Culture

The UK Is Tearing Itself Apart After Voting For Brexit

Not much Joy but a lot of Division.

by Osman Faruqi  27 June 2016

Want more Junkee in your life? Sign up to our newsletter, and follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook so you always know where to find us.

It’s only been a few days since 52 percent of the UK decided to ignore John Oliver’s sage advice and voted to leave the European Union (EU), but things aren’t going all that well.

If you’re still catching up on what the hell Brexit is and why it matters, you can check out our explainer here or have a read of our piece wrapping up the vote and what happens next.

When the results were confirmed last Friday things weren’t looking good. The share market crashed, the pound experienced its biggest drop on record and general political mayhem ensued. If you thought the weekend might prove to be a calming influence on the Brits you were wrong. Let’s recap how wild things have gotten.

–

From Brexit To Bregret

Immediately after the results were announced there were reports that many of those who had voted for the UK to leave were regretting their decision. Some voters even called up the electoral commission to ask if they could change their vote once the result was clear.

Others said they would have voted to stay if they knew the promise by the Brexit campaign to divert EU funding into healthcare wasn’t going to be followed through. There’s so much regret going around that a petition calling for a second referendum has been signed by 3 million people, thought it appears some of those signatures may be fraudulent. It’s unlikely there will be a second vote, but since the first vote was technically non-binding some MP’s are calling on Parliament to reject the result.

Despite all the Bregret going around it would take a crazy brave Parliament to actually block the decision of a majority of the populace.

–

The Conservative Party Is Tearing Itself Apart

Prime Minister David Cameron has announced he will step down in October and the governing Conservative party has already descended into an all-out brawl. The former Mayor of London and prominent Brexit campaigner Boris Johnson is considered the favourite to become the new Conservative party leader, and therefore Prime Minister, but an “Anyone But Boris” faction has emerged desperate to lock him out.

Johnson himself doesn’t look like he’s handling the Brexit fallout too well. Despite campaigning incredibly hard for exactly this result, he looks and sounds like a man completely surprised that half the British population actually agreed with him. In an article today Johnson declared that Britain will “always be a part of Europe”, and will continue to have the benefits of EU membership such as free trade, work rights for British citizens and access to a single market. The EU, on the other hand, is basically telling the UK to get the hell out.

The Conservative party is split on whether they should be led by someone like Johnson, who is starting to look way out of his depth, or a steadier hand with experience in government, who can reach out to everyone who voted to remain. So while the UK struggles with the fallout of a Brexit vote the party in charge will be embroiled in a civil war until October. Great stuff.

–

The Labour Party Is Tearing Itself Apart

Speaking of civil war, in news familiar to Australians, the UK Labour party has for some reason decided to try and tear down its leader, Jeremy Corbyn. Despite the fact that a majority of Labour supporters voted for the UK to stay in the EU, Corbyn’s internal enemies are blaming him for the Brexit vote and have launched a campaign to end his leadership.

The right-wing of UK Labour have never liked Corbyn and they clearly think that Brexit is their chance to take him down. Corbyn is refusing to budge and says that even if he is blasted out he will recontest the leadership. Labour party members overwhelmingly support him so it looks they could be headed for a showdown with the Parliamentary wing of the party.

So while the government is in total disarray the Labour party has managed to make the biggest story post-Brexit one about itself. Congratulations!

–

Scotland’s Gone Rogue

In 2014 the Scottish people narrowly voted down a referendum on whether or not to secede from the UK. One of the key issues was membership of the EU. It was suggested that if Scotland went independent it would struggle to gain EU membership status.

Fast-forward two years and despite the overwhelming majority of Scots voting to remain in the EU, the country is headed for Brexit along with the rest of the UK. Unsurprisingly, Scotland isn’t happy and they’re threatening to block the country’s exit from the EU and threatening another independence referendum.

A new poll suggests that nearly 60 percent of Scottish voters would back independence if a new referendum were held, creating a massive headache for the UK Prime Minister… whoever that ends up being.

–

Racism On The Rise

There’s been reports of a number of racist incidents across the UK in the aftermath of the Brexit vote. The Polish Social and Cultural Association building in London was the target of “allegedly racially motivated criminal damage”.

Police are investigating the distribution of racist signs in Cambridge reading “No more Polish vermin” that were handed out just a few hours after the EU referendum result was declared.

There’s been numerous other reports of racist chants and altercations across the country after the Brexit vote.

–

100,000 Jobs Could Be Lost

In the lead-up to the referendum, businesses were warning that if the UK left the EU it would severely impact investment and jobs, particularly in the financial services sector.

It turns out they weren’t bluffing. JP Morgan and HSBC have already announced that they will move 5,000 jobs out of London and there are fears up to 100,000 jobs could be shifted out of the UK and into an EU country like Ireland or France.

–

What Next?

There’s no indication things will get better for the UK anytime soon. There seems to be a severe lack of leadership and the major political parties are busy cannibalising themselves rather than acting in the interest of voters.

Like we warned last Friday, it’s probably time for Australia to brace itself for an influx of frightened and confused Poms.