Righting the Wronged!

Over the last two years I have had many conversations with good people who are at the front of the queue for the Big Brexit Chaos Bonanza.  Their stories are all different.  They are young, old, married, single, parents, grandparents.  They are nurses, musicians, warehouse operatives, civil servants, cleaners, carers, students.  They live across the UK and the EU.  They like literature, popular culture, sport, cooking, eating, watching the Proms, Strictly and the GBBO.  They like burgers and the theatre and pop music.  They run businesses, they work for someone else, they hold down 2 jobs, they travel across the continent as consultants or as tradespeople or as carers. 

Here is what they all have in common.  They were deliberately denied a say on a question which affects their lives and their status.  #the5million.  I don’t think many of us thought too hard about that.  Even now there is recognisable shock when my friend Nicky tells people how she was not allowed to vote because she has lived outside the UK for more than 15 years.  They are even more shocked when she points out that losing our EU citizenship, for her, will result in losing a right to vote for an MEP in the Netherlands and she may even lose her right to vote in her local elections.  She will have no political voice at all. 

At the same time 16-17 year olds were also denied a say, young people who were perfectly grown up enough to have an opinion of their own are the ones who will live with the consequences of this referendum outcome for the longest time. Incidentally these are the same kids we are all relying on to pay for our pensions and old age care.  I hope you were all careful what you wished for when you decided where to put that cross on the ballot paper.

Brextremists are very fond of saying it is undemocratic to campaign to stop Brexit because it was the “greatest democratic exercise in the history of the UK”.  Well I have news for you – your democratic exercise was pretty stinky as democratic exercises go.  It was flawed in a multitude of ways. Not only did leave campaigns (yes plural) cheat, not only was there lying and empty promises by them but fundamentally a huge group of people who would be affected by the decision were ignored as if they did not matter, as if they were objects to sort out later whether to keep or throw away, only measurable in pounds and euros and usefulness to those with British passports. 

Brexiters, you deliberately stopped all EU27 citizens in the UK, regardless of how long they have been members of our communities up and down the country, from having a voice. the people immediately affected by the outcome were ignored.   You stopped British citizens in the EU and elsewhere who had been overseas for more than 15 years from voting and many of the ballot papers to those who qualified did not arrive.   You stopped 16-17year olds from having a voice even though you deemed Scottish youth to be capable of casting a vote only a year before in the indyref.  You tried to tell them they would be okay – everything will work out, of course you don’t want them to leave, of course they would be protected.  At best you guessed, at worst you blatantly lied about your intentions.  The fact remains you have kept these people in limbo for 2 years and overnight millions will have a different status and will have to “register” to go back to their home that they never moved out of.  Millions across the EU have been given no guidance or support by the British government and are relying on the countries of their residence to help them secure their status.  What did Mrs May say when asked in the house of commons?  “I hope they’ll be okay”.  If this does not pull you up short on this subject I don’t know what will.

This Brexit is nauseating enough.  The economic consequences over the short and medium and long term are ridiculously damaging and in themselves should ensure a rejection by a sensible parliament of Brexit – yes, I know we are way short of a sensible parliament.  But the disenfranchisement of so many of our friends, our families, our neighbours underpins my greatest disgust, fills my head with anger and determination to fight. 

On Saturday I will be marching for a Peoples Vote, for an opportunity for a new vote to examine all the consequences we now know will result from the so-called work the government have been doing for 2 years.  A new vote requires a new franchise.  I will be arguing that not only should we have the opportunity to examine the deal, not only should we be able to keep remain as an option, but there is no doubt in my head the franchise should include the voices of the #5million and the 16-17 year olds who will carry the biggest burden of Brexit.

It will be an opportunity for us to Right all the Wrongs of June 2016 and we must fight for all of that.  

#brexitispersonal

#finalsayforall

@redalphababe

Face up to the Truth about Freedom of Movement.

Those of you who voted Leave because of immigration I have news for you.  Everything we have been saying to you for more than 2 years about immigration is correct.  Ask the Migration Advisory Committee who have brought some inconvenient facts out into the open.  They were assigned the job of designing an immigration system outside EU membership.  In so doing they made a thorough examination of the impact of EU immigration in the areas of concern.  I have laid those out below point by point in a handy table for you to cut out and keep.   

