The people Brexit forgot

On the 31^st January 2020 the Union Jack (the name by which the flag of the United Kingdom is popularly known) was lowered in the European Parliament, British euro deputies and officers abandoned their offices, a nostalgic Auld Lang Syne was sung with tears and, in some cases, smiles, but nothing changed.  The United Kingdom for now has no voice in Europe, but everything continues the same.  Ahead are eleven months of negotiations to make Brexit effective on the 1^st January 2021.  What these negotiations will decide is still unknown for over 1,500 British residents who live in Castellón province, mainly in Alcossebre.

Sue Wilson, chairman of the Bremain group in Spain, has faced up to the threat of Brexit since Cameron, to avoid the criticism of his management as Prime Minister, put a referendum up as a smoke screen to the desperate on the United Kingdom remaining.  Many people did not take this eccentricity seriously, more like British black humour which takes a political stand, thus making the axiom come true that if the good do nothing, the bad triumph.  In face of the indifference, and the legendary British phlegm, in spite of the enormous efforts of people like Sue Wilson, bad triumphed.

In the first month of the countdown to the final agreement of the exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union, four British residents shared their many fears and their uncertainty on what will occur the day after when the British isles goes deeper into isolation, putting the physical barrier of the Channel between themselves and Europe and the triumphant ideology of euro-scepticism.  These are real people, with real problems, fears, dreams and hopes.  They represent the collateral damage of Brexit, the lives which will change for ever for those who already yearn for their status as citizens of a united Europe on the global scene before the rupture is already finalised.

Helen Johnston, Sue Wilson, president of Bremain in Spain, Debbie Williams, founder of Brexpats Hear Our Voice, and Molly Williams, founder of young European voices, comment on their experiences of Brexit and what it will represent for thousands of United Kingdom citizens who are trapped in limbo, forgotten by their own government and considered as illegal immigrants by the rest of the European governments.  For many Britons the inspiration has created a real problem of reversal in Human Rights.

Limbo is a word much used by British residents in Spain to describe their situation.  It crops up to describe many aspects of their lives, like a synonym for uncertainty.  For the United Kingdom citizens who live in our country, this preoccupation is a common sentiment, but each group has different things by which they feel preoccupied.

Pensioners are not afraid of losing their pensions, guaranteed although low, but of the loss of acquisitive power after the exit of their country from the EU, “the Pound has been devalued since the celebration of the Brexit referendum, which meant that we lost the acquisitive power to be able to live in Spain”.

Sue Wilson, retired as is her husband, criticised the lack of legitimacy of the referendum, a point on which all her companions agree, the results of the vote speak of a victory for leave by a narrow margin of 52%, but it is a trick percentage.  The referendum law removed the possibility of taking part in the vote from a great number of citizens, around 9 million, principally those who live outside the United Kingdom, whilst it allowed foreign citizens from Commonwealth countries who lived in the United Kingdom at the time of the referendum to vote, “Australians were allowed to vote and I, who was born in England, could not”, added Helen.  Only 37% of the British society decided on the future of the whole country and of this 37%, half plus two decided the vote in favour of Brexit.

They believe that the triumph of Euroscepticism is bringing out the worst in society: xenophobia, isolation, nationalism and a nostalgia for times past which threatens the civil rights of millions of citizens, and “has brought to the surface our worst version, racism and hatred” They are afraid that the idea of basing negotiations with the United States and with the countries of the Commonwealth is not the solution to the financial problems of the country, “in a global world you cannot remain alone.  Now we shall be a small fish in an enormous sea, because it seems that we have forgotten that we are a small country on a small island.  Alone we cannot play with the big boys”, they state with humour.  “To go hand in hand with the United States and Donald Trump is to go in the wrong direction”.

Debbie and her husband work currently and are among those whom Brexit will leave in a difficult situation.  They will not only lose their right to residence, but also the freedom of movement within the European union.  They will be excommunicated by the rest of the European countries, but they have their work outside the United Kingdom’s frontiers. The dilemma is evident, but no solution appears for them to return to their country.  From next year they will work in other conditions, but they do not know yet what they will be.  Once again, the word limbo arises to define the situation.

