Fairness & Futurity

Should the EU 27 sovereign states only ‘reciprocate’ what the UK decides for EU 27 nationals resident in the UK sovereign state?

The plaintiffs of the recent January court case, heard in Amsterdam, did not think so. Neither does Belgian politician Guy Verhofstadt. The ‘defending’ Dutch state, during the hearing, said that the petitioning parties had been ‘premature’. But were they? Theresa May’s cabinet has already set the date, and time, for EU withdrawal at 23:00 29th March 2019. That seems to be with or without any deals being negotiated; and it is only just over one year away. The Dutch government do not seem to know what will happen, for British citizens resident in the Netherlands, after that date either. In 2019 nor the future.

Giving the British Embassy in the Netherlands their due, they did organise a couple of ‘forums’ for resident British Citizens and invited members of the Dutch Immigration service (IND) to attend. However, at the forums, only information that many already knew was relayed; questions about our most worry issues could not be answered, not even by the Dutch IND. If this experience was anything to go by, not only are the UK ill-prepared for ‘Brexit’, neither are the EU 27 states.

What has not been answered by the Dutch State is:

If I have not been resident in the Netherlands for five years by the ‘Brexit date’, will I and my family still be given the right to remain and work? What if I fall on ‘hard times’ and have to apply for benefits; will I and my family be asked to leave the country?

If I have been resident in the Netherlands for five years by the ‘Brexit date’, and have also applied for and gained ‘permanent residency’ rights as an EU citizen, will that be legally rescinded and will I have to apply again as a non-EU citizen?  What will happen to my family in that instance, especially if I am the only ‘breadwinner’ and on a low income?

Will British Citizens be required to pass the inburgering exams? If so, will the DUO (Dienst Uitvoering Onderwijs; https://duo.nl/particulier/) rule of not being able to gain a loan for the cost of Dutch lessons (if one needs them; it is not compulsory) and the cost of the exams after three years of residence be waived for British Citizens?

Will I still be able to simply ‘swap’ my UK driving license for a Dutch one, or will I be required to pass Dutch written (which are available in English at extra cost) and ‘practical’ driving tests?

The list goes on; nobody knows.

Because of all the uncertainties, some Brits are opting to take Dutch nationality. For those with more than 15 years residence who have been married to a Dutch national for more than three years or are over 65 years of age, that might suit as they can become dual nationals by option. That might not suit all because to become Dutch by naturalisation means giving up their UK nationality. Not only does this mean paying an additional fee to the UK (unlike some EU 27 countries, the UK does not automatically rescind UK nationality upon acquiring another nationality) but also means that the person will no longer have any right to live or work in the UK after 2019; they will have to apply for residence/work permits or working visas. 

Some are concerned that they might have to go back to the UK, for example, to care for elderly or sick parents; having to apply for UK residence in this instance, especially without work that pays a certain minimum income, may well be futile. The same could be said of British citizens resident in one EU 27 state with elderly parents resident in another EU 27 state. The ‘settled status’ being offered to EU 27 citizens in the UK, is also not good enough for UK citizens resident in the EU 27, if offered reciprocally, in this sort of example. With the UK ‘settled status solution’, people would face losing their right to remain in their current country of residence if they are absent from that country for more than two years. We do not know yet if the EU 27 will accept, and reciprocate, ‘settled status’. But, even so, without proper ‘EU citizen’ status, the problems for the British living in the EU 27 could be much greater. 

Some of us could have lived in the Netherlands for a couple of decades as families, or individuals, fallen foul of the global economic crisis, and had to live on bijstand for a couple of years; will we be requested, as non-EU citizens to leave our friends, support network, social network, homes and the country we love and live in? It sounds ludicrous, but it has happened to some non-EU citizens that have lived in the Netherlands for more than 20 years.

Some of us have lived in the Netherlands, as EU citizens, for less than five years and technically have no right to permanent residence as an EU citizen; will We be given the right to remain, to live and work, in the Netherlands after the end of March 2019?

Some of us are freelance workers; we have lived in the Netherlands before, but those years do not count towards ‘permanent residency’ because the five years of residency has to be continuous; what will happen in 2019 with regard to our right to remain in the Netherlands, and what will happen if we need to leave the Netherlands for a few years because of a work contract and then wish to return to the Netherlands for a subsequent work contract? 

