To the lying thieves of Westminster...
My faith in politicians has always been thin, but since the joke that was the referendum even more so. As I've gotten older and learnt more about history and more about the world, it's made me very much appreciate the UK where I was born and raised. We have the NHS (until the Tories have their way), and we live in a civilised society that's not just tolerant, but embraces other cultures too. A country that has survived two world wars, and managed to pull ourselves out of the debt and destruction from them. This last week my belief in democracy, and faith in my country has been deeply shaken. Yes voting itself was an exercise in democracy you may say. An exercise in democracy would have been a referendum based on truth. The country has voted based on lies and deception. Let's just put this in comparison for a moment shall we...
A jury finds someone guilty of murder because of a very convincing alibi witness. The next day the alibi witness confesses to the police that he just wasn't really telling the truth. He wasn't so sure it was the same man, he wasn't even sure it was the right day. He wasn't wearing his glasses either. Now I don't know the ins-and-outs of the justice system, but I'm pretty sure at least a re-trial would be in order. The same goes for this laughable referendum. It should be a fair fight.
What we got was a remain campaign that was so cock sure it would walk it, it didn't try hard enough in the beginning. Only when the possibility of losing set in did they really step up. I think Cameron was a fool to begin with, but after all he'd had the referendum in his manifesto so it was bound to happen. But it's something that should have been given more time to properly educate the public on, what exactly being a member of the EU meant and didn't mean. What benefits and drawbacks there were. Instead what we got was a couple of months of verbal brawls with one side shouting above the other along with scaremongering and propaganda. With the austerity in the country not everyone's trust of David Cameron is solid to begin with, even though he had other remainers campaigning there was a voice greatly lacking...
...Jeremy Corbyn. Where was he? Jeremy Corbyn speaks for the working class, the under privileged, all the people they say the Tory government has left behind. Now I'm not saying Corbyn could've swayed the vote completely, but I certainly think his presence would have made a difference, as well as put someone prominent on the left to argue alongside David Cameron and that divide in the country may not have been so clear. I though either Jeremy voted leave or he was a reluctant remainer. If he wanted to leave I'd have had more respect if he'd said that and argued his point. I don't want to bang on about Corbyn too much because I don't feel hatred towards him, and he has a lot on his plate at the moment (some would say self inflicted), I'm just disappointed.
Farage, Boris and Gove...
Now we get to the real snakes of the campaign. Farage makes my skin crawl and always has done, even more so now. The poster he so proudly stood next to should be enough to have him locked away. I wish this man could be banished from the same land I reside on. Boris is not much better, only he's far dumber than Farage. Boris I don't even believe wanted out of the EU, well kinda backfired didn't it?! As much as I hate Farage at least he believed in what he was campaigning for. Boris you are a disgusting liar that should be held accountable for the circus you headed up and potentially have destroyed the country with. You are a walking joke. Gove what a slimy backstabber you are. Your smarmy face needs to do one. How you can actually stand there and ask for people's faith in you to deliver anything after the lies you told. All three should be sent off in a rubber dingy to sea (yeah the irony for Farage knowing how he feels about migrants), no food (sorry Boris), and left to fend for themselves. I'd love to see who would be the first to feed the other two to a passing shark.
So the future and survival of the country has been gambled on like a poker game, and not even a well played one with professional players. This isn't like weapons of mass destruction that took years to discover there actually weren't any, the lies in which the remain campaign used were exposed the next day! The irony that we needed to "take back control" evil Brussels "telling us what to do" well we can do what we want now?...Right?...Erm...Hello?...Anybody there?...
...Oh that's right our PM has resigned and doesn't dare trigger Article 50, they're now trying to pick a new class monitor and see who's up to the challenge. Meanwhile the labour party is in ruins, when it should be fighting fit and strong and showing the Tories up for the idiots they are. Amazing that between three Tories and one UKIPer we're in this mess yet the Labour party have managed to bring the focus onto themselves!
