Brexit and Beyond — why the 2019 UK general election matters
By: Carina Nicu
Tags: Climate Change, Homeless, UK Politics, Brexit, Nhs

I remember the morning I woke up in my dorm room and heard the news that the UK, the country that had become my home for the former 5 years, had voted to leave the EU. The shock in my heart, as well as millions of people living in the UK, would linger for weeks, months and as it now stands, years. It remains a sore and heated subject today, especially as the general election looms, and the public is called for another vote which will decide the country’s future, possibly in an irreversible manner.

When my housemate Ian asked me if I was crying the morning after the Brexit referendum, a myriad of thoughts were going through my head. First, I wasn’t crying but his question made me realise just how badly the news had hit me. Me — someone who back then was as detached from politics as anyone could be. As an EU postgrad student who hadn’t even obtained a permanent residence status by June 2016, I was first and foremost worried — would Brexit mean that I couldn’t stay in the UK long-term? Would it mean that I lost any right to even apply for residence and citizenship? Would my family be able to easily visit me, or would they have restricted access to the country in the increasing likelihood of a visa required to enter?

Photo by Habib Ayoade on Unsplash

Emotionally, it was a difficult time not just for me, but for millions of immigrants that resided in the UK. All these worries of mine, as it then turned out, were in vain. At least in my case, soon after the historical June 23rd UK referendum, I was granted permanent residence, and one year and a half later, British citizenship. Soon after the referendum, stories started emerging that immigrants were being told to go back to their countries, whilst Eastern European children were being bullied across UK schools, with racism going up 50% during the year following the Brexit referendum. These were all done by pro-Brexiters who, having won the vote, felt entitled to humiliate others who were ‘to blame’ for everything that was going wrong in the UK.

Compared to these cases, I was extremely fortunate. I wasn’t discriminated against — nobody followed me in the university in a group chanting for me to return to my home country. Nobody stopped me on the street to shout racist things. One reason for that might have been the lack of an Eastern European accent — but to have to feel lucky for not sounding Eastern European in a civilised country is not a sentiment I wish to ever return to. Others weren’t as lucky as me — and for that I condemn the lies that were fed to millions about just how bad immigrants were to the UK — when in fact they vastly contribute to this economically successful country. This was one among many lies that were fed to the public.

Fast forward three and a half tumultuous years after the Brexit referendum and the UK is now facing an impossible choice ahead of the general election. A country which has had 3 distinct Tory prime ministers across 3 years, a minority and then a deadlocked Parliament, tens of anti- and pro- Brexit protests, various forms of a EU divorce bill that no majority of the population is really happy with and the monopolisation of citizen’s lives with the constant back-and-forth headlines, TV debates and social media blurs about Brexit.

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Enough is enough.

I believe that I speak for many when I say everyone is downright tired of this Brexit talk. The reality of the 2016 referendum is that half the country, by a marginal majority, voted to leave the EU. Of those people, some voted to ‘prove a point’, without knowing what the EU membership even meant, and because they believed that the short-staffing in the NHS was because of the money that the UK paid into the EU. Others genuinely knew the facts and wanted to leave anyway. The political parties opposed to Brexit were beyond relaxed and passive, and did not counteract the outright lies or phantasmagorical claims that the pro-Brexit party led by Nigel Farage sold to the public and they paid the price for that dearly. This had led to a high degree of nerves, uncertainty, tension and outstretched MPs, civil servants, NHS staff, lawyers and others whose workloads have skyrocketed post-referendum.

Leaving aside all the chaos, endless debates, national anxiety, and even rifts in friendships that have happened because of Brexit, one question looms.

Who to choose as the new party leading the UK on December 12th?

Boris Johnson

On the one hand, you have the Tory party, spearheaded by Boris Johnson. A public figure who has been mayor of London and the secretary of foreign affairs prior to his position as head of the Conservatives, he has a shady track-record both professionally and personally, and has been portrayed in the media as a clown on the cover of The Economist in June 2019 since few people know his true face, and what his hidden goals really are. He is a charmer and a good public speaker, getting his points across very forcefully, if not obsessively like a broken record, when he wants to hammer down a message. But is a charmer that doesn’t have a lot of trust backing him whom people really want leading their country?

Jeremy Corbyn

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On the other hand, you have the Labour party, led by Jeremy Corbyn. Realistically, he is not on best terms with the media, having been involved in multiple anti-semitic claims, some more ill-founded than others. He makes many facts and empathy-based logical points in relation to what the country needs, but his inability to have made a clear stance on Brexit and fight back harder against Johnson in debates, perhaps due to his personality or due to his principles of moral high ground, has left him being portrayed as ‘weak’ by the general public with polls showing him behind Johnson.

The other parties, although consisting of good contenders, I personally don’t see having a realistic chance of gaining a majority in the election. But I am prepared to be surprised. Because although the polls show a lead for the Tories, I wonder whether the people will actually vote differently this time around.

