I had a dream. Brexit viewed by a Brit in France.

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Last week I had a dream

I dreamt that the UK voted to leave EU. I dreamt that the French Police National came to my house, demanded I pack my things, and escorted me to Gare du Nord where I was held with other "illegal immigrants" who had come to France under EU free movement. We were kept in pens as we waited for more and more British people to arrive from across France, and were guarded by Police 24/7 until the British Gov't could arrange for us to be deported back. It took forever because the system was backed up with all the retired Brits coming back from Spain, as well as the other 2 million british people living across the EU. We were not allowed out of the pens to buy food, and our bank accounts were suspended. All our employment had been terminated because we were now "illegal immigrants." Some were sick and pregnant and couldn't get treatment because we no longer qualified for French medical benefits and our EHICs were void. We were hungry, cold, and mocked or pitied by the French passing by.

Then I woke up, and realised it perhaps wasn't a dream...

European Flags Fly High

I know (/hope)that is not how it would go down if we left EU, but as an expat it was genuinely gut wrenching, and I woke up clammy and nauseous.

Full Warning - This blog is goign to get long, and involve discussions of EU law and politics. Not for the faint hearted. I promise a blog about face cream or museums soon. I'm so sorry.

As  young person making the most of my European free movement of labour rights, I am of course in favour of remaining in the EU. Being born in 1989, I have only ever known a Britain in the EU, and I see no cognitive dissonance between having a british and european government, because it has always been that way for me. I acknowledge that it is inefficient and sometimes cumbersome, but as an institution it deals with a huge volume of legislation and work stemming from 27 member states, so it isn't exactly surprising if you are logical about it. I have used my free movement rights multiple times. I have studied the EU in depth at university, passing exams and papers on the topic. I even studied abroad at a European university as part of the Erasmus scheme, where the EU paid my tuition fees both to my univeristy in the UK and abroad, and gave me a generous bursary every month to do so. I have received benefits - both the physical money-related kind and the more general kind - as an EU citizen during my time here in France. I speak multpile European languages, have friends across the continent, and enjoy being able to hop accross the continent as and when I please. I feel the EU is a positive thing, and leads to greater understanding between peoples as well as tangible trade and economic benefits.

But if you have watched the Brexit (British exit) news coming out of the UK at the moment, you would not think that British people felt that way.

I recently went back to the UK to deal with family matters. I knew from watching the French news, and readng the online papers, that things were getting tense in the UK, that people were nervous and the polls were showing that the referendum could go either way.

But I was not prepared for what met me when I got home.

From the moment I touched down, I was nearly drowned in the riptide of bile and poison that streamed from every media outlet and the mouths of almost every major politician. I heard nothing but anger, hate, scaremongering, poorly researched arguments, and outright lies. And it was every day, on the televeison, on the radio, in the papers. Every day, from breakfast until dinner time.

You have to understand, that is not normal for British politics. We are normally a fairly calm, relitively boring (in a nice, stable way) political system. Yes we have a far right party and people with extremist views, as many countries do, but these were not a few people with extreme views pouring forth this misinformation. It was the Prime Minister, it was members of the government, it was the BBC. The atmosphere was completely poisonous and the undercurrent of apoplectic rage that pervaded even the smallest village was like walking through thick fog. I found myself repeating the phrase I had heard on the radio repeatedly - "where is my country?"

But what shocked me the most was the way in which the political leaders blatantly, and without shame, mislead the public. Not everyone is a european law scholar, not everyone has the time to research the complex procedures and political negotiations that have formed and govern our relationship with the EU. The avergae person cannot be expected to have that information, and those with power over the political and media spheres know that, and have taken advantage.

From my studies and my time using my EU citizen rights, I know how dull, dense, complex, ardous, and infuriatingly time consuming dealing with the European institutions is. But that does not give politicians (who do have the time, resources, and knowledge to find the facts) the right to lie. And they have lied. Repeatedly.

Here are some of the things I have heard said by referendum campaigners:

"EU citizens are coming here to use our NHS. It's benefit tourism."

Nope. Not true.

