Well, until now my opinion of leaving the E.U has been somewhat unclear. Sure, there are advantages to leaving and there are disadvantages… the problem is, none of these reasons sway it one way or the other. Or at least it would seem.
I think it’s demonstrated pretty well by the poll results.
It was almost 50/50… the same as I felt but sadly it toppled in favour of leaving the E.U. Stepping into the dark and very unknown.
Here’s the thing, I don’t feel as though we really knew what would happen if we left the E.U. We knew what would happened if we stayed…. not very much, the same.. nothing different, nothing new. The chances are, most of those 17,410,742 people probably just wanted something new to happen… rather than just repeat the same cycles they have been for the past few decades… one that unfortunately has seen the UK become less and less of a place to be proud to live.
I moved to Romania because I was pretty fed up of the way things were going in the UK. Taxes were insane, I never felt like I had enough money to get by, over-policed and living in a ‘bubble wrap society’ just took it’s toll on me and eventually I needed some change. I found that change here in Romania, where things are a bit more relaxed.
I’m telling you, Romania has felt like one big holiday. I’ve met awesome, talented people. Haven’t found it difficult to find work and finally I have something to show for my hours of work, instead of my basic life which I was literally just managing to maintain each month.
Even I didn’t know what would happen to me if the UK left the E.U. Now I guess I’ll be finding out. The thing I don’t really like is this ‘victory mentality’ that some people have been expressing. You cannot call this a victory and I suppose you cannot call it a failure… yet.
There are approximately 1.3 million British people living around the E.U at the moment, most have been there for some years, maybe have a family or a business… others like myself may just be finding their feet and settling into their ‘new home’ and this “victory” has the potential to make this a more complicated journey or maybe even in some cases put a complete end to it… sending people back…
Now is that a likely scenario?… Well guess what… I don’t know! Neither did anyone else that voted to leave the E.U. because these terms were never discussed. How can people honestly vote in favour for something when they don’t know the true extent of the changes that will take place? I tried to register my vote and apparently I wasn’t eligible due to the fact I’ve been out of the UK for 2+ years, yet this decision affects me too.
The other thing that bothers me about this, is the sudden uprise of people both in the UK and outside of the UK blaming “British people” and labelling us as “nationalists”. One such comment in my news feed which I noticed today really made me quite angry.
“A bunch of proud nationalists on a (now) isolated island eating beans from a can.”
This made me angry because people didn’t like being labelled due to immigration and now the same is being done the other way… some may say this is fair… others may say you can’t fight fire with fire… but one thing’s clear, you cannot pin this on a whole country when the polls were just over 1% away from remaining in the E.U.
My thoughts on the IMMIGRATION ‘issue’
I must say, immigration has got out of control in the UK. It’s rapidly getting worse and yes this does have to do with having a completely ‘open doors’ policy where anyone can come and live, actively use public health services without employment and get housed into emergency accommodation.
I cannot say this is true for every person that has walked into the UK from the E.U. In fact, it’s quite far from it, I mean.. even me. I walked into Romania not knowing if I would have a job, I took a chance and tens of thousands of people have been doing this for years in the UK. The difference is, here, if you don’t get a job, you will struggle and find life very difficult or maybe even impossible… in the UK, it’s a different story. You can be provided accommodation, claim benefits from the state and use local health services like the NHS free of charge, no matter if you have a job or not… and people know this.
In Romania, I’ve met MANY very skilled, educated and intelligent people. Far more than I’ve met during my life in England (sorry, but it’s true). I didn’t have lawyer friends in Bristol or people who are just becoming doctors. These skilled people are an asset to both Romania and other countries in the E.U and equally beneficial for Britain. It’s just a huge shame that there are a lot of people that would rather abuse the system rather and in fairness, I can’t blame them.
It’s a fact that the UK’s benefit system is like no other. I can’t think of any other country in the world that has the sort of support system that existing in Britain. People all over the world know about this and they will use it to their advantage.
I mean, just look at that eligibility checklist. How many people across the E.U fit this? Damn, I bet even some of you that are reading this fit this and are wondering… why didn’t I do this already? It’s a fact, the UK is basically a handout for people that don’t want to work… trust me, I’ve been on this system in the past due to certain circumstances in my life and you literally get paid to do nothing. Rent paid, fixed weekly income, taxes paid… all because you don’t have a job.
One of Brexit’s main arguments was around immigration and people having access to our jobs. Fact is, if there are jobs that us British people won’t do (like bathroom cleaning, rubbish collection etc..) then why on earth shouldn’t someone from another place who’s just thankful to have a job, take these jobs. They’re not taking jobs from the British people, they’re delivering services because they fill the positions that most of us Brits wouldn’t like to fill.
Unskilled jobs are an attraction for some people, especially the less fortunate people that are living here in Romania. The though of being paid £6.50 per hour to push a product past a scanner for 8 hours a day could be a dream in terms of the income compared to Romanian. They man our checkouts, empty our bins and clean our toilets… some can say these are the worst jobs you can have… but who’s the first to complain when there’s not enough people on a checkout or the bins haven’t been emptied yet… or heaven forbid the bathroom should be dirty.
I am in favour of immigration, but I do think there needs to be some more control. If someone doesn’t find work, they shouldn’t be able to survive and have a somewhat standard quality of life. It doesn’t happen anywhere else in the E.U and it shouldn’t happen in the UK. Now what’s happened is that we have all got a bit angry about something, listened to a bunch of crazy people talk about how immigration is a huge problem when actually the problem remains with our benefit system and the big sign advertising a ‘free life’ if you move to the UK. As a result, hard working, skilled and genuinely contributing people will have to face a long road of difficult decisions, situations and life changing events.
I really hope that this won’t affect my ability to continue living here in Romania without problems. I enjoy my life, it’s been made better and that was thanks to the E.U and the ability to move around the country. Romania didn’t help me find a job or pay me benefits when I got here, I looked and I found a job. I worked my way through different companies and now I’m in a place where I can honestly say I’m very happy.
That’s all for now ???? Thanks for reading.