As the fallout of
Britain's referendum on exit from the European Union unfolds, the country is
getting into deeper mess by the day.
A referendum where
only 72 percent voted resulted in a result by a mere margin of four: 52 percent
voting for exit and 48 percent to remain in the EU.
Over three million
British, many of whom had abstained from vote, have already signed a petition
for another referendum. That perhaps is nowhere in sight, but it could be the
only hope to restore the country back to health.
"England has
collpased politically, constitutionally and economically" are the words of
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte speaking in Brussels.
It is clear that
David Cameron was over confident of "Remain" outcome with the
Opposition Labour Party supporting him in the campaign.
Unfortunately, the
whole thing went in the hands of hate mongers like UKIP whose leader Nigel
Farrage played heavily on the immigration issue. He was shouted down in the
European Parliament for the lies, fear and hatred which he spread.
David Cameron, now in
Brussels in what could be his last summit with the European Union leaders,
blamed the EU for not taking enough steps to address the public concerns over
the issue of flood of immigrants coming in from the Middle East. And then there
is the issue of free movement within Europe that has resulted in large numbers
of East Europeans working here in the UK.
That the East Europeans
cannot be sent back even if the referendum takes Britain out of the European
Union is a fact of life. And the kind of jobs that East Europeans are doing
here are crucial for the British economy and the cities. There are three
million EU nationals living and working in Britain and nearly a million of them
from Poland. The unemployed Brits are happy with the doles they get from their
government. They are choosy for the jobs. In fact, they do not want to work and
most call them lazy.
The European leaders
are now of the view that Britain should be given quick exit so as to protect
the unity of the rest of European Union. They are also in no mood to grant any
special favour or deal to Britain.
While the EU leaders
are eager to move quickly on the negotiations to get Britain out, David Cameron
has clearly declared that such negotiations must be carried out by his
successor. And there is no clear successor in sight though eight of them have
thrown their hats in the ring. Boris Johnson, who virtually led the Tory
campaign for exit, seems to be shying away from the contest for leadership or
may be beaten to it by Home Secretary Mrs. Theresa May.
Britain's Labour
Party is in a serious mess. Leader of Opposition, Labour's Jeremy Corbyn,
refuses to stand down even though a vote of no confidence in his leadership has
been passed by the Parliamentary Party. The scale of the vote was staggering
172: 40 against the leader of the Opposition. The fact is that this nation has
been divided right in the middle with extremists and racists making most noise
in the leave campaign.
At another end of the
spectrum are the sober hard working British, who feel threatened by this vote
to leave the European Union. They are the young people for whom Europe is a big
market. Many of these are rushing to Ireland to apply for Irish passport as the
British passport would no longer give them free movement in Europe. The rush
has been so great that Ireland's Foreign Minister Charlie Flanagan had to issue
a public appeal to the UK residents to stop rushing to Ireland.
Northern Ireland,
which is part of UK, has voted to remain within the European Union and could
well ask for seperation from Britain and reunification with Ireland. Scotland
is already asking for another referendum for its freedom as Scots too voted to
remain in the EU.
There has been a big
rise in the hate crime againt the immigrants following the referendum. It is
said to have gone up by almost 50 percent. The law enforcement agencies are
worried about this development and are hoping that it may die down in the days
to come. But the signs are ominous.
The economy is now
taking its worst hits. The pound sterling has fallen to its 30-year low of 1.32
against the dollar. The hedge fund operators, who are trying to cash in on this
fall, are betting that the pound could well fall to as low as 1.10 against the
US dollar. This author remembers a time when pound was equal to a dollar.
Though the Bank of England is putting up a strong front, it does not have large
reserves and cannot raise rates.
Amidst all this doom,
the Indian companies that had made Britain as the gateway to Europe having
invested heavily here are now at a loss for their next move. India is the
second largest foreign investor in the British economy. These companies came
here despite better terms that were being offered by many East European
countries seeking foreign investments. It was advatange English and the old
empire connection that attracted Indians to Britain for business. It will be
interesting to watch as to how these companies chart out their next course of
action. For the moment it is wait and see!
A large numbers of
serious thinkers and economists firmly believe here the big setback that Europe
is getting emanates from the huge bureaucracy the EU has created in Brussels.
That bureaucracy makes centralised laws which many countries find difficult to
implement. Thus this group believes that Britain once freed from the shackles
of this unproductive bureaucracy may do much better in the long run. The EU
bureaucracy is a fact of life because India has failed to sign a trade
agreement with the EU. These negotiations have been going on for years now and
India is not alone. Even Japan has failed so far apart from quite a few others.
Amidst all this doom
and gloom, there are those who are still hoping that a second referendum coud
be on the cards. They insist that Boris Johnson has never been a hard core
leaver. If he is able to negotiate some kind of brake on the free movement of
people within Europe, he may be in a position to push this country for a second
referendum. This could be the strategy of any other Tory leader taking charge
from David Cameron. Is that the light at the end of dark tunnel into which
Britain finds itself today? Could a second referendum pull Britain out of this
political, contitutional and econmic collapse?
Representative
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Source:
ANI by
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