The 23rd June 2016 will not be forgotten in a hurry. The results of the referendum on whether people wanted to remain in the European Union or leave shocked everybody in the UK. For some it was a very welcome surprise, while others felt it was a disaster.
The majority of people believed that the results of the voting would be to remain in the EU, but instead the result was 51.9% leave and 49% remain.
Today, almost 3 years on, the whole country is in uproar by the farce that continues to keep the United Kingdom in a state of limbo. And why? Because the Government were so sure the vote would be to remain, they didn’t have any sort of plan for leaving the EU in place!
In March 2019, MEP Richard Ashworth stood up at European Parliament in Straatsburg, and stated, “For over 25 years now, no British Prime Minister ever explained to the British people what Europe did, what are the benefits and why it matters. They never defended against the untruths that were spoken. Because of that the British press ran a 20-year campaign based on populist mistrusts, lies and deceit. The consequence of that in Britain is a sad nation divided like never before.”
The run-up to the referendum was a travesty. The leave campaigners promoted lies, while the remain campaigners hardly said boo to a goose. How could the people vote based on that? The ballot paper was a simple yes to leave or no to remain, but nobody knew what affect either result would have on the future. Many believed it would be a quick and simple process, but experts and politicians knew very well that it would not be.
And what about Theresa May’s plan? After months of negotiations she finally came to an agreement on a deal with the EU. But the British Parliament rejected the deal, and also rejected leaving with no deal, and the EU have stated they will not accept any changes to the deal they agreed to!
In the meantime, the UK is in turmoil. Racism is rearing it’s ugly head. Families, friends and neighbours have fallen out and not speaking to each other. The whole country is angry, while the UK is now a laughing stock with the whole world.
Brexit was never going to be easy, but Theresa May has certainly given everybody a lesson in how NOT to do it!
It is a very sad time indeed.