Regretxit

Out of my head

I’m depressed. I’m not even British but I’m still despondent after the result of the Brexit vote. It’s not the economics of it. Sure, the fallout is massive – the FTSE 100 lost 120 billion pounds ie eight percent of the value of the 100 biggest UK companies was wiped out immediately in the wake of the referendum to decide whether Britain remains in the European Union or not.

That’s about 15 years’ worth of payments to the EU by the UK – one of the issues which the ‘leave’ campaigners had harped on about. The impact on the FTSE 250, containing a smaller proportion of international companies and generally considered a better predictor of the UK economy, was even worse – it dropped 11.4 percent. World markets lost over two trillion dollars. Germany’s DAX index and Japan’s Nikkei 225 benchmark index were also down eight percent, France’s CAC 40 lost 10 percent; and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index lost five percent.

Banks fared particularly badly and trading was temporarily suspended for Barclays and RBS shares. Housebuilders also suffered massively and real-estate prices are expected to plunge in London and elsewhere in the UK. The pound sterling has fallen to its lowest value in 30 years. A number of rating agencies have downgraded the UK and some people are predicting a recession for the country.

Of course, the markets have recovered a bit since then (markets tend to do that) but one thing is for sure. We are in for a period of some sustained volatility. And when there’s volatility there’s also money to be made so some people will rake in millions or even billions while probably a greater number of people will lose money (we, in Pakistan, will most likely remain insulated from the worst of it). But that’s not the real issue.

What concerns me is what the Brexit vote says about the state of the world and about humanity. The ‘leave’ backers may argue otherwise but one thing is rather obvious. The ‘leave’ campaign ignored all the economic warnings (all of which seem to be coming true) and instead became a campaign of fear and hate. It was led by images such as Nigel Farage, Britain’s quasi-fascist party UKIP’s leader, posing in front of a poster depicting Syrian refugees on the Slovenian border (not anywhere close to the UK) during the migrant crisis of last October with the words “Breaking point” emblazoned in bold, followed by: “The EU has failed us all. We must break free of the EU and take control of our borders.”

The implication was clear. Let’s keep all the foreigners – the ‘others’ – out. Post-Brexit, more than a hundred incidents of racial abuse and hate crime have been reported and many of the alleged perpetrators seemed to have been inspired by the Brexit poll result. One reported incident had ‘Leave the EU, no more Polish vermin’ notes posted through the letter boxes of Polish families on the day of the referendum result.

I personally believe that former mayor of London Boris Johnson didn’t care one way or another about the EU (in fact, he probably believed more in the ‘remain’ argument than otherwise) but his ambition demanded that he head the ‘leave’ campaign so as to provide him with the perfect platform for his ultimate goal – the prime ministership of the UK. The same now stands revealed to be true for Johnson’s chief co-conspirator, Secretary of State for Justice Michael Gove, the Macbeth-cum-Iago of the piece, He first stabbed his friend, David Cameron in the back (Gove was the godfather of Cameron’s son, for heaven’s sake) and then twisted the knife into Johnson too.

But whether it is vaulting ambitions that drive the professional politicians or the personal beliefs of xenophobes and racist bigots like Farage or Donald Trump, it is too easy for them to appeal to our basest impulses, especially in these challenging, fractious, frightening times. It is much harder work to inspire people, to ask the best from them, to give them hope.

The Brexit vote has now sparked fears that it will be followed by similar referenda in France, Italy, Denmark and the Netherlands, giving further rise to fascist/Far-Right parties and leaders. Brexit could spell the very end of the EU itself. That would be a tragedy. Because for all its faults and bureaucratic sluggishness, the EU still stands for something important.

The EU was founded on hope. The hope for economic prosperity, yes, but also the hope for peace. The hope that peoples and nations could come together for a common cause. The hope that there was more that pulled us together than pulled us apart. The hope that common values could unite us. The belief that diversity was to be celebrated and not feared. Isn’t that an idea that should be preserved, an ideal worth fighting for?

It is a notion that is important for Pakistan too. We are a society in constant danger of being torn apart – by religion, sectarianism, provincialism, ethnicity. We’ve already lost half our country; it is so very important for us to overcome these forces of darkness. It is important for us to believe that we are stronger together than standing alone in our little isolated corners full of fear and hatred. It is important for us to believe that differences can be overcome and that the ‘other’ need not be looked upon with suspicion.

It is important for the whole world to believe that.

The writer is a freelance columnist.

Email: Kmumtaz1@hotmail.com

Twitter: @KhusroMumtaz