GettySo, how are we feeling today?
It’s almost certain that you have a Brexit hangover, from either celebrating ‘independence day’ or drowning your sorrows after the UK voted to end its 43 year relationship with the European Union – I know I do.
We are facing an uncertain economic future and we’ve already seen a sharp fall in the value of the pound (hitting a 31 year low in fact, at one point).
GettyThen we’ve had the scary possibility of Scotland and maybe even Northern Ireland tempted by an independence referendum to leave the UK, and the likelihood of Boris Johnson becoming the next PM. Not fun times.
Considering that an estimated 73 per cent of 18-24-year-olds didn’t vote for this, you’ve got to ask yourself, who influenced Brexit?
Well, it seems the silver vote may have just clinched it if these charts are anything to go by:
YouGov/i100In terms of how much each age group appreciated Europe:
YouGov/i100And how long we’d have to all live with this decision:
i100/ONSIt’s no secret that the older generation have fond memories of a time before our membership of the EU in the 60’s and early 70’s, and the Leave campaign took full advantage of that – promising that they could go back to the ‘good old days’.
However, they’ve probably not taken into account that it’s been over 40 years and a lot has changed.
Their campaign preyed on these people’s fears of the migrant crisis, afraid of Syrian migrants coming in to ruin their piece of ‘little England’- which *spoiler alert* is nothing to do with the EU, something a lot of leavers seem to forget.
Ultimately, it turned into a xenophobic hate campaign built on an almost Donald Trump-esque rhetoric of ‘making Britain great again’ and being able to ‘take back control of our borders’.
This is a statement which we know is completely obsolete as we can never actually make that happen – regardless of an exit from the EU – but it’s a statement that’s been lapped up by older voters.
But, hey, the Remain campaign or ‘Project Fear’ as it was known by the Leave campaign didn’t exactly cover itself in glory either. Lies and misinformation led to a lot of undecided voters who either decided not to vote or were coaxed into a side on false pretenses.
GettyWe were begging to join the EU back in the 70’s. For the free trade and free movement of people, oh, and the European Convention on Human Rights – things that have helped grow our country’s economy, make it more secure and ultimately a fairer society.
And, of course, the added benefit of introducing the UK to different ways of life – allowing us to immerse ourselves and make us more understanding of a variety of cultures.
This is the kind of place I want to see my children grow up in, not an island set in its own patriotic ideals and intolerance towards anyone who wasn’t born on this big hunk of rock, isolated from the EU and the rest of the world.
