Teachers will have been asked many questions about the EU referendum. A lot of children are deeply confused and concerned over what is likely to happen to their country, their prospects and their friends. Teachers shouldn’t shy away from this. After all, if we don’t inform them, they may well inform themselves from such esteemed sources as bonkersconspiracytheories.com or, worse, the Sun or the Daily Mail.
This isn’t a party political issue, so you don’t have to tread as carefully as when discussing general election campaigns. There were people from each party on both sides – even 4% of Ukip voters wanted to remain in the EU. So you are under no obligation to do that BBC “balance” thing where, after having a real scientist on the news to explain global warming, they wheel out Nigel Lawson to explain that the world is, in fact, flat.
In other words, teach it like any other subject, using facts, logic and reason. There are some things you’ll want to cover, some myths you’ll want to bust, and some fears you need to ease.
What was the leave campaign about?
The leave campaign was led by Boris Johnson, who wanted the other side to win, but was hoping to use a narrow defeat for leave to eject Cameron from No 10 and become prime minister. After realising leave had won, he looked like a man faced with a bottom-set year 9 double lesson on a Friday afternoon. And now he won’t be PM anyway, thanks to the manoeuvring of his Tory pals.
What was the remain campaign about?
The remain campaign, which lost, was relying on Jeremy Corbyn to bring in the votes. This was unfortunate, as Corbyn was quite possibly hoping leave would win, and thus campaigned with all the enthusiasm of a maths teacher asked to cover a drama lesson. The result has been a leadership coup by 80% of his MPs, so that went well. Possibly it would have been better for us all if Johnson and Corbyn had swapped sides at the start.
Can the decision be changed?
The referendum was advisory, not binding. In theory, parliament can reject it. This suggestion causes leave supporters to have potentially dangerous aneurisms brought on by fury, so if you’re going to discuss it in a class with leavers in it, make sure you don’t like them first.
A second referendum has been mooted, either to give those with “buyer’s remorse” a chance to return to sanity, or to allow the public to vote on whatever deal the British government can arrange with the EU. This prospect also deeply upsets leave voters, who are adamant that under no circumstances should a referendum ever contradict a previous referendum. Except for the one in 1975 that confirmed our membership of the EU. It’s OK to contradict that one.
Why did British people vote leave?
“The British people” didn’t vote to leave. Just 52% of those who voted chose to leave; 48% chose to remain. If the students can’t understand how close that is, sack your maths department.
As all decent history teachers know, when someone tells you what “the British people” think or did, they’re automatically wrong. We can’t agree on how to pronounce “scone”, so the idea that we all agree on complex matters of international politics and trade is madness.
Why did only London and Scotland vote remain?
This isn’t true. I know there’s a map on the internet that showed that. But if you drill down to local authority areas, most of the country’s large cities voted remain, while large swaths of the commuter routes into London also turned pro-Europe. You can use this as a good example of why they shouldn’t trust anything on the internet.
Why did working-class Labour voters vote leave?
If you read any newspapers or watch the TV, you’d think every leave voter was an inarticulate, ex-Labour-voting, working-age person living in Bradford who hated immigrants. This is also not true. Most Labour voters voted to remain. The majority of Tory voters chose leave, and the largest pro-leave age group were pensioners. I guess trying to stick your microphone under the nose of a superannuated bank clerk tending his roses outside a retirement bungalow in Rutland is less likely to get you a juicy racist quote, though.
Are all leave voters racists?
Not at all. But all racists were almost certainly leave voters. Although as racists aren’t generally the brightest sparks, there’s always a chance they crossed the wrong box. Use this to give a lesson on the logical inference rule, or modus morons concept. Or just the “morons” bit.
Can we spend more cash on the NHS, and will immigration stop?
Your students may be under the impression that we have £350m a week extra to spend. We don’t. They may also believe immigration will now cease. It won’t. Some might even think Michael Gove is interested in public services. They need some remedial help – get on it.
Should I ignore expertise and knowledge, like Gove said?
A lot of what the experts said would happen is likely to happen, or already unravelling. Economic crisis, breakup of the UK, a rise in racist and xenophobic violence (good key term, there, for spelling practice). Students may be confused because the former education secretary told them that experts had nothing of value to say. Feel free to instruct them that this is because he’s an idiot.
So what happens now?
Nobody knows. The leave side campaigned to destroy the basis of our political and economic stability without having any plan for what might come next. None. Nada. No idea. To be fair, the remain side didn’t have a plan either.
Now certain Tory leadership candidates say they will negotiate an exit strategy with the EU, and leaders in other EU countries say they will not even talk about it until the UK makes its formal article 50 notice of withdrawal. That’s stalemate. Meanwhile, the best legal minds in the country are pondering whether the prime minister can decide to go ahead with Brexit, or whether it will take an act of parliament, requiring a vote of MPs (most of whom want to remain in the EU).
Wish your students luck. Then suggest they emigrate. Poor kids.
The writer is a history teacher who blogs as Disappointed Idealist
