And so it came to this on 23rd June, 2016. A slim majority of the British population who bothered to vote, voted to leave the European Union. At first I could not quite believe it. Forty years of progress seemed to count for nothing. The great European success of co-operation and optimism had been dashed by the wishes of small minded/hyper ambitious men like Nigel Farage, Michael Gove and Boris Johnson.
The dream of a Europe dedicated to peace and progress had been forgotten due to fear and frustration brought on by the austerity policies of firstly the Conservative/Liberal coalition of 2010 - 2015 and then even more harshly, the Tory government of 2015 onward. Many people outside the big metropolitan cities had understandably had enough of hard times and blamed foreigners for their circumstances rather than those in charge closer to home.
It has become apparent in the months since the vote that nostalgia for the days of the British Empire was/is also a huge factor in the referendum result. There now seems to be a feeling amongst certain sections of the media, public and parliament that the UK will go back to the era before the Second World War when Britain "ruled the waves" and not need those "nasty" Europeans who apparently have held us back over the past 25 years or so!
The vituperative hatred displayed towards the EU by certain British newspapers has verged on (and crossed over into) hysteria for years and undoubtedly influenced the voting intentions of a sizeable number of people. Don't get me wrong; the EU has many faults and is certainly in need of radical reforms. For example, the plight of Greece and young people in such countries as Spain, Italy and a number of others is terrible...Surely though, the UK should remain inside influencing the organisation. The Euro should be abolished for a start and a much more intelligent and restricted freedom of movement policy that allowed certain areas and careers the current situation but clamped down on movement to and from poorer regions would help.
However, if the UK persists in trying to go "back" to the future, then Scotland and Northern Ireland will surely eventually leave the Union and England and Wales face the danger of becoming a low tax, low wage economy that will take decades to recover.
