Brexit; wasting time, wasting votes and wasting hope.

Hi there, for the final time this decade!

This year has been crammed with political conflict, confusion and has quite frankly torn the country apart. I try to avoid political posts as I don't believe it is helpful to the message I want to put across. When I created the blog, I wanted it to be a neutral space that would analyse real issues and tackle them from every point of view. However, there is one political event that I have to speak about. I'm sorry in advance, this is the Brexit blog, the first and only.

In June 2016 the UK voted to leave the European Union, three and a half years later we have moved nowhere. We have completely wasted this time. Quite honestly, how you and I voted in 2016 doesn't matter anymore. A vote was made. We have spent so much time, effort and money just talking about Brexit. The thing that annoys me the most is that we could have poured our energy into actual issues. Now I just want Brexit to be gone and done because we have other things to discuss.

Just imagine if we had spent as long confronting the problems we have surrounding knife crime, mental health or domestic violence. Imagine how far along we could be with implementing successful resources to challenge actual issues in our society. We could have helped millions suffering from mental health diagnoses. We could have saved people from violent relationships that have ended with death. We could have changed the world we live in, the world our children will grow up with. We could have if we had stopped and thought about how little Brexit is in comparison to other issues we have.

That is not to say it should be scrapped. As I said, we voted and a decision was made. Regardless of how you voted, you have to honour the result. Our country has been at war with itself for 3 years, and for what? It is frustrating voting and not getting the result you wanted, but it's more frustrating watching that decision be prolonged for so long. Follow the vote through and then re-evaluate. Have another vote, do whatever you think is necessary at that point. Not only have we been at war with ourselves, hiding from other issues, but we are also creating a society that doesn't believe in itself.

It sounds mainstream to say this but we are creating a society that feels like it is not worth voting. What was the point of voting, either way, if we're going to spend the next 3 years trying to revoke either decision? I cannot stress enough how serious this actually is. This is about more than Brexit and it always has been. This is about people believing in what they vote for. This is about people having a right and using it freely. I feel so strongly about this. As a woman, people actually gave their lives so that I could vote. People died so that I could make a choice, of off my own back, to vote and how to vote. Their lives gave me more than just a right to vote. It continues to give me hope that change can happen, that voting does cause change.

We are forgetting how important one vote was to them.

This isn't to say that everyone has to vote. You have the right to and it is your choice to exercise that. I just hate that we've spent so much time talking about one thing. All I've heard for 3 years in Brexit. It's like there are no other issues going on anywhere. There's a slight touch on crime or the NHS then it's back to Brexit. Parliament has wasted so much time in discussions and making deals and rejecting deals, that they leave no time to talk about anything else. Picture the UK spending 3 and a half years and £15.5 billion (per year) introducing positive change. How far could we have progressed if we allowed ourselves to leave?

Truth is, we'll never know. We will never again (I pray and hope) spend this long discussing one topic. This is possibly the biggest political event in the history of the UK, so yes I know we need to examine it, but we are completely unaware that we are sabotaging ourselves. We are destroying any hope people had in our voting system. We are ruining any trust we have with our government, parliament and each other. Brexit has taken over every aspect of our lives. It has torn families apart.

I don't believe politics should ever do that. Get involved and have your say yes, but don't let it control you for the worst. The comments I see flying around on social media, from both sides, is disgusting to be honest. I cannot believe we have reached a point where we generalise so much about the opposition that we are calling people every name under the sun to get our point across. It's just not necessary.

One major reason I don't write about politics is because of the generalisations attached to every party or policy. According to what I've seen today (13th December, Election Result Day) every person who voted Conservative is either racist or 'retarded' (their wording, not mine) and every Labour voter is a Jewish hating Nazi. Clearly both of these are not true for every single person who voted. Just chill out. It's a vote, and yes they do mean a lot, Im not trying to take away from that. What I'm trying to get across is the there is so much more important stuff we should be talking about. Use your vote but respect other peoples, and if they have voted differently to you, talking to them. Start a conversation with people, understand their thoughts, get to know why they actually voted the way they did. Not to change your own opinions, or convert them, but just to understand.

Stop assuming you know why people have voted the way they have. Stop stereotyping, on all grounds. Listen and get to know people, you might actually find something in common. As for Brexit, let's leave and be done with it. Let's say we leave and its the worst decision we could have ever made. We destroy all of our relationship with Europe and have no way back in, that would suck. Let's say we don't leave, we continue wasting time talking about the small chance that Brexit might happen and we also destroy ourselves from the insides. From where I stand, this is a lose lose. As much as I hope I am wrong, the UK will riot if we don't leave. We are not just risking losing our partnership the EU, we are also risking losing all hope of unity and support within the UK. We don't believe anyone. I don't. I don't trust politics on any side. I don't believe half of what is said will be done.

I voted because I couldn't not. I couldn't firstly because I know what people when through to allow me to vote. Secondly, if you don't vote, you can't complain. Politics isn't meant to be clear cut, but it should be civil. Don't let it negatively control your life. Talk, listen, learn and be better.

Don't worry I'm done, I will never be discussing Brexit again! (Well I bloody hope not anyway!) See you in January!

Katie x