EU- Leaver vs Remainer

I voted remain.

It’s something that I have had to say everytime that I have talked about the result of the referendum with other remain voters in order to ‘raise the shields.’

Because in spite of voting ‘remain,’ I am one of the rare few (at least, it seems to be) ..a remainer who could see that the European Union actually had some negative aspects to it.

I was 50/50 throughout, and ultimately voted to remain because, as someone concerned about climate change, and the necessity for immediate action on it, I was worried that with the UK needing to prove itself economically, independent from the EU, then the environment would take a back seat, (that is, even more than it usually does.)

I didn’t doubt that we were capable of making further good environmental policies without reference to the EU in the future- merely that for now, the emphasis would be mainly on our economy.

On the side of leave, I was not happy with the bureaucracy of it, the secrecy of it, the lack of democracy (apart from our MEPs- who are one small and therefore ultimately ineffective cog in a huge machine).

Not to say I believe it to be an evil organisation- I wouldn’t have voted remain otherwise. However, I do believe it is often used- rightly or wrongly- by our elected politicians to explain just why they can or cannot do something, meaning they are not as accountable to us as they should be.

In short, I was a reluctant remainer- much like those in Scotland who voted to remain part of the Union, but yet later voted in their droves for the SNP.

Therefore, when I woke up to the result on the 24th, I wasn't too upset by it. We still had general elections- I just hoped that someone who was passionate about the environment, like Jeremy Corbyn, would win at the next one. (..um...whoops?)

How we have reacted to it, is another story. There has been a huge fallout from it- one that I think needs more time to calm down before we can really look at each piece objectively. 

I was fine with the result, but there were many however, who were hugely upset by not only the fallout but the result itself and who came out in their thousands yesterday to protest against it in the London streets.

First thing to say about this is that I'm all for exercising your democratic rights- they're upset, they want to show it and present a united front- and there is nothing wrong with that. I would be cheering them on if that was solely the point of it. However, it is both the calls for a second referendum, as well as accusations of the general ignorance of Brexiter's which I have more of an issue with.

Its been said before, but I'll say it again... the campaign on both sides was hardly either inspirational or informative. Both sides were run spouting either bald/bare/bold faced lies, or if not that, then just sheer indifferent ignorance.

The remain side had people on social media literally saying to their friends- ‘if you don’t know how to vote- vote remain, because nothing will change.’

Now, if that’s not celebrating ignorance, I don’t know what is. (sidenote- also, telling people who are crunched financially that ‘nothing will change’- probably not the best political strategy to employ in the world. :/ )

This was also a campaign that seemed to focus mostly on personalities- giving a list of people who were either 'for' or 'against' brexit, pointing at Farage and others, working ad hominem to ask the question, ‘do you really want to ally yourselves with them?’ instead of using the opportunity of debate to present the perfectly good reasons to remain. 

With this, they also forgot that to a lot of working class people, it wasn’t actually about allying yourself to Farage or Johnson. If anything, it was about not allying yourself with David Cameron, George Osborne- people they felt had lied to them repeatedly for years, or doing what big business millionaires- all desperate to remain in the EU, told them to do. 

This aspect of the campaign did admittedly work on me too, as I was somewhat wary about choosing brexit and therefore allying myself with Farage- but that was me not working from any kind of hard factual information about the EU, rather than my own personal dislike of a person. Brexiters voted in spite of Farage, we voted in spite of people like Osborne and the annoying champagne socialist Bob Geldof. (yes, I have issues with him too)

David Cameron warned of wars erupting, citing recent conflicts in the middle east as if they were somehow germane to the EU question. 

Boris Johnson claimed we sent £350 million a week to Brussels (way more than we do send- though I'm still not 100% clear on the actual figure), saying it would be better spent funding the NHS instead. It's a sentiment I don't necessarily disagree with, but I think it has become clear, if it wasn't to anyone before that is- that that's not going to be happening anytimeisoon.

