January, 2017. The Tory Prime Minister stands in Lancaster House behind a podium bearing the words ‘A Global Britain’, and announced plans for the UK to leave the European Single market. She spoke of an outward looking nation that will not tolerate free movement of people. Watching the speech, it is hard not to be reminded of Orwell…the Ministry of Peace that starts wars…the ‘Global Britain’ that closes it’s doors to its 28 closest neighbours. This has all been pretty dismaying for the younger generations,who are more global than their predecessors by nature (there’s a great YouGov poll which backs this up- click here). It’s easy to feel pessimistic about Britain’s, and our own, future.
But don’t despair too much. Yes, the older generations (and a minority of young voters) have shafted 48% of us into rolling in the drawbridge, but the castle is still ours to inherit.The old king may be sitting smugly in his throne and waxing lyrical about regaining control, but he will pop his nostalgic clogs soon. And the heirs of this kingdom are indeed outward thinking, hungry for global business, and tech savvy enough to make it happen. Let’s have a look at some of the Generation Y businesses that are surpassing borders and achieving things that the lumbering giants of old industry cannot.
Why? Because Millenials are working differently to the generations before them, and therefore have different priorities. As Andrea Durkin writes “Millennials are ambitious, but they define success differently from older generations, who tend to value security and vertical growth in an organization. They are socially connected but don’t want to be tethered to large companies.” Studies support this, the generation that watched their parents lose jobs in the recession are more likely to start their own business.
Business owners, by nature, benefit from free trade agreements with other nations. The revolution of the internet gives startups a global reach. They also benefit from skilled immigrant workers. Therefore these entrepreneurial youths are indeed outward looking, and not hindered by the fear of European power that draws in nationalists in droves. Public attitudes often appear to swing on a pendulum. One decade is austere, the next liberal. President Obama gets elected, President Trump follows. It is to be expected. Therefore, I predict that post Brexit disaster Britain will see the rise of internationalism as Generation Y take power and those pesky Daily Mail reading middle ages descend into geriatric irrelevance. Just give it a decade.
‘A Global Britain’, May said today when outlining her Hard Brexit approach. No doubt, the next few years will see frustratingly unnecessary loss of British access to the single market, cuts of EU funding, a drain of skilled workers away from the UK, economic turbulence and inevitable emigration of businesses and jobs away from Britain. The younger, ‘start up’ generation will certainly feel the effects. It is the final act of violence from the miserly old king clinging on to power. And it will give our generation exactly the fuel we need to take the crown, and create a new definition of what Britain is, and it’s place in the world.
Dream.Think.Speak 