Dear Sir,

Brexit may have its complexities and there will be many well-reasoned guesses as to the future outcome of Britain and the European Union, but a few things in the political realm were made crystal clear: leadership is way out of touch with the people.

The march of globalisation will continue, but in its path there will be rumblings and consequences that will be felt and expressed by native populations all over the world. Britain showed a prime example in this latest referendum and, to a similar degree, the Bermuda same-sex marriage referendum could be said to have inferred the same thing.

The money watchers may have seen that, with an expanded British economy, absorbing a significantly increased and diverse population had created a bubbling economy that arguably was becoming the model for the world. With a rich growth in population, there was created seemingly no end to the need for services, hence jobs, and no end to the supply of labour, specialised or cheap. Nowhere could that phenomenon be more appreciated than in cities such as London.

However, with that phenomenon also came some other realities that were replacing the life known to many Britons, who now had to face the competition of cheap labour taking up positions in hospitality and many low-paying industries and highly educated and experienced competing at the upper end. While the overall economy may have been surging ahead, it did not make the average Brit feel as though they had a place in it. I wrote a recent article and I said in it that the next General Election in Bermuda will be determined by the words of a song, “the way you make me feel”.

In spite of all the brilliance, or even wisdom, espoused by the politicians, the Brexit vote was indeed a reflection on how the British people were made to feel by both the major party leaderships. Although same-sex marriage in Bermuda was a single-issue referendum, it still gives a reflection on the space in which political leadership is operating and how important navigation by political leadership can be.

Perhaps someone may take the time and reread my post where I wrote the Bermuda Government needs to get out of the business of marriage and leave it entirely in the hands of individuals, societal groups and churches.

The Governments need only to recognise the contracts of consenting adults and leave the morality of marriage to the people and their various beliefs. If in God we trust, then let the people be free.

KHALID WASI