The Referendum has effectively destabilised the British Political Settlement. Before long we may see an Independent Scotland and a United Ireland, both nations supporting remaining as part of the European Economic Community.
So we could conceivably have Borders to the North of us and Borders to the West of us and we will have become a dis-united Island.
So we could conceivably have Borders to the North of us and Borders to the West of us and we will have become a dis-united Island.
I always suspected that Brexit would shade it and on the day it did and so many peoples worst fears were realised.
There is a lot of sadness about.
There is a lot of sadness about.
However I'm not sure that in or out will make that much difference, although it has 'shaken it all about', but time will tell.
I think the real tragedy here is that 'Europe' has been made a scapegoat for what is happening to our economy, to unemployment, to austerity and to welfare.
Mendacious promises won the day but don't hold your breath, tomorrow will be just the same old same old.
It never was 'Europe' it was forces much larger, globalisation, technological change, large scale emigration from nations torn apart by war and famine and climate change.
Cameron did not change welfare and certainly did not improve it and the poor paid the price, given a voice they have used it.
What next?
Possibly a reconfiguration of party politics, possibly a new post-European settlement, possibly the bankruptcy of a nation not too big to fail.
My thought is that we need to reflect on how best to help the poorest in our society whose cry of rage has been heard.
Pope Francis is showing us the way:
'to ponder the words of [Saint John Chrysostom], one of the sages of antiquity: "Not to share one's wealth with the poor is to steal from them and to take away their livelihood. It is not our own goods which we hold, but theirs'.
Thirty years ago, in the mid eighties, Faith in the City was published at a hearing in Newcastle the commissioners heard of the three problems facing the North East:
Poverty, Poverty, Poverty.
Thirty years later in Hartlepool the vote to leave the EU was inspired by these same problems as the Midlands and the North East have been de-industrialised, have seen jobs and whole industries relocated to Europe, India and China and then been told by both the Con-Dems and the latest incarnation of the Tory Party under Cameron and Osborne that they must pay the price as the brutal realities of austerity and judgements and scorn have been laid upon those who have been categorised as 'shirkers' often men and women with deep memories of their work as shipbuilders and miners and engineers, work that has now vanished in response to a political agenda and a failure to reckon with the impact of new technologies..
Faith in the City failed in challenging the Thatcher administration, as I came to realise when I worked for the Task Force in East Birmingham.
Because it was recommending a Welfare Response to deep seated and permanent structural change the response was not adequate.
Some years ago, with others, I started an organisation, Church Action on Poverty which is still pursuing its welfare agenda as the queues at the Food Banks grow longer.
But welfare is no longer the answer.
As Pope Francis suggests the best way to address poverty is to give people the cash, so I want to see charities, the Labour Movement, right thinking folk from across the political spectrum begin to debate with the urgency that Brexit has brought in its wake, a Universal Basic Income.
Martin Luther King 'wanted the government to eradicate poverty by providing every American a guaranteed, middle-class income'. (As quoted in The Atlantic).
The underlying principle of a Universal Basic Income is that every citizen over 18 years should be paid an income commensurate with the housing, clothing and feeding of her or himself, those with added needs, for example those with disabilities, might receive extra to cover the cost of those needs.
Martin Luther King 'wanted the government to eradicate poverty by providing every American a guaranteed, middle-class income'. (As quoted in The Atlantic).
The underlying principle of a Universal Basic Income is that every citizen over 18 years should be paid an income commensurate with the housing, clothing and feeding of her or himself, those with added needs, for example those with disabilities, might receive extra to cover the cost of those needs.
A Universal Basic Income is affordable, it makes us all consumers, it allows for choice and for freedom allowing each individual to make their own individual life style choices and decisions.
The costs can be raised by spending the welfare budget in a more constructive manner, by using money spent on other, usually piecemeal programmes, and inevitably by raising taxes.
Individuals will be free to spend their UBI or Citizens Income as they wish, such an income could free individuals and unleash a tsunami of creativity amongst artists, musicians and writers.
Those who chose to work might choose more interesting or worthwhile work, or opt for shorter hours or part time work but taxation would be levied at a rate that reflected the value of the underlying basic income received.
Means tested welfare is no longer a valid response to the impact of de-industrialisation, or indeed to the forthcoming challenges posed by technology, AI and robotics, UBI is a practical, sensible and fair way to distribute the wealth of a country to each and everyone of its citizens.
The costs can be raised by spending the welfare budget in a more constructive manner, by using money spent on other, usually piecemeal programmes, and inevitably by raising taxes.
Individuals will be free to spend their UBI or Citizens Income as they wish, such an income could free individuals and unleash a tsunami of creativity amongst artists, musicians and writers.
Those who chose to work might choose more interesting or worthwhile work, or opt for shorter hours or part time work but taxation would be levied at a rate that reflected the value of the underlying basic income received.
Means tested welfare is no longer a valid response to the impact of de-industrialisation, or indeed to the forthcoming challenges posed by technology, AI and robotics, UBI is a practical, sensible and fair way to distribute the wealth of a country to each and everyone of its citizens.
