There was a Vote…

Please Note: this might not make a great deal of sense; I’m more than a little tired today.

It wasn’t legally binding – it was up to Parliament if they decided to follow the result with negotiations. If the result had gone the other way, they still could have decided to take us out. Or not… it was NEVER our decision in the first place.

Not everyone voted – there was a 70% turnout (approximately) and it excluded the 16 / 17 yr olds that would become the next generation of Voters (which I feel was a little unfair) – so by definition, it was not an absolute vote of the whole population of UK Voters.

After the vote, it felt like the country went crazy. Those who had voted leave were cheering and crowing and bragging and throwing it in the faces of those who had voted remain. Most who voted remain were disappointed in their family, friends and neighbours, but they (mostly) accepted the loss. After all, we are brought up to be Good Sports – it is the British Way…

I have come to terms with the fact that we are leaving. It doesn’t stop me wanting to stay, the way that had it gone the other way, those that wanted to leave would be wanting to leave. Yes, there is a faint hope that A50 will get revoked, but to be honest I really don’t think it will happen.

Now we have come to the month of leaving. I’m disappointed that it’s happening, but I will have to deal with whatever difficulties it brings anyway and I can always vote with my conscience at the next General Election; even if it doesn’t make a difference, at least I will have exercised my freedom to vote.

However, I am even more disappointed in the way leave people are acting.

It is part of democracy and freedom of speech to campaign against that which we don’t believe in. I’m not bothered about that. The remain petitions and marches are a part of our right to freedom of speech. Just as if remain had won, I wouldn’t have been bothered by leave supporters campaigning.

What I am bothered by is the whole childish, playground vibe that articles on Brexit tend to engender. It’s like leave people are still gleefully rubbing the result in our faces when they should be paying attention to what it means for us personally.

I am trying not to get emotional about this, to stay logical and reasonable.
I’m hoping that UK farmers will be able to fill the shelves that get emptied because the perishable goods lorries that usually come over from Europe can’t get through the customs points. That the local bakeries and companies can fill in the gaps.
Of course prices will go up – it will cost more to import things and the businesses will pass those costs on to the customer. That’s just business, it’s how it works.
Companies are going to leave – again, that’s how business works, they go where its cheapest for them to work from.

Those two things will have a knock on effect on the economy of the country – again, a given. People lose their jobs because their company has shifted base or manufacturing away, so Unemployment will go up. The demand for Benefits will go up, so it follows that Taxes are going to rise because that’s how the Government raises money to pay those.
The demand on the NHS will increase for various reasons, but the NHS will not be able to cope because all the foreign born workers / doctors / nurses are being kicked out of the country and there isn’t enough UK born workers / doctors / nurses to take their places.
The Poor will get poorer because they will have to pay more for the things that they need.
The Rich (not the middle wealth bracket, the upper wealth bracket) will get richer because they are the ones running the businesses.

These things are a given because that is how our society works.

I think that the core Conservatives planned this all along. Those shadowy people in the centre of the party that really don’t like the fact that we’re not an empire anymore, that we’re now just a tiny island dependant on the good will of the other countries surrounding it. The question there is what happens next?
What happens once we’ve left and the leave people are trying to cope with the after effects (the same way the remain people will) ?
What will the leave people demand of the Government then?
They’ve had their biggest wish granted, so what’s next for them?
What will the Government do with all the new power that has been given to them?

I don’t know or pretend to know the future, I can only affect my own personal future. The only thing I can see in my personal future is more stress… and that has multiple causes.
I can’t pretend not to be worried about the whole situation because it will affect me personally. I can’t say that I am looking forward to the future because of that worry. The only hope I have is that it won’t be as bad as my worry is painting it.

This is of course, all my own personal opinion and waffling. You are as free to disregard it as I am to post it. That’s what Freedom of Speech means. That’s what a blog is for.
I am free to vote for who I wish to. That is Democracy. That is how I affect the future.