Cyberspouse says he will put on my gravestone…
‘She voted to Remain, but now she has Exit.’
In a previous incarnation, new in the area, making friends with a mother who had a little boy the same age as mine, she mentioned her husband was always out at meetings because he was on the local council. Which party? I innocently asked. Conservative she replied, shocked that I would need to ask. I have never aligned myself to any political party; I always vote, but I’m often still trying to decide who for on the walk to the polling station. Will my vote be wasted on the Too Good to be True party, should I vote for the independent candidate or for Big Party B to stop Safe Seat Party A getting in?
A referendum on leaving the European Union was talked about for so long I didn’t think it would really happen. Then suddenly it was happening so fast that nobody was ready and there certainly was not a plan for leaving. But this time I knew for sure what I would vote – Remain. I have never run a business, been a farmer or a fisherman and was not qualified to hand out my informed opinions, but I still knew I was right!
We were never very good at being European, we never had EU flags fluttering proudly on all our buildings, many of us don’t bother to learn anyone else’s language, not all ex pats integrate. But a straw poll of our immediate family adds up to fifteen different EU countries visited, often numerous times. Over the years journeys have ranged from school trips to Euro Disney, charity, visiting friends, holidays, training and work; so we and many other families are European in mindset and in DNA. Britons are also inclusive, even people who have never left these shores will be working, travelling and socialising with people from all over Europe and the rest of the world. No country is perfect but why would we dump friendships with some of the most civilised countries in the world and pal up with regimes that are at best undemocratic, and at worst evil? The sharing of defence, policing, science, environmental issues, industry, the arts and humane standards has developed over the decades, hand in hand with the promotion of peace.
If I had known we would lose the referendum, I would have been blogging and Facebooking frantically back in 2016… even if no one was listening. If nothing else the whole Brexit fiasco has been such a waste of time and money when the planet needs saving and world problems sorting. Could it all have been avoided?
Have we all been riven apart? Families, friends, couples did vote differently, I don’t personally know of enduring feuds, perhaps we’re all united in our disgust at the behaviour and disloyalty of politicians to each other and their country. The Leavers had many different reasons. People did rightly feel forgotten by the government and saw it as their chance to be heard, others read the ‘wrong newspaper’ or ‘believed the lies’– but plenty of Leavers are intelligent and genuine and if they have any regrets it is over the way it has been handled, not because they admit to being wrong in the first place!
What happens next? I have no idea…
Times and Tides of a Beachwriter 
Although we are on opposite sides when it comes to the Brexit debate I read with interest your comments above. You make many valid points and you are the first ‘remainer’ that I have listened too without blowing my top. If I had to vote again – and I sincerely hope that won’t be necessary – I would vote the same. Why??? Because for the first time in my voting life I made the politicians sit up in shock and take notice. The original Common Market WAS a brilliant idea and worked well (for a time) but what the hell happened? The politicians hijacked it and signed us up to all manner of deals and agreements without any consideration whether we, the people, wanted it. In the end it got too big, too powerful and too deaf to the man in the street. It was a very, very expensive experiment to try to turn all Europeans into one Nationality. I don’t believe it worked. I did enjoy your blog though. Thanks Janet.
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Thanks Maureen for taking the time to comment and giving us a good example of the intelligent considered Leaver! A reminder that for good or bad, the huge EU we have bears little resemblance to what most thought they were signing up for. When I was a child they always seemed to be talking on the news about the ‘common market’ and I pictured a humble street full of market stalls… oh that it had been that simple.
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Indeed. 😦
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I agree with what you have said and the tone you have used. As someone who enjoys all the benefits of freedom of movement I feel both British and European. People with much more political intelligence than me, on both sides of the divide, are adamant their view is correct. While these opinions are so far apart it is difficult to see a way ahead. It seems probable that only hindsight will illustrate what was, or might have been, the right decision. Whoever forms future governments will just have to work hard to derive the benefits from whatever situation exist. Let us hope history proves this anxious time was just a blip. X
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Thanks for your comments Yvonne, summing up well the situation we find ourselves in.
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An interesting post, Janet. I am sure it will happen and it will blow over. I don’t think travel will change much in the long term as everyone likes tourism.
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Yes it’s good to have the opinion of someone looking from the outside. Life will continue and people will still be coming in and out of Britain.
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I wonder what it will all look like ten years from now, by which time, hopefully, it will all be sorted, one way or another. I think it’s the uncertainty that is getting to people now. May you have hope, and patience, enough.
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It seems we’re all going to hell in a handcart…
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