Boris, Nigel, Michael and Priti,
As someone who considered voting Leave (albeit for a short period of time) I can appreciate some of the concerns of Leave voters. And I appreciate as a Londoner I can be largely isolated from the views of other parts of the country. But it is with a heavy heart that it now seems my country, our country, is driven by greed, nostalgia and a fear of ‘others’ which you have helped to cultivate. Whilst other factors were at play, these three were clearly up on the priority list as voters made their decision yesterday and you did your upmost to peddle that view to the public. The future, my future, and that of thousands of young people is being chipped away by your egos and personal desire to run whatever is left of Britain. This outcome is not what’s best for the country; it is what is best for you.
Boris, as Mayor of London it is unlikely that you would or could have campaigned for Leave. Now you want the top job you've succeeded in fooling the public to satisfy your own political aspirations. As a graduate of 2008, I have already seen the devastating effects of life in a recessive economy and you are dragging me kicking and screaming through more of the same. I feel like I am in a nightmare, one that, unfortunately, I have no opportunity to wake up from.
Britain has the fifth biggest global economy, a public healthcare system that others envy, and, until this point, been a welcoming, open country. What is it that we hope to achieve from this mess? Is it to creep further up the global economy list – an unachievable aim? Do we see this as a more honourable aim if it means as a result we are seen as more divided and insular? This is not the Britain I know and love, but it is the Britain we have become. And it doesn’t feel like home.
I want to be part of an open, hospitable, vivacious and inclusive community; to be part of something greater than the sum of its parts. Yes, the EU is less than perfect, but it is clear so is the UK’s political environment. So what if some of our laws are developed collaboratively with other nations for the greater good? So what if there are a proportion of EU officials who are not directly elected but are still there to help shape the future for its members states and to ensure that the process makes progress? The UK has the same concept in the House of Lords. And in terms of a greater democracy, none of you will be democratically elected if you take charge of the country. We have now turned our backs on our friends and allies, retaliating because we didn’t get everything we wanted in the renegotiation and threw our toys out of the pram. For that we will no longer be a part of shaping common security, environmental and asylum issues side by side with our fellow Europeans, issues that are no doubt better fought together than apart. And for that I am embarrassed to be British today.
I have always felt proud to be from the Britain, proud that whilst we can always strive to be better, Britain with a long history of vibrant immigration has aimed to be more welcoming and inclusive than other countries towards migrants. A Britain that is looked up to by other nations as the voice of reason, sense and diplomacy. A Britain that although has a fraught history with its neighbours has built a spirit of togetherness. Now I feel an assault on all those values that I hold dear, and hoped others held dear too. Britain is now in an existential crisis –divided along not just economic and political lines, but more profoundly on philosophical ones too. This referendum was about so much more than the EU and our place in it. Whilst Britain will recover from the economic downturn, will go on to forge trade deals and will likely prosper in the future, the outcome has severed our sense of unity and has diluted our dignity. Four countries united may well become two. The United, the Kingdom and the Great may all disappear from our name and you will have to ask yourselves, was it all worth it?
One thin thread of silver lining to come out of this is that I now have a lot more faith in myself. Challenged with the depth of sadness that I am feeling today, a depth that has surprised even me, I know that the fleeting moments where I felt I could vote Leave were only because of your successful spin and not the real views from within myself. That gives me some comfort because “love begins at home, and it is not how much we do... but how much love we put in that action”.
Sincerely
Always a European
