Page 58 - Urban Kapital DECEMBER DIGITAL ISSUE

BLACK BRITAIN &
THE BREXIT DEBATE....CONTINUED

// THE REMAIN CAMPAIGN WAS

TOO FOCUSED ON ECONOMIC

ARGUMENTS WHEN CULTURAL

CONCERNS WERE ALSO POWERFUL.

Rupa Huq, Labour MP for Ealing Central and Acton, is one of a grow-
ing number of politicians that back the idea of a second referendum,
she says: “The decision should be taken away from 650 MPs and
given to the population.”
Others argue that a second referendum undermines the original ma-
jority vote to leave. However, it could be argued that the ‘Windrush
scandal’ and many other racially charged outcomes of the 2016 vote,
could prompt the apathetic members of Black and ethnic minority
communities in Britain to come out and vote, given a second chance,
and many may decide to change their original vote in the wake of the
shocking outcomes we have witnessed so far.

How did you vote in the 2016 Brexit referendum? Did you abstain?
How would you vote if given a second chance?

A complex picture

Trevor Phillips, former chair of the
Equality and Human Rights Commission,
last year argued that the Remain cam-
paign was too focused on economic ar-
guments when cultural concerns were
also powerful. In his view, the apparent
reluctance of the Remain campaign to
discuss immigration was a mistake. “It
looked like we had nothing to say about
the thing that was important to most
people,” he said.

Sunder Katwala, Director of independ-
ent thinktank British Future recently ar-
gued that like others, there was apathy
amongst voters from ethnic minorities
which Remain failed to acknowledge.
Stating: “The Remain campaign was a
textbook example of “cosmopolitanism
without diversity”.

MAGAZINE // 58 Article by. M Powell MAGAZINE // 59