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    Richer Britain will be poorer in spirit and standing

    Synopsis

    So when the Brexit Referendum rolled around, I was optimistic that once again, the people of this country would vote for community over isolationism.

    By Moni Mohsin

    When Sadiq Khan won the mayoral election, I was overjoyed. Not because he was desi like me. Not because he was Muslim like me. But because in choosing him in such overwhelming numbers, Londoners emphatically rejected the shameful narrative of fear, mistrust and hate that the Conservatives had pedalled. In electing Khan they voted for inclusivity, hope and pluralism. It was a slap — a tight slap, since I am desi — in the face of xenophobic hate mongers like Trump. I tell you, I have never been so proud of being a Londoner as I was at that moment.
    So when the Brexit Referendum rolled around, I was optimistic that once again, the people of this country would vote for community over isolationism. Everyone I asked — from the porter at my building, to my hairdresser, my doctor, people at my gym, my book club, my friends, my family — were all for staying in. Those of us who remember what a grey, grim place London was in the ’70s before UK became a part of Europe, had no desire whatsoever to return to those days. The ghastly food alone, was a deterrent. So it was with great equanimity that I watched as debate after debate rolled out on television.

    I saw democracy in action and it was an impressive sight. When David Cameron made his case for remaining he was savaged by ordinary citizens who accused him of fear mongering, overweening personal ambition and even of lying. He answered his critics with as much calm good humour as he could muster. Unlike Nawaz Sharif he did not flee the country on grounds of illness when in a tight spot, or disappear into purdah like Rajiv Gandhi or become a silent Sphinx like Modi. Encouraged as I was by this example of political accountability and openness, I was nonetheless disturbed by some of the nasty political rhetoric that surrounded the issue of migration. Nigel Farage’s vile tactics and pronouncements were a particularly low point in the discourse. And the people who lapped it up most ardently were those in the shires, the ones least affected by European migration.

    That said, I was confident that good sense would prevail. Friends who lived outside London reported an overwhelming desire to leave in rural England. My sample, they cautioned, was too narrow. The majority wanted out. London, cosmopolitan, thriving, outward looking, was not representative of the rest of the country. But still, I clung to hope. Why would anyone choose isolation over inclusion in an increasingly global world? It didn’t make sense. So on Thursday night, I went to sleep in a serene state of mind. I thought the margin might be narrow, but come the morning we’d still be part of the European Union.

    ALSO READ: Here's how the Brexit drama unfolded

    Shock doesn’t even begin to cover my reaction to the next morning’s news. Obviously, I’d put too much faith in the good sense of the English. (Scotland and Northern Ireland voted to remain European.) I lurched around the empty flat in a state of befuddlement. My husband who works in the financial sector had left for work at 1.30am to monitor the markets in the wake of the political earthquake that was unfolding as I slept. My kids were at school. When I looked out of the window everything seemed the same. The road outside my flat was, as always, clogged with traffic. Kids were playing on the swings in the park. People were walking home with bags of groceries. Yet the pound has tanked, David Cameron has committed to resigning, Scotland wants to leave the UK and property prices have already begun sliding.

    The Nepalese cleaner who tends to the common parts in our building sidled up to me this afternoon and whispered, “What will happen to us now?” My children, whose French and Greek school friends live in London asked: “They won’t have to leave, will they?” My Slovakian builder was more sanguine. “I pay tax. Big tax. I don’t take benefit. I can stay so I okay.” When I went to buy a newspaper, I asked the Ugandan girl at the till what she thought of the vote.

    “Um, it’s okay,” she shrugged. “What about you?”

    “I’m horrified!” I said.

    “Yeah, so are we, to be honest,” she confided, leaning over the counter. “Everyone in this shop is gutted. God knows what will happen now.”

    Nobody quite knows how this will pan out. Not even Nigel Farage who has already began pedalling back on the promises he made to redirect all the funds sent over to Brussels into the NHS. Whether Britain will emerge stronger from exiting depends on who you ask. But one thing is certain: there will be huge changes. I for one think that even if Britain comes out richer economically, it will be poorer in both spirit and standing.

    (The writer is author of the best selling social satire, Diary of A Social Butterfly and Tender Hooks)


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    Download The Economic Times News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News.

    Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online.

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