Well, it looks like another hurdle has passed in this journey called Brexit. There are others yet to be jumped before we can actually say that Article 50 has actually been triggered. But to be honest I don’t know whether this is going to be a good thing or a bad thing – I do know that I’m being told various things but still not being informed.
For example there is lots being said about a hard or soft Brexit. This seems to me be mainly concerned with access to the single market and the principle thing bothering people seeming to be free movement. The things bothering business seems to my simplistic mind to be passporting money; tarrifs and access to cheap (seasonal?) labour. Simplified of course.
Personally I’m not bothered about the hit to the banks. Yes, our treasury does get an awful lot of tax from them but they have caused me and society as a whole more than enough grief. They have taken enough of my money and despite all the crashes to date, and fines for malpractice they are still trading and continue to pay out to invisible people and other investing corporations. I’m not really bothered about the plight of international businesses – they have the money to pay legal experts who can put their assets in the best possible places to avoid paying tax whilst keeping wages at a minimum for the few staff that they employ. What I am bothered about is what this means to me and more importantly my family.
The approach of politicians to Brexit of trying to drive peoples opinion one way or another through fear and threats, or playing on heart strings continues. The engagement and proper informing of everyday people hasn’t even started yet. Does anyone even know what it means or means to them? Do politicians actually know or even care, beyond their own jobs and families?
I am aware that I am very lucky to live in this country that I was born into, as were my family. I have a measure of surety and security. I personally don’t think that it’s right that those who are from other countries and who have lived here legally for years have now to face that uncertainty – but I am also aware that this isn’t solely down to our politicians. They are also being used as pawns by their own politicians in their birth countries parliaments and the wider EU. Does the EU actually represent the countries which it is made up of, or the peoples in those countries? I can’t help but think of poor forgotten Greece.
I think it comes down to trust. I don’t trust politicians to behave in an honest and representative way anymore. They don’t seem to trust each other, either locally or internationally. In an environment of mistrust, no-one wins and I truly believe that nothing meaningful and good can be expected as a result of this current climate unless and until something changes and people actually start to trust again. So sad,