Sure, we are all, collectively, ridiculously tired of this Brexit talk and we want it to be over. But do we actually want to leave with no deal no matter what? Or a Brexit deal that could be made even better and put to the vote if our politicians actually had the interest of the people, and not their individual parties, at the forefront? Realistically, exiting the EU will take years during which new legislation will be written, border checks and visas may be reinstated, and additional ‘issues’ or more positively, changes, will occur and will be dealt with along the way. It will be a metamorphosis of the highest kind, one that will take a lot of getting used to. Because for better or for worse, unless the Conservatives are voted out of Parliament, Brexit will happen. The timeline of it, though, will never be set in stone. Therefore, before going to vote, people should think about many other issues. The three biggest ones are outlined below.

The NHS

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Perhaps the most central and heated subject of this 2019 election remains the issue of the NHS. Claims that the Tories plan on privatising and selling the NHS to big pharma companies remain to be definitively proven. But the Labour party is right in that waiting times for most services on the NHS take ridiculously long from getting tended to in A&E to being referred for cancer treatment. I have personally witnessed this for myself having been referred for patch testing with Dermatology and, separately, a Urology check-up — both of which occurred a year after the initial GP referral, the second being delayed twice for unexplained reasons. If I could wait for the former referral, the problems I experienced for the latter referral couldn’t under any circumstance wait. So I sought advice from a private consultant when even my GP couldn’t help me. A few hundred pounds and a much shorter waiting time amounted to problem-solved — finally. I do wonder what less fortunate people have to go through when they can’t afford private healthcare? And how do they cope with the physical pain of waiting for months and even a year to attend a specialist clinic? Such cases should be prevented and shortened, wherever possible — especially for those most in need such as cancer patients. But for any change to occur in this sector, serious funds need to be invested into the NHS. The so-called £350 million per week that goes to the EU would come in pretty handy for this one.

The homeless population

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The rise in homelessness in the past 4 years has become apparent all across the UK but perhaps even more clearly than in other places in Manchester. Camps are set out in various locations across city centre, homeless people sit on the streets facing the autumn wind and rain, begging outside supermarkets and cash machines and sleeping wherever they can find a dry, sheltered place. I’ve seen volunteers bringing them blankets, food and other items to keep them going but nothing has improved — it just seems to be getting worse. The rise in rent and utility prices and the slash in benefits administered by Conservative policies put into place because of austerity have all contributed to the current situation. Whatever the solution can be for these problems, the rise or fall of jobs, house prices and benefits will likely impact the homeless population a lot in the coming years. But for change to happen, politicians have to actually act upon this issue.

Climate Change

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Another anxiety-inducing subject, climate change is by far the most urgent problem we all face. You’ve read enough stories about Greta Thurnberg’s admirable and eco-friendly quests, the Extinction rebellion’s protests all across London and on the other side, the retreat of the US from the Climate Accord and climate change deniers, to know that this topic will play a key role in the future of the UK no matter who is elected next month. To achieve the net-zero emissions targets that the UK needs to, fresh, out-of-the-box eco-friendly policies are required in order to prevent the worst possible scenario not only for us but especially for future generations. The more these issues are delayed due to lack of money, motivation or knowledge, the worst climate change will be affecting the UK. And if the extreme flooding that recently occurred across Britain isn’t a prime example of things to come, I don’t know what is.

My take on all of this?

Whilst I believe there is room for improvement in these major sectors in the UK, I come from a different perspective to many people, having been raised in Eastern Europe where echoes of the Communist regime still linger. Compared to my home country, I believe that many people in the UK are born privileged to live in this civilised society that offers so many opportunities from a young age. Whereas people migrate to the UK from all over the world to attend distinguished universities and work at top firms, older generations in Romania work abroad leaving their children with their grandparents in order to provide for them, whilst talented young people are forced to leave the country in search for better opportunities. Whereas British junior doctors, although overworked, earn enough to not have to still live home with their parents for lack of financial options, in my home country, doctors are paid so poorly and overworked so much that they are forced to accept extra money from patients that Westerners see as a ‘bribe’. Whereas UK politics is a lively and mostly upstanding endeavour which the general public gets involved with, back home there is little hope in any of the corrupt political parties, a lack of trust and a general state of disillusion that change will never happen.

I guess my take-home message is — revel in the fact that democracy in the UK is alive, that you have a fair chance of making your voice heard, and that your vote does and can matter to the future of your country — but for that you have to actually register and go vote on December 12th. Be proud of the lively albeit incessant and at-times frustrating debates and news articles that appear every single day on Brexit, the NHS, etc. because it shows that the UK political system above all remains a beacon of hope. Even though it can sometimes backfire or go through tough times, at least it keeps moving for all the citizens who so much depend on it for the well-rounded functioning of the society that they live in.

And one last thing that I would advise? Vote with your heart and vote for the good of the people — Brexit is just one facet of a much larger picture. One way or another it will get solved. But the NHS, the homeless population numbers and climate change — one bad step and they may face irreparable damage for decades to come.

Don’t forget — register to vote by November 26th at the following link to exercise your right to vote in this election. I know I will.

https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote