On June 23, 2016, over 17 million residents of the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union. Overnight, the Pound Sterling dropped to a 31 year low, bringing with it the largest drop Wall Street has seen since November 2011. It soon became apparent that the consequences of the “Brexit” would not accrue solely to the British people or their economy. The United States, it seemed, would also suffer hefty losses. Although it was the financial costs that snatched headlines, the Brexit poses an even larger threat to American politics, especially with regard to the upcoming presidential election.
Xenophobia Dominates Decisions
A popular push for Britain’s exit from the European Union has been building for years now. In 2008, Britain’s Euroscepticism grew louder in response to the economic failures of Greece and Spain, and the tidal wave of austerity that came with them. This sentiment spread, eventually prompting Prime Minister David Cameron to promise to hold a referendum on EU membership if his Conservative Party won in 2015. Their eventual victory thus paved the way for the referendum, announced officially on February 18, along with the heated debate that followed.
Politicians justified their support for the Brexit in a variety of ways. Among them was the argument that the large number of E.U. regulations, combined with the continued troubles of E.U. countries like Greece and Spain, were tying Britain down economically. However, some supporters of the Leave campaign advanced distinctly nastier arguments. This rhetoric was most commonly employed by the United Kingdom Independence Party (or UKIP), a right-wing populist group that has gained immense support in the buildup to Brexit. Led by radical nationalist Nigel Farage, the party gained 26 seats in the 2016 U.K.-wide local elections, bringing their grand total to 58 English Council seats. Those gains came largely from connecting with the sentiments of white, older, poorly educated residents of the United Kingdom. Unfortunately, the rhetoric and policy promises that took advantage of these sentiments were often steeped heavily in xenophobia. In 2015, Steven Woolfe, the party’s immigration spokesman, specified that the party would adopt a cap on immigration, limiting it to 50,000 highly skilled workers. Although this statement was disputed by some UKIP officials, the anti-immigrant sentiment that it espoused is rampant in the rhetoric of the party’s leadership. Both Suzanne Evans, UKIP’s deputy chairwoman, and Nigel Farage have pushed strict barriers against unskilled workers, and barely better policies for skilled immigrants. This anti-immigration sentimentexpanded into persistent, aggressive xenophobia during the months preceding the referendum. Farage was quoted spouting intense criticism of the E.U.’s immigration policies, stating that Britain “has become unrecognizable”, and expressing disgust at not hearing English spoken any more in parts of the United Kingdom. As the fear mongering firebrand of the party, Farage forcefully pushed for a British exit from the European Union and as the clock ticked closer to the referendum, his rhetoric became more and more threatening. On June 16, UKIP unveiled a campaign poster with the words “Breaking Point” painted on it in red. The poster depicted a large crowd of migrants and refugees, most of them non-white and “foreign-looking”. Immediately, the parallels to Nazism emerged, with the poster revealed as strikingly similar to Nazi propaganda footage of migrants. It became clear that UKIP was encouraging British citizens to “break free of the E.U. and take back control of our borders” with persistent race baiting.
Meanwhile, Across the Pond
American attention to the Brexit had been relatively minimal up until the referendum took place. However, the noisy rise of UKIP in Britain now seems to be reflected in the increasingly heated national debate surrounding the U.S. presidential election. At the center of this debate is Donald Trump, who has not kept his anti-immigrant, blatantly racist platform secret in any way. Instead, Trump has used his rhetoric to capitalize on the anger and disappointment of an overwhelmingly white, older, and poorly educated base. In fact, 84% of Trump supporters stand behind the proposal to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, and 64% believe that Muslims living in the US should be subjected to more scrutiny than members of other religious groups. With bombastic speeches about building walls and threats to keep all Muslims out of the United States, Trump’s nativist rhetoric has nurtured an unbridled national anti-immigrant sentiment that is strikingly similar to the one perpetuated by UKIP and Nigel Farage.
Although the correlation between these two countries is easy to pinpoint, causation is harder to determine. It seems far-reaching to suggest that Donald Trump’s consistent fearmongering in the United States has caused or directly led to Nigel Farage and UKIP’s success, particularly post-Brexit. In fact, the rise of these two figures in their respective countries, although correlated, seems to be rooted very much in the issues their countries are facing. For Trump, it is the discontent and fear felt by many Americans after 9/11, the rise of ISIS, and the 2008 recession. For Farage, the root lies in the euro crisis’ negative effect on the British economy and the refugee crisis currently taking place. Although there are common themes linking both of these trends, each is deeply influenced by and related to the specific events of their respective countries.
Fear for the Future
It may be too difficult to determine the exact relationship between Trump and Farage’s harmful scare tactics, but observers in both countries should pay close attention. It is evident now with the Brexit vote that racist rhetoric and discriminatory policies are not just limited to the United States. They are, in an age of globalization and rapid change, quickly taking hold in international politics, and becoming an influential determinant of policy. Aggressive anti-immigrant rhetoric and the scapegoating of minorities and immigrants must be taken seriously. Britain’s vote to exit the European Union, a decision highly influenced by the xenophobic rationale of UKIP, is just another indicator that there is a serious wave of nativism ascendant in both British and American politics. With international focus on Britain’s recent decision, there is great potential for conversation and change to take place. However, there is also the possibility that rising anti-immigrant sentiment and xenophobia will worsen. With the risk of increased hostility and prejudice on the horizon, the world’s eyes are fixed on American elections as a key indicator of things to come.
Image Source: Flickr/Gage Skidmore