I am for the first time in my life terrified by a set of wilful politicians seeking to create a new form of government in Britain of which George Osborne's austerities are just a foretaste. All those social benefits like the EU-ordained minimum wage blown away as the divide between rich and poor - already perilously wide - becomes unbridgeable.
Yes there will be "minor" disruptions requiring "minor" adjustment, say the Brexiteers. Including upheavals in the stock market as the worldwide bets about In and Out come home to roost. But why should I, a left-winger, worry about capitalism's perturbations? Because some of my pension funds, like those of many, are linked to the stock market and without the EU to protect them there will be no guarantees.
Savings? Should a bank, etc, fail, the government promises to compensate losers up to £75,000. That was an EU initiative, Avus. That terrible organisation said to be sucking out our lifeblood.
Schools for Zach? Remember that recent crazy Tory initiative that all schools (even those doing well) were to become academies, a Tory concept which has repeatedly failed. Withdrawn because it proved to be unpopular - but who's to say under a new and more frightful right-wing regime the meddlers won't try again?
At least please vote tomorrow. For the sake of my peace of mind let's make the turn-out representative.
NOTE: June 23, 10.30 am. We queued to vote. Unheard of in Hereford.
For your peace of mind both my wife and I will be voting tomorrow, RR.
ReplyDeleteElection polls have recently proved unreliable, however everyone, bar one, with whom I have discussed the referendum has said they are voting "leave". But, as usual, we shall just have to wait and see......
I note that my Facebook friends are all about "stay." Precarious times ahead, no matter what happens with this, or with the election in the states.
ReplyDeleteAvus: How isolated that single person must feel among the lush certainties of Kent. Perhaps I should call in and invite him/her for a pint at that pub in the village south of Tenterden I always get wrong. Perhaps to celebrate, perhaps to commiserate. Glad you are voting.
ReplyDeleteMarly: Why am I not surprised to discover your international friends appear to be Remainers? Why do I read your blog? Two questions with more or less the same answer. Temporarily I'd forgotten the threat posed by the US's Blonde Bombshell, since, alas, we have one of our own. If the news in the UK is bad tomorrow will I have the strength of purpose to follow the day-to-day despatches that will end in November? Having said that there is some cheering news from your side of the pond, albeit conveyed by the left-leaning Guardian. Now, when Trump needs more cash, Big Business is proving stingy. Let him sell Trump Tower. Better still invoke Chapter 11.
Would that I could vote. Ironically, having taken advantage of one of the benefits of membership puts me in a position of having no say in the continuance of that membership, as you know.
ReplyDeleteBoris's standing ovation made me feel sick to my stomach.
I am drinking ale tonight ... thankful for you, my friends!
ReplyDeleteLucy: I loved that visceral final sentence. Now, a new kind of apartheid. The only immediate solace for me is contained in today's (June 24) post. For you perhaps a long walk with Elfie.
ReplyDeleteRW (zS): At the Hay Festival a month ago the philosopher-academic, A. C. Grayling, was asked about his intentions re. In/Out. He acknowledged various practical reasons but confessed his real reason was romantic. "I want to stand with Goethe and Beethoven," he said, laughing. No more laughter.