Brexit

Now that we've all had a couple of days to calm down (which some of us it would appear, have chosen not to do) the serious business of 'what happens now' needs to go ahead.  The United Kingdom is now to sever its link with European Union, and Scarlet has been flooded with requests for comment, first of all here's what I'm not going to tell you:

Which way I voted and why - That isn't what this is about, if you all want to know I will happily tell you but I don't want to broadcast it across the world, because it doesn't matter anymore.  The people have spoken and Brexit has had more votes than anything else has in the history of the United Kingdom and the process has already begun.

Now onto the proper business, its a bit scattered but I have made plenty of observations:

The Domestic Establishment 

The perception of British Politicians as being out of touch with the everyday people has been brewing away for years.  The rise of UKIP and of Scottish Nationalism has been a direct response to the desire from the British public to see something new from our political mainstream, social mobility is in free fall in the United Kingdom and given the chance the British people have stuck the knife in and twisted it.

Naturally this is all speculation, but whether they tried to or not the electorate have taken down some big hitters with this result, two massive politicians have now well and truly cooked their goose:

- David Cameron - For getting a deal no one wanted and then losing the vote.

- George Osbourne - The Co-ordinator of the so called 'Project Fear' which rightly or wrongly, the British people have rejected

Inquests will be had and heads will roll very quickly, the Labour Party may get a new leader and all of the big political groups that backed remain will need a PR make over if they don't want to be left behind.

The Brussels Establishment

Having been absent from the entire campaign the presidents of the EU must be wondering, why didn't we get involved and try and keep the Brits in? They won't let it show but Brexit has completely rattled Brussels and questions are now being asked all across Europe, the Eurocrats will now be under the microscope of the European media as the populist independent movements across the continent start to ask more questions.

Thus far the answer to brexit from Brussels appears to be one of "ok mate, get on with it, make the first move and we'll start talking".  There will be pressure on Brussels to make life tricky for the new UK so as to set an example for any other countries who may well have the bare faced cheek to challenge the system.  I suspect that the general tone at the moment is to take some of the early shots before the UK has a proper leader in place, and to undermine their place at the table; it does however seem a bit unwise and the Eurocrats will need to play their hand very carefully lest the likes of Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden start to wonder if the Brits are on to something.

The Generational Gap

As was expected most younger people voted to stay and most older people voted to leave.  Has anyone stopped to wonder why this is?  It is entirely possible that it breaks down one of the older political lines we have:

Left/Right - It is known that younger people are more left wing than older people as a general rule.  Most of the rest of the EU is to the left of the UK and EU politics did have a socialist bent, as well as heavy market regulation which one associates with the left.

A Nation divided

If we leave out Scotland for a minute, there is a clear division in this particular result.  As is often the case the losing side are aggrieved and angry, it will probably quieten down after a few weeks but there is a possibility that a counter-brexit movement will destabilize our political system, it is clearly the most divisive political campaign which we have had for many many years, and if our nation is divided by Brexit politics after the referendum it may make things a hell of a lot worse.

I have seen one beautiful call for unity spring up already (that's a reference to Elizabeth Marshall), let us hope Scoxit and Loxit do not become serious factions, and that we can all work together in an old country, that is renewing itself under a familiar guise.

The Project starts to falter...

The EU has lost one of its big players and other established economies are asking questions about their membership and what it does for them, a look down the issues with some of the other nations below gives you an idea of how the entire marketplace could start to fall apart at the seams:

Spain - Currently confronting a constitutional crisis as the richer part of the countries start to think of going it alone, keep an eye on Catalunya, as she may play a part.

Greece - The financial horrors don't appear to be dying at the moment, Grexit from the Euro remains a real possibility.  I recently saw a documentary by Simon Reeve which demonstrated some of the resentment held in Greece, could the land of Democritus himself play a decisive hand?

France - The sick man of Europe, France is fighting on several different fronts: social, political and economic.  With the far right in with a real shout of seizing the presidency next year, the infamously volatile French Electorate may well rise again.

The New Government

There will be no election this year, given the violent shock our nation will inevitably take for a while it is sensible that we have a Government to get things started, the question is who will lead it? It seems fairly straightforward to me that the Johnson-Gove ticket surely must triumph?  Whatever we may think of Brexit it is vital that we present a strong 'Exit Cabinet', I never thought these words would be written down, but the man in the picture below must surely be our next Prime Minister....

Anyone else feel the need to sit down and have a drink?



Good luck United Kingdom

Scarlet