The Referendum today is about hope over fear. It is about the belief that we can live in a world together – a world with turbulent problems that cross national borders that demand common solutions. It is not a modern world where we can afford to shut ourselves off into a small Island believing it will save our democracy and our sovereignty. It will do neither.
We have to affirm on Thursday that we are not a nation that fears change and a nation that will not accept the hatred against minorities that this referendum has generated. As Doreen Lawrence whose son was murdered by racists said in a recent article,
“Most disgracefully – Nigel Farage standing in front of a poster reminiscent of Nazi propaganda, showing a long queue of desperate refugees, including terrified children, and a slogan in huge letters stating that we are at “Breaking Point”. “Take back control” they cry. But from whom? The message seems to be getting slowly louder: from the others, the foreigners, the people with different religions and different colour skin.”
This scapegoating has to stop. The migrants in this country add so much to our economy, our diversity and our changing culture and we should say halt to the slow drift to fascism that has crept into the referendum debate.
The world is increasingly interdependent and we have to learn to live with each other with a positive attitude and celebrate our differences, as that is the exciting thing about being human.
We have to learn that democracy and sovereignty in this interdependent world is not a going back to the “nation state” of the 19th century or even of the mid 20th century but forging together a new democracy that reflects this interdependence by struggling to see how we can be both local and global. A retreat from that would be a disaster for both our nation and our future.
Thursday is about how we see ourselves and how the world sees us as well. Do we retreat to a form of national narcissism into an old world whilst the new world moves on – or do we embrace that new world and take an active part in it. Do we vote for our future or do we vote for our past?