The EU referendum.
If you have been living under a rock for the past few months you won't have realised that on the 23rd June the Great British public were asked whether or not they wanted to leave or remain in the EU. After a brutal campaign period 52% of those who voted wanted Britain to leave the EU, with 48% of those who voted wanted to remain.
I wanted to write this post a few weeks after the referendum had taken place, just to acknowledge the events that happened after it and examine the relative shitstorm that has taken place after it.
Personally, I very strongly wanted Britian to remain in the EU, and anyone who spoke to me during that period would have recieved my unbridled and unfiltered opinion on the matter, posing very little tolerance or sympathy for those who believed that Brexit was the best possible option.
When the results came in I stayed up until 5am and got more and more agitated with the results as they pointed to a result that not only played out my worst fears for this country, but harboured new ones. I have studied the EU and Britain's role within this institution for the best part of three years, it has been the source of my extended project in 6th form, I have written and conducted a variety of essays and presentations, predicting what would happen if Britain left the EU and whether or not it would be the best decision. From the information derived from this I believed that Britain should remain in the EU unquestionably as it would best from an economic point of view, social view and international view.
However, the results have come in and there's no point in wallowing in what would could have been and what would have happened if the public had voted to stay in. This is not a defeatist attitude, but merely me taking a pragmatic view in order to make the best of the situation that we have put ourselves in.
What I do have an issue with and what i'm addressing in this post is the problems that have arisen since the referendum and what the main problems were during the brutal campaign trails that took place in the days before the vote.
The first issue I had with the referendum was the fact that 16-17 year olds had no say. I believe that they should be allowed the vote as they are the future and shouldn't have their future dictated to them by people who are not going to be as affected by the results as they are. From what I have gathered, the younger population had more to say on the subject than anyone else; the 16/17 year olds that I spoke to had intelligent and innovative opinions on the subject for both sides and contrary to what the older generation thought, were interested in the matter in hand and wanted their voices heard. I believe that politics and an interest in politics is instrumental in understanding how the world works and strongly argue that it should be taught and integrated as a main part of the school curriculum. By not allowing this group to vote the government are making it easier for the younger generation to be disillusioned by politics as they believe that their voice doesn't matter. From personal experience, my 16 year old sister was one of the loudest voices I heard during the campaign period and had opinions that most adults who had more 'experience and wisedom' than her couldn't fathom. She was devestated that she couldn't vote and even more so when Britain voted to leave, her voice didn't matter and her future was being decided by people who she didn't identify with. This I think has been the case for a number of young people and I think it's a terrible shame that on an issue of this magnitude, 16-17 year olds were cut off from having a say.
A further issue I had with the referendum was the way in which the campaigns conducted themselves. From the way I looked at it very few issues were actually addressed (on both sides) and as the campaign trail went on, it became very clear that scare-mongering and political point scoring became more important than addressing the issues that actually mattered. A clear example of scare-mongering from the leave campaign was from the poster from Farage which eerily resembles Nazi propaganda. The poster in question showed a long line of immigrants with the slogan "BREAKING POINT: The EU has failed us all". Whilst this poster has been condemned by a number of MPs and prominent figures such as Boris Johnson and Yvette Cooper, it still influenced a number of people and failed to actually address a point. It was pure scare-mongering. I have a major issue with is as it is not intelligent politics nor is it fair, healthy or conducive to our community.
I also want to argue against the false promises that were made by the Leave Campaign regarding spending for the NHS. It was stated that if Britain were to leave the EU, the NHS would in turn receive an additional £350 million per week, an ambitious figure by anyone's standards yet was a key part in encouraging people to vote to leave. However, it was then uncovered an interview that this figure was false and would not be put into practice. I would deem this repherensible as it was false advertising that held heavy influence over the general public.
The issue I had with the remain camp is that they failed to address issues or even convice the public that to remain would be the best option. My view is that the remain campaign were too complacent with their position and weren't as forthcoming with their ideas as the leave campaign were. Furthermore, during the TV debates they didn't use the same calibre of recognisable or charasmatic politicians as the Leave Campaign (with the exception of Nicola Sturgeon: whom I adore!). Despite the fact that I don't agree with what Boris Johnson or Nigel Farage stand for, you can't deny that they are good speakers and the public knows who they are and will sit up and take notice of what they're saying.
However, the saddest element of the referendum was the vicious murder of Jo
Cox, the MP for Bately and Spen, who was shot and stabbed several times by a
man who allegedly shouted "Britain first" before attacking. This was
a devestating affront to British politics and shocked not only the nation, but
the world. It also definitely contradicted what Nigel Farage claimed when he
deemed the referendum a success as 'no bullets had been fired'. I was deeply
saddened when I heard the news as it just proved that the referendum had
brought out the worst instincts in people and destroyed both a family and a
community.
The aftermath of the referendum also disappointed me, especially when so
many prominent political ‘Brexiteers’ standing down. I was especially
disappointed with Nigel Farage standing down after his infamous speech in the
European Parliament where he savagely dismissed MEPs and members of the
European Community. I would agree with Christopher Waltz, who stated that ‘of
course the head rat would leave the sinking ship’. It was a classic example of
a politician not taking responsibility for their actions and abandoning the
country in a state that they were responsible for; particularly disappointing
as it just disenchants more people regarding politics in this country, and
rightly so.
Overall, the referendum was a shambles, with both sides at fault. Our only
solution now is to pull together and try and make the best of a situation which has caused a great deal of political uncertainty and turmoil. Let's see what Theresa May has in store.
That's my take on the referendum, feel free to agree or disagree with what i've said, just remember that all opinions are subjective!
Chloe :)
