LONG READ: 'Every time that I think of Brexit, I grieve'
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When I woke up this morning and realised that three years have now passed since the UK left the EU, it all felt almost unreal, part of a blurred timeline whose effects are difficult to grasp in full.
Events since the fateful decision in 2016 have seemed to be a bit of rollercoaster - to understand what the whole Brexit package meant to me as an Italian in Scotland, to decide whether it was a good idea to stay after realising that yes, it was surely going to happen or whether I’d be better off going ‘back home’, and to keep up to date with all the major and minor changes to the legislation.
POLL: Is your life better, worse or the same three years on from Brexit?
I moved to Scotland in 2017, after a few years of meandering around the world and living the happy expat life in France, England and for a short spell in Russia.
As a student from the EU, it all came easy to me at first - with the exception of understanding the strong Glaswegian accent of my first landlady.
Moving around felt easy and uncomplicated back then, despite the looming shadow of the Brexit referendum. I still felt that I could take my chances and see what this country, which I had never visited before but which promised wonders, had to offer.
Practically, so far, Brexit has not made any huge difference for me. I had been here long enough to apply for a pre-settled status when the time arrived to make that decision. It was an almost seamless process. The changes I see now are in having to remind my family and friends to renew or make their passports if they want to visit, in having to double check which edible goodies I can transport in my luggage back home, having to convert my driving license to a UK one and the now extortionate prices of sending Christmas presents back home. All in all, I am not having too hard a time.
But I am one of the lucky ones that managed to set foot on the British Isles right on time. Not everyone has lived through this period with the same ease.
Talking to Italian friends who live in Inverness, I have learnt of a fellow Italian who used to work in a hotel of the Highland capital. To him, Brexit meant having to leave the country and head back home: he had not been a resident for long enough and his work would not renew his working visa.
It feels as if the hospitality industry is a particularly dangerous minefield in this case. This is something I spoke to with my flatmate Joanna, who moved to Scotland from Poland many years ago and has been working in hospitality for many years.
She said: “I've been working full-time in Scotland since 2015 - and have never got any benefits or financial help from the government.
“Brexit makes me feel insecure and not really wanted in the UK. I'm scared I'm not going to get my settlement status or that at some point the rules will change and I'll have to leave.
“I'm planning my life with my partner (who is Scottish) here and I don't imagine myself going back to Poland.
“I know many people who lived here for years and decided to move back home. I think a lot of businesses are struggling nowadays without staff and even in the NHS because there is no real incentive for newly qualified people coming in.
“I work in hospitality and I've heard from many people that they cannot find any seasonal workers to run the business and I think both sides of the story are losing opportunities here.
“I just really want to live in Scotland, do my job the best I can and plan the future.”
Another person that feels strongly about Brexit and its consequences is author and Highland News and Media columnist Barbara Henderson - who wrote a wonderful book on the subject and her life in Scotland. Barbara moved from Germany almost 30 years ago as a student.
“The bottom line for me is that my life as it has happened would now not be possible, and that’s a great shame,” she said.
“I know that everything I did - studying, working, getting married - was possible without a single bit of a problem because we were still in the EU and it was all under the same territory.
“So, I could not do what I did then now - there would be financial and bureaucratic barriers in place, and I think this is a great shame, and we are losing a lot because of this.
“Because it was easy, I was taking the risk and I think now it’s not easy and people will be put off from taking those risks. And I think it’s a shame because we can only gain from immigration, from the new impetus and new ideas that people bring from other countries and cultures.”
“The bottom line for me is that my life as it has happened would now not be possible, and that’s a great shame.”
Personally, I never regretted the decision of moving here. Scotland has given me so many opportunities to grow as a journalist and as a human, and to feel respected and supported in my work environment.
Because of this, the life that I was able to build here, every time that I think of Brexit, I grieve. I grieve the fact that young people in the same position as I was only five years ago will not be given the same chances, the same ease in finding their place here and contribute to the economy and communities of this wonderful country, and the same goes for people in the UK wanting to settle in another European country. It feels difficult not to grieve the lost opportunities on both sides.