So now we'll get a new PM that none of the public actually get to vote for. This is someone we have to trust to get the best deal for Britain. Wow. What a mess. Plus whoever this unlucky person is will be in a no win situation; if they don't trigger Article 50 they'll be seen as a traitor to democracy and all the leavers will hate them, and if they do trigger it they'll be the person always remembered that they put into motion the destruction of the UK. What an unfortunate situation we are all in. If only Spitting Image was still going, they'd have a field day!
To the leavers
I know you're not all racist, uneducated, facist, xenophobes, and quite frankly the blanket label of all that angers me greatly. To the ones that are racists then you need to be stopped and removed from society because you are not welcome. All I ask is that if we are given another opportunity to vote please research as much as possible. Find out what the EU funded in your area as well as the country, look into the effects that leaving the single market will do to the economy and how that will trickle down and impact every class. Know that we cannot be part of the single market and control immigration - that was one of the biggest lies the country was sold. Know that there's more UK immigration from non EU countries than EU countries. Know how astounding it is that after WWII Europe wanted peace and worked incredibly hard to get it. The EU is by far from perfect and things have to change in it, but we cannot change anything if we're not in it. Know that even if we are out of the EU we still need to be part of the EEA which will mean we're in the single market, but we have to accept freedom of movement as well. Know that any poverty, job losses, hospital closures, lack of schools, etc is in large the fault of the Tory government. They have pulled money from public services when it should have been increased. Know that British industry sadly disappeared long ago and is not the complete fault of the EU or immigration. Look to the times of strikes and Thatcher instead. Know that any amount of money they promised to put into the NHS or anywhere else is a lie. If we leave the EU and the single market, the economy will crash so badly there'll be no money to put anywhere. So those promises and figures they make up are pure fantasies. Now if you researched all this and still voted leave that is your right and I would never spew the vile hatred upon you that I've witnessed from some leavers. At least then you've made a choice based on facts and exercised your democratic right on what you truly believe is the best decision.
To the remainers
Anyone who is campaigning for a second referendum, or an open debate on how we move forward I'm right behind you. But anyone who is doling out this abuse to the leave voters has to stop. It does you no favours. You're just bullies lumping anyone who voted remain as thick and racist. That kind of generalising helps nothing or no one. Liberals are the first ones after an ISIS terrorist attack to protest that not all Muslims support ISIS. Of course anyone with any intelligence knows that and the same goes for leave voters. Sadly there are the racists among them, but not everyone who voted leave is a racist, or for that matter working class. I happen to know a few middle class people who voted leave. However, as a large proportion of leave voters were from poorer areas you do have to understand that if people see their society crumbling around them, and it has been since the seventies in most places, that when blame is pointed at an easy target they not surprisingly will believe it. People have spent years being beaten down by the government they can see, so when they're told oh no this is the fault of another government you don't see, blame them, then they will.
What the government has to learn from this is one not to gamble with such important matters, and two that the wealth in this country needs to be spread. That is if there's any wealth left after this pickle. Maybe if global businesses had been encouraged to expand beyond London to other UK cities more people would have seen improovement closer to home. London has boomed, Manchester has seen better improvements, but money and business needs to be spread; Glasgow, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Sheffield, Belfast, Liverpool, and many more. London is not the B-all and end all of the UK and part of this whole mess is down to that thinking for a very long time and is what's caused such a huge divide in the country.
All I hope for now is that the people of this country is granted a chance to exercise democracy under truth not dishonesty. If not, this will set the example that any politician can lie through a campaign, gain the publics trust, and get away with it. That in itself will destroy democracy and will destroy future generations faith and trust in the establishment. If this isn't walked back/negotiated correctly/voted on/debated again then I hope I can utilise the freedom of movement before I am trapped on this Island forever with the likes of Nigel Farce / Bastard Boris / Gross Gove running the country.
Yours Faithfully,
A gobsmacked UK resident.
