An 18 year old sees an 80 year regression

I recently wrote a piece for a pro EU campaign group in Bristol, that started by stating that it has been 3 months since the result of the EU referendum, and yet the government of this country has not given any real clues as to what their stance will be during the seemingly inevitable negotiations, only that they alluded to the arduous semantics of the run up to this process (such as the fact that we will be hiring constitutional lawyers from overseas for up to £5000/day each).

It is with great sadness, however, that I say this is now no longer the truth. Over the past three days our government has revealed itself to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing; Amber Rudd is talking about a policy that would “name and shame” businesses that employ foreign workers, by requiring them to list the names and numbers of their non indigenous employees; the International trade secretary Liam Fox has stated that “immigrants who come to Britain and consume its wealth are not welcome”; and Theresa May, our own Prime Minister, said that “if you believe you are a citizen of the world you are a citizen of nowhere”.

It would seem that the ruling party of the once Great Britain has, to plagiarise a colleague and friend, become the United Kingdom Independence Party. They have taken on their disgustingly divisive stance on immigration to such a degree that even one of UKIP’s own, Patrick O’Flynn, said he is surprised at the number of 2015 UKIP manifesto promises the Tories are now proposing as government policy. On top of this, Theresa May has now stated that she will trigger article 50 by the end of March 2017. It would seem the wolf’s disguise has been ripped off with startling speed.

This is truly terrifying. As an 18 year old, the EU referendum was the first opportunity I had to vote, and since then it appears as if Pandora’s Box has well and truly been opened. Having talked to people who have watched and engaged in politics for more than 50 years, it seems that the political landscape has not been as divisive and chaotic throughout living memory as it is currently. The time for sitting around apathetically is well and truly over; we can no longer afford the luxury of political ignorance, not without costing us our humanity.

Now, more than ever, we must let our elected representatives know what we think of this mess. Write to MPs, Lords and newspapers, go to protests, volunteer with pro EU groups, make your voice heard. If we let our government believe that they can enact Brexit, on their apparent mandate of hate, we will have to learn first hand the lessons of history.