Departure exposes divisions in society

WHILE the leprechauns at the bottom of Northern Irish gardens don’t believe Boris Johnson has suspended parliament simply to facilitate his no-deal Brexit, the fact this issue has raised such deep, emotional, divisions in Britain should be no surprise.

It is simply a reflection of a deeply divided society that extends, and is felt, across the whole of Europe to greater or lesser extent and has the potential to signal the beginning of the end for the whole of the European Union.

In 2016 the Institute of Employment Rights reported Britain’s 31 million workers were among the most insecure, unhappiest and stressed in Europe while enduring some of the highest rates of bullying with

the least opportunity ‘for making their voices heard at work.’

In comparison to other Europeans they generally have less training, get fewer paid holidays, work more hours and longer before receiving poorer pensions.

In 2017 studies showed just 1,000 people in Britain owned more wealth than the combined wealth of 10 million citizens comprising 40 per cent of the population.

While the EU and especially UK governments have extended the privatisation of services and utilities into every function of our lives to provide profit that is sucked out of taxpayers into the banks of wealthy shareholders, they have done little other than create misery for hundreds of millions of citizens across Europe.

The big established political parties, corrupted by the power and influence of Big Money, Big Business and Big People, only have themselves to blame for the mess. Jan Zablocki, Co-ordinator, North Staffs Green Party