I am sad we have chosen to leave the European Union.
I knew very few Leave voters. Those I do know are decent people and I accept their opinion – as we all should.
But I would like to say how strongly I disagree and how profoundly sad I am that they think the way they do.
The people I know who voted Leave were – largely – Conservative with large C and small c. Nationwide the division is not so defined but in my small world, they are. They nearly all say such things as “och – it’ll never change” or “it’s always been that way” or “they brought it on themselves”. They base most things on past status and the same world view regardless of how the world is changing or suffering.
Some have very thin skins. They are first to decry a person for a perceived injustice and yet often loudest to wail if their self-worth is questioned or their view of the world is challenged.
I shall not buy into that. People are people. A refugee deserves respect. An unemployed person deserves respect. We all deserve respect and hope. Nationality and ethnicity is a part of arriving in this world none of us has any control over. It is not the only aspect of our humanity which defines us.
Britain is complicit in much of the current turmoil in the world. The same people I know who voted leave were virtually all the same people I grew frustrated at when arguing we should not have unjust wars and invasions.
The deceitful “debate” on economics never truly exposed it’s opposition for what it really was: a dislike of the redistribution of money. It is no surprise right wing politics focussed on this. The highlands and islands, the black country, much of Wales and Northern England, Cornwall, inner cities. These areas got EU assistance. The very same places central government cash never wants to support. It is easier to get £1million pounds for an Opera House in the South East than maintain the transport infrastucture for many thousands in rural areas.
And the UKIP’s and Tories of this world want to decide who gets the money. They want it all to themselves. This, fundamentally, was what really upset them. This was their “regaining control”. The EU frequently shone a light on our own social and political blind spots. And they hated that. If someone is going to get assistance – then they will decide who gets it and it will be decided to benefit their party and friends.
We nearly all care for our own and our friends. It doesn’t have to be restricted to them.
The continent I once would have thought as part of my identity is now an ex-partner. I can still talk and I can still visit but the relationship is different. It just is. The relationship has an air of distrust where once there was acceptance and tolerance.
And all because we believed the nasty gossip-mongers.
