Remaining On Course?

Impact of Brexit on Social Resilience within Communities

As Britain now looks to move forward after the Brexit vote, the landscape does not look that rosy. Recent investigations by BBC and the Police Chief Council have indicated that there has been a 5 fold increase in hate crime since the result. While Teresa May indicates that the road will not be smooth for the UK, though there are options for growth, the ongoing decline in community relations and increase in hate crime is now impacting on community and social resilience. Such has been the increase in the attacks on EU nationals that it has forced the Government's hand to consider how to deal with the increasing xenophobia within British borders. Extremism, born from UKIP and British National Front doctrine, is now starting to impact at a strategic level. It seems that Brexit has resulted in an unforeseen schism in the UK communities and that social resilience is fracturing.

Unfortunately the current government approach, direction and local council engagement is not addressing the problem. Social resilience needs to be taught within schools to educate the next generations. Greater funding for police training, education and officers on the ground to build security and vigilance, while greater prosecution sentences to deter this from continuing.  A breakdown of social resilience and community cohesiveness presents a real strategic risk to a successful transition post Brexit. There is a severe lack of trust within some elements of the community with the UK police force; poor reputation, dwindling resources and a blighted history between the police and certain communities have led to this decline. For some members of the UK a strong political leadership has been lacking for some time, with an absent hand on the rudder of the nation since the beginning of May. These issues have all contributed to a loss in confidence within a number of communities that the following months are going to be as good as they were sold in June.  The on-going lack of a hard plan and timeline for Brexit only fuels this situation

Therefore, to address these issues it is time for a UK community resilience strategy to be developed, to integrate all aspects of the community and build a cohesive entity that is comfortable with change. The strategy needs to be linked to the National Security Strategy and the requirement for a cultural change within the UK as disaffected communities can lead to the loss of resilience, as well as  the rise of extremism, on all sides. As we enter into a winter of discontent, with the political parties in disarray, infrastructure management organisations facing severe skills shortages and Unions in open rebellion with private companies, are we seeing strategic shocks rippling across the UK which is tearing apart communities?

If so, then this affects the very security of the UK as a nation, with the requirement for the government to move quickly to stabilise the situation. Rather than seeking to use a Hard Power approach of financial penalties for unions, or reducing funding for community programmes, there needs to be more of a Smart Power approach. As events continue to occur across Europe, with terrorism and radicalisation of communities on the increase, there needs to be a Comprehensive Approach delivered at a strategic level, supported by tactical actions on the ground, across all tenets of society. It is time for the UK government to look at the policies it developed to enable the delivery of community and social resilience in failing states and discuss whether, through early engagement, adaptation and financial support, it can apply some of those practices and lessons to nation; before the UK becomes a broken state.