Hi,
"The North", did not only vote to be out of Europe but also as a stance against the dominance of the SE of England and the Londoncentricity of so many key decisions. The assumption that those of us in t'north are uneducated and therefore not able to critically
reflect on the issues (despite the rubbish propagated by both sides for months on end) is patrionising and divisive. Frankly it wasn't about immigration but about more equitable and fair distribution of wealth.
Perhaps we should respect the outcome of the 1st referendum as representative of the voices of the voters; an unprecedented turnout, for example 86% in Derbyshire with a leave majority of 57.9% is now being discredited by calls for another referendum.
To not respect the outcome simply discredits the notion of a democracy.
The wealth divide is stark; I was in London on the 25th and overheard a young man bemoan the fact that he would have to start cutting back on his leisure as he needed to save £50K a year in savings so he could retire by 40. I still see genuine pockets
of extreme poverty in the UK, especially among families and older people; they've had enough of empty promises. I really find it hard to understand why this was such a surprise outcome.
Different worlds and these huge gaps in expectations and opportunities are at the heart of the Brexit.
Well it is looking black ove'r Bills Mothers Hill!
Tara,
Fiona
Dr Fiona Marshall,
Scaling the Peaks Research Project (2015-19),
Alzheimer's Society Senior Research Fellow,
Institute of Mental Health,
University of Nottingham Innovation Park,
University of Nottingham,
Triumph Road,
Nottingham.
NG7 2TU.
Work phone; 0115 8231294
Mobile; 07920813623
At this point the petition for a 2nd EU referendum has collected over 3,259,000 signatures.
That's the good news.
The bad - look at the map of where the signatures come from. The nation is deeply divided, with large numbers of signers from the wealthy / educated regions, e.g. Oxford, Cambridge, the Cotswolds, Brighton, - in London; Hampstead, Richmond.
Regions conspicuous for the absence of signers include the Thames estuary, Yorkshire and Humberside, Hartlepool.
This suggests a disconnect between the govt, the wealthy, ...and the academic elite....on the one side and the C2DE classes on the other. The vote against the EU was in fact a vote against the maldistribution of gains from Globalisation.
The tragedy of this is that - whilst we could not, SHOULD NOT, stop migration - free movement of people is a valuable right for all - we - that is our Govt, the EU governnance, - could have ensured a fairer distribution of the gains of globalisation.
For the sake of enriching the rich, we have put at peril the gains of the EU - 75 years of peace on a warlike continent, the biggest unification of Europe for 2,000 years.
Note for the wealthiest 0.1%. Gated communities are great for excluding the great unwashed riff raff - but they don't exclude bombs and tanks.
Dr Hillary J. Shaw
Director and Senior Research Consultant
Shaw Food Solutions
Newport
Shropshire
TF10 8QE
www.fooddeserts.org