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.
