Meeting held on Monday 20 June 2016
7 people were present and 4 gave their apologies
Between meetings we had decided to discuss the question of volunteerism, but since two of those who were keen to discuss this were not present (and also since it was the last meeting before the referendum) we decided to put this discussion off for the time being, to be picked up next time.
We started the meeting by remembering the recent tragic murder of Joe Cox and this underpinned much of the ensuing discussion relating to the referendum.
Most of us felt that the issue of immigration would remain of importance after the referendum, whatever the result. However, there was a strong sense that the issue of immigration also stood for – perhaps even masking – a number of wider issues such as inequality, a sense of loss of control or enfranchisement, a nostalgic loss of British ‘greatness’, and even a general disillusionment with politics.
We discussed the principle of free movement of labour, but found it to be inevitably limited by inequality (the wealthy being ‘freer’ to move than the impoverished) and other contextual features. We wondered whether it was necessarily desirable, although the idea of quotas seemed problematic.
We noticed the contradiction implied in many right wing and neo-liberal attitudes which often appeared to favour Brexit in the hope of limiting immigration, increasing ‘sovereignty, etc., even in the light of the opinion of most financial ‘experts’ and ‘authorities’ that this would lead greater financial problems.
The tragic murder of Joe Cox appeared to have increased support for Remain (thus the FTSE index increased rapidly following the murder and its association with anti-immigrant feeling, with industrial leaders favouring Remain).
We envisaged turbulent times for the Tory party, whatever the outcome of the referendum, particularly if the result is close. The referendum debate has brought out the extremes in the party. It seemed that violent discourses predominated in much of the media and this bore some responsibility for the tragedy of Joe Cox, while reflecting strong feelings of disempowerment amongst the electorate.
We thought that perhaps the Referendum had encouraged political discussion although its irrational and extreme forms may be the consequence of it single issue, rather than party, focus.