Revellers look at an installation urging people to vote in the upcoming general election, at Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset during the Glastonbury Festival, Britain, June 27, 2024. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez
PETALING JAYA: As Britain heads towards general election on July 4, the question for many of them in Malaysia continues to be Brexit as they hope for change.
While British Duncan Cave, who works and resides in Malaysia, did not support Brexit during the referendum in 2016, he does not think that it "needed to be the absolute disaster that it has become".
"I'm not aligned to a particular party - I think it makes more sense to vote based upon competence - which party I think is best positioned to run the country effectively.
"The past eight or nine years has seen the Government lurch from one crisis to another," he said in an interview.
The Conservative government, in Cave's opinion, has become beholden to the extreme right of the party, much as the Republican Party in the United States has been captured by the MAGA Trumpists.
"The result has been that for much of the past decade, there has been very little proper governing, and far too much politicking," he said in an interview.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has called for snap polls on July 4 despite only being required to do so by January next year.
The general election is coming at a time when the Conservative party, trailing in the opinion polls, is expected to lose after 14 years in power, the last few of which were marked by leadership scandals, including Liz Truss' disastrous 50-day in office as Prime Minister.
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The Labour party, which is surging on a 20-point lead over the Tories, is expected to win, and its leader Keir Starmer expected to be Prime Minister by July.
Cave, who works as an urban regeneration consultant, thought that Sunak had been pretty good as Chancellor during the Covid-19 pandemic, adding that it was not his fault that the Ukraine war ultimately resulted in interest rates soaring.
"I had hopes for him as Prime Minister (and after Liz Truss and Boris Johnson I would have taken anyone) but he seems incapable of reforming the party in the way that is needed.
"What I'm hoping is that there will finally be some grown-ups in charge of the country. I don't have a huge amount of faith in Keir Starmer, but I'm very happy to have a change, and I doubt he can do a worse job," said Cave, who has felt happy with the Labour party in the early 2000s.
Cave, who is married to a local and whose daughter would like to one day study in Britain, is hoping that after the first term of Labour government, the party might have the confidence to look at how the might become closer again to the European Union.
"One day, my daughter might wish to work in Europe. A return to the EU, however unlikely, would have great appeal to me," he said, adding that neither party would currently dare announce this.
Among the key issues of interest to Cave are immigration, investment in social services such as the National Health Service.
"I've always supported immigration into the UK - it has led to a more vibrant, diverse and interesting society, and has been great for the economy.
"However, in the past few years net migration has put a huge strain on housing, for example. This is something that needs to be thought through thoroughly, rather than the knee-jerk reactions we're getting from some voices in the political sphere," he said.
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From his personal point of view, Cave wants investment in social services to get back to levels that they were, even if that means more tax.
"There are far too many loopholes for corporations to avoid tax. For example, a well known coffee chain paid just seven million pounds (about RM41.8mil) in tax last year on a 150mil pound profit (RM896mil).
"I have a 90-year-old mother who, while fit and healthy now, will need attention as she gets older.
"I need a government that will fix this inequality of taxation so that the NHS can provide a reasonable standard of care," he declared.
Another British citizen living and working in Malaysia, said her initial thoughts about the elections were financial, especially those concerning costs of living and interest rates affecting mortage payments.
"Most of all though, Brexit which is not being talked about by the main parties. Brexit is one of the main contributors to higher cost of living," said the teacher, who only wishes to be known as Vandana.
"Finally, most importantly, access to the health service, it’s difficult getting an appointment with my GP (general practitioner).
"These issues will impact me when I return and I don’t feel they will be dealt with by the parties," she said.
Malaysian Addy Teh, who is working in London, said she does not think the general election will be much of an impact as the outcome will be the same no matter who wins.
"The Tories are out of touch and have been doing badly so are unlikely to win while Labour does not have concrete plans as to where the money for their increased investment in services will come from.
"It'll probably be from tax hikes," said the mother of two.
Currently, there are some 67,000 Malaysians living in Britain, according to 2021 Census by the country.
An engineer, who wants to be known as Kevin P., 40, said since moving to Britain from Malaysia in 2018, their time had been divided between studies, raising a newborn, work, pandemic and others.
"Being so green in the UK, we are not familiar with the party we want to support.
"Now that we have lived here for six years and are more exposed, we feel it is time we voteand we will definitely be starting to be more active in the upcoming elections," said the engineer in Leamington Spa, England.
Journalist Rahmah Ghazali, 39, said as an immigrant working in Britain, she could not help but feel uneasy regardless of who wins the upcoming elections.
"If the Conservatives remain in power, there is a significant concern that their stricter controls on legal migration laws could make it harder for me to continue working in the country," she said, adding that the Tories had been tightening migration policies, stressing on reducing overall immigration numbers and implementing stricter border controls.
"This no doubt directly impacts the prospects of me extending my stay here due to skyrocketing visa costs.
"If Labour wins, the situation might not change significantly, as they too support stricter immigration controls, though they avoid setting specific net migration targets," she said.
The rise of the far-right, anti-immigrant UK Reform Party, led by Nigel Farage, is also concerning, said Rahmah.
"Although his party is unlikely to win the elections, Farage winning a parliamentary seat could gain further support for anti-immigrant sentiments within the UK.
"The UK's political landscape appears less welcoming to immigrants in recent years, despite its historical context of having been an empire that colonised large parts of the world including of course, Malaysia," she said.
