When we asked our readers how they intended to vote in the EU referendum over 70% told us that they were planning to vote for Britain to remain in the European Union - and we know from numerous messages and comments we've received since that an awful lot of you did vote to remain (although we know that some of you voted leave too - it's just that we're guessing you're not feeling the Brexit Blues quite so hard right now).
And now results of the EU referendum are sinking in for all of us and whether you voted to remain or leave, we imagine you're feeling pretty bloody weird about it all. We're facing an unprecedented power vacumn at Westminster, and absolutely no-one knows what's going to happen next.
If you're one of the 48% who voted leave on Thursday, or perhaps one of the 18-24 year olds who didn’t vote and wishes you had what, if anything, can you do to try and keep the Brexit blues at bay?
1. Rejoice in the fact that you've now learnt an important life lesson
There comes a point in your life when you realise that your parents are not omnipotent superhumans who always get it right. Maybe it’s the first time you suspect they’ve grounded you with no real reason, maybe it’s the first time you catch them out giving you misinformation or maybe it’s the first time you realise that they’ve made a mistake about something. Once the scales of childhood fall from your eyes and you realise that, like you, your parents are only human – fallible and prone to mistakes – the world is a very different place.
Senior politicians – Prime Ministers, Chancellors, party leaders – are supposed to be the parents of the country their elected by, for as long as they serve. They’re its guardians, chaperones and carers. They aren’t supposed to make mistakes or show poor judgement, but they do.
The Leave campaign won on a series of mistruths and misinformation, they have now backtracked. The Vote Leave website has been wiped, their manifesto pledges are nowhere to be seen. Nigel Farage himself has said that the Leave campaign’s key notion of spending £350 million on the NHS was ‘a mistake’. Remain, on the other hand, never really quite got it together, and in the fall out post referendum, it's still not been established which elements of their so-called 'Project Fear' campaign were exaggerations, and which bits were played down too much.
What we’re witnessing now is, by and large, a group of grown men who really ought to know better having an epic fallout for all of us to see. Dave and Boris, rivals since they were at Eton, playing a game of one-upmanship. The Labour party trying to move forwards but finding themselves stuck in a rut. It makes you want to yell ‘guys this is bigger than all of you can someone pleased just let us know who’s in charge please’.
The entire situation now rather looks a lot like the political equivalent of the ‘do as I say, not as I do’ school of parenting. Frustrating and unprincipled. But hey, we've learnt a great life lesson, right?
2. Make your voice heard
Despite all of this, you’re more powerful than you think. Now would be a great time to join a political party so you can have your say in their forthcoming leadership contests. Labour have dropped their membership (£3.92 a month), it’s easy to join the Tory party (under £5 if you’re under 23), the Lib Dems have seen a surge in registrations since Friday and, if none of the above are for you, groups like the Women’s Equality Party (£48 a year) are also open for new members.
It’s also a good time to write to your MP and call for a general election. It makes sense. Whoever replaces David Cameron will be in power until 2020, that’s a long time to have a Prime Minister who wasn’t actually voted in by the country.
There has never been a better time to have your say as to what sort of country we want to be.
3. Forget about the mythical second referendum.
It’s almost definitely never going to happen for all the reasons we discussed here. If it were to become a reality it would only serve to divide people further, prolong the confusion and one side would still have to lose.
4. Be present – stand up for what you believe in
You may have voted for something and not seen the result that you wanted. It’s not a good feeling, particularly if you felt strongly that Britain should remain in the EU. There might not be anything to vote on right now but it’s still important that you turn up and stand up for the very thing that you voted on in the first place.
Go to marches, rallies, talks and events where there will be like minded people. There are lots of these happening in coming days and weeks across the country, like this one on
.
5. Show your support for immigrants, show your support for refugees
This is perhaps the most important point of all. Reports of post-Brexit racism and xenophobic attacks have been coming in since Friday. Hate crime reports are up by 57% on last month in the referendum’s aftermath.
Many of us - whichever side we voted on - are appalled by this news. But one woman, Allison, thought of a way to do something about it. She started a campaign asking people to wear an empty safety pin as a badge to symbolise their solidarity against racism. Her idea was that, by doing this, you would send the signal to any potential victims of racist abuse that you are a ‘safe person’ to sit next to, talk to or cross in the street’.
Her idea has been taken on by many and #safetypin was trending on Twitter last night. Read our writer's piece here on how she hopes the campaign becomes so much more than just hashtag.
But basically, do as much as you can – join volunteer organisations to help refugees, remain open and welcoming and, it goes without saying, stand against racism wherever you see it.
You might also be interested in:
The Legacy Of Brexit Has Made People Of Colour Feel Unwelcome In Their Own Country
Follow Vicky on Twitter @Victoria_Spratt
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.