Brexit from afar and waiting for something to happen

Being a Brit abroad means I get asked a lot about Brexit. Which is always a joy. Working as a journalist and writing for an international university in Southeast Asia, I mix with quite an international crowd who seem baffled by the chaotic balls-up that has been the last three years. The fact that it has been an utter shambles is actually something that the entire country agrees on. Another thing we can all agree on is a desire to do something. To have something decided one way or another. Even from 6000 miles away and the news filter of both distance and other countries’ news, it is getting tedious. There was no deal for ages then there was a deal that was rejected four times. That’s 3 years of nearly all news from the UK.

I should lay my own cards on the line here. When I lived in the UK I was in London. I worked in the media. According to Brexiteers that makes me ‘elite’. (Which is pretty awesome, who doesn’t want to be elite, like Tom Cruise in Top Gun?) To foreigners, I should explain that when it came to the Brexit referendum, about a third of the country couldn’t be arsed to vote. Of the rest – 52% wanted to leave (Brexiteers) and 48% wanted to remain (Remainers). When you hear slogans like: the ‘people have spoken’, the ‘people’ being talked about are the Brexiteers. When you hear about the ‘urban elite’ – they mean Remainers. It does mean that the UK has over 16 million ‘elite’ which is very impressive by anyone’s standards.

Essentially, Brexiteers think all decisions about the UK should be made in the UK and are willing to take a financial hit for perceived future gain. Which is understandable. Whereas Remainers think that doing well economically is more important than having about 10% of decisions being made by the EU and that the negatives of being in the club are outweighed by the positives. Which is also fair enough.

As a Remainer, and in particular as someone who enjoys living abroad, I find it sad that we are going to, probably, maybe, eventually, leave the EU. I would also like to think that the arts and science and culture generally will be supported as much as they were when we were in the EU. Most actors, writers, artists and scientists seem to be of the view that that won’t be the case. In fact, the science community – including the late Stephen Hawking and the very current Brian Cox – signed a massive petition against Article 50 as they could see the likely Brexit outcome of not just loss of funding but also less access to European projects. But as Brexiteer Gove said, we have had enough of experts. I am trying to be impartial, a bit, but that is a fucking idiotic thing to say.

I can’t think of either of the current main parties caring much about culture or science because they cost money for no immediate tangible return. And frankly, those are things I care about. A lot. Scientific achievement, literature, art and so forth are achievements that make me be proud to be a human. Nearly everything else we get up to is mostly embarrassing.

The problem with Brexit, as I see it, is that politicians will be in charge and they are all a bunch of asshats for different reasons. I can’t think of any I would really trust to deliver anything in a balanced and reasonable way. I assume and hope Brexit fans have factored that in. Although to be fair, if it is a once in a generation vote, I get that someone might give Brexit a go anyway.

I don’t really know what prompted me to write this. It could be that Mrs May has just quit. I’m not a fan of anyone who thinks austerity works, or can’t see the link between the reduction of the police force and rise of crime, or wants to create a ‘hostile environment’ for migrants when my wife was trying to become a UK citizen. (Ok, mostly the latter but they are all very valid.) But that is probably just part of it. Another part is that this morning in the Bangkok office kitchen, a Thai lady, a Taiwanese lady and an American guy all asked the same question, at different times, in almost exactly the same wording: “What the fuck is happening in your country?” Each time I just grabbed my cup of Tetley’s tea and fled. And only one of their respective countries has an enviable or stable government.

I am not convinced, sadly, that a second referendum will change much. Especially after the recent EU elections. The only argument that is vaguely credible is that more young people might be bothered to vote the next time. But that is a ‘might’. I also know quite a lot of people on the fence have been annoyed by the intransigence of the EU and now just want out. (Honestly, quite a few.) Enough to balance out young people voting? Who knows. One thing I am certain of, that Remainers always get wrong, is that no Brexiteers have suddenly become more aware of what they voted for, that they were lied to or the facts and figures presented to them were, perhaps, a tad disingenuous and that they will consequently change their minds in light of new info. Any more than Remainers will be swayed by cries of ‘sovereignty’ or getting our fish back or that increasingly we can focus on services or intellectual/creative industries. No one’s mind has been changed.

So I’m going to sit this one out and enjoy my new stoic state of mind. The PM has quit her job and the country has quit the EU. Just neither has actually happened yet. I’m going to read science fiction books in Thailand until it is all sorted. Good luck.