Saturday 13 August 2016

Leave

Like many of my Facebook chums I was stunned and saddened by the results of the EU vote when they were announced on Friday. My first reaction on hearing the results was that, apart from the fact that the older generation are buggering up the future for younger people in this country, we are now in a dangerous political vacuum. We're in a situation where the next Prime Minister could well be Boris Johnson supported by his new BFF, Nigel Farage. We have no credible opposition from either Labour or the Liberal Democrats, and the far right are rubbing their hands with glee that, at last, we're going to deal with the 'immigrants' and 'muslims'. And we could be in a situation by the end of the year where PM Boris Johnson is congratulating Donald Trump on becoming the next president of the US. For me, Friday was a bad day, we had just stepped through the looking glass.

One of life's valuable lessons is to stay off social media when emotions are high or when you've had a drink. So I thought I'd step back for a couple of days. Having seen the reaction from a lot of friends and family that supported staying in the EU I am encouraged that there are many who feel as angry as me. I also feel much more positive. This was a great democratic turnout for the UK and, whilst I feel strongly that people should have to take an IQ test before they can register to vote ('insert winking face emoji here'), the British people have spoken. So, let's see what happens over the coming months and years.

I am positive about the future, but I'm also positive that I'm going to do what I can to make sure this country doesn't turn into the little-England that Nigel Farage, the bigots and the small-minded want it to be. And I feel positive, because know that there are a lot of good people who feel the same way.