These examples are inexhaustible.

There are issues faced by many others, including potential Erasmus students  and simply those who hold British passports and may want to study outside the UK for the whole of their degree.

Many may not agree with the decision of the plaintiffs to take matters to the Dutch court. But is it not best to try to gain some consensus (especially if referred further to European courts) about the retention of some or all of our EU rights as post-‘Brexit’ British citizens?. Do not most of the 50,000 British residents in the Netherlands sometimes think:

How will our rights in 2019, and the future, be affected?

It seems nobody knows; is that fair?

Sarah is the founder of Campaign for Europe,; lead admin of British in the Netherlands and a member of Brexpats - Hear our Voice, from day one!

She also oversees the 'fun' Facebook page The Queens Hat and ‘useful’ Facebook group ‘Re-use, Recycle, Re-invent - 'expats' in NL’

Rule Britannia?

Twice in the last week I have been rendered speechless; ‘jaw upon chest’ in incredulous speechlessness. My close friends would tell you that in the last few decades that sort of thing has never, ever happened to me; in fact, they probably relished a few minutes of silence on my part, given what has happened in the last year and how I feel about it. 😒

I wish I had never seen those news articles; or else they had been on a satirical news website. I checked … and checked again; but no satire; no ‘fake’ news as far as I could ascertain; it was – a rare word these days – REAL.

To coin a British phrase I was, even understanding the UK’s xenophobia though I do not like it, gobsmacked. Well and truly. Even members of Monty Python slapping me round the face with a freshly-caught wet fish would not have stunned me so much. Gobsmacked and incredulous; struck ‘dumb’; silent except for a coughing, choking noise and pointing at my computer screen in the fashion Donald Sutherland did at humans in the 70s version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Except that I did not ‘screech’ until I had got over the initial ‘stun’ of the headlines I had just seen. Donny got ‘one up on me’ in that respect.

First it was ‘’concertgoers at the Royal Albert Hall were ordered to put away their EU flags’’ (https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/the-proms-embroiled-in-brexit-row-as-concertgoers-eu-flags-are-banned-a3601136.html - retrieved 03/08/2017).  ‘Ordered’, ‘banned’? Has ‘Dictator Mayhem’ and the insecure factions of THAT political party gone so far as to declare a simple blue & yellow motif a ‘threat’? ‘Fascism’ is dead in the EU… long live UK censorship of ‘anti-UK-government symbols’. Conform, because ‘Big Brother’ is watching you! His name is not the EU nor the BBC (although I am certain that some will find a way to apportion blame to one or the other; or both).

I was about to ‘climb off my soapbox’ – for what it was worth, because I was too stunned to actually speak – when the next ‘bombshell’… no, …. ‘incendiary’ hit.

‘’ Theresa May sings God Save The Queen in Italian hotel bar’’ (http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-40788672 - retrieved 03/08/2017). I cannot describe how I felt when I saw that; there are no words…

She WAS a ‘remainer’. If it were not bad enough that she U-turned in order to gain power; if it were not bad enough that she tried, illegally, to push ‘Brexit’ through without parliamentary consent; if it were not bad enough that she signed a letter ‘allegedly’ invoking ‘Article 50’. She does THIS?

Not only does she holiday outside insular England…. (and yes, that IS deliberate on my part because Scotland and Northern Ireland did NOT want to leave the EU; and, let’s face it, who gives a s**t about Wales? England and the UK government certainly don’t! ;-) )…. but she visits a European Union country and ‘rebel rouses’ whilst she is there? It beggars belief.

My grandfather (and yes, I am that old) was dropped behind ‘enemy lines’ in the Netherlands and risked his life for the UK .... so that we could actually become as imperialistic and selfish as some European countries already perceive us?

UK Government, get a bl**dy grip, please!…. the UK is already ‘going to the dogs’ economically since ‘the referendum’; xenophobia has become ‘the norm’ and a Polish gentleman was killed; the ‘great reform bill 2017’, to anyone with a thinking mind, has just given ‘carte blanche’ for UK citizens and workers to be exploited. Forget ‘Good morning Britain’; wake up Britain! Don’t allow your basic rights to be taken away from you because of a mis-guided, ‘Murdochoid’ hatred for the EU. Don’t let a power-hungry ‘vulture’ dictate what you think; she ‘turn-coated’ VERY quickly when it suited her. How do you know that she will not turn against YOU next?

