Looking beyond the causes of Brexit and how each campaign faired in the Brexit Referendum is the fundamental issue of leadership failure on both sides. A 51% win for Leave and a 48.1% outcome for Remain portray a much divided United Kingdom than ever. While the Brexit Referendum results is just one of the evident manifestations of another crisis-prone society, the continued display of hatred, racism and intolerance in the aftermath distinguishes the country as one with a substantial population who has retained their ‘rights’ not to integrate over the years, embrace the diversity that enhances our resilience in a global world and one that deliberately neglect a sense of responsibility towards another. The Leave campaign overtly displayed all these characteristics without acknowledging anything that unites us a collective race of human species. While every country has the ultimate responsibility of controlling its boarders through its immigration policies, using immigration, employment and welfare as a focal point for a referendum campaign can be viewed as an all-time low for a country like the United Kingdom.
A narrow win by the Brexit campaign indicate inability of leaders of the campaign to convince a substantial percentage of the population of the need and importance of leaving the EU. This leadership failure does not only demonstrate inability to engage with a very diverse population, leaders in this camp also failed in reassuring the populace, including those who voted to leave that leaving would bring the control and independence desired. But through a lazy campaign have managed to appeal to the classic British colonial mind-set that sought dominance and control and ones who remain oblivious to the reality of the present times that people and countries that thrive do so through connectedness, adaptive characteristics and heterogeneity that is currently lacking in the system or which UK continue to struggle to harness from its vibrant, but ignorant population. A win is a win, some would say, but a divisive win is only a demonstration of failed leadership that struggled to achieve a landslide victory and one that continues to fail in uniting all front to devise a way of forging ahead in unison.
The same goes without saying for the Leave campaign who displayed lack of vigour, confidence and knowledge in what they were professing to people. Their inability to emphasise the detrimental and ripple effects of Brexit beyond the immediate and economic impacts was a facilitated episodes of lack of comprehension of context of their campaign. It also exposed their lack of engagement with authorities and people who are able to provide valid information from current practices and outcomes of research that justifies the relevance of remaining in the EU beyond trading opportunities. Being part of the EU, like any relationship does have its challenges, but nonetheless a mutually beneficial relationship in the most compact continent in the world. However, being able to achieve directly proportionate benefits from such a membership, yet sovereign decision making process on domestic issues such as welfare and employment for British and immigration, is fundamentally a leadership issue which may not be achieved from isolation nor through divided person(s) and parties.
Based on the current display of ignorance, it is evident that leaders in the UK may continue to disappoint, fail and cause more detrimental impacts on the economy and the very fluid unison of the United Kingdom in months and years ahead. While omission of expected or required action may characterise the negotiation process and arrogance of certain leaders prevent the UK from engaging in astute manner for her benefits, perhaps economic uncertainty may push the ‘independent, now fully in control’ United Kingdom the way of her commonwealth countries. After all they seem to have been managing that relationship better than the one with their EU counterparts.
