Even if we don’t know what ‘’Brexit means Brexit’ actually means, we need to talk about England. Brexit was made here. England outside London voted heavily Leave and English identifiers everywhere (including London) were the most likely to vote Leave. Many liberal and non-English commentators blame ‘English nationalism’ for Brexit, but few of them bother to engage with the reality of today’s England.
Brexit held up a mirror to a divided nation, and the nation broke. The deep divisions it reflected have been growing for years. We are not one, single, nation, united by broadly similar lives and a shared view of the world. We experience the world differently, see the world differently, believe in different things, hold different values, and tend to live in different places.
According to Hope not Hate, 68% say no political party speaks for them, 55% think the political system is broken, and 76% think politicians put the interests of big business before them. Feeling marginalised, not having a voice, sensing your identity is under threat: all these are pregnant with disruptive political potential. Unresolved, our divisions will disrupt politics for the foreseeable future and on issues unrelated to the European Union.