Sarah is not usually this outspoken and blunt, but recently she has been ‘bl**dy annoyed’. 😎 She is a member of Campaign for Europe and several other pro-active, pro-EU groups. Sarah is never a 'rebel without a cause' but certainly rises to a 'rebellious' challenge when there is a cause.

Remaining in Union for Europe

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Positive Protest Reaps Rewards

‘Grassroots’ organisations can make a difference. Brexpats – Hear Our Voice (BHOV) won a European Union award relating to their campaigning involving cross-border cooperation and ‘’concrete expression to the values enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights in the European Union’’.

From tiny acorns mighty oaks grow.

Brexpats – Hear Our Voice (BHOV) is not ‘just an anti-Brexit’ group. Rather it seeks that the EU, and the UK Government, maintain the rights of the millions of British citizens currently living in other EU countries and also the rights of the millions of EU citizens currently living in the UK. They have done much and achieved much.

July 2016

The group as a collective wrote and distributed a letter to all politicians in the UK and the EU Parliaments and some media outlets, raising the concerns of EU Nationals living in the UK and UK Citizens living in the EU post the Referendum Result.

Lord Berkeley raised the letter in a debate in the House of Lords (watch the video)

The letter was posted on the Lords of the blog site

(''Government must urgently address the BREXIT people fallout'' - Read it here)

August 2016

The original letter was redistributed (shortened and slightly adapted) to all recipients as stated above but also the new DexEU, Cabinet Ministers and some EU Commissioners’.

Some great responses from UK and EU MEPs, significantly Jean Lambert MEP.

Replies from some Cabinet Ministers and one from an EU Commissioner

September 2016

Written evidence was submitted to the British Future inquiry and their report.

                An invite to speak in person with Jean Lambert MEP at the EP was received and conducted. A very productive meeting ensued, which resulted in a continuing relationship.

October 2016

An invite received (and accepted) from Jean Lambert MEP to speak at a Forum on Freedom of Movement in London on 11th November 2016.

Freedom of movement from Jean Lambert MEP on Vimeo.

November 2016

Brexpats attended and presented at the Green Party Forum the Freedom of Movement Research.

December 2016

BHOV  assigned a ‘petitions coordinator ‘ who led the promotion of such.

Some of the petitions broke the 10,000-signature mark .

January 2017

BHOV signed “the Pledge” for the 3 million.

This was handed to the Prime Minister’s Office and coverage by many media outlets was gained.

‘Concerted Plea’  video completed and distributed to all politicians.

The House of Commons Select Committee for exiting the EU inquiry was held in London.

 BHOV were part of the oral evidence session.

February 2017

The group was a co signatory, involved in providing feedback and distribution of the "Alternative White Paper"

The Guardian newspaper reported on this ('' 'Alternative white paper' by Britons in EU says rights must be protected'')

March 2017

March 25 2017 in London

Brexpats – Hear our Voice  (BHOV) was mentioned in the 2nd report published by the Exiting the EU Committee.

The group collaborated with RIFT on their written evidence (BMP0011) to the House LORDS - European Union Committee - 14th Report of Session 2016–17

April 2017

Joint evidence with Remain in France Together  (RIFT) was submitted to the House of Commons Procedure Committee inquiry into “Delegated powers and the Great Repeal Bill”.

As part of The Coalition of UK groups “British in Europe”, BHOV met with the Department for Exiting the EU twice.

They met and spoke at a forum in London with the EU President Tajani.

Brexpats – Hear our Voice  (BHOV) campaigning and influence will continue. They work in coordination with ‘sister’ organisations RIFT and Bremain in Spain. BHOV has made a difference; we can all make a difference, so never give up on supporting your EU ideals.

To find out about Brexpats – Hear our Voice , and how you can help, visit their website brexpatshov.com

UPDATE: the BHOV founder has started a Facebook group British in the Netherlands for UK citizens, whom are concerned about their future rights, where they can share worries, share information and form a lobbying unit.

We are better when we stand together - the EU is part of the solution

UPDATE: Samit is organising two more rallies this September. (A link to his website can be found at the bottom of this article):

On June 3 2017 a pro-European Union rally was held in Brussels. Gemma, a speaker, addressed the rally:

Hello fellow Europeans!