People have also pointed, quite rightly, to the campaign Nigel Farage waged, with a poster talking about immigration (the picture meanwhile being of Syrian refugees...again, whoops?) 

The immigration conversation is an important one to have- not everyone who is worried about mass immigration is automatically either racist or ignorant. That's just a knee jerk, easy accusation to make which in the end doesn't serve either argument. However- it’s not one I’m going to address here right now. All I will say is that, from what I have seen, I believe this lie about immigration also fundamentally informed how the ‘remain’ camp voted too. 

Some remainers were after all also effected by the poster, but merely came from it at a different angle, meaning that the question for people on both sides became a one issue question. The question became,

‘Are you for, or against, (mass) immigration?’ rather than the question it actually was, which was the validity of us remaining in the European Union.

People have also pointed to the polls that show a lot of those who voted out never went to University, citing a 'lack of education,' to be at fault. 

I don't think this really works as a reason- just pointing to the numbers as if that somehow explains everything away. Pointing to polls and numbers without pausing to think deeper about the possible social reasoning for it is, I think, just wrong.

One reason being, it doesn’t really work on the surface level you're looking at. For example, I fit the poll results as I went to University, and I voted remain. However….I studied costume design for my degree. A subject which, if we are taking the polls at face value, should have therefore also given me additional insight into the EU and its processes of deciding legislation and the technical aspects of operating within the single market. 

....It didn’t. To be honest, it barely taught me how to make a decent dress, let alone the machinations of Brussels. But that’s another matter for another post. To be honest, the only political science graduate I know voted out. (although I get that's also not proof of much.)

 For me at least, in my opinion- there is a distinct difference between natural intelligence and education. If you are intelligent you will obviously do a lot better at University than someone who is not so- but a high level of intelligence is definitely not a necessity for University. (I think those of us who have gone to University can all agree on this.)

Perhaps it had something to do with the working class reacting against the establishment...or perhaps it had something to do with the 'remain' people having more money at their disposal, and therefore being primarily concerned with wanting the ease of travel without the bother of any extra paperwork...whatever the reason, it's far too complex to point to a single poll and claim intelligence on one side, stupidity on the other.

So- anecdotal story time- and one example of many that may explain why I find this whole thing so irritating... one friend on Facebook who now has the EU flag as her profile pic, posted a video of Nigel Farage with the question, ‘Why is he in the parliament?’

...now, I'm sorry, but that's just annoying.

She loves the EU so much, and hates Farage so much, and yet has no idea that he is one of the most well known MEPs we have? Don’t get me wrong, she’s only one person- but it’s just one example out of many I have seen.

Watching footage of people outside Westminster now, I have to ask- where exactly were they before?  Where were all these passionate people in the 2014 European elections? Where were these calls of outrage and shame when UKIP got the majority of votes- a third of the seats available to our country- in the European Parliament? 

A couple of days ago on the news, there was a smaller group of protestors shouting out ‘WE LOVE THE EU!!!,’ with as much gusto as they could muster. All brilliant- that's their voice and belief and right, but I had to admit to laughing when the news reporter said bemusedly in response, “I’ve never heard that before.” 

Now- uncomfortably aware that I am now in danger of sounding like an absolute arsey know-it-all, I have to reiterate- I know very, very little about the EU myself. I realise this. Even now, and trying my hardest to find out about the EU, both before and after the referendum- its hard to get a handle on. 

However, whilst what I do know doesn't exactly enamour me to it, and despite not being a fan of the EU, I did still vote in the European elections. I do know a couple of MEPs (their names at least). And I do know that the EU has at least four presidents-but the case could definitely be made for more- none of whom were elected democratically by any of us.

If you don’t know the last point- (like many remainers I have talked to since the result) then how can you love an institution you still know so little about, when you don’t know this basic fact, which is, by rights, the very first thing you should have come across?

And if you do know it- then how can you fight tooth and nail so vehemently for such a deeply undemocratic institution, without  at least acknowledging that those who voted to leave might actually have had a bit of a point?

