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Cometh The Hour...And Then What?

So after months of build-up, arguments, promises and bold statements, the big vote has taken place. Yes, Thursday, June 23rd, 2016, a day that will go down in the history of this country.

Britain woke on the morning after to discover that 52% of the population had voted to leave the EU. It came around, all bleary-eyed and blinking, stumbled out of bed as if it had been to an almighty party the night before, had a little more than it should have done to drink, and the realisation of what it had done started to dawn.

Did we really do that? Shit, what happens now?

So Cameron, of whom I am no fan, announces he is to resign. Can't blame him really, though. The UK's EU Commissioner has resigned, well, eventually, there will be no job for him. So who sorts it all out? Nobody has stepped up to the plate. 

Boris said yesterday there is no rush to invoke Article 50, which kicks off the process of the 2 year withdrawal from the EU. Sorry, but the fact Herr Juncker wishes to start it straight away is quite understandable, we can't be that arrogant to assume that Europe will allow us to bide our time. We have voted against that.

So, we have nobody leading the way, no leader who is focussed on taking us in to this Brave New World, other than Farage, the ultimate pub bore, spouting off his pub lounge philosophy. And then we have Boris, the Bullingdon buffoon. And as a counter to that we have a Labour party with a well-intentioned leader, but that's about it.

We have a split across age lines, basically in general terms those under 45 - who will be around longer than us old timers, and whose views therefore are more valid - voted to remain, those older voted to leave. 

We have the Scots wanting to re-run their referendum as they voted overwhelmingly in favour of staying in Europe. We have Northern Ireland voting to stay in, prompting Sinn Fein to float the idea of a united Ireland. Could be goodbye to the peace process. We have London voting overwhelmingly to remain, the North East and Wales voted out, but then as a challenge to the assumption that the North as a whole also voted out, Manchester actually voted to stay.

So we have a divided country. OK, we Brits tend to work things out, but with the lack of leadership, uncertainty, confusion, and bewilderment, we are not in a good place. 

A lot of people voted against the Tories, the Establishment, and immigration. Totally get the protest vote part of it. In terms of moving on, unfortunately we have no strong opposition, Boris and Cameron and their cronies all have the same privileged background, and the myth of immigration is shattered when you consider that it has been a fact of life for this country over the past century at least.

But, as the confusion reigns and nobody seems to be stepping up to sort it out, I do worry deeply about where we are going....





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