the EU. Scotland overwhelmingly voted to stay, as did Northern Ireland.
So, not so much “the British people have spoken” as much as “Little England voted the UK out and Wales came along for the ride.”
And, yes, I’m being glib – people voted for reasons they believed in, and that should be respected. But I can’t help but be glib when reading or watching interviews with the leaders of the Leave movement after the result was announced.
Leading advocate Nigel Farage, of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) confirmed what many Remain voters believed, and many news channels had tried to report on – the Leave campaign was built on a huge steaming pile of lies.
When asked on a TV interview about the??350 million per week – per week – that will now be saved from not having to pay that money to the EU, Farage admitted that the Leave’s campaign promise that it would be pumped back into healthcare was “incorrect”.
WATCH: @Nigel_Farage tells @susannareid100 it was a 'mistake' for Leave to claim there'd be £350M a week for NHShttps://t.co/JNkl5k8IlK
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) June 24, 2016
He also led the politics of fear tactic when using immigration as a campaign message, and that leaving the EU would essentially allow the UK to stop these damned foreigners coming over and stealing everyone’s jobs [paraphrased].
Add in the piss-poor “leadership” so far from the top people at the Leave campaign’s headquarters, the drop in the value of the UK currency, and banks and businesses saying they’re probably going to move jobs out of the UK, and you have quite the maelstrom going on.
Suddenly, the Leave vote doesn’t seem that rosy after all.
But that’s not the worst.
The Lost Empire and the Little England?Effect
Before I left the UK for Canada in 2006, there was already a nasty rise in the far right’s popularity. Race and immigration was already being used as weapons, and even some of my friends were turning into full-on bigots.
The country was becoming something dark, and it simply didn’t feel like the country I’d grown up in. I was born in Scotland, and lived there until I was 19, when I moved to England to live and work.
While I’d encountered some form of racism in Scotland, it wasn’t of the level that appeared to be felt in England, specifically northern and mid-England.
If you weren’t a white person, you weren’t really British, as simple as that. And, as a Scotsman living in England, I experienced some racism against me, because “I was taking jobs and girlfriends that English men should have.”
Okaaaay then….
So, for me, the result of the referendum to leave the EU, and the country that was most responsible for the Leave campaign winning, wasn’t too much of a surprise.
While not all of England is like this, there’s a vast amount of the population – especially the older demographic – that feels like England (and, by association, the UK) is a shadow of its former self.
And that hurts.
No longer do they “rule the waves”, as proudly sung in Rule, Britannia. What used to be one of the biggest Empires in the world (if you define “empire” as invading other countries and making them slaves) is now no more.
The UK used to be one of the leaders in the industrial world, but that economy driver has set sail, and now the UK finds itself struggling to keep up with advances in other countries.
But, probably most of all, there’s a rising demographic in England especially who believe England is solely for “true English people”.
The vote to leave the EU has now given these right-wing believers legitimacy to open up their racism front and centre.
And this is just in the few days since the result was announced, and only reflects those documented on social.
My fear is it’s only going to get worse, and very violent. I hope I’m wrong, but from my own experiences – and the fact the UKIP and the likes of Britain First are encouraging this mindset – I can’t see anything other than a summer of violence.
A Broken Island, and Broken Ties
I was born in 1968, ironically another pivotal year in the UK’s history of racist movements.
That year, politician Enoch Powell made his infamous “Rivers of Blood” speech on the rising numbers of immigrants to the UK. While it was to eventually ruin his political career, it gave impetus to the nation’s bigots and fear-mongers.
The repercussions of that speech are still felt almost 50 years later, and especially today as the UK looks to be a broken island.
Scotland has already said a referendum on their own independence from the UK (and to remain part of the EU) is highly likely.
In Ireland, the result plays into the hands of the Sinn Fein political party, and their goal of taking Northern Ireland back into the fold as part of a united Ireland.
The younger generation of Brits (who primarily voted to Remain as part of the EU) are now disenfranchised, looking at their elders, and feeling let down.
The parts of England that voted to Remain now feel little affiliation to those who voted Leave, and wonder where it leaves them.
In short, a campaign based on lies, fear and personal agendas to “make Britain great again” has actually caused the very opposite, at least in these early days of confusion.
Either way, as I mentioned to my friends over on Facebook, I’d been thinking long and hard about my citizenship for a while, as I saw the country I called home for so long seem hellbent on pulling itself apart.
And it’s finally – and, possibly irreversibly – happened. Which made my mind up for me.
When I see the likes of overt racism in the streets, and politicians using fear tactics to endanger innocent lives while encouraging right-wing thinking, it’s time to say goodbye.
I’m a proud Scotsman, and I’m proud of the way they voted last week, and showed they believe in inclusiveness and acceptance over ignorance and anger.
Next year, I’ll be applying for my Canadian citizenship when eligible to do so.
The United Kingdom is no more. There is no Great in Great Britain. There are good people there, but they’re slowly being drowned out by the hateful bigots and right-wing propagandists.
That’s not the country I want to be a citizen of.
In speaking with many friends over in the UK, they also fear for the future. Not just for themselves, but the poor immigrants who’ve fled one battleground, only to enter another.
The UK may have made its choice in a democratic vote, but how much of these voters will still be part of a “United Kingdom” in weeks, months and years to come is now up for question.
Good luck.
- For an excellent companion piece, read this fantastic overview from my friend Paul Sutton, who is currently still living in England.