The one reason Europeans are willing to put their countries' economy at risk
UK voters sent shockwaves through the global markets last week and sent their own pound plummeting when they voted to break off from the European Union.
The decision by 52% of Britons who voted for the so-called Brexit may not be in their best interest economically, but it will likely stem immigration to the UK — a top concern for many Europeans.
In fact, a new research note from HSBC indicates that Europeans prioritized immigration over other major economic issues. In 2015, Europeans were more concerned with immigration than the economic situation, unemployment or public finances, according to the HSBC note, which cited the European Commission’s Eurobarometer survey.
In the UK, immigration was a major theme of the Brexit debate. The Independent polled 2,100 voters before last week’s referendum and found 52% thought it would be easier to control immigration if the UK were outside of the EU.
The UK’s most anti-EU county, a London borough called Havering, has experienced rapid growth in recent years, NPR reported last week, citing data from the online polling firm YouGov. The increased commute times there and influx of apartments rather than houses has frustrated locals, according to the NPR report.
“It has nothing to do with color and race necessarily,” a local councilman named Lawrence Webb, who was campaigning for the Brexit, told NPR. “People perceive that their quality of life is diminished.”
The immigration debate has also been framed around the issue of national security. Throughout Europe, the debate over migration and safety intensified following the terrorist attacks in Brussels last March. And after this month’s attacks in Orlando, Florida, Britain’s “leave” campaign suggested the UK would be safer if it separated from the EU.
Other countries that might want to leave the EU might also try to capitalize on fear and anti-immigrant sentiment. “We know that migration and the role of Brussels have been concerns for the electorate across much of Europe, not just the UK,” HSBC mentioned in its recent note.
That note added: “The UK may have opened a Pandora’s box in demonstrating that the EU is willing to negotiate terms.”
