This past week has been host to the biggest political even in my lifetime. On the 23rd of June, almost 52% of voters in the EU referendum voted to leave. The repercussions came thick and fast with the pound dropping in value by 10% before the result was even announced and leadership crises erupted in the two main political parties. Those who voted to remain (many of whom live in London or Scotland) and EU officials predictably started acting like children who didn't get their way (in the interests of full disclosure, I'm a lukewarm Brexit supporter).
Like many British people with even a modicum of interest in politics, I was glued to the news as the results came in and I've been glued to the news ever since. Unlike those back home, I was able to keep up to date on my phone as I went to work during the day (for the first time, being in China gave me an advantage in following events in Britain). Once it became clear that Leave was going to win with a very small majority, I knew what the next few days were going to be like but I failed to predict quite how pathetic the reaction was going to be. Listening to a Chinese radio station in the car, I heard a report on the referendum and an interview with a young Londoner who was protesting the results. I was equally enraged and embarrassed by her whining.She said that the result was not in her name and that it wasn't what she wanted, so she was demanding a second referendum... laughably missing the point of democracy entirely.There is a case to be made for the result not being entirely overwhelming (particularly as key Vote Leave arguments are already unraveling) but the decision has been made and now it is time to get on with it. The widely publicised online petition calling for a re-vote is equally embarrassing. For those who aren't aware, the petition was created before the referendum and called for a rule to be instated that would require the winning side to have at least 60% of the vote. This petition had something close to 22 signatures before the vote but has swelled to millions of sore losers since the result was announced.
The online news websites I've been reading haven't been much better in their reactions. Most of the reports have been overwhelmingly negative and pessimistic in their predictions. I'm particularly disappointed in the BBC (though not surprised) who have given far more weight to the doomsday prophecies than to any positive articles. They've expended most of their energy talking down the country and putting forward unimaginative scenarios where Britain begs to remain access to the European market and is forced to accept EU rules. The future they paint is one where we leave the EU in name only and nothing else changes. International news organisations haven't been much better. OZY (a website I stumbled across by clicking a link on Football365) has run a couple of editorials and opinion pieces that completely miss the point and misunderstand the issues. The first piece I read was from second generation immigrant from outside the EU who bemoaned the fact that it would be more difficult for others like their family to move to the UK. The author told the story of their relative's foreign husband who had been refused a visa and said that things would get more difficult. I'm in a similar situation (my wife is Chinese) but I think leaving the EU will actually make it easier for non-EU citizens to move to the UK. Without the uncontrollable influx of EU immigration, there will be less need to be so strict on non-EU immigration and I expect the rules to be relaxed, not tightened... but that would be a positive spin on Brexit, so obviously that scenario doesn't get any mention.
Another article, written by an American who was about to leave the UK anyway, whined about Brexit making the UK a more insular place. Maybe it will, or maybe it will force the country to be more internationally focused. The EU is preoccupied with the never ending string of crises within its own borders, so perhaps being outside of that clusterfuck of an organisation will allow the UK to turn its attention to matters further afield. Maybe it won't, but it's too early to make a conclusion either way.
Personally, I see Brexit as a great opportunity for an outward looking UK to show what we're capable of without the EU safety blanket and anchor tied around our waist. I think it's a chance to market ourselves as a truly global country and economy and to negotiate trade deals with the world that benefit us (instead of asking permission from the rest of the EU) and that it will encourage better productivity and innovation within our country. London has been portrayed as the biggest loser in all of this, but even there we have a chance to create a truly international city that looks beyond the borders of Europe. If the politicians are as narrow minded and unambitious as the news agencies and crying protesters in London, then Brexit will be a disaster. If we can find some leaders who are outward thinking and truly believe in the country, then it is a great opportunity. I'm concerned that the politicians we do have are mostly idiots who campaigned for Brexit to further their careers rather than because they actually hold any sort of convictions whatsoever. We'll need a general election to find out for sure.
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Out of Europe twice in the space of a week.
The England football team embarrassed the nation once again on Monday by losing to a nation with a population the size of Leicester. Roy Hodgson correctly recognised the scale of his failure and rightly fell on his sword. The whole Euro 2016 campaign was a shambles. The fatal mistakes occurred before a single English player had even stepped foot in France. Why would you announce a squad designed to play a 4-4-2 diamond formation if you were determined to play a 4-3-3? I know that losing Danny "Bambi on Ice" Wellbeck to injury just before the tournament ruined plan A, but why did he decide to take a squad with 5 center forwards and 1 winger when he was planning to play two wide forwards for the entire competition? Why did he leave Townsend at home only to play a central midfielder on the wing? I could go on all day pointing out the ridiculous decisions that he made, but the point is that he's a professional football manager who has had 2 years to prepare for this tournament and he showed up to France without a clue. My wife couldn't have done much worse. There is going to be a lot of hand wringing over the next few weeks and countless calls for the coaching system in England to have root and branch changes, yet again. The fact is that the England team is full of average players being coached by a clueless manager. Until one of those two tings change (the latter being far easier than the former) our fortunes will forever remain the same.
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