[Politics] May you live in interesting times

"There is a curse. They say: may you live in interesting times." - Terry Pratchett, Interesting Times

 Watching the news, both televisual and online, on Friday morning, the quote above popped into my head. Never has it seemed more appropriate.

For months now, political debate in the UK has centred on the 'upcoming' referendum: should the UK remain part of the European Union (EU), or leave? The campaign has been long, acrimonius, characterised by misuse / misrepresentation of facts (and in some cases outright lying) by both sides of the debate (if I can be generous in my description of the proceedings), and punctuated by the tragic death of an MP.

However, now the race has been run. Much like the referendum on Scottish Independence (with which I saw many similarities), the outcome was very, very close. So close that to call the result a 'clear mandate' is hopelessly optimistic. Unlike that referendum, however, the result in this case was not the one that I'd been hoping for. That's not to say that it's unexpected though, particularly given how clever the winning side were in their presentation and campaigning.

As of approximately 5am on Friday 24th June 2016, the UK electorate have voted by the margin of 51.9% to 48.1% that they wish to leave the EU.

 I can't say I'm happy with the result. In fact, quite the opposite, for reasons both altruistic and selfish. But I accept it as a democratic outcome that we must now work to make the best of. In the few short days since the result was announced we've already started to see the effects; the value of the pound sterling has tanked against the dollar, reports of racist incidents are on the rise (though the exact cause behind this is debatable), the Prime Minister has resigned (effective three months hence), and the leader of the opposition is under extreme pressure to stand down. Interesting times indeed.

The exact path why which we, as a nation, move forward from here is unclear, and there seems to be little evidence of a concrete plan from either side. Already, some claims from both the Remain and Leave camps have been shown to be false. Already, some officials in other EU countries are telling us to get on with it and just leave already, no cherry-picking, no informal negotiation, while our own politicians are claiming we can take our time and get what we want. Already, we are seeing narratives emerging on both sides to explain the results. Already, I am witnessing recriminations and finger pointing that are not entirely justified.

Only one thing is certain at this point. The UK will not be the same for some time, if ever. And we are going to have to work very hard to sort out the mess that this referendum has created.