The third coming

Everyone is speculating since June 23. No one is taking the responsibility to give any valid plan which would mitigate the damage which already occurred in social, economic, and financial sector

Right after the First World War, the Irish poet  W. B. Yeats, who was the pioneer of Celtic revival composed a poem ‘’The Second Coming" feeling the turmoil around him. The poem used the term second coming metaphorically to describe the surroundings of post war Europe. His far sightedness made him sense the upcoming storm of the uncertain world which was bound to follow after month of First World War and beginning of Irish war of independence. These were also followed by the Easter rising at a time when British government was preparing to send in the black & tans to Ireland. His anxieties in the poem were closely tied to the traumas of a continent at war, and the rise of unnecessary industrialism and militarism on global scale.
In the second last line of the poem he cited the word 'beast' referring to the traditional ruling classes of Europe who were unable to protect itself from materialistic mass movements. Interestingly Europe entered into Second World War within 20 years of the First World War, which Yeats was apprehensive about in his poem. I wonder if Yeats were alive today on the BREXIT moment, would he have written another similar poem and titled it as ‘the third coming?’ The concluding line of Yeats poem referred to his belief that history is cyclical. On this note, I am not shocked at the consequence of EU referendum if this had to be the case.
Moreover, from politicians to commoner, from decision makers to immigrants, from senior pensioners to young graduates everyone seemed to be so divided and utterly baffled that it left them with no choice rather than making a blunder, which they thought was right thing to do. Yes, Yeats was right at pointing that internal insecurity, political mistrust, racial hate crime surely give rise to repetitive error. Sigh, Britain has able to create such dramatic history by deciding to break up from EU.
If we reflect a little back we would see that the government believed that voting to remain in the EU would have been the best decision UK could have taken. However due to government’s and remain team’s inadequate campaign and lack of proper dissemination of information, the UKIP and  the leave campaigners took the dominance over the voters. Unfortunately a nation’s fate has been decided by lies, misinformation and the British public’s fear of immigration. The easiest strategy the leaver’s group came up with to get public on their side was on the issue of immigration. The so called valid concern for many people in the UK was influx of cheap overseas labour for which British people’s wages were push down, and  immigrant claiming social benefit right after entering the UK border, which the UK people weren’t happy about as they thought these new arrivals were creating extra pressure on their welfare system.
One of the most absurd claims flying in the air was that once Turkey joins the EU, they would bring more potential immigrants and ISIS supporters and Britain would have left with no choice than babysitting them. Interestingly all the in house immigrants were also against each other. Asian immigrants were not happy having Eastern European immigrants entering UK and starting to have equal share of welfare benefit, health service, education and jobs. The British Bengalis were not either delighted to have Italian Bengali migrants residing in UK for the similar concern. It was ridiculous to observe how shamelessly each group of migrants thought they are better than the rest of the immigrants and their contribution in UK economy matter more than others.
British people must have forgotten while voting to leave that UK is not part of the EU’s border-free zone. The UK immigration controls its own borders, which gives UK the right to check everyone, including EU nationals arriving from continental Europe. Also the government had negotiated a deal which would have made social benefits system less of a draw for EU citizens. New immigrants could not have full access to certain benefits until they have worked for 4 years. How unfortunate that most of the British voters, especially senior citizens were nurturing revulsion on their mind without having any authentic indication.
It has now become clear that how voting to leave EU have created uncertainty, racial discrimination and economic disruption already, which furthermore would reduce investment and cost Jobs. It would result in 10 years or more of uncertainty as the UK unpicks relationship with the EU including renegotiating new agreements with the EU and over 50 other countries around the world. Some have argued that UK would strike a good deal quickly with the EU because they wanted to keep access to UK market. However, the government mentioned before the referendum that it would be much harder as 44per cent of UK exports go to EU while less than 8per cent of the EU exports enter UK. A more limited trade deal with the EU would give the UK less access to the single market than UK have, including for services, which make up almost 80 per cent of the economy. We have already witnessed how the resulting economic shock has put pressure on the value of pound right after the result.  
Though the chancellor George Osborne, who backed the ‘remain’, tried to reassure financial markets that the UK was in a strong position to tackle the inevitable volatility.  But one shouldn’t forget that he also said it clearly earlier that if UK decided on BREXIT then people should expect spending cuts and raised taxes to ensure that country can live within its diminished means post –Brexit. Here we go, the pound is already grappling for stability, and we
never know if it would risk higher prices of some household goods and
damage living standards in upcoming days or not.
Everyone is speculating since June 23. No one is taking the responsibility to give any valid plan which would mitigate the damage which already occurred in social, economic, and financial sector.
The world used to see the Great Britain as a pragmatic and cautious nation; however the BREXIT has blown away the foundations of what people believed the British character to be.  Like a Gemini I am having two thoughts running parallel on my mind, volatile temperament indeed.  The one head is saying that UK will gradually smooth out the negative effects but my hard core economic mind is saying something else. Britain may not able to withstand this sudden plunge on its economy. Anyway let time decide!

