I want people to tell me why they voted #leave

[AliceScarlett]

I'm feeling pretty shocked and scared right now.

Why did you vote for brexit?

Why would ISIS really care? Putin most assuredly IS loving it, though.

I think her point is that it's fine to view the working classes with contempt in a way that it is not acceptable to view a race.

And EU immigrants being working class is largely irrelevant in terms of discussing the outcome of this vote - they weren't allowed to vote.

Immigration wasn't an issue for me. In fact I think we need more EU immigration, and that's probably what we'll get under Brexit in order to stay competitive.

Key issues for me were growth: the EU appears incapable or unwilling to tackle its growth problem and youth unemployment. It needs to go back to being focused purely on creating growth, not messing around with all this citizenship and defence bollocks. However it will never do this without a good kick up the arse along the lines of Brexit. Cameron's attempt to renegotiate proved this.

Secondly, it seemed likely to me that it would break apart anyway as it's such an undemocratic structure. The balance of power is weighted too heavily towards the Commission, which is unelected. The elected Parliament has no powers to introduce legislation on its own initiative. It can only approve, amend or reject what the Commission puts forward. People across the EU are waking up to the lack of power they have overvwhat the EU does. There will be more referenda. We are better off getting out ahead of everyone else.

Thirdly, the behaviour of Germany last summer towards Greece shows that they aren't good European partners and that they wouldn't hesitate to screw us over if it suited their interests. Germany and France have chosen to wreck the economies of southern Europe, and to ruin the lives of millions of young Greek, Italian and Spanish people in order to pursue the vanity project of the Euro. I can't respect partners who are capable of doing that.

MN has made me cross today Bill.

I haven't slept for 29 hrs now as well, so am almost delirious with fatigue!

Do agree totally with poster up thread this thread typifies lots of the reasons people voted out

Thinly veiled pretence at interest into why people voted leave - used as a tool to devalue and patronise anyone who did as if anyone with an opinion other than your own is stupid or somehow less worthy than you

If you ask a question then have the decency to hear the answer - if you don't want the answers don't ask the question

It's ok Lym, they'll be back to faux empathy about our tax credits tomorrow

And Cameron's real legacy to us all will be - he has managed to divide the nation firmly in half.

I hope this is what he's remembered for.

They view huge swathes of the country with absolute contempt. Their concerns, their fears, their aspirations - all sneered at. They're not interested in them, they view them as stupid, ignorant and unworthy.

But I think that the sneering at the working classes comes from those Eton boys that run the government. Not mild-mannered MNetters.

Honestly, the fact that people who are supposedly left wing come out with this bilge is so depressing. It sounds like the kind of crap the 19th century elite came out with to argue against a universal franchise.

I agree all these devastated mc people on fb who are 'ashamed to be British'. They are the people who the EU was working for and were thriving. It isnt working for everyone, but hey ho they are only the ignorant masses whose views dont count

If you are scrabbling around for a job, but seeing them go to Eastern Europeans who will undercut you on wages, you would vote Leave, I think.

This is where Labour has failed so so badly and has let us all down.
They should have made the argument that the logical step from the above is not to leave the EU but to stay in and change things at home. i.e vote to kick the tories out and work for increased workers' rights so that employers are prevented from paying low wages that UK citizens don't want to work for (government subsidies if needed for smaller employers).

The failure to shine a light on the impact of the austerity cuts which are the main contributor to the current levels of hardship (FOOD BANKS IN 2016 FFS), and allow the Leave campaign to blame it all on immigration, is something that cannot be forgiven.

Moderate leftwingers need to address Joe Bloggs' fears about immigration in a sensible way and not just keep saying lalalaracistlalala and ignoring it.

I blame the Remain campaign for not understanding what they needed to do to get buy-in from the voters. I voted Remain but I would never have considered doing otherwise - there is no point campaigning towards people like me who already agree with you.

Time for Corbyn to go. I could not agree more with his principles and beliefs but he was absolutely shocking as part of the Remain campaign and must take his share of responsibility for what has happened.

Dismissal of the Leavers as "just racist" after the event is part of the same complacency that meant Remain failed to put the case properly during the past weeks and months. We should be directing our anger at our political leaders, not each other.

Corbyn has nothing to do with this. It is a Tory mess.

If ordinary people cannot see that it is neo liberalism and globalisation that causes wage stagnation and poverty not "Johnny foreigner" then that is their own fault.

Sadly, I agree with you Trevor

Sadly, because I had hopes that a Corbyn-led Labour party would start to make solid, fact-supported arguments. Would find a way to talk to British working people about their fears about immigration - not pander to xenophobia, but look at what the precarity & fears really were saying, and try to establish security and enlightenment, rather than this irrational fear of foreigners brown people

Many reasons but mostly how the eu has not protected its members , lent money to cyprus on the acceptance that it would have to do a bank raid on Cypriot savings, my in laws lost 90% of their life savings
Also allowing countries such as Greece to join knowing they would have to fudge their finances to meet criteria, lending them money they have no way of paying back and lastly sitting around the table with turkey discussing them joining the Eu and also discussing the financial help they need to do so when they are still illegally occupying part of cyprus

If ordinary people cannot see that it is neo liberalism and globalisation that causes wage stagnation and poverty not "Johnny foreigner" then that is their own fault.

