On Thursday June 23, 2016, Great Britain went to the polls to vote in a referendum about their continued membership in the European Union. While most polls, political pundits and business reporters either favored or indicated a ‘remain’ vote, the public had a different opinion. To the surprise of most of the world, citizens voted to ‘leave’ 51.9% to 48.1% or by 1,269,501 votes. While there will be consequences pros and cons, from my point of view, the reasons and reactions to the result may differ.
First and foremost the result of the referendum is a reflection on the division that exist in The United Kingdom. Scotland, Norther Ireland voted overwhelmingly to ‘remain, while most of England and Wales voted to ‘leave’. This clear division may trigger further referenda from parts of Britain that will want to separate from the U.K. It is ironic that in a year which sees the celebration of her Jubilee, that the Queen may witness the breakup of her kingdom.
A united Europe was part of Churchill’s vision to stop the
warring ways of Europeans. Later Harold Wilson became a strong proponent of
Britain’s membership in the EU while Margaret Thatcher was skeptical about a
complete integration. Although Britain signed the 1992 Maastricht Treaty which
gave Eurocrats more power to intervene in the economy, we should remember that
Britain refused to join the euro snake and kept the pound as its currency.
What started as a great idea years ago slowly deteriorated
into a burdensome, multilateral organization with a growing liberal agenda.
Over the years the bureaucrats in Brussels exerted more power and imposed
increasing number of regulations, which in many ways saw Britain contribute
more than they were getting out of Brussels. In addition the false sense of
security provided by the central bank allowed governments to borrow huge
amounts of euro to support their mismanaged economies. Portugal, Ireland,
Greece and Spain (PIGS) became some of the nations that overburdened the
system, creating volatility and risk in the union.
A growing penchant for leftist/socialist policies made
matters even worse. Interference in national matters such as security, and
immigration contributed too much of the antagonism which triggered the ‘leave’
vote. Britons, especially baby boomers voted 61% to leave while 75% of
millennials voted to ‘remain’. The question is why? Most baby boomers are more
culturally nationalist, while the millennials have known only one system which
was the EU. The latter demographics may see the benefit of freedom of labor and
the idea of a continent free of passport and visas as plusses. However the
older generation may see the EU as interventionist and long for a sovereign
Britain with less interference from Brussels. Scotland which narrowly voted to
stay in the United Kingdom may now want to join the EU on its own, because
historically they have always wanted independence from an occupying force that
is England.
There will be many economic and political consequences to
the watershed decision made by Britain, not all of them bad. The problem that I
have is the reaction to a democratic vote by the elite establishment. The six
founder members of the EU met and the reactions were mixed. While Germany was
more subdued the rest were downright hostile and wanted Britain to exit as
quickly as possible, fearing more exits from other nations. Many liberal
intellectuals have condemned the results as being racist, xenophobic, and made
by blue collar and uneducated people. Instead of looking at the real problem
they blame everything on populism. Similarly, the former U.S Treasury of State
Hank Paulson, who presided over both the meltdown of the U.S. economy and
the subsequent bank bailout, commenting on a Trump’s presidency, said
that we were witnessing “… a brand of populism rooted in ignorance, prejudice,
fear and isolationism.” What the
establishment elite misses, is that the ordinary citizen is fed up with
politicians and the establishment not listening to their complaints and
continuing in the merry ways to impose rules, regulations and of course taxes
to support their agenda.
Furthermore, the Brexit was also influenced by the EU’s
immigration policy; a policy which allowed the free movement of labor and the
growth of the economy. With wars in the Middle East and economic ravages in
Northern Africa, this policy became a burden on Britain. Immigrants from Eastern Europe converged on
Britain, while contributing to the economy the immigrants were also sending
money back to their countries of origin. The construction of the Channel Tunnel
also added a new gateway for illegal immigrants. Angela Merkel’s policy which
allowed for millions of migrants from Syria and other countries created real
economic and security problems because of terrorism. Immigrants and potential terrorists
automatically accepted in EU countries would be eligible to move to Britain at
a later date. Brussels’ action to impose fines on EU countries that would not
accept refugees may also have been a trigger for Brexit.
The world’s elite has always believed that we should have
centralized governments, and even one world government, hence Obama’s support
for a greater role for the U.N and his support for a ‘remain’ vote. The U.S
should really take notice of what happened in Britain. Trump may be a neophyte
politician, but he may have tapped into the real feelings of a vast majority of
people, certainly some 14 million who nominated him as the presumptive GOP
Presidential candidate.
Brexit may be the trigger to a better world, less dominated
by the liberal elite. The EU has a great opportunity to review its structure, and
allow Britain to operate under a bilateral relationship just like Switzerland,
and expand its participation in NATO. This watershed change should be a stark
reminder that there is a growing feeling of nationalism around the world. From
an economic point of view it may be negative to have a trend towards
protectionism, but from a security point of view, immigration should be a
national and not an international policy. Too often Liberal elites have seen
immigration as a tool for votes and gerrymandering
It may well be that
Brexit was not about ignorance and economics but all about sovereignty and a
rejection of establishment elitism.
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