Wigging out

A colleague mentioned today that she was ‘wigging out’ about something, which was a term I’d not heard before. I assumed it must come from the Hertfordshire region, as she does.

Whatever it means it sounds befitting for what the UK is doing today. Wigging out of the European Union. This is the Samora Machel statue in Praça da Independência in Maputo. Mozambicans’ celebration of independence was the appropriate response to their unshackling from Portuguese colonisers and the oppression that went with it. I wouldn’t be so unnuanced as to say that literally everything the Portuguese did in Mozambique during colonial times was unilaterally bad, but of course the Portuguese had to give it up.

The use of words such as freedom, independence and sovereignty don’t feel at all appropriate to me in the context of Brexit yet have been banded around to justify leaving the EU. In reality Brits have basked in the luxury of these things for centuries and it’s yet another sign of our unrecognised privilege that we wish to ‘reclaim’ them. The Brexit keywords are meaningless tripe, spread by those with cynical power-hungry motives. EU representatives and officials are accused of having corrupt motives that oppress British interests, and sure there may be some overly-ambitious characters in the mix of what is a costly venture to be part of. No one is denying the EU’s imperfections, and some transparent cost-cutting would be a wise political move. I believe that the vast majority of EU officials simply want to foster good productive relationships with other nations on matters ranging from security to trade to environment. In fact it is the cronies of the current British government who I believe deserve the label of self-serving and nepotistic. On balance we will lose cooperation, unity, diversity and safeguards for deregulation, more cuts and an even greater national rich-poor divide. It’s notable and troubling that we’re exiting the world’s most successful example of a peacetime union.

I am sad today that its all happened with a whimper, despite the media circus and hot air that have accompanied the last three and a half years. I feel disappointed that I can no longer say I’m an EU citizen, and I especially feel for EU nationals who are friends and colleagues living in the UK, who likely feel like they’ve been shat on from a great height.