I am here today representing the 48% and Beyond. The group was set up a year ago by EP Ward for a few friends. He didn’t realise a few meant 60 thousand. And counting.

The 48 and Beyond is not affiliated to any greater national movement. We ARE, in fact – a national movement!

The group has supported various initiatives and provides a sparking ground for ideas.

• More than 650 local groups

• 4 marches, from London through to Edinburgh

• Lobbying Parliament and the House of Lords in the run up to Article 50 by RepresentUs.

• The “Mildly Subversive” fringe EU flag Mafia who have made flag bombing a thing

• The Richmond Vigil, which takes our voices to Parliament three times a week.

• And thanks to Samit, we have come to Brussels to let them know That Remainers will not give up!

This is not an exhaustive list. Everything we have done, has been done by ordinary people. People like you and me.

Not the rich.

Not the elite.

Not the famous.

People are campaigning every weekend to fight this. And we will get there! If the referendum has taught us one thing, it has been if you want to get something done, you cannot leave it to the politicians!

Leave won the referendum and in doing so managed to derail the country. They only managed this through excluding of 5 million people from voting. They only managed it by lying. But, ladies and gentlemen, they spectacularly lost the debate.

Have you met one leaver who can give you a positive and workable version of the future available to the UK outside the EU? Have you found one person who could give you one good and valid reason to justify

• walking away from a project that has helped shore up 72 years of peace,

• that has brought continuing prosperity,

• that has given us access to the world’s largest single market

• which has provided us with the right to work, live and love in 27 other countries,

• given us access to specialised health care abroad and allowed many to settle in the sun to enjoy their retirement?

• How many people on this planet can boast that they have at least two citizenships to protect their rights?

We are here, because the face of the UK is one that many of us no longer recognise. We are here, because we have the feeling that the UK has gone off the rails.

The majority of our press incites hatred towards anyone who does not agree with their narrow definition of jingoistic nationalism.

Our politicians pander to hate while their policies drive division further into our society.

Our country is 1.5 trillion in debt. The value of wages has declined by 10,5% since 2007.

This is the result of TORY austerity. Not the EU. The Tories.

The UK has problems. It has valid problems. But the punch it swung on the 23rd of June 2016 was misdirected. Instead of hitting the EU, we should have gone for the Conservative government.

A Tory majority will not get May a strong hand at the negotiating table in Brussels. Even if 650 seats went to the Tories – the UK is still one country. Facing a Europe which has never been stronger, more stable or more united in its purpose.

And despite the predictions of leave and the wishful thinking of Farage, the EU is far from falling apart. Those regressive forces that want to take us back to the era of the nation state have failed – Austria, The Netherlands, France – all stated at the ballot box that a departure from the EU is not for them after taking one look at the madness that has taken hold of 27% of the UK population.

The 48 and Beyond is a growing movement, and as the clouds grow darker, the UK will need us to keep the light shining.

We know that the EU is NOT the cause of the problems our country faces, but part of the solution

We are better when we stand together.

So what are our challenges for the future?

1. We need to speak out – to make sure those who have honoured our country by choosing the UK as their home – our husbands and wives, daughters and son in laws, neighbours, friends and colleagues – we need to let them know they are part of what makes the UK what the UK is – vibrant, innovative, international.

2. We need to make sure that over the coming months and years the blame for the debacle that is coming towards us as surely as the titanic met the iceberg – we need to make sure that we lay the blame for that squarely at the feet of those politicians and pundits who have deceived the public. May, Farage, Cameron and Boris, to name but a few.

3. We need to remind our fellow Europeans that the other UK, the open, pragmatic, humorous and humane, progressive and positive UK is still there. And that we want to be part of driving this Union forwards. There is so much we can do together for this world.

4. And we need to educate and inform. To be ambassadors for the EU. To make sure that people know the history of this place. That it was created to ensure peace, prosperity, progress. That while it may not be perfect, it is good. And it is the best we have.

Like any country, the UK has its demons to deal with. And we will deal with these demons. Because, Ladies and Gentlemen, we are Europeans. We are Brits. And we are patriots.

And we will get our country back on track.

Gemma and Samit are just two members of the Facebook group The 48%. Gemma was a speaker and the rally was organised by Samit, who is also the founder of EUNITE.