Up to a point, Lord Copper. Although really, you're absolutely correct. But ... I don't want to blame "ordinary people". They're fed such bilge and propaganda by the very outlets of neo-liberal voices.

And the Labour Party should be trying to explain that in ways that "ordinary people" can understand and relate to.

This just all proves that Marx & Engels' analysis 150 years ago of the way capitalism works as an imperialist force was right. Except that the UK is no longer in control of the capital or the means of imperial domination.

Quote from someone I work with:

"I was undecided until I got to the polling station but I decided to vote out because I fancied a change."

I wonder how many other voters decided the fate of our country on this basis.

I don't mean to offend you personally OP but these threads are kind of ridiculous. Leavers have been giving many reasons for their vote throughout the debate but because some moronic racist/xenophobe pops up and says something that agrees with Remainers' views, the sensible, well thought out, and valid reasons are ignored in favour of something that gives Remainers the moral highground. Even in this thread, people are posting their opinions and explaining their feelings and they're being overlooked for the person that says something racist.

Yes there are racists and they may have voted for Leave for all the wrong reasons but come on, just accept what reasonable people have been saying all along. It's like people are wilfully ignoring anything that doesn't align with their world view, as if that is helpful in any way.

I think any political instability will be exploited by IS

"Not all are but if you compared the proportion of "uneducated racist oik" in each camp, the leave voter would have a much higher proportion."

There may well be a proportion of leave voters who did so because they thought it would help them get rid of the "forriners" (and cos Farage said so). Wouldn't like to estimate how many though - on a personal level that's certainly not the case for most people I know who voted out, but I appreciate that this is purely anecdotal.

The "uneducated" comment was referring back to many previous comments I've read. Personally, I give not one jot how educated people are - I believe we all have the right to a voice...

So basically you cut off your nose to spite your face? Except you didn't just cut off your nose, you also shat in your bed, quit your job and set your house on fire.

Love this though

Nailed it Trevor.

The Remain campaign and in particular Labour have failed people. Remain didn't put much of an argument forward other than "you can't vote exit its racist".

It does not surprise me one bit that London was weighted to remain, whilst places like Boston was weighted to leave. Unlike in a General Election, where most people's votes don't matter - i.e. if you live in a safe seat area - this time people in areas where they feel that the EU has not worked for them, have had a voice and made their feelings known.
Great article in the Guardian here www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jun/24/david-cameron-resign-teflon-cockiness

Its not racist to say the system isn't working if it isn't working for you.

I voted to leave. I was kind of undecided really, but seeing Angela Merkel on TV has reinforced my decision. To be fair, I would have voted to remain even as recently as a year ago.
And I don't give a single solitary fuck if the OP or anyone else on Mumsnet thinks I'm racist, uneducated or anything else.

trevortrevorslatterfry

Good post. I think ordinary working people have been offered a solution to their problems that won't actually address their real concerns at all. I don't think leaving the EU will give them the economic support and growth they wanted.

If my DH loses his job we will cope. If we lose our house we will cope. We've had two foreign holidays in eleven years so thats no big deal to us.
But my kid has just got funding for her to stay in mainstream schooling. She's autistic and has learning disabilities.
If we are going to have increased austerity for the next few years (which looks very likely) then that puts her funding and funding for lots of other children with additional needs at risk. Its not like they are going to start building more special needs schools now is it? Everything we have done has been to try and provide her with some sort of future and now it feels like everything has been thrown up in to the air.

1. Because I want a fairer immigration system, I do not believe uncontrolled immigration has done us any favours. Many, many people are deeply concerned that the UK has become an overflowing cultural boiling pot, there are areas in the UK that have become ghettos occupied largely by other cultures to the exclusion of others, that is not integration in any sense of the word. I know there will be cries of 'but immigrants pay in more than they take out', but tell that to those working in construction for example (I am talking plasterers, bricklayers, roofers etc) who have had their wages driven so low buy this unneeded influx of people in the trade.

1. Because this 'open arms to the EU' immigration system has impacted unfairly on my south african, brazilian etc colleagues who have to jump through increasing hoops to get a visa, pay hundreds of pounds a year on top of tax as an NHS subsidy, are subject to an earnings cap, yet an EU person who may be unskilled, even jobless, can stroll in and not ahve to go through any of that and increase pressure on resources.

1. Because the EU has decimated our fishing industries and I ahve family who have directly been impacted by that.

1. Because I do not want to be a part of such a large political 'alliance' in which we are but one voice in 28.

1. Because I firmly believe the European Union will crumble in the next decade anyway, with or without us, you only need to look at the youth unemployment rates of Greece, Portugal etc to see things are very very bad indeed.

1. Because immigration as an EU member simply cannot be brought down, it is impossible, all that happens is non-Eu migrants are unfairly penalised. Out is the only shot we have at reigning this in. If we can manage that I firmly hope we can then prioritise Refugees who desperately need our help and are not just rocking up for economic purposes.

Those are my main reasons, I don't care who wants to twist my words and call me a bigot or whatever tosh they will come out with. The politicians of this country have for too long completely ignored immigration concerns or generalised it as racism, legitimate concerns about jobs, housing, school places, NHS resources have not been taken on board, and the anger felt by so many over this has now been realised.

Ghost I agree it's a Tory mess but as a Labour party member I cannot let corbyn off the hook.

BillSykes your posts are very thought provoking to me - thanks (middle class lefty).