But for the young people, being outside the European club does not present a very encouraging future, as Molly explains using her experience in the Netherlands, “there are already cases of layoffs because of Brexit.  European companies prefer to have employees from member countries, because now the British will have to have visas and work permits, which will make contracts more difficult”.  Students find themselves in similar positions, and will see their mobility throughout European territory truncated at the same time as students from countries in the EU will think twice before coming to study at universities in the United Kingdom because of the migratory processes which will be necessary for them to do it.

The lies about Brexit on communication media

The global financial crisis created the ideal breeding ground for Euroscepticism, which blamed Europe and its institutions for all the malaise in the country with the collusion of David Cameron’s conservative government.  The big media communications corporations found a cause in Brexit which agreed with their spurious interests, to maintain their privileged situation setting up the headquarters of their businesses in fiscal paradises to avoid paying taxes.  The pressures of the European Union to eradicate fiscal evasion, particularly after scandals such as the Panama Papers, were a danger to the status quo of the owners of the big media, who then started a furious campaign against the European Union, based on fake news, false reports, true means and fallacious lies.  On the other hand, the few media which supported remaining, were a lukewarm defence of the European institutions.

Completing this vicious circle, the current Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, was the principal instigator of the hatred towards the Europen Union during his time as Brussels correspondent for “The Telegraph” newspaper, a time during which he became tremendously popular for his sensationalist and polemic articles, the content of which was so far distanced from reality that they accused him of completely inventing them.

With time, this would create a feeling of rejection for the EU institutions, the “European bureaucracy”, for which all the ills of the country were blamed.  But the complaints regarding the demands of the European regulations were totally unfounded, as Great Britain had brought about an important part of the European regulations and had been institutionally against very little.  In this way, as 50% of the UK’s exports are made within the area of the EU, “ they will not lower the standards of the current regulations, but now we have to comply with them if we want to trade with the rest of the European countries, although we no longer have a voice”.

Brexit is an exercise in nostalgia, looking at the past to set up migratory regulations from the 50s, to defend the status quo of a few, born out of the financial recession and the inability to assume political responsibilities, looking for foreign enemies to justify their own incompetence.

The Day After Brexit

Although the EU had given the opportunity of extending the United Kingdom’s exit time for another year, Prime Minister Boris Johnson had already ensured that the exit will take place on 31^st December this year, “with all the reservations which could be had on Boris Johnson’s promises” they add with humour.

For a large majority this moment will be a traumatic moment.  All hope abandoned that common sense would rule and that a new referendum would be called to right a wrong, the defenders of remaining in the EU do not expect the current government will go backwards.  They place their hopes on the inability of the eccentric prime minister to manage the government, to overcome crossing the desert of isolation so that on the horizon, in the medium term the country might recuperate good sense and in five or ten years the United Kingdom might return to being part of Europe.  “Now we can only hope that the government might fail in everything it has promised it is going to do and it will show that it was lying”, they assure with resignation.  They believe that Boris Johnson’s government is the first to be elected to make the country worse.

In view of what they consider as one of the electoral systems, one of the most deficient democracies and least representative in the world, all that is left now is to hope that big changes may take place in the country in the party system and that there will also be political changes in the United States’ government which will enable a change of attitude in the management class.  Brexit divides families, splits friendships, generates division and conflict among the British themselves.

Those in favour of Brexit predict a massive return of expats residing European countries when the exit happens.  Nothing is further from the truth.  The effect has been the opposite, the number of British citizens being added to the registers of residents in Spain is greater all the time so that our country’s government would respect their rights.  It means making the dramatic decision as to which side of the precipice that politicians and the media have opened under their feet they want to remain, after the final rupture.  In spite of being aware that European politics could be better, for those forgotten by Brexit “to lose the status of European citizen is something indescribable, with a feeling of isolation and of rupture”.  Spain and Spanish media have treated us better than the government and media of our own country.