New Brunswick expats say future unclear after Brexit vote

Two Saint Johners who have spent more than a decade in the United Kingdom say they're living in unsettled times following the Brexit referendum.

Jim Grant is a philosophy lecturer at England's Oxford University, and has been in the U.K. for 13 years. He says there's been anominousshift since citizens voted to break away from the European Union on June 24.

"People are pretty nervous about the future. Nobody really knows what's going to happen, and it's certainly dominating every conversation and I think people are starting to feel emotionally exhausted by it," Grant told Information Morning Saint Johnthis week.

"Nobody knows what's going to happen we don't know who's going to be in charge, we don't know when the election is going to be, we don't even know what the parties are going to look like. So it's unsettled times."

The decision to leave has had an enormous effect on the country, with the pound falling in value and stock prices declining.

It also inspired a wave of more open racism and xenophobia against Europeans in the country.

"I know someone who was yelled at in the street, told to go home ironically she was an English citizen," said Grant.

"I have a friend who knows someone who had a brick thrown through their window, and another person I know has a Polish friend who received racial abuse on the street. All since the result of the referendum."

Grant wonders if the apparent surge in anti-immigrant sentiments will lead to more restrictions on non-EU immigrants, such as himself.

"I'm willing to remain optimistic since the British government could impose whatever restrictions they wanted all along," said Grant, who is in the process of applying for dual nationality.

"I hope that will provide some insurance to whatever's coming. The people who are really worried are the EU citizens who live and work here."

'Only certainty is uncertainty'

Tristan Stewart-Robertson of Saint John is a journalist now based in Glasgow.

He has been living in the U.K. for the past 14 years, and says while the situation in Scotland appears more stable, it's hard to predict the future with talk of a second referendum on Scottish independence.

"Even if Scotland was independent, what's unclear is whether or not we would be able to maintain the existing membership in the EU or whether we'd have to apply from scratch," said Stewart-Robertson.

"It is an unknown but there's a bit of exhaustion in Scotland from debating this question, so there's concern and a desire to maintain our position in Europe, but nobody has any idea how the only certainty is uncertainty."

Stewart-Robertson, whose partner is British, is alsoin the process of applying for dual nationality.

Being "comfortably privileged and white," he hasn't been a direct target of anti-immigrant attitudes, but says the outward show of xenophobia has made him uneasy.

"I feel I am an immigrant and it is uncomfortable when I see anyone receiving hate or dislike or fear, simply because they speak a different language or look different.

"It's just not a comfortable position to be in. We shouldn't be comfortable about it."