It certainly was, hibeejim. 'I don't earn as much as I want to - must be Johnny Foreigner's fault.' 'Britain doesn't manufacture industry has been dying for decades - must be because of all the freedom of travel.' 'The NHS can't keep pace with the demands of an ageing population and the effects of self-inflicted drug and alcohol abuse - well that's all down to the Belgians, innit.'
And let's not even start on the whole refugee situation. People caught up in brutal, bloody wars not of their own making; their homes bombed, their neighbours trying to murder them or one another, and it's somehow outrageous that we should offer any sort of refuge to those people.
90% of this has come down to sheer xenophobia and outright racism. For all the moaning I've heard from the 'leave' campaigners about the EU, I've not heard a single argument about how things would be any better out of it, and I know from where I stand things have the potential to get a lot worse now. My point about the firm I work for is that it's not a British company, it's a major name that chooses to operate and invest in the UK, bringing jobs, opportunities and a lot of wealth (and we pay a hell of a lot of UK tax on top of that). It will now significantly downsize its operations here simply because it's a lot easier and more efficient for it to be in an EU country. It'll probably move most of its staff to Germany now and they'll reap those benefits. And it's one of countless firms and companies that will now take that sort of action, and there'll be nothing to replace them.
And let's not even start on the whole refugee situation. People caught up in brutal, bloody wars not of their own making; their homes bombed, their neighbours trying to murder them or one another, and it's somehow outrageous that we should offer any sort of refuge to those people.
90% of this has come down to sheer xenophobia and outright racism. For all the moaning I've heard from the 'leave' campaigners about the EU, I've not heard a single argument about how things would be any better out of it, and I know from where I stand things have the potential to get a lot worse now. My point about the firm I work for is that it's not a British company, it's a major name that chooses to operate and invest in the UK, bringing jobs, opportunities and a lot of wealth (and we pay a hell of a lot of UK tax on top of that). It will now significantly downsize its operations here simply because it's a lot easier and more efficient for it to be in an EU country. It'll probably move most of its staff to Germany now and they'll reap those benefits. And it's one of countless firms and companies that will now take that sort of action, and there'll be nothing to replace them.