Referendum response: “A world of uncertainty in which we must now navigate”
Date: 23 June 2016
Responding to the news that the majority of people in the UK had almost certainly voted to leave the EU, Nick Dearden the director of Global Justice Now said:
“Britain’s decision to leave the European Union opens up a world of uncertainty in which we must now navigate in a positive direction.
“It’s hardly surprising that people have voiced such distrust towards the EU when it negotiates exploitative trade deals like TTIP, visits economic destruction on its own member states, and treats refugees as if they were criminals. But the mainstream ‘leave’ campaigns have done a great deal of damage by pandering to nationalism, building a wave of anti-immigrant sentiment and fostering the spurious notion that outside the EU we can return to an age when Britain was the world’s foremost ‘great power’.
“The British government has done everything possible to push the most extreme version of TTIP, just as they’ve fought against pretty much every financial regulation in the EU, from bankers bonuses to a financial transaction tax. High-profile supporters of the Brexit campaign have repeatedly said that they believe the UK would be able to realise a more “ambitious” and faster free trade deal than TTIP if we stood alone.
“Under these conditions, it’s even more important that organisations and activists redouble their efforts to oppose toxic trade deals, corporate power grabs and above all defend the rights and dignity of migrants.”
Image: Wikimedia
