Why, when the vast majority of white British people are not only NOT racist, they rejoice in the company of people of all colors from at home and overseas, did the UK vote out?
This post has been UPDATED 27 June - please see closing paragraph.
There are probably over 17 million reasons, each a mish-mashed summation of countless perceived pros and cons, and unique to every Leave voter. There were likely to have been very few racist driven, knee-jerk Leave votes, but much mulling was likely to have been based upon misinformation.
There follows one of probably thousands of attempts to make sense of what happened. Importantly however, people from overseas and home grown minority communities should not be concerned. We still love you. You remain welcome. We still love Europe. Please do not consider us bigots or racists. Our peaceful coexistence and mutual appreciation of each other underpins our security and safety.
To the shock and dismay of many, by a very narrow margin, Britain has voted to leave the European Union. Whilst this author respects people that voted Leave, he and his wife voted to Remain. Although we share many well founded reservations about the EU with tens of millions of others across the continent, we felt the best way to resolve such problems was from the inside.
Given the magnitude of the impact of the referendum, that many only voted Leave as a protest vote against the establishment, thinking, based upon the polls that Remain would win anyway, and that the young, most of whom do not even have a vote, seem vastly in favor of staying in, we therefore seized the opportunity to sign the following petition:
We the undersigned call upon HM Government to implement a rule that if the remain or leave vote is less than 60% based a turnout less than 75% there should be another referendum.At the time of writing this piece, the above petition already had over 1,500,000 signatories. Located on Parliament's petition page, it is stated that any petition attracting over 100,000 signatures is automatically considered for a debate by Parliament. Given that this petition is already over 15 times this amount, barely a day into a potential three month run, the hope is that this will receive serious debate. Furthermore, IF Parliament truly wishes to reflect the will of the people, it will bring about a second referendum, EVEN THOUGH this could deal a mortal blow to the government that brings this in. Why? Because, empowered with the knowledge of how people actually voted, rather than a rough appraisal from the polls which suggested Remain would just clinch it, 'Referendum 2' will likely deliver a far more solid-majority for staying within the EU.
We feel many people were hoping for a close outcome the other way, because they wanted to send a message of disgust at the profligacy and aloofness of the Brussels eurocrats, that share the blame for this present disaster alongside a couple of Old Etonians, who cared more about their relative standing than the nation. Many people also wanted to do likewise because they wanted to stick two fingers up to a distant Oxbridge elite that volubly, not just ignored, but sneered at their concerns - often by labelling them as feckless, racist, bigoted and uneducated.
Had this referendum been accessible to 16 year olds, who will be far more impacted by the outcome than older folk, regardless of all the other failings in Referendum 1, it would likely have returned a solid majority for Remain anyway. Not only are the the young far more international and socially minded, but through having to address their interests, the Leave and Remain lobbies would have had to spend less time running fear uncertainty and doubt campaigns about immigration and the economy, and more on European values.
Clearly there were among the Leave voters, those that had genuinely considered the options, and based upon the information available at that time, still wanted out. (Mis)information of material influence included a claim that the EU membership cost of £350M each week would then be available to plough back into the NHS. There was also a fear raised that remaining in would facilitate yet more waves of immigrants from new accession countries and ultimately Turkey, soon, and that this would push the nation's social infrastructure beyond breaking point. These were particularly resonant concerns for old AND young, struggling to find a job, a roof over their head or access to an NHS dentist in many of the peak vote leave regions. It was not dislike of people from outside, simply fear for their future, following years of austerity-UK already, that forced these people to vote Leave.
Beyond the protest and the fear of more immigration votes, probably the biggest driver for a leave vote from older folk, who seem to have, as a majority, voted Leave, was likely to have had nothing to do with the EU or politics at all. Dangerously overlooked is the likelihood that many voted Leave as it resonated with their recollections of Britain's Commonwealth past and, frankly, simpler times. Many older folk, particularly those with poor access to relevant support from family or community and especially those in rural areas with little broadband, find the Internet and often even basic texting on a mobile phone, bewildering at best. Many cannot even see a screen or the keys on their phone, yet more and more of their daily dealings, particularly in this austerity-efficiency driven age require this, if they are not to be effectively cut off from state and business support services. And worst of all, they are preyed upon - especially when they want to end subscriptions to X, Y or Z and are met with intransigent overseas call center operators deploying Catch-22 scripts - by some of the UK's biggest companies. For these poor, neglected people, the Leave vote was not a protest but a cry for help.
Sadly the elite championing the 'Remainers' distanced themselves by yet more talking down to likely leavers. The heavy handed FUD (fear, uncertainty & doubt) proclamations and aloof dismissal of leaver concerns from across the board, including Juncker, Cameron, Corbyn, Carney and FTSE 100 bosses (each and every one likely a multi-millionaire) completely backfired. Instead, these belittling approaches kindled recollections of childhood and grandparent tales of the British Spirit, when the nation stood alone during the first half of WW2. Here, the recent Union-Jack festooned streets to commemorate the Queen's 90th birthday and now, the European Cup, also likely had an influence. Little by little, dozens, hundreds of both considerations and emotional knee-jerks, based on sound information and misinformation and channeled through the dozens of cognitive biases each of us deploy, somehow generated a 51.9 percent voter majority for Leave.
This was not democracy in action though, not true democracy, not a fair expression of the will of the people, but the product of ill conception, a cock-up of biblical proportions brought on by the failings of our UK and European leaders. Three Mile Island's partial meltdown, the worst nuclear accident to date in US history produced negative outcomes that were tiny in comparison to what many feel about 'Referendum 1'. Both 'disasters' (As Referendum 1 is likely a disastrous misrepresentation of the true will of the UK people) share similar root causes: 'human factors', 'mistaken beliefs' and poor management.
Regardless, whatever the outcome, we have to make the best of what lies ahead. Please know that most of us wish to be part of Europe and our young see themselves first and foremost as Europeans. There are only a few immigrants we want to make unwelcome. These, like our home grown criminals, aim to profit from abusing our trust. Therefore, to the vast majority of you, please know, that the majority of us Brits, of whatever color or region, welcome you with love and respect into our community. At the very least you are our extended family, so please feel loved.
Update - 27 June 2016
Following news of a spike in racist abuse incidents, sincere, heartfelt apologies to anyone who either has or now fears being on the receiving end of this. Among our people are a tiny minority - the exception to the rule - that deliver misery to the rest of us. It is impossible for an outsider to get into their heads to understand WHY, because they think differently. It is probably something connected with seeing the Brexit majority vote as an endorsement of their long-held, largely bottled-up views. Similar deranged mental processes probably also trigger wannabe rioters, thugs, thieves, 'extremists' of any kind and even pedophiles. Please just know that their behavior is not condoned by the masses, that probably many people may be looking on silently in disgust but wary about intervening, as it might escalate things. Please appreciate that every society regrettably harbors similar bad people. Please also appreciate that the vast majority of us do care and that, were any such situation to start threatening to escalate into a physical confrontation, we would attempt to defend you. Do not be afraid to ask for help as most of us care much more for your wellbeing than these racists.
