Brexit’s rocky road, Brits unclear on what lies ahead

By Andrew Headspeath

Like many expats in Southeast Asia, Nadia Ezzat began her life abroad working as a teacher.

Four years later and she’s now a research and design manager with a Malaysian company, enjoying a professional career with development opportunities.

“I can go anywhere, practically visa-free, and lots and lots of countries want me to come and work there,” she said.

On that note, Ezzat found the outcome of the EU referendum, or Brexit, last month, rather peculiar.

“It is ironic what us Brits are saying is that we don’t want people in our country, we don’t want immigrants, so that’s why we’re going to leave the European Union,” said Ezzat, a Londoner who has lived in Kuala Lumpur since 2012. “Yet, we expect to just go anywhere.”

By contrast her husband, a Palestinian, has no passport from his own country. Granted a Jordanian passport instead, he struggles to get visas quickly (if at all), she explained.

“If he wanted to find work in certain countries he wouldn’t have a chance,” she said.

The Malaysian Immigration Department’s statistics show that Nadia is one of nearly 100,000 professional working expatriates in the country, 12 per cent of whom are British citizens.

Her passport is ranked #2 in the world according to Arton Capital’s Passport Index, a privilege that gives her access to 157 countries visa-free or with visa upon arrival. She calls it “an amazing reputation that any country welcomes us with open arms.”

Yet that number could soon plummet to #26, as the aftermath of Britain’s Leave vote in last month’s EU referendum continues its rocky trajectory.

Since that fateful June 24th, the United Kingdom has undergone a period of tumultuous upheaval.

Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister David Cameron is out and Theresa May is in, with the new Prime Minister asserting “Brexit means Brexit” despite her (reportedly “half-hearted”) opposition to the Leave campaign.

With swift and brutal assertion, May reshuffled 17 portfolios in her Cabinet. Staunch Brexiteers were given key roles; including David Davis as Secretary for Exiting the European Union and Leave’s biggest political cheerleader Boris Johnson as Foreign Secretary.

Johnson’s appointment carries some irony, given that he championed the Leave campaign to then withdraw his leadership candidacy. In the Brexit’s immediate aftermath, where the win left the world stunned and the British pound at an all-time low, it appeared “BoJo” was abandoning ship.

Now stocks are steadying (with one anonymous source claiming their savings increased by 10% after the Brexit), and the low cost of goods having increased Britain’s exports, Johnson is in a better position to flex his international muscles – a second chance, after it seemed he had no plan in place.

Article 50

While the Cabinet reshuffle is upsetting for some and reassuring for others, May has assembled a cohort that will fall directly within the firing-line as the Brexit aftermath develops.

Continuing with her stern, cautious approach, the Prime Minister refuses to budge on triggering Article 50 (a clause starting the two-year exiting process from the EU), until future trade relationships are confirmed.

Ryan Rowe, a student living in Glasgow, believes that May is delaying the inevitable, as EU member states continue to pressure Britain to begin leaving.

“People thought that by leaving the EU they could stop immigration but still keep the trading doors open,” he said. “Too few people told them you can’t have one without the other.”

However, May’s leadership has been seen as strong and decisive by others, with action taken to curb and delay Brexit’s negative effects.

“With a very heavy heart, I feel Theresa May is probably the best option for Prime Minister right now,” said Jude Heaton, a programme director from London living in Kuala Lumpur.

Heaton worked for six years in the UK Government Cabinet Office, where his last posting was under then Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg. He had attended meetings with May (then Home Secretary) on several occasions.

“For my many problems with the Conservative party, they can be brutal, efficient and focused – and that drive to ensure that they stay in power is something that they manage extremely effectively,” he said.

“I think while the referendum was full of betrayal, backstabbing and drama, we’ve actually gotten to a point of stability relatively quickly, which I think is a good thing.”

This more positive economic outlook has been marred by two factors: an opposition party in chaos, and a victory many contributed to strong anti-immigrant sentiments.

Nigel Farage, one of Leave’s most prominent figureheads and ex-leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), famously expressed that June 23rd would be “our independence day”.

Huge posters of refugee crowds declaring ‘BREAKING POINT: The EU has failed us all’ were plastered on the side of buses, playing on Europe’s migrant crisis.

Farage’s campaign was called into question at the Leave victory. UKIP claimed Britain spent £350 million per week on the EU, money that could be channelled to the National Health Service (NHS).

When asked if these assertions were true on talk show Good Morning Britain, Farage said the claims “were a mistake”

He continued: “We’re back to being a normal country, in charge of our own laws and maybe even reengaging with the Commonwealth and the real friends we’ve got out there.”

Soon Farage resigned, having “achieved (his) political ambition” by leaving the EU.

Heaton reflected on a campaign he found to be “riddled with lies, hatred and prejudice.”

“I can understand the frustrations people had, but the way those were being channelled – as oversimplified answers that preyed on people’s fears and prejudice rather than on a clear-eyed view of how we’ll achieve the goals that we want – there was just a disconnect there,” he said.

“We can’t just stand on our own as one plucky little island, we need to work with other countries and the EU.

“The EU, for all its faults, has been the biggest driver for peace and prosperity the world has ever seen in terms of multilateral institutions. We’ve just turned our backs on it.”

Slurs and fabrications

Heaton’s sentiments are echoed by people in his home country, halfway across the world.

Christina Bristow, a sales and marketing executive living in Glasgow, said: “You cannot call it democracy when people are not given information, or worse, given heinous slurs and fabrications, to make up their mind.

“This referendum has seen those who were closet racists and xenophobes believe the result gives them a seal of approval to be abhorrent individuals.

“Basically we now look a pot more like the imperialist UK of days gone by – we’ve just made it a bit easier for people to spot it now.”

Bristow’s Remain sentiments reflect the majority of Scotland; where all constituencies voted to stay.

To rejoin the EU, however, Scotland would have to break free from Britain. Whether a second independence referendum happens or not, it is a moment First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will have to act on fast.

“Scotland has one bullet left in the gun chamber; another referendum wouldn’t happen for generations,” says Heaton.

Stacey Shah, a speech therapist from Edinburgh who has lived in Kuala Lumpur for four years, says people she knows who voted Leave “regretted it immediately”.

“Scotland’s voice doesn’t get heard as part of the UK,” she said. “We should be given the opportunity to get back into the EU.”

Andrew Headspeath is a social justice advocate and citizen of the world.

With a firm belief in freedom of expression and without prejudice, FMT tries its best to share reliable content from third parties. Such articles are strictly the writer’s personal opinion. FMT does not necessarily endorse the views or opinions given by any third party content provider.

 

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