Yes I did indeed vote Brexit and let me address some of my lay-man thoughts, hopefully in a succinct manner. I am by no means an expert!
Re: Voting Brexit
It wasn’t a decision I took lightly, in fact I’ve been researching, reading up and (hopefully objectively) analysing the pros and cons, for literally months, if not years! I approached it with my ‘we’ hat on, rather than my ‘me’ hat, if that makes sense.
If I was being selfish about it, Remain was the way to go for me….for my vacations, savings, potential for moving abroad, etc – but this was, for me, much bigger than just about me, and about the direction of the EU-UK relationship on a more macro level.
Re: the UK in the EU
No one has any issue whatsoever with doing free-trade deals, single markets etc, that is what we voted for as a country in 1975, but when did we vote for anthems, flags, bureaucrats, and basically a gigantic cross-nation socialist structure?!
I fundamentally have an issue with ‘richer’ nations subsidising ‘poorer’ nations to build their social and economic fabric. World Governments are already in a economically precarious position, and therefore I just don’t see the point.
Re: Immigration
Obviously I utterly dismiss that idea that we are suddenly a nation of racists. Immigration wasn’t even the most important issue for Brexiters (based on a poll done at the time of the referendum). Once again on a macro level, our population has popped from 60m to 65m to 70m and more…fundamentally I think this is just unsustainable considering we are not a huge nation with vast resources like Australia, US or Canada. The strain on our public services are plain to see (and I’m sure the same Remainers continue to complain about the public services too!). Social integrity is also of importance to me (speaking English for example which any EU citizen doesn’t need to even have!). But fundamentally, I am astounded how Remainers are ok with us discriminating non-EU folks (incl Doctors and other highly skilled people) in favour of literally any of the 500m EU folks, deeply unfair in my opinion. Pretty much every other country on the planet outside of the EU are highly selective of the types of people (skills, experience, ability to intergrate, etc) they allow into the country, not sure why this seems to be such a brand new ‘weird’ concept to so many Remainers.
Re: Economic stability
Another one where myth seems have overtaken reality. I have a fundamental hesitation with a ‘pump and grow’ economy that is just simply unsustainable in the long run. By filling the nation up with even cheaper labour, so more companies can ‘grow’ (not sure on what growth / valuation rates), and continually driving the price of goods/services down – the model just doesn’t make sense (once again I’m talking about a 20-50-100 year outlook).
Not sure where our ‘huge immediate collapse’ has gone, I guess I’ve missed it! I am a realist, I understand there may be a bumpy road as we negotiate global trade deals (not least with the EU!) but it was sad we could not pick up the phone to China, India, Canada, New Zealand, etc to even discuss trade – now we will be back on the map!
As expected the Treasury was hardly going to sit on their hands waiting for an exodus, a lower corporate tax rate (I support) will mean we should retain the major corporations and perhaps even attract new ones. I think it’s a storm in a tea-cup and in the long run we’ll be better than fine.
A side point about the falling Pound-Sterling. Economic analysts say if Germany had their own currency it’d be valued at about 20% higher than the Euro is now (the poorer nations of the Euro drag it down), but Germany loves this, makes their exports far more attractive. Similar for the Pound.
Re: David Cameron’s call for a referendum
I agree this is a very complex issue, but in his own words, the nation (and not least the Tory party) has been slowly torn apart by a huge debate on this issue (more people voted UKIP in the last general election than the SNP if I am not mistaken!) – so he wanted to ‘settle this once and for all’. In my eyes a legend of a PM who gave the people not one but two referendums (Scotland) which is at the fundamental heart of the country. Unsure why people think it was a bad idea, perhaps the same people that ironically protested against the Iraq war in 2003 demanding a say, saying ‘only the elites decide and the people need their voice back’! He’s in a lose-lose situation, very unfair in my opinion.
Re: the campaign
Yes ugly both sides (somewhat), a bit of hyperbole with the ‘they are ALL lying to us!!’ etc – once again damned if you do, damned if you don’t. People wanted facts and figures (for a future event which involved a third party!) and when a projection was made people laughed it all off. Weird.
Also, there were no manifestos, this is not a general election! There were cross-party organisations (e.g. ‘Vote Leave’) therefore if they HAD agreed on policies (even though made up of Tories, Labour, UKIP, etc), wouldn’t they also have just been laughed off? The Govt decided to introduce a referendum, and when I formulate a strategy at work, I jot out the path for each major eventuality, so I am bewildered how everyone is going on about some obscure comments from a temporary bunch of politicians as if they have a mandate!
Re: Politics / Politicians
I may be one of the only guys on the planet that believes politics is extremely tough, hardly ever black/white and believes it is a thankless task. No matter what happens they get abused. Quite easy to launch abuse from the sidelines in my opinion. I don’t think, for example Boris schemed this whole thing up (as a regular MP? Influencing DC to call a referendum and at a time that suits him?!). Boris has had anti-EU tendencies for decades, so to attempt to link the dots up somehow is just lazy intellect in my opinion (and I suppose it shows re: him not being PM!).
It seems as Gove was Boris’ brains, and when the referendum was won, Gove expected Boris to step up and show some leadership (i.e. an outline of a coherent strategy etc), but Boris once again leaned on Gove, and I assume Gove thought this guy just isn’t up for it and I’d better run. I have no issue with that. If anyone has played a political game it has been May in my opinion, staying fairly silent, then suddenly coming to the front once the dust settled.
Re: the electorate
The ‘all the Brexiteers are all stupid’ argument is exactly the type that has alienated a large majority (let’s face it Brexit actually won!) of the people. It was interesting that people from all walks of life, the affluent areas, the poorer areas, etc voted Brexit. I am sure there are a number of reasons, and yes, some will have been oblivious to a lot of points mentioned here, and some may well have been racists, but unfair to paint with a single brush in my opinion.
This is getting long but in essence, for me, it is telling that the UK isn’t just an outlier in the EU argument, there are movements across Europe (quite a lot within the European Parliament itself!), and surely that implies there is a fundamental rethink required.
These are just a few of my macro thoughts on the issue in short! I could go on forever! Hopefully some of it makes sense!