Maintaining our Freedoms, Safety and Rights

Ahead of the coming UK General Election, Republic of Ireland and British citizens, living both in the UK and other EU countries, aged from 26 across the whole range to 77, express why they want to remain European Union citizens.

I bought into the idea of common identity, history, values and culture right from 1973. - John, Irish, living in UK.

I want to remain an EU citizen because this is a crucial and opportune time for citizens' action to transform the European Union in a democratic direction. – Gerald, British, living in England.

The European Union gives us economic stability/transparency, national/international security through shared EU intelligence and equal rights for all EU citizens. It maintains and improves the high standards of living in expected from first world nations, has media transparency/accountability and accessibility for all EU citizens to higher levels of Justice. The EU provides an international collective voice of reason which has evolved over decades to guide member nations whilst setting an example to the world for negotiating a more civilised transition through the current turbulence in an ever increasing unstable globalised/insular world, assurance that the freedoms which have been gained and fought/campaigned for over 70 years will remain intact, and collective strength to empower member nations to resist the  detrimental influences of other world regimes.  - Jan Paul, British, living in the Netherlands.

I want to remain an EU citizen because I want to keep my right to live in other European countries. - Matt, British, living in France.

I want to remain an EU citizen because I AM a 'European Citizen' and I am staying that way!  - Mick, British, living in Germany.

I want to remain an EU citizen because I am an European, and I am never going to give up my right to Freedom of Movement.  - Chiara-Etsuko, British, living in Italy.

I live with my husband in a small town on the Costa Blanca.  My husband had been a self- employed builder in the UK but had to stop working because of health issues. He has received amazing care here and has been given drugs which he was told in the UK were not available to him. We sold our house in the UK a couple of years ago. We were devastated and also angry with the result of the referendum because we are now fully integrated Europeans. – Pam, British, living in Spain.

I want to retain the freedom to live, work or retire anywhere in the EU member states. – Adam, British, living in the Netherlands.

'Living in Europe meant, up until June 24th 2016, that I was a member of a massive, chaotic, cacophonic, creative, colourful community. -  Gemma, British, living in Germany.

I want to remain an EU citizen because I wish to remain living and working in Europe, to be able to move freely between one European country and the other. I can find no advantage in leaving the European Union. Because I have been living longer than 15 years outside the UK, I was denied a vote in the Referendum and also will not be able to vote in the coming election. - Caroline, British, living in the Netherlands.

I'm Kentish! I want to stay as this is my home my life I have nothing to return to UK for! Whatever I'm staying even if have to sell home and live in camper van! – Pam, British, living in France.

It's important to work together to resolve shared problems and achieve shared goals. Britain brings a sense of commercial liberalism to Europe whilst Europe teaches Britain the art of realpolitik compromise. Both are only possible when we all recognise and understand our respective cultural identities and are working together in the same institutions. – a British citizen, living in the UK.

Thank you to members of the Facebook groups Campaign for Europe, Europeans, Brits Abroad against Brexit and The European Party for their contributions and making this piece possible.

Breaks-it and a victory toast for the UK?

This article was first written shortly after the UK referendum.

My brexfast was not very palatable; my toasted Dutch bread topped with Danish butter and washed down with Spanish orange juice stuck in my throat.

My own countrymen had voted against me, my child, my grandchildren and generations beyond. At best, on a personal level, I felt abandoned by my country of birth; at worst, on a global level, currencies were unstable and stocks and shares were crashing, without having yet fully recovered from the global crash of 2008.  Whilst ‘Brexiteers’, (as former UK Liberal MP Lord Ashdown, likes to call them; and he did feel for his country on that dark night) were toasting their victory; others were ‘counting the cost’ – not just financially and not just for the EU, but for the state of the Union that had existed  between England, Scotland and Wales (Northern Ireland is an even more complex and fragile issue beyond the remit of this article and that county of the UK was also mostly dismayed by the result) for almost 310 years….England voted ‘leave’… England ‘breaks-it’.

What a breakfast for me and tens of millions of others…… Then I started to ask myself: Why did the government call a referendum whilst the country was still reeling from the ‘shocks’ of recession and why call it on that date this year?  ‘Conspiracy theories’ notwithstanding,  and not wanting to blame the current cabinet solely, as it takes a whole government to make such a decision, not just the Prime Minister or the Members of Parliament of the party ‘in power’, maybe it was simply due to a lack of systems thinking?

