So we are, as of yesterday, a nation who decided to leave the EU. 51.9% of people have voted to leave the European Union, something that many people -myself included - thought would never happen.
And yet I use the word nation in the loosest possible way, for, in my mind, we are no longer a nation. With such deep rooted, public divides I felt that the nation of Britain that I woke up to on the 24th of June was a world away from the one I had left the day before. Scotland, in which every single local authority area voted to remain, now has a clear mandate to leave the UK, with renewed support from English remainers. But even more surprising is the extent of the calls for London - another place with resounding remain votes - to be independent from the UK, and a part of Europe. Whilst this many seem a ludicrous suggestion it only serves to highlight quite how divisive the referendum has been.
The majority of Brexit votes have not been a simple vote for the facts of Britain leaving the EU. The plethora of misinformation, apathy and idiocy amongst certain groups of Brexiters, pushed by the British media, has driven the votes. Not only this but it has also been against the establishment, against the Westminster Cartel, though I would argue that those voting leave are just as much members of the political and socioeconomic elite as those voting remain.
And yet now, one day after the result was announced, the reality of this misinformation starts to shine through.
Immigration was a topic that inspired huge interest and anger, often to a level that frustrated many, yet Tory MEP Daniel Manin has already appeared on 'Newsnight' and said that "No one has ever suggested there is going to be no immigration". This represents the epitome of the widespread misleading of the public on the real issues of the referendum.
But sadly this is not the only such example. Since the referendum Nigel Farage appeared on 'This Morning" claiming that it was a 'mistake' to claim that there would be £350m/ week for the NHS, a figure emblazoned on the side of the 'Vote Leave' battle bus. In the economy too, the promise of a nation of wealth outside the EU has already been made obsolete. In just 12 hours £200billion was wiped off the stock markets due to Brexit, more than the UK has ever contributed to the EU. Now, $2 trillion has been wiped from global stock markets. Moreover, credible rumours suggest that major City banks are planning to relocate to continental locations such as Frankfurt.
I say this only to illustrate the enormity of the mistake. But also to try to explain why I feel betrayed. I had no vote in this. No 16 year old did, yet the over 50s have sealed our fate through false knowledge and ill-vented anger. But what can we do?
With no vote and few ways to make ourselves heard there seems little hope. A quick glance at the sea of frustrated, upset and desperate Facebook posts would only confirm this.
Currently, I think few of my age are optimistic about the country's future.
