BREXIT Syndrome: The BREXIT Party, Wow, What a "Party" (updated)

Oh, wow, now we finally have a BREXIT Party along the lines of the Referendum Party created by James Goldsmith – a Eurosceptic – in 1994 where the sole objective of the party was for a referendum to be held on the nature of the UK’s membership of the European Union. Now I do understand/respect some of arguments for BREXIT but here are points of interest;

1. Immigration: The primary motivation behind the BREXIT vote during the referendum was Immigration for 48% of the voters, the EU 32% and the economy as 27% – a margin even greater than the result of the referendum. Now this is a valid concern to a degree but does not reflect the whole picture nor does it make sense and here’s why;
   • Net migration from the EU continues to fall since 2016. It is also important to note that controlling immigration is not just about policy but also/more importantly it’s about the strength of our economy otherwise we will have to make sacrifices when seeking investments through economic agreements with other nations – I think the term that comes to mind is; No free lunch. We’ve had glimpse of that when Theresa May visited India in November 2016.   
   • Most migration to Britain was from outside the EU, and entirely under the remit and control of UK authorities.
   • Bundled into this figure of 48% as we well know by now are people with racists/xenophobic ideologies that have/continue to blatantly demonstrate their vile ideology particularly post the 1st Referendum. Of course it does’t help much when we see Leave politicians rubbing shoulders with the likes of Donald Trump who needs no introduction about his views on racism as well as his “distinguished” background & temperament. Now does this imply that all supporters of BREXIT are to be branded racists; absolutely not, many do have genuine/valid concerns about our broken immigration/integration system but I happen to believe that the only fix is “reform” not jumping off a cliff, at least that should be starting point because there are quite promising options to help fix this mess – and it is mess we face in this country today (though certainly NOT from EU migration which is being used to drive the BREXIT narrative) and this coming from a non-EU immigrant, so it must be really bad.
   • Considering the points above it was quite interesting watching the BREXIT Party video clip on their website which included 2 young multiethnic “supporters” proudly explaining why they’re backing BREXIT; Donald Trump applied that same strategy for a while to try and project an inclusive multicultural profile but it backfired big time. So all I am saying is instead of conflating the definition of BREXIT let’s instead have nationalist parties who reflect clearly their ideology even on things like BREXIT, while allowing other BREXITEER’s who do not aspire to these nationalist ideologies to continue representing their view in the traditional parties we now have. It seems to me that establishing a party based on a single policy issue does nothing but exacerbate broken politics rather than fixing the problem; remember reaching the end line whatever it is inconsequential and possible detrimental to our national security if we don’t get there united in our sense of a fair process for all coupled with accurate information/facts rather than disinformation/lies as we all know – though I suspect we’re now mostly in the clear in regards to disinformation compared to where we were during the 1st Referendum because we certainly now have the proof and the pudding next to each other on the table. We should all really know by now that what we need is definitely NOT more political parties but rather more pragmatic policies and less in the way of vile divisive politics which makes us all vulnerable as a nation on so many levels. In actual fact we also need much more Independents that truly/honestly represent their constituents but also stand on their principle/views; this coupled with a proper vetting process and we should be on the right track to fix our broken/archaic political system.
   • Immigration policy starts well beyond our borders/shores by what is occasionally termed….mmmm…..oh yes..”Foreign Policy”; something I mention repeatedly in many of my posts because it seems to be more of an afterthought nowadays in terms of importance. There’s a very popular saying “What happens in the Middle East does NOT stay in the Middle East” which obviously applies to many other conflict zones around the world; conflicts that by and large we’ve helped create and continue supporting either through action or deliberate inaction. Here’s an oversimplified scenario; conflict->displacement->refugees->populist politics, that’s the cycle that destroys us from within. So next time we consider blaming immigration/migrants let’s spare a thought to those lives/lost & messed up thanks in large part for our own policies or lack there of. For starters let’e begin by having experts/specialists (NOT novices) leading the Foreign Office and with a focus squarely on developing long terms solutions to regional conflicts NOT patch work; Foreign Policy after all is a strategic subject matter driven by a long term vision and national interest within the context of global stability. What we see on the other hand is Foreign policy becoming more reactionary and focused on short terms goals driven by narrow narratives; here is another relevant/recent post if you’re keen on this subject. In other words;
   • • Let’s STOP building Walls and Start Fixing Problems we’ve created before they come back to haunt us.
     • Let’s STOP putting financial incentives ahead of prudent policy, transactions which end up on our liabilities column.
     • Let’s STOP importing foreign conflicts deliberately or unwittingly into our political eco system which blurs our allegiances and distorts our judgment. First item on the list would be to eliminate all forms of foreign-related lobbying “period”.
2. Democracy: A very inspiring clip for the BREXIT party talking Democracy and protecting our rights. But then when we scratch the surface of these inspiring Democratic values we see some contradictory signs of things like;
   • Deceptions: Broken BREXIT promises/False Expectations 
   • Collusion: Collusion with Trump campaign/far-right strategists and media arms like Breitbart that have stepped up their presence in the UK. 
   • Corruption: Illegal Leave Campaign Funding/Practices
   • Disinformation/Fake News: Promoting Fake News/Disinformation that was supported by foreign adversaries
   • Vulgar/Divisive & Threatening Language: Now I know many have seen Nigel Farage’s performance in the EU Parliament. I personally would suggest this is vulgar politics not even permitted in the British parliament. However when in his recent speech in Coventry he vows to put “the fear of God into MPs”, well now we’re into a different level of vile politics to potentially an incitement of violence. He must know at the very least of the many violent attacks on politicians from extreme far-right groups since the Referendum one which led to the death of Jo Cox in 2016; so at best this statement can be considered “reckless” and at worst it may be considered a “crime” as an incitement to violence pure/simple.

So these “Democracy” vibes from BREXIT hardliners don’t account for much after all – so we can pretty much take these with a sack or 2 of salt; not to mention their fear of supporting a People’s Vote, and I think if I am not mistaken that we’re talking about the same people who voted in the first referendum, only now we have a clearer picture of the endgame. Am I right, at least about the same people bit???

The main take away I guess from this post is this; we have a gigantic mountain to climb with this messy BREXIT process and the broken politics we have in this country; surely the solution can’t be to divide the country even further and up the tone on divisive politics when we’ve actually seen the results of such vile behaviour by politicians; so now we’re in the realms of public threats? Is this the “New Politics” we seek in this country? Will that make our climb easier/sustainable? Wake up guys/girls, let’s NOT fix what’s broken with a sledge hammer!

Of course this post may end up making little difference to hardline views, but at the very least it gives me the privilege to potentially come back and brag, “you see, I told you so!”