British Member of Parliament Jo Cox was assassinated on June 16 shortly before holding public office hours with voters in her district. An event of this nature has not occurred in British politics since MP Ian Gow was assassinated in 1990. Cox, barely a year into her first term, was also the first female British politician to be killed in office.
Cox’s death shows how bitterly divided Britons have become. She was in the Labour Party, similar to the Democrats in American politics, and was a proponent of comprehensive military intervention against the Assad regime in Syria and a spokesperson for Syrian refugees. Closer to home, she supported the continuation of the United Kingdom’s membership in the European Union.
While the U.S. is embroiled in a fierce presidential election and a renewed debate on gun control, our friends across the pond in the UK have ended a fierce debate of their own: Should Britain (the United Kingdom) remain in the European Union? A public referendum was held on June 23 and the result was that Britain will leave the EU. The count was close at 51.9% to 48.1% with a record turnout of over 70 percent of Britons eligible to vote going to the polls.
Passions ran high on both sides. Supporters of staying in the EU believed that economic prosperity would continue and that the British National Health Service would not have to suffer from government cuts that an exit would likely cause. The supporters of leaving believed that Britain would regain sovereignty and independence, have more control over immigration policy, and save money in the long run by not paying dues to be in the EU.
Britain’s decision to leave the EU shows what happens when fear and racism mix. Many Britons feel that the EU’s immigration policies have allowed too many foreigners, including Syrian refugees, into Britain while preventing Britain from taking meaningful action to curb immigration. It’s the old argument that outsiders are taking local jobs and plan to take over and destroy the present way of life. Street interviews in Britain with voters show that those who voted to leave were motivated more by racist and xenophobic sentiment than by considering widely projected economic projections, projections which have materialized in less than two days.
The decision to leave the EU has created economic panic across the globe. The British pound fell to a 30-year low. The Dow Jones on the New York Stock Exchange closed with a 600-point loss equating to over $800 billion in American wealth gone, the worst day since 2011. The effects of Britain’s exit have had similar effects on the French, German and Tokyo exchanges and the London exchange fell 5 percent. The effects of countries closing themselves off erodes economic stability and confidence in an era of globalization where events in one country can destabilize the global economy and politics.
The death of Cox symbolizes an attack on multilateralism and cooperation at the hands of people motivated by fear and blinded by the idea that present prosperity can continue despite radical change. This attack became a battle victory for those who would rather close their doors, hearts and minds to the world rather than experience diversity. The 20th century marked a global shift toward a more unified and connected world while the 21st has witnessed efforts to create more borders and separations.
