THE RACIST HISTORY OF THE UK AND THE 2016 EUROPEAN UNION (EU) REFERENDUM

Abstract

Objectives. This piece argues that Britain has a long history of racism, much of it emanating from its colonial past. It maintains that this has been not only ingrained in the upper and middle classes but also culturally embedded into the working class. Due to this, trade unions and indeed children’s education have consistently not highlighted, or indeed dispelled the myths and lies regarding the ‘non-exploitative’ nature of colonialism. Material and methods. As evidence of the above three main studies are detailed. The first two are of North of England Polish migrant data. The first a 2012 study and the second a post EU Referendum study. The third study is a post EU Referendum study involving UK trade union leaders and senior officers is utilised. Results. Regarding Central and Eastern European (CEE) migration to the UK. There is initial discussion of the negative response of a UK Conservative party followed by a more positive response of UK trade unions and the Labour Government. However, it was also found that both groups were negative at times. As well as there being prominent prior and post Brexit racism. Due to a mainly regulated labour market, ‘blame’ was attached to UK migrants by politicians and political parties, this grew both during and post Referendum. Conclusions. As noted, racism exists due to the UKs free market, exploitation, neoliberalism, and the financial crisis which has ignited a long-standing colonialism and empire. Although, there is some positive anti-racist training and work being undertaken by trade unions and other bodies with Show Racism the Red Card central to this work. Keywords: Racism, Polish migrants, trade unions, UK EU Referendum.