In short, if you saw the Breaking Point Poster revealed by the leave campaign and Nigel Farage and when its clear and unsavoury message sat in your head, burning the fire of resentment and righteousness inside you, making you look at the foreigners around you with new suspicion or as a group of people who are taking the proverbial, well I am sorry to tell you once again the poster was wrong.  You are still wrong if you believe that immigration or FOM has a single thing to do with any of the things that made you unhappy.  You are still wrong if you think throwing away your (and everybody else’s) EU citizenship and your rights to FOM will make any of these things better.   

If you are fed up of static or low wages, or expensive housing or big queues in the doctor’s surgery, or the lack of growth in the economy, well stop worrying about where your neighbours were born and start looking at our government, who makes the policies which help to address every single one of these things.   You will not be any better off as if by magic on Brexit day – whatever the kind of Brexit foisted on you.  All you will have achieved is the creation of  upset and hostility towards a group of people who have just lived their lives, just like you.  Going to work, paying their taxes, looking after their children, loving their neighbours, running their businesses, looking after old people, looking after sick people, supporting the environment, offsetting the impact of our ageing population on services.     

So now we have this “FOM has damaged us” nonsense debunked by the Governments own findings, can we have a proper conversation about our EU membership please and the genuine benefits of being EU members?  Can HM Opposition finally stop upholding these immigration myths at every twist and turn?  Can we now properly assess the real and full consequences of the outcome of government’s Brexit policy on ALL OUR LIVES PLEASE.

Time for a #peoplesvote with an option to remain.

@redalphababe

	IMPACT	REPORT COMMENT
Employment	Little or none	“we found that migrants have no or little impact on the overall employment and unemployment outcomes of the UK born workforce”
Wages	Little or none	“migration is not a major determinate of the wages of UK born workers. We found some evidence suggesting that lower-skilled workers face a negative impact while higher-skilled workers benefit, however the magnitude of the impacts are generally small.”
Self-Employment	No Meaningful evidence	“We do not conclude what, if any, impact immigration has had on the economic prospects of the self-employed but do present some descriptive statistics taken from Self-Assessment and National Insurance Number registration datasets. These show that self-employed EEA nationals have lower declared profits than UK nationals on average, likely reflecting differences in the type and duration of work undertaken”
Productivity	Positive Probably	“the studies we commissioned point towards immigration having a positive impact on productivity, but the results are subject to significant uncertainty.”
Innovation	Positive	“high-skilled immigrants make a positive contribution to the levels of innovation in the receiving country”.  Innovation is hugely important to an economy like our because this is what drives new industries, technologies and skilled jobs.
Training	Positive	“no evidence that migration has had a negative impact on the training of the  UK-born workforce. Moreover, there is some evidence to suggest that skilled migrants have a positive impact on the quantity of training available to the UK-born workforce. Any potential impact on the quality of training provided is unknown”
Services Prices	Downward pressure	“We found some evidence that migration, particularly from New Member States (NMS) and non-EEA, has reduced prices of personal services”
House Prices	Upward Pressure	“Our analysis suggests that migration has increased house prices. The impacts of migration on house prices cannot, however, be seen in isolation from other government policies. The evidence points towards a higher impact of migration in areas with more restrictive planning policies in which it is harder for the housing stock to increase in line with demand”
Contribution to public purse	Positive	“Our commissioned research found that EEA migrants pay more in taxes than they receive in benefits.”
Health and Social Care	Positive	"contribute much more to the health service and the provision of social care in financial resources and through work than they consume in services."
Education	Positive	"no evidence that migration has reduced parental choice in schools or the educational attainment of UK-born children. On average, children with English as an additional language outperform native English speakers."
Social Housing	None to slightly negative	"Given there is little building of new social housing this is inevitably at the expense of other potential tenants."
Community - crime	No impact	"migration does not impact crime "
Community - well being	Varies - no real evidence	" no evidence that migration has reduced the average level of subjective well-being in the UK."

