Vox Populi: Ed Vickery from Limassol, Cyprus

1. What are your expectations/hopes from these elections?

My expectations are low as there are very few political parties which promote positive practical change that tries to increase the overall pie rather than just divide it in their own favour. Politics has the power to be creative and develop better ways of managing and organising its people. Recently, it has slipped into the pursuit of ideologic goals rather than the pursuit of practical improvements. By practical improvements, I mean ideas such as smart cities which increase energy efficiency for the entire population and make everybody’s lives better. I mean fines which are percentages of perpetrators’ incomes so that they affect everybody equally and therefore prevent everybody from breaking the rules which in turns protects everybody. Most political parties seem to be borne around self-interest of a particular group to the detriment of everybody else. Populist political parties are the worst as they manipulate people’s anger to gain power which they then use to attack another part of the population. Politics should never be used to attack any part of the electorate and indeed in my opinion that should be made illegal. The concept of Brexit is a direct attack on citizens’ rights, jobs and businesses of one part of the electorate by another part of the electorate.

2. Do you/people in your member state still have faith in the EU to deliver?

I have seen graffiti in the streets with profanities aimed towards the EU. It saddens me greatly as the EU has offered all EU citizens so many opportunities whereas so few have grasped them and so many are wrongly blaming the EU for their woes. I believe that the lack of meritocracy with Capitalism is the main cause for people’s disillusionment.

3. Will you be voting? If so, who for (if you are willing to say)?

Yes, I will vote if the local government sends me a voting slip! However, sadly democracy is dysfunctional if there is no choice on the paper that offers any sort of positive change.

4. Tell us some very brief persona/biographical details about yourself?

I am a Cornishman that grew up in a single parent family with no income. I grasped the opportunity to attend a British university for free, while it was still free. I used my free movement to live and work overseas while we still had our EU rights. I tried it the hard way to working in the US for 7 years on a work visa. Despite an interesting and educational experience, I would highly NOT recommend working in a foreign country on a work visa as you will find that you are a slave to your company and if one day the company for whom you work closes, you’ll find you have just a few days to leave your entire life in that country. That’s the bleak future facing British nationals in the EU after Brexit.