So, Brexit day is upon us. At 23:00 GMT today, the UK will leave the European Union after 47 years within. Whilst I’m (still) vehemently opposed to Brexit, a part of me wants to see this whole ghastly business behind us. British society is more fractured today than I have ever known and I can only hope that people will start to come together now that the waiting is over, but I have my doubts. The BBC has an article about how people will be marking the day and I find pretty distasteful the idea of the leavers celebrating while millions of people lose rights they have had since birth.
There should be little or no effect for me personally as I have both British and French nationalities and I have few financial ties to the UK (although the value of my future private and state pensions from the UK is a mild cause for concern) but I am concerned about the effects on family and friends. I don’t doubt that the UK will weather this storm, but at what cost?
I’m curious to see how I will feel about my native country in the coming months; for the last few my sentiments have been pretty negative and I have been saying I won’t bother renewing my British passport when it expires next year (as an expat this is an expensive process).
Today would also have been my dad’s 87th birthday and I’ve been wondering how he would have felt about Brexit. He was a dyed-in-the-wool Conservative and would have rallied against EU red tape but I don’t remember him as a vociferous Eurosceptic. I think that as someone who experienced WW2 and it’s aftermath as a child, he was profoundly attached to the idea of European cooperation as a force for peace and, whatever the failings of the current model, would have believed the UK was better off as a member of the EU.
Miss you, Dad.