The United Kingdom’s vote to leave the European Union is not as simple as it may seem – 52% versus 48% is not the whole story; nothing ever is. In the lands of ‘perfect economic theory‘ and ‘complete information’ maybe so, but who lives there? I don’t live on that planet and, I suspect, neither do you.

Of the estimated 65 million residents (of all ages) and estimated 2.6 million adult UK passport holders not resident in the UK – so a total of, perhaps 67.2 million people - only 17.4 million voters exercised their ‘majority’ opinion for the UK to leave the EU. The total of all those who were permitted to register to vote was about 46.5 million. In so as far as ‘the electorate’ is concerned this works out as approximately: 37% ‘leave’, 34% ‘remain’ and 28% ’abstention’ (i.e. non-voters).  I have written ‘estimated’ in italics because that is exactly what it is; unlike some countries in the EU, the UK government has no registration scheme for either its residents or for its citizens who live outside the UK. The number of resident and non-resident citizens are always a ‘guessing game’ for the UK until a census is appropriated, which is only once every decade and only ‘counts’ those resident in the UK on that specific date.

In the Netherlands, for example, each resident is required to ‘register’ their address with the Local Authority where they live using the ‘tax/social number’ (BSN) they were given at birth or when they first became resident in the Netherlands. Big Brother? In my experience, and that of my friends, who are of many nationalities, absolutely not! It helps to streamline ‘Government systems’ by linking each Government department together via the one number per citizen. In the UK we were given a National Health Service number at birth and a different National Insurance at around the age of 15 or so.  Some can remember and recite their National Insurance number verbatim, as it is needed for work and taxes, but practically no-one know their National Health Service number. A child’s National Health Service number used to be (and may still be) on the documents that any UK parent has when claiming child benefit (which is available to all at the present time). But nobody ever knows their National Health Service number.

Getting a bit closer back to the point: the Netherlands’ Government do not need to spend huge amounts of money every ten years to carry out a census because they already know. The Netherlands’ Government do not need to spend huge amounts of money to ask people to fill out forms and them post back, or go online, to tell the Government if they want to vote because they already know who of which nationality is allowed to vote in which Dutch elections. Dutch citizens just go to their town hall to renew their passports…. It’s so much easier for the citizen and cheaper for the Government. The Dutch system is not perfect, but at least there seems to be some sort of system that ‘attempts to look at the whole’ within the ‘boundary’ of their sovereignty and does not always allow each government department to act independently, flail around in the dark and then blame another department, or an MP, when money is wasted or if everything goes wrong.

Any person who likes to ‘analyse systems within a boundary constraint’ could probably see that the UK EU referendum was heading for a ‘big fall’ even before the first vote was cast. It was a ‘wicked problem’ even before the 23rd of June.

Less than two years beforehand, the Scottish people had applied their referendum rights to say that they wanted to continue the union with England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Some may be regretting that now and, indeed, Scotland seems to be in the process of mandating a further vote on the very same issue as soon as they can; they are also ‘in talks’ with the Republic of Ireland, who are not only EU but also have the Euro as their currency.

Did Westminster not think to analyse potential ‘systems dynamics’, to see either good or ill, when bringing forth the referendum? Were politicians, and their advisors, unware of strategic options development in the analysis of problematic situations? Or did their own greed for power make them totally blinkered to any scenario that was not good for them personally; and to hell with the country they are supposed to serve?

The first thing I take issue with, as a ‘systems thinker’, is the structure and rules of the ‘referendum voting process’ which I feel was flawed. Surely, a ‘safeguard’ should have been put into place that any decision considered (or enacted) by government had to be from a majority vote? After all, this is what usually happens in the UK House of Commons when MPs are considering and enacting legislature on their country’s behalf. Given the question ‘Should the UK leave the European Union’ 37% ‘Ayes’, 34% ‘Nays’ and 28% ’Abstentions’ would probably have never have got further than the Commons and, if so, would have fallen flat on its face in The Lords, with little debate, because the Commons had been unable to agree. The Queen would not even have known, let alone ‘rubber-stamped it’. Her Majesty, rightly so, tends not to opine on issues of even much less gravity than the EU referendum…. despite what some popular UK tabloids may say.

