Long in the shadow of the Conservatives, Britain’s exit from the EU can finally give Labour the Renaissance it needs
The aftermath to the shock exit of Britain from the EU was irrational, fearmongering and overall representative of the Remain campaign.
That’s not to say the Leave campaign was any better, but as shown in the video above, I make sure to distance myself from characters such as Boris Johnson.
My reasons for wanting to get out of the EU were simple; leave the EU and and we leave a neoliberal, undemocratic bureaucracy which acts in the interests of corporations rather than the people. Currently, we live under a Conservative government which imposes austerity on the British people — but this is fully backed by the European Union which does the same. We only need to look at the Greek situation — the bailing out of private banks funded by ineffective austerity measures, which disproportionately hit the working class — to see that the EU is not a friend of the people, it is a friend of big business.
There were multiple other reasons as well — one being the TTIP, a corporatist trade agreement which, much like the EU, puts big business above sovereign nations. It was recently revealed that the EU would go over the heads of EU nations in order to pass the trade deal. In terms of migration, an independent immigration policy, such as the Swiss model, can end discrimination against non-EU nationals, take in more refugees and prevent exploitative policies such as the Posted Workers Directive, which allows EU migrants to be hired at a lower wage rate than domestic workers.
Remain voters who claimed to champion human rights should also know that HR legislation comes from the European Council of Human Rights, a subset of the Council of Europe — almost half of its members are not in the EU. This is similar with workers’ rights — British legislation, stemming from Trade Union lobbying, generally outweighs EU law. Leaving the EU has had no impact on our rights.
Now of course, the state of the economy has been pitted against Leave voters as an example of our irrational thought process when voting. The initial fall of the FTSE 100 has now been offset, while the devaluation of the pound (which is actually lying at a similar level to February 2016) will, according to macroeconomic theory, lead to an increase in exports and a reduction of our trade deficit. The short-term economic forecast was always going to be uncertain as it correlates with Britain’s uncertain political future — but as always, market forces will adjust and the economy will stabilise. Now, the long-term future depends on the next few years, and Britain’s ability to negotiate independent trade deals — and with Germany, France and the US already pledging to do so, things are looking up. The short-term fiasco also, as Max Keiser analysed, is just an example of the rigged economy — and it’s also the first time I’ve seen the working and middle class concerned with the jobs and profits of the bankers who uphold the system.
Britain is also facing uncertainty in a political sense, but the country is now more democratic — whoever gets elected in, wields the power. If, for example, Labour got into power in 2020, EU legislation would have prevented renationalisation and a reversal of austerity — now, however, Labour voters can look to the party to fulfil the needs of the working class, not having to follow the EU by pandering to big business.
The notion that the right are now set to take power and stop immigration is a myth. For one thing, UKIP now have no selling point for 2020 and the Tories are in disarray. Electing a Labour government and negotiating an independent, fair immigration policy should be the aim for all Labour supporters, who at this stage, need to unite and rally behind the party.
And a quick note on the Labour coup going on. In the likely event that there is another leadership election, and the high probability that Corbyn will be re-elected, it’s necessary for Blairites and Bennites alike to unite and get behind the party for the next general election, whether it be in 2016 or 2020.
Corbyn is the right man for the job — backed by an overwhelming majority of the members, as I saw ostensibly at the protest in Parliament Square — and a champion of the working class, whose votes Labour desperately needs. Jeremy’s only drawback is that he refuses to get involved in the political game, even if it is for the greater good.
Britain’s decision to leave the EU has the potential to reinvigorate and empower the Left once again. We just need to strike while the iron is hot.
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