Yesterday, I voted in a referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union. I voted to remain in the EU – as I did in the referendum of 1975. We now know the result.<\/p>\n
On a turnout of 71.8% (the highest turnout in a UK-wide vote since the 1992 general election), 51.9% voted for us to leave the EU and 48.1% to remain in it. Some reactions – on stock exchanges and currency markets for instance – were immediate, but the full implications will take weeks, months. years, indeed decades to unfold and with affect not just Britain, but the rest of Europe and indeed the world economy.<\/p>\n
Sadly the conduct of the referendum campaign and the results of the actual voting reveal deep divisions in British society.<\/p>\n
We are divided in national terms – outside of London (where I live), much of England and Wales voted to leave, whereas Northern Ireland and Scotland voted to stay with serious implications for the Irish peace process and Scottish independence respectively.<\/p>\n
We are divided in age terms – the younger the voter, the more likely he or she voted to remain, but the older the more likely he or she voted to leave in a very stark age profile.<\/p>\n
We are divided in economic terms – most middle-class voters did not feel threatened by immigration and have coped with the challenges of free trade, but working class voters are really worried by immigration and globalisation and voted against the views of almost all establishment figures.<\/p>\n
We are divided in political terms – the Conservative Party will soon have a new leader which will mean a new Prime Minister and a new Government with a significant shift to the Right, while many in the Labour Party will feel that the lukewarm support for EU membership from Jeremy Corbyn further calls into doubt his capacity to lead the party and the nation.<\/p>\n