Voters hoping for a shift in their fortunes when they opted for Brexit faced a rude awakening Friday morning. Britain’s vote to leave the European Union was celebrated by supporters as taking control of the economy — but while some are celebrating it as a victory against the elite, it’s clear that the effects of Brexit will likely hurt the working class far more.
Working class voters in the U.K. disproportionately voted to leave the E.U. and greatly influenced the outcome of Thursday’s vote. But if the working class enabled Brexit to happen, they had remarkably little to do with leading the revolt. The primary figures in the Brexit saga have been wealthy politicians, who have ridden the recent European wave of anti-immigrant sentiment and fears over refugees into a position of power — where they likely won’t suffer from the economic repercussions of Brexit in the same way that others in British society will.
Many of these leaders are members of the same elite that working class voters view as being corrupt and out-of-touch. U.K. Independence Party (UKIP) leader Nigel Farage — who played a large role in leading the campaign to leave the E.U. — is a wealthy former commodities broker who has come under fire for tax-dodging and has claimed poverty despite earning a six-figure salary. Former London Mayor Boris Johnson, another Brexit champion, once described his own annual salary of £250,000 as “chicken feed.” Still, through an expert campaign that painted immigrants and refugees as a threat to the economy and British jobs, these leaders were able to sway many voters in favor of Brexit.
Speaking an hour after the vote to leave the E.U. was officially confirmed, Farage, walked back his promised to allot £350 million a week to Britain’s National Health Service — a key tenet of the Leave campaign that was painted on buses driving around the country.
Asked by ITV’s Good Morning Britain if he could ensure the £350 million he said is currently sent to the E.U. every week — a number that has been thoroughly disputed — would go the NHS, Farage replied, “No I can’t, I would never have made that claim. That was one of the mistakes made by the Leave campaign.”
Source: http://thinkprogress.org/world/2016/06/24/3792551/brexit-working-class/
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