Walled in - or out

The Romans under Hadrian constructed a wall across northern Britain to keep the Scots out,  the Anglo-Saxon king Offa  made a ditch along the Welsh border, the Berlin Wall was created as a defence against communism, the Israelis are building a 430 mile wall to keep the Palestinians out, Donald Trump wants a much longer one  to exclude Mexicans.
And now 52% of the British over-18 population have voted for an ideological  and psychological barrier that will isolate us from Europe and make many actual or potential non-native settlers feel unwelcome. "We've got our country back!" proclaim the Brexiteers. 

But, but... we are Europeans and this island was once part of the main. Until 8000 years there was no island and people moved freely across the area now known as Doggerland which lies beneath the North Sea. For a century of more the remains of plants, animals and even tools have been brought to the surface by fishing boats and currently an archaeological project is mapping and studying the underwater landscape. It's thought that  rising sea levels at the end of the Ice Age and catastrophic tsunamis caused by collapsing glaciers  overwhelmed Doggerland  and created the island we know as Britain.

It seems perverse that, as the world heats up, the sea level rises and our scepter'd isle shrinks exponentially, the popular will is to cast ourselves adrift from the continent. If we are shutting the doors on migrants, we are also creating barriers for our young people who have so much to gain from free and easy movement between European countries.

I felt almost paralyzed with shame and disgust yesterday (which is why I'm backblipping) especially on hearing Farage's casual disclaimer regarding the much-touted £350 million 'available' to be spent on the NHS if we left the EU. I don't blame the people who were taken in by the right wing press and politicians, they needed to be able to express their fear and anger and they did it in the only way that was offered to them. 

Well, it's all said and done now and  we have to live with the consequences. I've read some very heart-felt blips on the subject  (although strangely none that supported Brexit.) I'd particularly recommend Arachne's brilliant piece of writing on the subject of Europe.