Brexit is Personal

I have been thinking about why I feel that the EU referendum and the brexit narrative has felt so personally hurtful.  The question of EU membership is complex. On the face of it, a political question.  I am not normally given to political extremes and quite a fan of nuance, balance and reason in my deliberations of political matters. But there you have it, right there.  Brexit goes beyond the political and strikes into the very heart of my family and my family history.  

So, a potted history.  My parents were Spanish from Galicia and moved to Argentina when first married. Not unusual for a time when Gallegos travelled to follow opportunities all over the world.  Gallegos are like the Welsh and the Irish. It’s a small region, population wise, but wherever you go in the world you will meet someone with links to that green and rainy corner of Spain.  But I digress.

My siblings were born and some years passed and there was a gap.  My parents found that they were unexpectedly expecting me and having had a bad time with my mothers health when my brother was born, my father decided to move the family back to Spain before I was born to be close to extended family.  

Unfortunately, things were still difficult at that time, it was still Franco’s Spain and after some time seeking work, my father was recruited as a farm labourer in North West England.  This was somewhat of a departure from his trade which was a salesman in a gentleman’s outfitters, but my dad always lead by example, you do what you need to do to look after your family.  

So in 1971, we all followed my dad who had a permanent job and a place to live.  We qualified for ILR under the rules at the time.  My whole life since the age of 3 has been in the UK - my education, my work, my partner of 29 years, my son.   

It isn’t easy uprooting yourself and your family to another country.  People blart on about it as if it’s mere trifle.  Well let me tell you reader, it takes great courage.  Even when your situation is dire, leaving can still be an agonising choice to make, leaving everything that is familiar, your language, your family support network.  My family did it twice.  In those days there were no cheap flights to hop back and see grandma, there was no email.  You had to write and wait a few weeks for a reply.  It was much harder to stay in touch with your family back in your country of birth and that isolation and separation is not an insignificant consideration.  

My parents may well have been migrants bringing little with them, but all of us become productive and working members of our communities.  I have run a business with my partner for 20 years and we employ several people as well as supporting ourselves.  If you really insist on valuing us in terms of hard cash, I would say the UK has got and is still getting its money’s worth from our entire family.  

Growing up, the different aspects to my identity did not always sit comfortably together.  Was I Spanish or was I English?  I developed a very British sense of humour, enjoying the  sarcastic wit that is found in Merseyside and learning to be rather self deprecating.  I had a love of animals particularly dogs.  My accent when speaking Spanish was very English.  On visits to Spain, people used to call me “La Inglesita”.  At the same time my Spanish heritage was strong - the love of paprika laden food, the much darker more fatalistic side of my humour, my outstanding propensity to procrastinate and my love of fiestas and fireworks and social occasions.  

Spain joined the EC as it was in 1986 and as the years went on and we became the EU and then FOM became a reality, it dawned on me that the different parts of me were finally fitting together and made complete sense under the umbrella of EU citizenship.  We were all Europeans, citizens together.   It was in that context that I came to a decision to be naturalised as a British citizen.  This may sound like it doesn’t make sense but I made the decision with great thought and solemnity.  It was not a rejection of my Spanishness but a commitment to the country that that I lived my life in and a desire to have a full political voice here. My EU citizenship kept the strong connection to Spain alive so there was no door being shut there.  

One of my siblings meanwhile around the same time decided to move to Spain to pursue opportunities there.  He was in his teens when the family moved here.   His son - British born British passport, is in the UK and getting married soon.  

Both of these momentous decisions were taken in the context of our EU membership, our EU citizenship and FOM.  Under brexit the context has changed.  What will happen if my brother wants to come back and live here?  His original ILR will be no longer be valid.  The current income specifications by the home office which will likely apply to EU27 post brexit, will probably not allow him to do so either.  His son may or may not be able to join him in Spain.  How many other people have made decisions in the past 20 years which will now lead them to experience even great complex quandaries in this new brexity context.  Lives interfered with, freedoms removed for no good reason.  Families will have to choose and be divided.  

