The Narratives – Mohamed Miah

By Mohamed Miah

Brexit wasn’t a revolution. It wasn’t about sovereignty, control, or giving power back to the people. It was a masterclass in deceit—a political con pulled off by a group of elite opportunists who saw an opening to exploit our frustrations. Let’s be real: Brexit was a betrayal of the working class, sold on a mountain of lies, and it’s left us worse off in every way imaginable.

And yet, here we are, still picking up the pieces.

The Great Lie

“Take back control.” How many times did we hear it? Over and over, like a hypnotic chant, until it became a national obsession. But control of what, exactly? Our laws? Our borders? Let me tell you what we’ve actually taken back: crippling trade barriers, higher costs, and a labour shortage that’s tearing industries apart.

The £350 million for the NHS? Never happened. The frictionless trade with Europe? A fantasy. What we got instead was chaos. Businesses drowning in paperwork, small exporters shutting down, and an NHS on its knees. And the architects of Brexit? They’re nowhere to be found. The same people who told us to “believe in Britain” now can’t even deliver basic competence.

They didn’t just lie—they manipulated an entire nation. They took our anger, our struggles, our desperation, and weaponised it for their own gain. And now, we’re paying the price.

The Working Class Was Betrayed

Let’s not sugarcoat this: Brexit was a disaster for the working class. The very people it claimed to help are the ones suffering the most.

• Jobs lost, opportunities gone: Remember when you could dream of working in Paris or Berlin, or finding seasonal work abroad? That’s gone now. Instead, we’re locked in, while industries like farming and manufacturing bleed out because they can’t find workers.

• Wages stagnant, costs rising: Brexit has fuelled the cost-of-living crisis. Import prices are up, trade is down, and wages? They’re barely moving. The gap between the rich and the rest of us keeps growing, and the people at the top don’t care. They never did.

• Communities left to rot: Small businesses, the backbone of so many communities, are collapsing under the weight of Brexit bureaucracy. But when was the last time you heard a politician admit they got it wrong?

Brexit was never about empowering the working class. It was about consolidating power for the elite. The rich got richer, and the rest of us got left behind.

Privatisation The Real Agenda

Here’s the thing: Brexit wasn’t just about leaving the EU. It was part of a larger project to dismantle public services and hand them over to private profiteers. And nowhere is this clearer than in the NHS.

The NHS isn’t failing because it’s inefficient—it’s failing because it’s been underfunded, under-resourced, and deliberately undermined. Look at Capita. Look at G4S. These companies have shown us exactly what happens when you put profit before people. Workers get paid peanuts, services decline, and the only winners are the shareholders.

And yet, the same people who told us Brexit would make Britain great are pushing for more privatisation. They’ll call it “modernisation” or “efficiency,” but we know what it really is: stripping away the last remnants of a system that was built to care for everyone, not just the wealthy.

Real Change, Not Token Gestures

If we’re serious about fixing this mess, we need to stop pretending that tinkering around the edges will work. Modernising the NHS, the civil service, or any public institution requires radical change, not meaningless gestures.

Here’s what needs to happen:

1. Slash the waste at the top: Too many layers of management, too many trusts, too many people protecting their own interests. Cut the fat at the top and redirect that money to the people who actually make the system run.

2. Invest in workers, not profits: Pay workers what they deserve. Give them the tools and training they need to thrive. Stop outsourcing vital services to companies that see people as numbers on a spreadsheet.

3. Unite public services: Enough with the fragmentation. Bring the NHS and other public institutions under a single, unified structure that prioritises care and efficiency, not bureaucracy.

This won’t be easy, and it won’t be popular with the people who benefit from the status quo. But change never is.

Brexit A Symptom of a Broken System

Here’s the thing, Brexit didn’t happen in a vacuum. It was the product of a broken system—decades of neglect, austerity, and inequality that left people feeling powerless and angry. And instead of addressing the real problems, the elite offered us a scapegoat. They pointed to Brussels, to migrants, to faceless “bureaucrats,” and said, “They’re the reason you’re struggling.”

It was a lie then, and it’s a lie now. The real enemies of the working class aren’t sitting in Brussels—they’re sitting in Westminster, in boardrooms, in think tanks, designing policies that protect their wealth and leave the rest of us to fight over scraps.

A Better Future Is Possible

But here’s the good news: it doesn’t have to be this way. We don’t have to accept a future where public services are sold off, where jobs are scarce, and where opportunities are reserved for the privileged few. We can rebuild. We can invest in our people, in our communities, in a vision of Britain that works for everyone—not just the wealthy.

It won’t be easy. It won’t happen overnight. But the first step is recognising that the system is broken and having the courage to demand better. Not just better leaders, but a better system. One that puts people before profit, care before competition, and solidarity before division.

Brexit was a tragedy—but it doesn’t have to define us. The choice is ours.