Until yesterday morning I hoped the UK national referendum, on whether to leave the European Union, would fail. I was hearted by the betting market (including the financial markets). I thought perhaps it would go down to the wire but just squeak by. Then I talked to one of my favourite family members who had just voted to Leave and then I saw reports that turnout was huge: more than 72% of those eligible to vote did so. And, Ah, shit, I thought. That’s it, then. (When the numbers are that big, those disgruntled citizens who normally feel disenfranchised are voting.) I got that sinking feeling even before the results started to roll in.
Kelley and I had been planning, at some point, to live in the UK for a year or so. We intended to get her UK, and so European, citizenship. Now I think a) it’s likely there won’t be a UK to live in, and b) I’m not sure we want to. This vote broke the UK; it might break the EU. There will be a recession, a bad one. The xenophobes have been unleashed. This result has invited the whirlwind.
If Trump wins here in November—and while it’s not hugely likely it is possible—we are in deep shit. As I’ve said before: whatever you think, make sure you vote. As all those English (and Welsh) citizens are about to discover, you get the country you vote for. In such a case, the two places I’d be tempted to live for a while, Canada and Ireland, will also be hit. I suspect the world will be hit.
Here’s the thing: it won’t always be bad. If the EU breaks it will eventually be remade, and remade better. But it could take a very loooong time. And meanwhile many people will suffer and die—I mean many and I mean die. I am thinking of those millions of refugees for starters. And people like me: crips and queers and people of colour, those the disgruntled turn on when the going gets sticky.
So, two things:
- Fucking vote
- Do your best to enjoy the pleasures of life and help others enjoy theirs.
Nicola Griffith 
Nicola, I’ve been reommending New Zealand to my progeny for some time now.
Stay and fight on both shores! We can’t give in to hate anywhere and you’re best suited to fight it from where you are right now and where you are going tomorrow. Assholes ruin everything but it CAN always be worse if the voices of reason leave or are silenced.
@Diane: I’m not going anywhere for a while.
Unfortunately, as we learned in Canada during the 8 years of the Harpocracy, you can also get the government other people vote for. Harper had less than 40% of the vote and only about 60% voted in the earlier elections. But it was still enough to buy him a majority government given the inherent faults of a first past the post system.
In Canada, we have not been able to get rid of neoliberalism and all that it entails, but we have, by and large, opted for a return to sanity, compassion, and valuing diversity.
In the meantime, I remain pissed off that I wasn’t able to vote in a referendum that affected the meaning and value of my British citizenship so deeply. And fed up with relatives who buy ludicrous garbage in lieu of actual information, wallow in xenophobia, and make ridiculous choices in the voting booth.
Ireland and Canada is where I’m going to be living. Immigration reforms of 2012 meant I couldn’t take my Canadian husband to England via a spousal visa; too poor, and would have meant six months of separation on top of what we’d already endured. We went in through the EU, Surinder Singh route, but in the last year they have closed that down – not officially, but by lying, cheating, refusing applications that should never have been refused, trusting that we’d become exhausted and impoverished before we made it in. Us and thousands of others with non- EU spouses. Well, we have. Two applications refused and now we can’t apply again. So we’re leaving and it breaks my heart, but not as much as it might have, because things here are getting worse and worse. I’m angry. I’m angry that people were so scared of immigration, of people coming to take what’s theirs, that they did this stupid thing. I’m angry that they are now all trying to pretend it was about anything and everything else.
@wgpearson: I hear you. I hope Canada’s sanity lasts for a while. We need it.
@Laura: I feel for you and your sweetie. It’s heartbreaking to watch people take the lazy, angry route against their own (and everyone else’s) best interests. Move soon. Things are going to get toug and so unwelcoming everywhere…
Hi, Nicola,
There is much about this Brexit matter that is fascinating; you touch on many of them. Did you see this bit of news?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2016/06/24/the-british-are-frantically-googling-what-the-eu-is-hours-after-voting-to-leave-it/ (safe link)
It seems that for all the hurly-burly that led up to the vote, almost everyone had no idea what precisely they voted for. Only now do they stop and think and (re-)consider.
Not to ignore the small matter of how painful/painless the EU wants to make the UK’s extrication from the EU. Painful enough to discourage other current but leaning away EU countries? Except too painful and harsh and the EU threatens to piss of its largest export market. And the Brits would fend just fine without the EU; it might take some time and include some displacements, but new markets would develop, and the UK (whatever its form then) would not look back.
Do not forget that England’s Parliament could just repudiate the Brexit vote results. As I understand the matter (I hope correctly! :-), a plebiscite was not present and accounted for, only something like 35% (of the whole) voted for Brexit. But such an action by the Parliament could lead to open revolt. Then again, there are those Google searches that would seem to argue against people reaching for their torches and pitchforks…
You are correct: The negative consequences of the vote for people seems now to be an ever nearer reality. Sad. I hope you find your home, wherever it proves to be.
so correct. Wishing us all the most luck in the world. We need it. Thank you for writing things that brighten life.
@David: Yes, I read it. But I already knew from personal conversations that a good chunk of voters had no clue regarding the implications of their vote.
Will Cameron’s successor invoke Article 50? I don’t know. If it were me, I’d take the temperature of the country and see if a second referendum would be a good idea. If it was, that’s what I’d do. But we have no idea who will be elected and what the mood of the country will be by then. It’s all unknown territory.
This is my home. That is, wherever Kelley is is my home. But I always like us to have options, just in case. Frankly the next few months will suck very hard for many people. I know publishing in the UK will suffer, for example. Just the fall of the pound causes problems, never mind the very likely difficulties regarding publishing territories and deep recession.
Oh, I hate this waste!
@Nanette: You are welcome. I wish I could say it was my pleasure.