Accroding to Directive 2004/38/EC, If you stay in a country for under 3 months, all you need is a pssport and an EHIC (which covers medical reimbirsement between EU member states) to get seen by a medical professional. If you are staying in a country for over 3 months, you need to prove to the government of the country you are staying in that you will not be an unecessary burden on the state. I have done it myself here in France. I had to prove I could pay the health insurance fees before they allowed me to stay. It is the same in the UK. And if you don't prove yourself capable of not being a burden, the country can expel you. It is not perfectly implicated, but legally holds water. See more here

The Court of Justice of the EU even ruled last year in Case C-67/14 that you cannot go to another member state and hold several short term jobs just to qualify for benefits. The country has a right to deny that person social welfare. More info here, here, here


"We'll be able to govern our own trading rules, and control who we trade with."

Well yes and no. In fact more no than yes. The rules and legislation concerning trade with and inside the EU are phenominally complex. It is one of the most complex and advanced trade agreements in the world. However it really depends on a few things.

If we want to maintain any kind of trading relationship with any of the EU member states in the single market, we are still goiong to have to conform to the regualtions and rules set down by the EU. That is non negotiable. Norway and Switzerland have to concede to the regulatory barriers of the EU, and so will we. You still have to pay a single market membership fee, have to conform to EU regulations, but what you are not able to do is influence the creation of those regulations as a member of the EU. Otherwise we will have to agree to not sell our goods and services inside the EU.

Access to the single market also requires states to accept free movement of people. This falls under the immigration debate I will deal with later.

We may decide we do not want to be part of the single market and act as Australia or India do when trading with the EU. But that doesn't take into account the many international businesses who currently have their european headquaters in the UK who will leave for Dublin or Paris, or another European base. They use the Uk as a convenient point of acces to the EU, and once they go, what exactly are we offering?

It is possible to take our trade negotiations back, but thre is a strong chance we will find ourselves the poorer and weaker for it. More here and here

"Its undemocratic. I don't want to be controlled by a load of uneleceted comissioners."

No. Wrong. It is not undemocratic.

The Commission is unelected - true. But who is it responsible to? Who are those unelected commisioners accountable? The european Parliament which is entirely elected by the citizens of the EU every 5 years. Just as our Prime minister is accountable ot Parliament, so too is the Commission accoutable to the European Parliament. The European Parliament can cenusre Comissioners, just as the British Parliament can issue a Vote Of No Confidence to the current governement. The amount of members (MEPs) is decided by the population size of each country, and the UK currently has the 3rd highest (joint with italy) number of MEPs in the Parliament with 73 out of 751.

It is also true that most policy and laws start with the Commission, but that is because it is essentially the executive branch of the EU government - like the Government Ministers and Prime Minister in the UK or the Presdient of the USA. We do not choose our Prime minister, he is chosen by the party who wins the elecetion and the rest of the government is chosen from inside the parliament. The European Comission is the same.  But, as the legislative Branch, the Parliament has no right to tell the Executive branch what its policy direction should be. It can suggest, it can petition, but it cannot tell. All it can do is vote against a measure to have it thrown out. it is more or less the same system of checks and balances that many democratic nations follow domestically.

I feel this is more to do with voting turnout. Turnout to European Parliamentary elections is notoriously low across Europe, but especially in the UK. In Britain the turnout was just 34.3%, down from 38% in 2004. Because Elections (and to be honest the work) of the Eu are poorly advertised in the UK, we feel disenfranchised when we really aren't. In France the EU flag is everywhere, next to the Bleu Blanc Rouge, on all official buildings and in the street. They publicise the work of the EU, somethign which is rarely done in the UK. The perception is that we have no say, but the fact is we do - we just have to use our voice.

See a more detailed overview here

"I want to be a siovereign nation. I want My country back. Immigrants. Terrorism. GRRRR"

Of all the arguments this annoys me the most.

The UK is a sovereign nation. Just like France, Germany, Sweden, Romania, Poland. Everything the EU gets to control in the UK is only because the UK Parliament has allowed it. Nothing from the Eu is implemented in the UK without our governments consent. We are allowed to have a referendum and vote to leave becuase we are a sovereign nation. End of story.

