Just over 2 years ago I made a most memorable cruise from Buenos Aires to Los Angeles via amongst other places the Falkland Islands. All in all it was an enjoyable cruise but for two minor incidents that a little over a year later made me realize I had for the first time come face to face with supporters of two political forces that would come to change the lives of millions. At dinner one evening the subject turned to Trump and even though in my experience the American passenger contingent had their fair share of Republicans nobody seemed enthused by the idea of Trump becoming President. The conversation halted abruptly followed by an embarassed silence when a gentleman at the table exclaimed, ”I would vote for Trump.” I shrugged it off thinking, ”no way that´s gonna happen.”
Somewhat later on the cruise whilst sharing a table with an English couple the conversation turned to the upcoming referendum. The couple were struggling to give the impression that they were upper middle class after only a short while pointing out that they had gone to university and the woman loudly exclaiming she would never buy anything from Marks and Spencers saying it would be akin to wearing a uniform. As Marks & Sparks do a nice line in lingerie I sat there musing on how many people actually get to see her drawers. At first I was a little surprised when the husband came across as being in favour of the UK leaving the EU. A little later a distinct flavour of xenophobia intruded into the conversation and I began to understand. He was however of the opinion that although he intended to vote ”Leave” that it would not happen. I agreed with him on this suggesting that a ”Leave” vote could result in Scotland breaking away from the union. ”Let them go,” was his immediate response. I think the aghast look on my face must have shocked him a little as he began to stutter explanations. I have always felt it is important to be polite to people so for the remainder of the cruise I shunned them as politely as possible. Little did I realize that the American gentleman and the British couple were evil omens signalling the beginning of a disturbing journey nobody yet knows how it will end.
A lot of water under the bridge since then and we now have President Trump and Brexit yet notwithstanding with only 4 months to Christmas I think you can guess what I want from Santa. It is not inconcievable that Trump will be ousted as president and Brexit will eventually be abandoned yet when and how, before or after Christmas, is anybody´s guess. That is quite a turn around, so what happened? As far as Trump is concerned I shall leave him to his fate and answer the question simply by saying that I believe him to be a despicable human being and people are finding that out.
In the case of Brexit much ado is made of the electorate consisting of large numbers of people who really have no clue about anything. This of course is unkind and also very untrue. Even the greatest lack of understanding or analysis of a political situation does not deprive anyone of the means to judge the qualities or lack thereof of their daily lives. In a democracy this has to be respected if a country is to call itself a democracy, with representative democracy and elections being the tools that make this work. The system may be slow and clumsy but well capable of punishing politicians or parties not living up to their promises on important issues. Referendums play by different rules and as such should be treated with much greater respect than elections where people have a general understanding where to find their political benefactors. Leaving the EU was done on a blank sheet of paper and the electorate, knowledgable or not, was asked to fill in what it was it wanted, anything from a close association with the EU to leaving with no deal. The first step was leaving and whatever the outcome the sunny uplands would follow. The argument for ”Leave” has now shifted to a promise of a better life in maybe 10 to 50 years and in the short term a stagnant economy, isolation and less influence in the world. Project fear and Brexit may not be the end of the world as Theresa May now claims but for many Brits it is not the beginning of a new and better life either. People now realize they have been shafted and judging by the latest opinion polls the country is coming to its senses. Unfortunately referendums have no electoral escape hatch so now it is up to our politicians to come to their senses.
#PeoplesVote