Without such a safeguard as a ‘majority vote’ written into the referendum rules, just one person could have swung the vote between ‘leave’ and ‘remain’.  On watching the results come in live on TV, I noticed that many of the declaring officers said that some ballot papers had been discounted from the vote because both the ‘leave’ and ‘remain’ boxes had been crossed. This may have only counted for a few thousand ballots, but does that not in some way signal the confusion of those who actually turned out to vote? Were the 28% ‘abstainers’ even more confused by what is, after all, an incredibly complex, multi-disciplinary issue that not even one highly-trained expert could analyse solo?  Was the actual question or statement upon which to vote flawed?

Psychologists seem to know that if people are asked ‘Do you prefer hot milk?’ most will say ‘yes’; the same people if asked ‘Do you prefer cold milk?’ most will say ‘yes’; But asked ‘Do you prefer hot or cold milk?’ the responses are likely to be ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ in relatively equal measure with a fair dose of ‘I don’t know’ mixed in. ‘I don’t know’ was not an option on the ballot paper. The only way to say ‘I don’t know’ was simply by not voting; thus leaving the on-the-fence citizens completely out of the picture and creating a calamitous two-horse race with a calamitous outcome that would have dissatisfied and disillusioned a great deal of the UK population no matter what the outcome had been.

Although this referendum was only, so-to-speak, ‘an opinion poll’ of the eligible electorate and is not legally binding on the UK government, the government should have taken greater responsibility for any outcome and, ergo, the care of its citizens; no matter in which country they reside or what their vote may have been.  Rats are now deserting the proverbial sinking ships of whatever party they belong to; The buck is being passed faster than a hand-grenade with its pin removed; no MP wants it to go off in their face; no MP of any party wants to even hold the poisoned chalice that is the result of ‘the 2016 UK referendum’ let alone sip from it. Ultimately, Westminster and Whitehall will admonish the proletariat; they believed the rhetoric; they cast the votes.

Social learning is ‘a many splendored thing’; it slowly taught the public about animal welfare, pollution, carbon emissions, organic farming and ‘Fair Trade’. But this time social learning was a big, two-pronged failure:

First, the tabloids, prominent speakers, MPs  et al had their influence on ‘the eligible electorate’ . It was as subtle as using a sledge hammer to crack a walnut and pretty much everybody could see it. But did the UK Government, and its advisors, think systemically about more understated forms of social learning that could have influenced an individual’s vote?

2016 was the year of not only Wimbledon and Le Tour de France, but also of Euro 2016 football, 2016 Olympics and Queen Elizabeth’s 90th birthday. 2016 could be seen as the most influential year, in many decades, to ‘national pride’ in the UK. So why not hold the referendum in spring 2017? Maybe government preferred to hold a vote shortly before the summer recess so that MPs could thence pretend to have ‘private discussions’ with other parties, whilst in reality making a hasty retreat to their holiday homes in the EU or in British overseas territory tax havens; no thought to the police force who cannot sip fizz and bask in the sun, even if they could afford to, because all merry hell seems to be about to break loose on the streets of Blighty.

Second, the repetitive use of a ‘phrase’ or ‘mantra’ can sway any person’s opinion. Systems Thinkers try to ensure that they are aware of their own innate biases before embarking on a project; every breathing entity on our earth has them in one way or another. It is, frankly, the way any individual species manages to survive. But bias is not always innate and is often learnt. The UK media picked up the latest portmanteau buzz-word called ‘Brexit’. Even good old ‘Auntie Beeb’ bandied it about with merry abandon both verbally and in written captions. For a supposedly neutral public service provider this could have been seen as reckless….. considering that it obviously contained the word ‘EXIT’.

The ‘wicked problem’ of a referendum now seems to have turned into  the reality of ‘an almighty mess’. Could this have been, at least in part, avoided if systemic thinking had been brought into play before ‘referendum day’? I shall not be toasting the result myself, because for either outcome the whole scheme lacked thought and planning from outset to, what might be a very final, bitter, conclusion. Maybe I’ll have either hot or cold milk tomorrow for breakfast, instead of toast…..

This video is an initiative of students of all European nationalities, studying together at the College of Europe in Belgium.

Sarah is a member of Campaign for Europe, keen EU supporter and 'systems thinker'. She is British and currently resident in the Netherlands.