It’s Tuesday, the week is still young and already it’s emerging as one of these times where change seems to happen almost every minute.
Craig took off again today on yet another work jaunt. This time he is off to Ukraine.
For the first time, Roscoe pays attention to his destination and is full of questions – is it still at war? Is it safe? What is he doing there? Trying to have an informed discussion at breakfast is challenging, I’m not a ‘morning person’ and I don’t have satisfactory answers to any of his questions. But I also notice I’m quietly trying to define the word ‘safe’. What is safe? To what extent is safety a good thing or does safety lead to complacency and indifference?
I look up the definition of “safe” in the Oxford dictionary;
“Protected from or not exposed to danger or risk; not likely to be harmed or lost: Not likely to cause or lead to harm or injury; not involving danger or risk: Uninjured; with no harm done”.
This makes me think about work. In the oil and gas industry staying vigilant, being safe, is a culture, a mantra, a creed and way of being that is drummed into you from day one. It’s a strongly held belief that if you can engender a safety mindset, it will permeate into your social and home life and so acting safe becomes second nature no matter where you are or what you’re doing.
It’s so true. Some personal examples include holding the handrail, rarely walking up and down escalators, looking for a lid for my hot coffee, never walking and looking at my phone and intervening when I feel safe to do so. I’m more conscious when I’m doing naughty things, recognising the potential consequences and making my decisions based on risk and probability.
We know from recent attacks in Paris, Belgium and today, once more in Turkey, that staying safe, being safe, is often not an option if you want to live life. That by unfortunate quirk or circumstance, you may fall victim to events which cause life changing situations for you or your loved ones. But staying small, indoors, hidden, fearful isn’t being safe, it’s allowing terrorists to infiltrate our thoughts and well being.
All of this uncertainty and insecurity affects confidence. Sterling is dropping in value. Investors are spooked. The markets are reacting to the pollsters predictions. Yes, the EU referendum is dominating every news bulletin in the UK. 
At dinner with some girlfriends it’s a lively topic of discussion. We agree that the politics of fear from both sides; dire economic consequences/too much immigration, don’t work for us. I share my view that it is fundamentally a vote about belief and values. The best way for me to decide is by being guided by my beliefs; on what I hold to be true formed by my history and experiences and my values and hopes for myself and future generations. To make a decision based on any of the arguments being postulated in the news items, by people who have obvious personal motivations, is potentially foolish, particularly when some of what is being said has so many holes we could evoke the curds of the Swiss! 
Our discussion winds its way onto groups who are most likely to vote in, or out, and our conversation focuses on older voters, those who have lived though war and bloodshed, who have a strong sense of cultural identity, are those more likely to vote out. When safety wasn’t an option in this country, when bombs were going off, rationing was in (both in the 40’s and again in the 70’s under the Heath government) there was a strong sense of national identity, created though fear and loss and a greater sense of togetherness. Erosion of this identity, the desire for greater cultural homogeneity motivates the older voter.
Those of us who have never experienced, or only been lightly touched, by the impact of war, or rationing, have less fear of losing our national identity . What does being British mean these days? Are we not now the sum of our parts rather than the whole? And true, when I asked around the table, “what nationality are you?” the answer is “I’m English”, or “I’m Irish” or in my case, “I’m Scots”. To the question “where do you belong?” there was a more interesting response “Europe, but not continental Europe”. Are we proud to be British anymore? Or are we so impassioned by our smaller parts of the United Kingdom? Perhaps we would rather associate ourselves with the much larger EU? Maybe Gordon Brown was onto something when he spoke in 2007 about our national identity. The full text of this speech is worth a read given our current political context.
Perhaps if we view the in/out debate through the prism of history, of safety, of identity and beliefs, it generates a more systemic perspective. Perhaps if we adapt to greater uncertainty, we will let go of the politics of fear and division.
One thing for sure, we are lucky that this is what we are focused on. It’s a big decision for us and for future generations. But if I was Ukrainian, peeking into UK right now, I’d be thinking “These people are so fortunate, they have nothing to complain about”.
Let’s not be complacent. Let’s not get confused by the rhetoric, scallywagging and scaremongering. Whatever we believe, we know our mark counts, British democracy works and, no matter what the outcome, we will still sleep safely in our beds.
