Britain in deep mess as Brexit unfolds

London, June 30 : As the fallout of Britain’s referendum on exit from the European Union unfolds, the country is getting into deeper mess by the day.
A referendum where only 72 percent voted resulted in a result by a mere margin of four: 52 percent voting for exit and 48 percent to remain in the EU.
Over three million British, many of whom had abstained from vote, have already signed a petition for another referendum. That perhaps is nowhere in sight, but it could be the only hope to restore the country back to health.
“England has collpased politically, constitutionally and economically” are the words of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte speaking in Brussels.
It is clear that David Cameron was over confident of “Remain” outcome with the Opposition Labour Party supporting him in the campaign.
Unfortunately, the whole thing went in the hands of hate mongers like UKIP whose leader Nigel Farrage played heavily on the immigration issue. He was shouted down in the European Parliament for the lies, fear and hatred which he spread.
David Cameron, now in Brussels in what could be his last summit with the European Union leaders, blamed the EU for not taking enough steps to address the public concerns over the issue of flood of immigrants coming in from the Middle East. And then there is the issue of free movement within Europe that has resulted in large numbers of East Europeans working here in the UK.
That the East Europeans cannot be sent back even if the referendum takes Britain out of the European Union is a fact of life. And the kind of jobs that East Europeans are doing here are crucial for the British economy and the cities. There are three million EU nationals living and working in Britain and nearly a million of them from Poland. The unemployed Brits are happy with the doles they get from their government. They are choosy for the jobs. In fact, they do not want to work and most call them lazy.
The European leaders are now of the view that Britain should be given quick exit so as to protect the unity of the rest of European Union. They are also in no mood to grant any special favour or deal to Britain.
While the EU leaders are eager to move quickly on the negotiations to get Britain out, David Cameron has clearly declared that such negotiations must be carried out by his successor. And there is no clear successor in sight though eight of them have thrown their hats in the ring. Boris Johnson, who virtually led the Tory campaign for exit, seems to be shying away from the contest for leadership or may be beaten to it by Home Secretary Mrs. Theresa May.
Britain’s Labour Party is in a serious mess. Leader of Opposition, Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn, refuses to stand down even though a vote of no confidence in his leadership has been passed by the Parliamentary Party. The scale of the vote was staggering 172: 40 against the leader of the Opposition. The fact is that this nation has been divided right in the middle with extremists and racists making most noise in the leave campaign.
At another end of the spectrum are the sober hard working British, who feel threatened by this vote to leave the European Union. They are the young people for whom Europe is a big market. Many of these are rushing to Ireland to apply for Irish passport as the British passport would no longer give them free movement in Europe. The rush has been so great that Ireland’s Foreign Minister Charlie Flanagan had to issue a public appeal to the UK residents to stop rushing to Ireland.
Northern Ireland, which is part of UK, has voted to remain within the European Union and could well ask for seperation from Britain and reunification with Ireland. Scotland is already asking for another referendum for its freedom as Scots too voted to remain in the EU.
There has been a big rise in the hate crime againt the immigrants following the referendum. It is said to have gone up by almost 50 percent. The law enforcement agencies are worried about this development and are hoping that it may die down in the days to come. But the signs are ominous.
The economy is now taking its worst hits. The pound sterling has fallen to its 30-year low of 1.32 against the dollar. The hedge fund operators, who are trying to cash in on this fall, are betting that the pound could well fall to as low as 1.10 against the US dollar. This author remembers a time when pound was equal to a dollar. Though the Bank of England is putting up a strong front, it does not have large reserves and cannot raise rates.
Amidst all this doom, the Indian companies that had made Britain as the gateway to Europe having invested heavily here are now at a loss for their next move. India is the second largest foreign investor in the British economy. These companies came here despite better terms that were being offered by many East European countries seeking foreign investments. It was advatange English and the old empire connection that attracted Indians to Britain for business. It will be interesting to watch as to how these companies chart out their next course of action. For the moment it is wait and see!
A large numbers of serious thinkers and economists firmly believe here the big setback that Europe is getting emanates from the huge bureaucracy the EU has created in Brussels. That bureaucracy makes centralised laws which many countries find difficult to implement. Thus this group believes that Britain once freed from the shackles of this unproductive bureaucracy may do much better in the long run. The EU bureaucracy is a fact of life because India has failed to sign a trade agreement with the EU. These negotiations have been going on for years now and India is not alone. Even Japan has failed so far apart from quite a few others. Amidst all this doom and gloom, there are those who are still hoping that a second referendum coud be on the cards. They insist that Boris Johnson has never been a hard core leaver. If he is able to negotiate some kind of brake on the free movement of people within Europe, he may be in a position to push this country for a second referendum. This could be the strategy of any other Tory leader taking charge from David Cameron. Is that the light at the end of dark tunnel into which Britain finds itself today? Could a second referendum pull Britain out of this political, contitutional and econmic collapse?