Briefings for Brexit has a number of excellent pieces, including a link to
a piece by a young peson who voted Remain in 2016 but has since changed her mind. It seems to follow a simple narrative about how reality dawned when she left uni, but my interest is , as always, what she saw in the EU in the first place:
Devastated. Absolutely heartbroken. I will
never forget it. That sombre walk to work on the morning of 24th June
2016 and the furious discussions that I had with people that day.
Continuous mourning into the weekend, and the apprehension and genuine
fury at the prospect of seeing my Leave-voting grandparents for dinner
that Sunday night...
I had voted Remain primarily based on
values: I liked what it stood for – its aims of liberalism, globalism
and international cooperation resonated with me...I admired other European countries and
the progress that they had made on issues that I cared so passionately
about. From drug reform in Portugal to gender equality in Sweden, I
admired their work and I saw sharing our decision-making powers with
them as nothing but a benefit...The EU had its flaws, of course, but on
balance I felt it better to be reforming on the inside with a
guaranteed seat at the table. Besides, leaving would no doubt cause
disruption to several sectors, including my own, so why bother taking
the risk or rocking the boat? I simply hadn’t been sold on any of the
arguments for Leaving. Either that, or I chose not to listen to them.
I didn’t know many people who voted Leave –
and for those few that I did come across, I was so set in my own echo
chamber that I wasn’t willing to enter into the debate with any real
sincerity.
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