I’ve never been more ashamed to be british. Today, instead of choosing unity and progression, we’ve chosen to cut ourselves off from the world in an attempt to appease the xenophobic nature of the older generation
For those of you who aren’t from the uk, the national referendum held yesterday has shown that the british people have voted (at 51.9% to 48.9%) to leave the european union. This was in large brought about by the old and poorly educated who blame immigrants for our problems, despite the net benefit they bring to our country, and the fact that many of these people will not have to live with the consequences of their decision for long
Less than a few hours have passed since the result was announced and already:
- our prime minister has resigned (though he was unpopular the people poised to replace him are far worse)
- the pound has fallen to levels not seen since 1985
- Nigel Farage (leader of the most prominent far right party in the uk and at the head of the leave campaign) has already started backing out of promises to voters by being unable to guarantee the money we’ll save from the EU will go to the NHS instead
- the UK itself looks poised to break apart in the next few years with Scotland (and to a lesser extent northern ireland) having voted to remain in the EU which will likely prompt another scottish referendum in which they’re more likely to leave
- the far right parties of other countries such as france and the netherlands are demanding their own referendums and europe is crumbling
- Nigel Farage has claimed this our ‘independence day’ and called for a bank holiday, which is hugely insulting to all the countries who actually had to fight for independence from imperialist britain
- Tim Farron (head of the liberal democrats) phrased it nicely "Young people voted to remain by a considerable margin, but were outvoted. They were voting for their future, yet it has been taken from them.“
In short, our country has given in to hate, bigotry, and fear and has voted away the future of the younger generation. If there’s anything to learn from this it’s that the far right is on the rise. Don’t make the mistake of being complacent. Don’t let Trump win, don’t let any other EU countries vote themselves out of the running, and most importantly don’t forget to vote