Why I voted 'Remain'

My vote is cast - winging its way in two sealed envelopes to the local authority offices.  From Wednesday this week, I have the joy of a three-day jaunt to London with forty-odd ten year olds as part of our school Activities Week, so it was a postal vote for me.  Now it's something of a relief to know that my vote is cast and I can turn a deaf ear to the referendum hysteria of the next few days.  Not that I ever actually paid it much attention; instinct told me to vote 'Remain' from day one and the campaigns of the past few weeks have had little impact on me, other than to make me very frustrated and, at times, angry at the way they were conducted.

I recall in the first few days of the campaigns, a commentator saying that when it finally came to it, most people would probably go with their gut feeling.  At first, that didn't seem right; surely, we should ascertain the facts and make an informed decision, I thought.  What quickly became apparent, however, was that there are few hard'n'fast facts.  So-called facts were interpreted differently and spun in different ways and both sides inevitably speculated differently about what would come of the vote, whichever way it went.  Whilst this may have wound up others into a confused, frustrated, desperate hunt for truth, it seemed perfectly understandable to me; whoever thought that those on either side of the argument, with all their passions and deeply entrenched views, would ever agree on an interpretation of the facts?!  There were lies as well of course (£350 million per week going from the UK to Brussels, was it?) but don't get me started on those!  I largely gave up on fact and went with my gut.

I believe in a small world of peoples that work together in our common interest.  Even in my lifetime, our world has shrunk drastically and wonderfully.  For many people, we can travel with ease from country to country and to the other side of the world; technology enables us to know in an instant about events from almost anywhere and to communicate with just about anyone; we empathise with the victims of natural disaster, man-made calamity and war and we demand action on their behalf of our own government and others; trade on a scale someone like me can not comprehend defies borders; and a decision made in an office in another far-flung land can have consequences for us all.  How then can we shrink away from our neighbours, back to the shores of Blighty? 

I've heard others speak of being self-sufficient again and 'proudly standing on our own two feet once more', but that 'once more' is once upon a time - a fabled time of greatness and empire that is long past.  In the twenty-first century, the world moves to a different beat and an off-beat Britain striving for greater self-sufficiency would be a ruined Britain.  One thing I think Britain can be proud of is our fierce independence of spirit and opinion.  Neither membership of the EU nor any other affiliation or alliance dims that, and it's through that determined, resilient, bulldog spirit that we can still take pride in standing on our own two feet.

That shrunken global community to which we belong brings its challenges too: climate change, migration, extremism and terrorism among many.  Our best hope of dealing with each of them is through worldwide collaboration.  I know leaving the EU does not mean that Britain would cease collaboration with our European neighbours but it is what we have, it's a Nobel Peace Prize winning organisation, it promotes cooperation over conflict and I believe it helps assure peace on our continent.  We're not isolationists in Britain and we want to play our part on the global stage so it seems probable to me that we would, in time, seek once more some sort of mechanism for cooperation with our neighbours, so why not stick with the EU, as imperfect as it is, and even enhance it for the benefit of all Europe, simply by being there?  I fear for the agenda of some of those who would have us leave and I fear isolationism in Britain would give fodder to nationalists and the already-simmering far-right across Europe.  My vote is one of optimism and hope for a better Europe.

I believe the free movement of people is a fundamental human right.  I think our economy is strengthened by immigration and our society is enhanced by those who join it from abroad - by the skills, language, food, fashion and culture they bring.  Listening to the intermingling languages on the streets of Bournemouth makes me smile because, for all the challenges immigration might bring, I think those voices represent a coming future of multi-culturalism, greater integration, understanding, respect, harmony and opportunity and that is a future I want for my little niece and nephew and for the children I teach.  The alternative is a future of division, suspicion and fear and I want that for no-one.  Immigration on the scale we see it today does present challenges but the answer isn't to restrict human rights and back away from that brighter future; we should rise to those challenges; be proud that ours is a country to which people want to come, contribute and work in; accept that there is much, much more we can provide to the desperate in the world; promote the opportunities that free movement brings all of us; work with countries across the world to improve migration routes; and invest in building a better society for everyone that wants to be part of it.

I don't understand all the ins and outs of international trade and economics but I do worry that the effect of Brexit would be immensely damaging and I don't think it's worth risking recession in the UK while the economies of our competitors forge ahead.  On this, the pro-Remain views of so many respected traders, economists, industrialists and trade unionists are pretty compelling.  Of course, trade won't dry up as a result of a vote to leave the EU but I doubt it will be easier as Leave campaigners would have us believe.  I suspect too that the trade deals that will be required will take many years to negotiate and I think it is naive to believe that deals with the EU wouldn't be very largely on the terms of its member-countries; collectively, they are formidable and they will not compromise on principles like free movement to which they have dedicated themselves for half a century.

Democracy in the EU is the problem I have spent longest wrangling with; there ought to be more of it.  But I don't think there is enough democracy in the UK either!  It infuriates me that many of the same politicians who decry democracy in the EU campaigned against proportional representation in the UK, that their referendum campaigns have been so unrepresentative of women and young people and that time and again they have patronised voters and treated us with contempt.  I wonder too if they would have us leave all the other similarly undemocratic institutions of which we have membership - the IMF and the United Nations, perhaps.  And does it feel to you that your day-to-day life is hindered and constrained by all the undemocratic decisions that are apparently made by bureaucrats in Brussels, and that your life would suddenly be so much better without all those rules?  That's what many politicians, commentators, broadcasters and sensationalist newspaper editors would have us believe, but I just don't buy it.  It may feel and look that way for them as they pursue and analyse new legislation but they are as much a part of that establishment as are those bureaucrats in Brussels, and it seems to me that our membership of the EU is mainly a political distraction for them.  Our principles and its principles - democracy among them - should concern us, but we shouldn't be side-tracked by its political manoeuvrings and machinations.  Let them have their games!

Democracy ought to build from grassroots in local communities across the country, but our politicians show little interest in promoting and enhancing that.  Too often, their answer is just to have another vote; meanwhile, voter registration remains too low, apathy grows, turnout shrinks and our model of democracy, for which Britain is famous around the world, is diminished.  It's ironic, I think, that some of the momentum behind the Brexit campaign probably comes from an anti-establishment spirit, yet removing the checks and balances of the EU would only give greater power to the distrusted establishment of the UK.  Yes, there ought to be more democracy in our society but abandoning cooperation with our European neighbours and risking the rise of profoundly undemocratic extremism across the continent is not the answer.  We should start with recreating a model of British democracy that really works, that we can proud of once more and that can be a model for the rest of the world.

I've asked myself why I've written all this.  I'd like to think someone might read it and be persuaded to vote 'Remain', but it's probably too late for that, I haven't written anything that hasn't already been said and I doubt it's really that powerful!  I've written it for my niece and nephew and all the children I teach so that in years to come, they will know of the hope I have for the world in which they will grow up and that in casting my vote for 'Remain', I did what I could to bring that bright future closer for them.