How to avoid Brexit break-up, Relate’s advice to couples
RELATE has issued guidance to couples still rowing over Brexit.
The relationship counselling service has drawn up a list of tips to help make peace among family members who took opposing sides in the EU referendum in June and still cannot agree.
The guidelines say couples should see their disputes over Europe as “an opportunity to learn how to manage differences in a more positive way”.
Warring spouses should put a strict time limit on their discussions about the referendum “to avoid getting to the point of no return”, they say.
The guidelines, from Relate’s Cambridge branch, advise couples to distinguish between referendum disputes and other issues from the past.
“Finding a way forward, despite seeing things differently, will be a lot less damaging than living in a battleground,” the advice says. “Sometimes it can be better simply to agree to disagree.”
Elaine Taylor, who compiled the tips, said all her clients spontaneously raised Brexit with her following polling day.
She said economic uncertainty had added to the strain for couples struggling with financial decisions, such as whether to buy a house.
“If you are OK in your family dynamic, then it’s fine. But if you are already at war over other issues, it can be just another nail in the coffin,” she said.
At the same time, lawyers have begun advising companies after staff who backed Brexit lodged claims that they have been bullied by their Remain supporting colleagues and bosses.
EMPLOYERS are facing a wave of com- pensation claims from staff members who feel they have been bullied at work because of their views on Brexit, lawyers have warned.
Workers who voted for Britain to leave the European Union in the referendum in June have complained of experiencing hostile remarks, harassment, and “cultural bullying” from Remain-supporting colleagues.
PwC, the consultancy firm, is advising four companies whose pro-Brexit staff have lodged legal complaints over angry clashes in the office and on social media.
Brexit is also putting relationships under strain at home, according to marriage counsellors who are dealing with the emotional fall-out. Relate, the counselling service, has compiled advice for couples who are clashing because they took different sides in the referendum. The strains suggest that the aftermath of the referendum could cost businesses money and couples their relationships.
The referendum divided Britain, with 52 per cent voting to Leave the EU and 48 per cent voting to Remain. In the weeks since, Westminster has been rocked by political turmoil, while the Bank of England has had to step in to shore up the economy.
Elaine Taylor, a Relate counsellor in Cambridge, said all her clients spontaneously raised the Brexit vote with her during the sessions following polling day. Economic uncertainty was causing added strain for couples who were struggling with their own financial decisions, such as whether to buy a new house, she said.
“If you are OK in your family dynamic then it’s fine. But if you are at war over other issues, it can be another nail in the coffin,” she said. “Every one of my clients mentioned Brexit as an issue in the sessions that followed the vote. It wasn’t the reason people were coming in but it added to their stress and put more pressure on relationships.”
Mrs Taylor said her son and husband had taken different sides on Brexit. She decided not to tell either of them how she had voted so she did not appear to be taking sides. “This can certainly cause deep and long-lasting rifts, especially if not managed well,” she said.