But my biggest problem with brexit, and this is really what gets me riled up, (as my long suffering family and friends will vouch for) is that every time for the last few years the “we can’t talk about immigration” crowd have talked about immigration, they have done so in a way which has dehumanised and insulted every immigrant like my dad who has come here to commit their lives to the UK with love and enthusiasm and courage and strength.  Every time MPs talk about turning taps off, or people swarming or flooding or talk about people not born here as a problem to be solved rather than a human beings to be valued, they insult the likes of my dad who walked 5 miles every day rain or shine to get to and from his work on the farm in order to look after his family.

I am sorry if you think that I am being over dramatic.  Mr. Farage stood in front of that damn racist poster and many voters looked at it and listened to the lies and came to the conclusion that they would then vote against the interests of their friends, their colleagues, their neighbours, even their own families without a moment’s thought as to what the effect would be on millions of people who were denied a voice and their wives, husbands, parents and children.  All these thoughts are like skewers, painfully plunged into my heart as I remember my dad who from the moment he came here to the day he died, did nothing but love the mighty UK and her people with all his heart. 

That’s why Brexit is Personal for me. 

Why I am voting #Remain - my positive case

I think more than enough vile and false information has been splashed about with regards to issues around immigration in this campaign and anybody who has believed some of the the most horrible rhetoric is not going to be swayed in any way by me so I'm not going there. Instead I have decided to lay out MY POSITIVE REASONS for voting to REMAIN A MEMBER OF THE EUROPEAN UNION. 

We have all benefited from some aspect of EU membership over the years

Business and jobs from free trade – Just in our little business I would say about 1.5 of the 12 full time jobs our business supports is down to the turnover and PROFIT from our sales into the EU. We do not concentrate on export but nevertheless it has become a valuable income stream and is growing. If the terms of trading into the EU change and it affects profitability of this business we would be left with no choice but to make some changes to protect our core business activities. Or put it another way have been able to create 1.5 more jobs than we would have done otherwise thanks to our EU sales. 

EU funding of social/ cultural/community projects – Lots of parts of the UK have amazing resources thanks to EU funding.  Parts of Wales have really benefited from this and I believe Wales is a net beneficiary.

Infrastructure that would not otherwise be built due to limited resources from Westminster/local authorities – see my last point

It is easy for every single one of us as EU citizens to travel study work and invest throughout the EU and this has broadened minds & enhanced cultural and employment opportunities for young and old alike.

EU structures have enabled more funding and more importantly information sharing and cooperation in the vital areas of science, the environment and security.

Consumer protections and employment protections have been enhanced for each and every one of us. Whether you buy a product in Britain or France or Germany you have the same consumer legislation to protect you. For example I have to give exactly the same returns rights to our British French German or Spanish customers.  Vice verse if you buy from a French retailer. 

Yes regulations can be a pain and there should be a constant revision of removal of regulation that has not achieved the intended aim (apparently this does actually happen in the EU)  but in the main the original intentions are to help EU citizens. Do you really particularly want to choose to buy a hoover with an inefficient motor or would you prefer there is legislation which ensures that manufacturers continue to invest in the technology which drives their designs forward and makes their products more efficient and effective? Maybe some of those regulations are a means to getting us in the right travel of direction towards a worthy goal.

On a final and  personal note re regulation, people (both politicians and other folk)  who have never in their lives run a business or created ONE single job have spent the last few weeks telling me solemnly that small business in particular is hampered by EU regulation.  I have been running a small business for 26 years and we have created an amount of employment over the years which has generated much tax income for the UK that I think we can be quietly proud of.  I can say hand on heart I have never had any EU regulation hamper my business activities noticeably and any business problems we have experienced over the years have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with EU regulations and more to do with how well the economy is doing combined with our decisions.  I cannot speak for others in business but in my company we believe in taking responsibility for the quality of our own work, decisions and judgement.  We try and deal with trading conditions as they are presented to us we do our best we don’t always get it right but we won’t blame anybody or anything else when we get it wrong.  

So that's where I am - that's why I sent my postal vote in a week ago and proudly voted to #remain.  I hope you find something useful  in my humble opinions.