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Artist News
Brexit “needs to happen”, says Bat For Lashes
By Andy Malt | Published on Thursday 30 June 2016
Natasha Khan, aka Bat For Lashes, has said that she feels the UK’s exit from the European Union “needs to happen to revolutionise the structures on which we build our society”.
Answering a fan question about the result of the UK’s EU Referendum in a Q&A on the Guardian website, Khan said: “I’m obviously devastated by the message that this choice has put out to the world, because I’m a product of a multicultural society. My mother lives in Germany, I have French aunties and uncles and cousins, and I’ve benefitted from being part of the European community. And my dad is Pakistani, an immigrant in this country, and met my mother and I was born out of his ability to come and live and work here”.
However, she continued, while in the near term we are facing some difficult times, “from a grander perspective, [Brexit is] an important part of the breakdown of outmoded political and economic models”.
“I hope this helps us to break down the things that aren’t working for us any more”, she said. “And to bring about more emphasis on community, loving our neighbours, re-educating ourselves that we are all global citizens, and start to rebuild structures we’re facing in the future, like stopping wars that create the immigration crisis, environmental issues we’ve been ignoring for too long, and the fact we need to reach out to each other as a global human race”.
“Obviously this sounds like a fairly idealistic view”, she added, before you could beat her to it. “But I do believe the breakdown of the EU, whether I agree with it or not, is a symptom of a greater breakdown, and although it’s painful for us in the near future, including for artists and musicians, I somehow have the sense it needs to happen to revolutionise the structures on which we build our society. It’s a wake-up call. I’m working out my opinions on it still – it’s still fresh”.
If you have some thoughts on the UK leaving the EU, don’t forget to let your MP know about them.
