There's a piece in Bloomberg at the moment that may repay a reading:
The U.K. Is Divided About Much More Than Europe
Excerpt:
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Maybe because I am an American who also has a vote in the U.K. referendum, I find the parallels with the U.S. election campaigns striking. Both Trump (#MakeAmericaGreatAgain) and the Vote Leave campaign (#takebackcontrol) speak to visceral fears of change and uncertainty and the experience of loss. Both finger external scapegoats and posit that controlling immigration will enhance well-being.
In Britain, as in the U.S., that case falls apart on inspection. A study out last week from the think tank Breugel notes that net immigration has added less than half of one percent to Britain’s population between 2008 and 2014. Most foreigners arriving in Britain are between 20 and 30 years old and 76 percent of them find work, with Britain’s unemployment rate at its lowest in four decades.
What makes the forecasted “leave” vote so dramatic is that nearly every official body, national and international, has lined up the other way. Britain’s political parties (with the exception of the anti-immigrant UKIP party) and the country’s trade unions (which opposed remaining in Europe in Britain’s 1975 referendum) have backed remaining in the EU. Large businesses, small businesses and the scientific and tech communities all broadly want to remain in Europe. Former NATO chiefs, the U.S. president and other world leaders have also pleaded with Brits to stick around.
So, Bikkies, what's your take on all this?