I am a Sore Loser.

I am anti-Democracy.

I am a Citizen of Nowhere.

The dialogue of these past few months has demonstrated to me more than ever, the belief I held on the morning of 24 June 2016, that we as a Nation, are in deep trouble.

Rhetoric and Absolutism has now replaced Pragmatism & Tolerance. The unconvincing Referendum vote has unleashed upon the country a Bush-like dialogue that suggests that you are either with us or against us. The niceties of British society have been abandoned in favour of the mob, no doubt feeling the long anticipated rush of ecstasy suppressed since 1975.

Rather than standing back from the result and analysing its many messages, British life is now subjected to reductionist politics and a freedom of speech which in itself curtails freedom of speech through insult.

On that infamous morning, the National result was not convincing of one side of the argument or the other, particularly as it was a campaign based on lies. Our Nation was split down the middle, with two of our States, voting overwhelmingly in favour of remaining in the EU.

So rather than seeking ways to heal our disaffected Nation, our Prime Minister and her fellow Ministers, brand sections of society to reinforce the split between us and them; an anti-democratic tool to enforce compliance? Lists of workers (one Polish taxi-driver, living here for 15 years told me this reminded him of the Nazi horrors of years gone by - that’s how it started’, he said), celebrating selling fresh air to China, coffee to Brazil, Naan bread to India, but all was eclipsed by how we apparently think of ourselves in the world; everything is now up for grabs.

“But if you believe you’re a citizen of the world, you’re a citizen of nowhere. You don’t understand what the very word ‘citizenship’ means”. 

These very words should send a chill into the minds of right-thinking people. I am a child, an adult of two different cultures, of a broader world that I have reached out to and through that experience, I have woven that rich tapestry, into my social and professional life in the UK. Let us not forget that many like me have worked hard for many years, providing public service, duty to our employment and paying taxes and contributing to the well-being of this country.

To decry those who look beyond these shores to satisfy a quest for identity or simply to understand the world around us, fails to understand that it is they who really understand the concept of citizenship; it is primarily a sense of being home, a belonging, but being confident to criticise, challenge and innovate.

The message I received from Theresa May is that I must toe the line if I am to be considered truly British, cast in a mould created at a political set-piece on the basis of a questionable analysis of the vote. 

Gary Lineker asked the question this week ‘what’s happening to our country’; the answer to that was demonstrated during this week’s BBC’s Question Time, when a Polish woman, married to a British man, living in the UK for 23 years, was shouted down and booed when she declared that since the vote, she felt unwelcome in the country she has come to call home, a country where she has clearly contributed her ‘citizenship’ of the UK.

But the best of our citizenry had already been demonstrated! A Tory Councillor, a Mr Christian Holliday, created an online petition, whereby he called for the law of Treason to be amended to criminalise those who worked post-Brexit, for the UK to rejoin the EU - interesting how those who are/were pro-EU did not suggest the same offence following the 1975 Referendum?

Apparently this Councillor has been suspended by the local Tory Party, but, if this gentleman had his way, in March 2019 I would be arrested, charged and carted off to prison on the prima facie evidence, if I continue to offer my views, as a free citizen, that suggests that Consumers are disadvantaged by a particular course of action and that there may be a better route through EU Regulation (because it’s just not going to happen here post Brexit!), my fate, according to some, would be sealed.

As Gary Lineker says; ‘What’s happening to our country?’

Now there are those who offer the opinion that Mr Holliday is a voice in the wilderness, but is he? I think that the spin lines offered by politicians and the media and so willingly taken up by those in the gallery are leading this country into a further political and social abyss - his views may not be as remote as you think!

The other day I was in the House of Commons and witnessed the despair of politicians and the sinking hearts of victims. I met leading Campaigners and CEO’s who told me that their first foray into Westminster since the vote revealed Tory politicians who on the whole were dismissive of any representation that suggested, lets take our time; think about what we are doing. Citizenship it seems is now about dismissing contrary views and is only in the preview of the few, the rich and the powerful, the very same people that Theresa May railed against; funny old world, isn’t it?

Frank Brehany – All Rights Reserved © 2016 (First Published on 22/10/16)