I have been called ‘right wing,’ when I’ve pointed out that UKIP got a third of the seats available- the only democratic choice we have in the EU, as I have seen others been called when they say they voted for Brexit. Which again may also explain why some people voted the way they did. There are apparently at least a few out there who thought the question of the EU was decided by where you put yourself on the political spectrum, and so didn't want to venture outside of that. 

It would be dishonest to pretend that there weren't more right wing supporters of Brexit than not- that is completely true. However, it is also not such a black and white issue that it is inherently partisan or a matter which 'belongs' to a specific side of the political spectrum- there is demonstrably plenty of crossover here, with conservatives voting to remain, and even guardian readers voting to leave.

Ultimately, when it comes to calls for a second referendum, due to the Brexiters not having the proper information- I think I have said my piece about that. A Brexiter who can't name a positive, or a Remainer who can't name a negative about the EU are both equally uninformed.

But democracies are rarely well informed. This isn’t to excuse it- but it works, or doesn’t, for both sides at one time or another. 

In general elections, people rarely vote according to policies, rather than a tribal party affiliation they may feel.

We vote Labour because our parents voted Labour.

We vote Liberal Democrats because it has the word ‘Liberal,’ in it.

We vote Conservative because we like a nice suit and good old fashioned manners.

It is why people who think of themselves as progressive, somehow chose Hilary Clinton over Bernie Sanders. We tend to vote for identity and what we ‘feel’ is right, over and above actually learning the candidates policies and history. 

When it comes to politics, there are a relatively few number of people who are well informed on certain subjects, and even then that doesn't mean there is a 'right' answer, as they, fully cognizant of all the facts, do not necessarily have to agree with one another. I saw many good debates on Brexit, with highly intelligent people on opposing sides.

For the majority of us however, who can't be called experts, it became not so much a question of, 'Remain or Leave?' but a plethora of other additional questions involved such as-

‘Do you want less, or more, immigration?’

'Are you patriotic, or not?'

'Are you xenophobic, or not?'

‘Do you hate, or tolerate, the establishment?’

‘Who is the biggest dickhead- Nigel Farage, or David Cameron?’

And finally-

‘Do you want change, or no change? (or at least, yet another hopeful stab at renegotiation that Cameron was rubbish at last time?)

And this has been the main question for many. There are those who voted for ‘change,’ who are now regretting their vote- but not because of any new, objective information they have learnt about the EU, but because it appears that this change wasn’t the good one they were hoping for. The uncertainty in the market, the pissing around of Parliament and its Westminster games, the potential break up of the United Kingdom have all in their way, summoned up the image of us in a boat (not exactly a clone of Geldofs) on a brown coloured creek, with very few paddles to spare. It admittedly doesn’t look too spiffing for us. But that was the chance David Cameron took, and that was the chance we all took as a whole.

Is democracy perfect? No matter which way the vote went-if remain had won, the answer would still have been a resounding no. But, so far at least, it’s the best we’ve got and we have to hold onto it, warts and all.

I think therefore to have another referendum would be wrong for a number of reasons- the panic which has enveloped the country would after all only sully what should be- if we're taking a second run at it- an objective opinion about the EU and its advantages and disadvantages, rather than our collective dismay at the apparent incompetence of our present Government. 

Not only that, but it would also take away a result for people who have felt for years  disenfranchised and ignored. 

And finally, whilst it might be great for us to shake the etch-a-sketch and reverse this result- what will that do for our future democracy? There would then be clear precedence in the UK of doing do-overs until we came to the ‘right’ decision. This has happened in other European countries who voted the 'wrong' way and told to go back and do it again- something we should not want to aspire to. Even if we want to go back into the EU- we must admit that this action of a do-over would ultimately undermine our power in the future and any other decisions we may want a say in. 

In the end, the future of this country is hard to see, even for the experts. It might be better out, it might have ultimately been better in…only time, (more than a week at least) will tell.