It has been a few years since I have posted on here, but for the first time in a long time my passion for a subject has peaked enough that I felt obliged to share my thoughts online.
No doubt it hasn’t escaped the attention of anybody that the UK has voted to leave the EU – it is the topic on everyone’s lips, not just at home, but around Europe and the rest of the world. And while I have my own views on this whole political situation, I felt driven to post this because of the reaction I have observed across social media. I wish to establish here that my personal political leaning is in no way influencing this post. I am trained to remain impartial as a journalist, to put my personal views aside to report what I am seeing. This is a social commentary, not a political one.
We live in a democratic society. Simply put, that means each and every one of us is entitled to their own opinion. Politics is inherently divisive, with people balancing their individual requirements against those of their nation, drawing pros and cons of each side, and drawing a conclusion which, to the individual, is the best outcome for them. In a country which values human rights, why should we be attacking one another for exercising theirs?
What has disgusted me is the way people are being vilified all across social media for voting to leave. Those that did so were correct to do so – not because I have a personal political affiliation either way, but the were right to do so because they voted full stop. They voted for something they cared about. They used their democratic right to voice their opinion in the exact same way everyone who voted to remain did so. Everyone was correct because they stood by their views no matter what those views were. Throughout history, people have fought for the right, the privilege, to express their insecurities via the medium of politics and this is what we have in the democratic society in which we live.
The beauty about democracy is that no one persons view is prioritised ahead of that of another. Everybody has their equal say. If one viewpoint is to be prioritised over another it would lead to a dictatorship – we need to preserve the democracy we have come to take for granted in recent years. So to hurl insults from one side to the other is to hurl insults at the exact democratic state in which we live.
Everybody has their right to speak freely without fear of retribution in their own domain, but unfortunately and disappointingly, many of the people who voted to remain have criticized those who chose to leave telling them they are “wrong”, that they have “broken the country” and labeling them as “morons and idiots”. Nobody should have to face this barrage for exercising their democratic right.
I make it clear before I make this next point – it is not exclusively, but certainly primarily, the remain voters who are to blame for insulting those on the other side. So I begin – the right to vote and freedom to voice opinion without persecution, or fear thereof, is a core value of the EU itself. Those who wished to remain in the EU are still able to hold core EU values, which appears to have been forgotten.
Our kingdom has made its opinion clear. People fall on both sides, people are entitled to do so. 27.8% of people eligible to vote, didn’t. Instead of attacking those who voted, why don’t we look at the political system and question how we can engage the remainder of the population in future?
This debate will roll on, and everyone is entitled to agree or disagree with what is written here, but at the end of the day we are all human. While personal views may differ, throwing toys out the pram OR gloating won’t resolve anything. What will? Uniting, pulling together, creating a future for our nation. If people turn their passion about the results to looking ahead we can create a strong base from which to negotiate the best terms for our country. This day has gone down in history, let’s work together to make it for the right reasons. Respect one another, and we will be stronger.
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