‘In the Russian diaspora of England, people celebrate and… cry’
These days the people of Great Britain said 'no' to the European Union. While economists, political experts and other specialists guess what consequences of the referendum the Kingdom, united Europe and Russia will face, a columnist of Realnoe Vremya Milya Galiullina, who married a British man and moved from Chelny to England, was satisfied with the outcome of the vote. In her opinion, the EU citizens end their free ride, so, they will visit the island like the Russians do. She told about the public sentiment in Britain and among the immigrants in a column that was specially written for our online newspaper.
Initial shock
A historic event took place in Great Britain on 24 June morning — the United Kingdom decided to stop its membership in the European Union. To be more precise, the majority of the voters — 16,7m people — made this decision. The supporters of the European integration were shocked with the results of the Referendum: average data of the inquiries before the vote demonstrated their predominance.
At night when the votes were counted, there was a tense fight between opponents. The greatest margin was only 4%, the least — less than 0,3%. The situation became clearer by the morning: Brexit supporters went ahead and took the lead through the declaration of the poll.
The majority of the British voted for the political independence and cancellation of the uncontrolled immigration. And, undoubtedly, the results of the Referendum cannot help but please. It is a country that has a strong economy and won't sink without cheap and unqualified labour force. But people who support the European integration now admit they give up. It is a step towards uncertainty for them. They hoped for a recount till the end, but the resignation of PM of Britain James Cameron, the leader of their party, completely destroyed their hope.
Indubitably, the changes will take more than one year; Britain will gradually change its policy and economy towards the Europeans, no one is going to depart nobody suddenly. The EU citizens will remain in Britain but they are likely to be divested of their 'bonuses': benefits, free simplified visa, possibility to move their families, free education and medical care.
What about the Russians?
In the Russian diaspora, people celebrate and cry. Many people are afraid of the unstable situation and sudden changes, of course. There is no guarantee that the reforms won't affect us, though, formally, we, wives of British men, have nothing to do with the Referendum. In our community, there are spouses of Lithuanian, Polish, Greek and other citizens of European countries. They had big plans for the future: for example, a mortgage, a stable job. Now their confidence in the future failed.
The results of the Referendum caused a break in the very United Kingdom. Scotland and Northern Ireland voted for the membership in the EU, while England and Wales were against it. Now the Scottish threaten to leave Great Britain. The Referendum on this topic took place in 2014. The majority of them voted to remain in the United Kingdom. We can wait and see what happens next. Meanwhile, the Royal Family maintains its political neutrality.
British liberality to the European Union: the shutters are put up
As for me, I think the attitude of the British government towards the EU citizens and their families extremely liberal. For instance, a wife of a British man needs to prepare a pile of papers from Moscow to apply for the royal citizenship. These papers confirm her relationships with her husband, his financial stability (£18,600 per year), a TBPE test, confirm her knowledge of English and, in addition, she needs to pay at least £1,000.
Meanwhile, a wife of an EU citizen gets her visa also from Moscow but without all this paperwork. She also is given an opportunity to find a job upon arrival to the country, be on benefits and get a free education in college. Where is justice? Entrance terms are to be equal for everybody. Then the lovers of dolce vita at the expense of British taxpayers will fall out during the process of 'natural selection'.
The party that wants Britain to leave the EU promises more working places, salary increase, better quality of medical and social services. It remains to be seen what the changes will lead to. As a citizen of Russia living in Great Britain, I respect the decision of the majority of the British.