The writer is a British Bangladeshi poet and author

The third coming

Everyone is speculating since June 23. No one is taking the responsibility to give any valid plan which would mitigate the damage which already occurred in social, economic, and financial sector

Right after the First World War, the Irish poet W. B. Yeats, who was the pioneer of Celtic revival composed a poem The Second Coming feeling the turmoil around him. The poem used the term second coming metaphorically to describe the surroundings of post war Europe. His far sightedness made him sense the upcoming storm of the uncertain world which was bound to follow after month of First World War and beginning of Irish war of independence. These were also followed by the Easter rising at a time when British government was preparing to send in the black tans to Ireland. His anxieties in the poem were closely tied to the traumas of a continent at war, and the rise of unnecessary industrialism and militarism on global scale. In the second last line of the poem he cited the word beast referring to the traditional ruling classes of Europe who were unable to protect itself from materialistic mass movements. Interestingly Europe entered into Second World War within 20 years of the First World War, which Yeats was apprehensive about in his poem. I wonder if Yeats were alive today on the BREXIT moment, would he have written another similar poem and titled it as the third coming? The concluding line of Yeats poem referred to his belief that history is cyclical. On this note, I am not shocked at the consequence of EU referendum if this had to be the case. Moreover, from politicians to commoner, from decision makers to immigrants, from senior pensioners to young graduates everyone seemed to be so divided and utterly baffled that it left them with no choice rather than making a blunder, which they thought was right thing to do. Yes, Yeats was right at pointing that internal insecurity, political mistrust, racial hate crime surely give rise to repetitive error. Sigh, Britain has able to create such dramatic history by deciding to break up from EU. If we reflect a little back we would see that the government believed that voting to remain in the EU would have been the best decision UK could have taken. However due to governments and remain teams inadequate campaign and lack of proper dissemination of information, the UKIP and the leave campaigners took the dominance over the voters. Unfortunately a nations fate has been decided by lies, misinformation and the British publics fear of immigration. The easiest strategy the leavers group came up with to get public on their side was on the issue of immigration. The so called valid concern for many people in the UK was influx of cheap overseas labour for which British peoples wages were push down, and immigrant claiming social benefit right after entering the UK border, which the UK people werent happy about as they thought these new arrivals were creating extra pressure on their welfare system. One of the most absurd claims flying in the air was that once Turkey joins the EU, they would bring more potential immigrants and ISIS supporters and Britain would have left with no choice than babysitting them. Interestingly all the in house immigrants were also against each other. Asian immigrants were not happy having Eastern European immigrants entering UK and starting to have equal share of welfare benefit, health service, education and jobs. The British Bengalis were not either delighted to have Italian Bengali migrants residing in UK for the similar concern. It was ridiculous to observe how shamelessly each group of migrants thought they are better than the rest of the immigrants and their contribution in UK economy matter more than others. British people must have forgotten while voting to leave that UK is not part of the EUs border-free zone. The UK immigration controls its own borders, which gives UK the right to check everyone, including EU nationals arriving from continental Europe. Also the government had negotiated a deal which would have made social benefits system less of a draw for EU citizens. New immigrants could not have full access to certain benefits until they have worked for 4 years. How unfortunate that most of the British voters, especially senior citizens were nurturing revulsion on their mind without having any authentic indication. It has now become clear that how voting to leave EU have created uncertainty, racial discrimination and economic disruption already, which furthermore would reduce investment and cost Jobs. It would result in 10 years or more of uncertainty as the UK unpicks relationship with the EU including renegotiating new agreements with the EU and over 50 other countries around the world. Some have argued that UK would strike a good deal quickly with the EU because they wanted to keep access to UK market. However, the government mentioned before the referendum that it would be much harder as 44per cent of UK exports go to EU while less than 8per cent of the EU exports enter UK. A more limited trade deal with the EU would give the UK less access to the single market than UK have, including for services, which make up almost 80 per cent of the economy. We have already witnessed how the resulting economic shock has put pressure on the value of pound right after the result. Though the chancellor George Osborne, who backed the remain, tried to reassure financial markets that the UK was in a strong position to tackle the inevitable volatility. But one shouldnt forget that he also said it clearly earlier that if UK decided on BREXIT then people should expect spending cuts and raised taxes to ensure that country can live within its diminished means post Brexit. Here we go, the pound is already grappling for stability, and we never know if it would risk higher prices of some household goods and damage living standards in upcoming days or not. Everyone is speculating since June 23. No one is taking the responsibility to give any valid plan which would mitigate the damage which already occurred in social, economic, and financial sector. The world used to see the Great Britain as a pragmatic and cautious nation; however the BREXIT has blown away the foundations of what people believed the British character to be. Like a Gemini I am having two thoughts running parallel on my mind, volatile temperament indeed. The one head is saying that UK will gradually smooth out the negative effects but my hard core economic mind is saying something else. Britain may not able to withstand this sudden plunge on its economy. Anyway let time decide! The writer is a British Bangladeshi poet and author