The "take your country back" argument is the most stupid of all for several reasons.
1) leaving Eu doesnt mean we'll stop Free Movement Of People - see the argument about trade.
2) Leaving the Eu wont affect how many refugees or asylum seekers we have to take in - those are governed by other domestic laws and other international treaties. We will still have to deal with the Refugees in Calais. Also anyone who is crossing the sea in a rickety boat to escape war probably won't care whther we are politically part of the EU or not. It's low on their priority list
3) Your country? Who are you and why is it your country? If you claim to be Anglo-Saxon, well your people only arrived here in the 5th century AD. The Romans were here before you, so maybe this country belongs to the modern Italians? If you read the Vindolanda Tablets, you will see that there were Syrains living and Dying at Hadrians wall long before the Anglo-Saxons arrived, so why are we denying the Syrian refugees a place to stay in our country? And lets not forget that before the Romans came the celtic people who still reside predominantly in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. I imagine those parts of the UK have a very different idea of whose country it is compared to someone calling themselves Anglo-Saxon. And any way, since then we"ve had Jewish, Dutch, French, and Russian immigration to the EU, not to mention immigration form the commonwealth and former colonies. Our kings and queens have been French, German, Spanish, Dutch, Danish, Russian, and mix of all of the above. Stop looking for a 'golden age of pure Britishness." It never existed.

For an excellent analysis of the dishonesty on both sides of the campaign, this video from European Law researcher Professor Michael Dougan is well worth a look.



The level of discourse and debate surrounding this referendum has been shocking. The lies and the bile have made me profoundly ashamed of the way my people are behaving right now. And moreover they are acting as if the rest of Europe (and the world) cannot see how the UK is behaving. Believe me, from here in France we can see everything that is going on, and the UK has not covered itself in glory. If we do leave, it is very hard for me to comprehend how we are going to negotiate with a Europe we have so profoundly offended and stabbed in the back.



This was never more evident than last week when the English football fans in Marseille for Euro 2016 chanted “Fuck off Europe, we’re all voting out.” - they then all recieved free mediacl care as European Citizens. Oh Irony. And perhaps nothing more clearly shows the divide between even the home nations of the UK on the mater of Brexit as the Wales fans ( my people - cymru am byth), allegedly singing "we're voting to stay" after topping Group B, ahead of compatriots England.

Nonetheless, it is hard to overstate how poisonous at malicious the narrative has become in the UK. You can taste the tensions in the air, and everyday stories of encounters bewteen remainers and leavers in the streets filters through to france, and the whole world can see the caps-lock ridden screaming matches on twitter. Both sides have stirred up these tensions deliberately, and have actively fanned the flames between the two sides, as facts and the undecided voters get forgotten in the fury. A few weeks ago, I was speaking to a fellow British au pair here in Paris and I said I ws amazed that no one had been seriously hurt yet.

Then Last week Member of Parliament Jo Cox was killed in the street by a man who gave his name in court as "Death to traitors; Freedom for Britain." No one is in any doubt that it is connected to the EU referendum campaign.

She was an ordinary MP, not one of the major players who had been shouting form a soap box, but an ordinary person who had been elected to public office and was trying her hardest to make her country better. She didn't shout about it, she quietly and consistently tried to make a difference and push her country forward. That is the British politics I recognise, and her death just shows you how far this referendum has taken us from that politics.

The leave side was very quick to distance itself form the individual, though he was later found to have links to many Far Right political action groups who had campaigned for Leave. They quickly threw around words like "mentally ill", but he was an individual domestically radicalised to act in the name of a political ideaology. That is terrorism, and it seems he will be charged as such.

The rage and fury somewhat calmed down after the murder of Jo Cox, but it is still very much present under the surface. But I believe that rage is misplaced. It should not be directed at each other, but at those in power who abused their position, who mislead the people they are elected to represent, and who fanned the flames of hatred amongst the people of the UK. They capitalised on the people being underinformed, scared, and frustrated, and it lead to the murder of an innocent woman. When this referendum is over, I hope we do not forget their behaviour, and we do not allow them to do this to us again.

In her maiden speech Jo Cox said "we are far more united and have far more in common with each other than things that divide us." And that is fundementally how I feel about the EU. It was created after two wars that threatended to destroy the continent. It's goals are peace and cooperation. I believe we are better off working with people across the EU to find a better and more peaceful future that benefits all of us, not better off driving a wedge between us.



But it is out of my hands. I already sent in my postal vote and now we have to see how the rest of the UK feels this Thursday. What will happen to me? I don't know. Will I have to leave France? Will I take French citizenship to stay and work here?

My future and that of my country hangs in the blance, and no one know what will happen. But for now let us not say goodbye, but as they say here in France - Au Revoir.



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