I’m a lucky immigrant. I’m skilled and my skills are transferable from one country to another. However, the atmosphere in England towards immigrants has noticeably (for me) changed during the very long EU referendum campaign. The focus on controlling immigration has made me feel uncomfortable in my immigrant status for the first time since I moved to the UK in 2009. As an Irish citizen I had a vote in this referendum and I used it, to no avail. I also, according to the majority of Leave campaigners, will not have any changes made to my right to live and work in the UK.
Furthermore, during the campaign Michael Gove actively promoted rejecting expert opinion. This anti-intellectualism is dangerous. Leave campaigners are now saying that we shouldn’t trigger Article 50 immediately and that “during the campaign we all said things…”. The consequences were known and they were highlighted by many, yet voters in England and Wales voted in sufficient numbers to override the decisions made by the majorities of the electorate in Scotland and Northern Ireland. I’m tempted to invoke a claim that all those areas who voted against the EU should be among the first to lose EU income so that they can see just how much more pro-active the EU is on allocating resources to regions. For too long, the UK government and press has used the EU as a lazy scapegoat rather than taking responsibility for their actions. However, if this rule were to be invoked, then people and worthwhile activities would be affected by unforeseen consequences, much like David Cameron not expecting to have a majority government and thus not being able to blame the lack of a referendum on a junior coalition partner. The reality of what many people are only waking up to is a bigger shock to the UK market than the 2008 financial crisis or the 1992 ERM crisis and it is no outside entities fault.
Sitting MPs knowingly repeating lies despite the errors being pointed out should be treated as bring the house into disrepute. For the first time since moving to the UK, I started looking for jobs outside the UK system when the results became obvious overnight. Today, and especially last night, has not been a good one for me.
To be decided 