There's nothing to say about Brexit at the moment. The politicians are on holiday and the only people interested in the subject are journalists from the Mail and the Express who are still banging on about 'an immediate withdrawal.'
In a desperate attempt to put together a story, Channel 4 News on Friday night sent Fatima Manji out somewhere in south-east England that she described as 'the home of Brexit' to do some street interviews. Her subject was Ukip. One woman was a big 'fan' of his but didn't know 'his' name. Another thought there was no longer any need for Ukip now that the EU referendum is over. And one dull-eyed 20-something had no idea what Manji was talking about. She'd never heard of Ukip. Nope. No idea. For a second I thought Manji was going to laugh out loud. I did. Very professionally, she pulled herself together and moved on, while I was left wondering: Where and how do you live and manage not to notice politics at all? Maybe the woman had been ill - for a very long time. Maybe she had no access to any kind of media outlet - no telly, no radio, no newspapers. Maybe she had been living abroad in a place where no news from the UK ever reached her?
Then I wondered: How many more people are there like her? And most chillingly: Do they vote, these people? Or do they just sink below the radar and have nothing to do with the country they live in? Have they no opinions about anything? No wonder people who come here from other countries and take out UK nationality - sitting a test and paying thousands for the right to remain - are sometimes shocked by how lightly we take our responsibilities as citizens.
No comments:
Post a Comment