Bluestown

If ever there was something that should never have happened, it was the referendum result on Thursday 23 June 2016. Usually, these things are mere political preference. where people see their colours roundly condemn the other colours and, once again, it's their turn, until the next time. On early Friday morning, (as I can never sleep when these contests are taking place), it became mathematically clear that Britain had voted to leave the European Union. I believe that Brexit happened because we let it happen.

When Labour, my preferred political party, loses an election, (which seems more often than not), I feel dejected for a few days and when I have concluded that my arms and legs haven't dropped off because the Tories won again, I can get on with my life quite normally. After all, won't we get another opportunity to chuck the Tories out in 5 years time? Of course! Moreover, I always understand why we've lost an election. It's almost always because our lack of party discipline and unity is worse than the Tories.

There is no such turning back, with this referendum result. The 'leaves' will be in power for the rest of eternity. I suppose it is possible that Britain will re-join the EU, but not very likely. Not in my lifetime, I am sure. Another possibility, after that time, would there be an EU to rejoin? Again, it's possible that the EU may fail after this. First, Norway and then Britain.

The other dreadful possibility is that a sizeable number of the vote leaves may well think differently now and if given the chance would vote remain instead. After all there was only a difference of: 1,269,501 votes between Vote Leave and Vote Remain. Hardly an electoral chasm.

I remember a schoolteacher in my secondary modern school telling us about Sir Winston Churchill having passionately advocated a 'United States Of Europe'. The then Conservative government also saw it as a force for good. We had won the war, at a terrible cost, in both human and economic cost, a war, that in all honesty, we so could have lost. If we had have lost, then the most evil forces ever seen during the entire history of our planet would have ruled over us. Britain, the USA and Europe could so easily have lost this war and was the drive to form the organisations that eventually led to the formation of the European Union.

If all European countries were traded freely, and dare I say it, we adopt common laws and a common currency as well, then I saw it as a case for us all being richer and stronger together. People saw EU common laws as anathema. I took the opposite view and regarded law making by the many as being safer, not more dangerous. We still had the power to make around 87% of our laws. Many of the 13% were laws that had a pan-European element to them. To afford ease of movement across the EU of people, labour, goods and capital.

A prolific paedophile Andrew Tracey was brought to justice after a 30-year reign of terror, Cory Baptiste, Craig Shaw and Jeremy Forrest were others who were arrested, charged and convicted under the European Arrest Warrant. A European Arrest Warrant takes typically 3 weeks to complete, an extradition can take between 6 to 9 months.

My feelings about us leaving the European Union therefore are of horror. It was so many people's (unfounded) fear of immigration that lost us the referendum. People voted leave because they perceive immigration to be completely out of control. 'Let us have our borders back!' they say, which much mystify everyone else in the EU countries as we're the only the only nation that actually has border controls similar to those pre-EU.

The vast majority of people who speak to me seem to believe immigration is out of control. And yet, Britain has had the toughest immigration controls. As tough as the USA and Australia and yet no-one here believes that.