Our survey showed everyone – whether pro-Leave or Remain – feels cut out of the Brexit process. The government has to listen now

Like every morning, today I woke up and turned on the radio to hear what’s happening in the world: Brexit. On my bus journey into work I opened up my news apps and saw the following headlines: something about Brexit. The other day I dreamt about Brexit.

Brexit is everywhere we turn. And yet when’s the last time someone in power actually asked you what you want from the Brexit deal?

During any general election, politicians go out across the country asking the public what they want the future of the UK to look like. What are the issues that matter most to them? How can things improve in their area, how can the economy work better for their families? The policies they propose as a result will shape the country, and five years later we get to decide if we’re happy with the way things are going and vote again. It’s called democracy.

The issues being negotiated by the government and the EU, and the deals that they will make, will affect our lives not just for the next five or 10 years, but for decades to come. The choices the government makes in negotiations are critical. But they are being made far away from the public with no consultation whatsoever.

When we asked 100,000 change.org users, 60 per cent voted Remain, 25 per cent voted Leave and the rest either didn’t vote or said they’d prefer not to say. Only 7 per cent of those polled felt they had been given a chance for their voices to be heard since the referendum. And 85 per cent felt they didn’t have any say in shaping the government’s Brexit strategy.

You might think that the Brexit deal is all boring regulation and agreements that won’t impact your life. But UK law is tied up in thousands of EU laws. Here are just a few ways Brexit could affect your life: the cost of fresh fruit and veg; health insurance when you go on holiday on the continent; whether you can live and work abroad; whether EU citizens can live and work in the UK; your rights in the workplace – and the list goes on.

Then there’s the economic impact that the deal will have on our country. There are scenarios where we could be better off. There are others where there could be less money for things like the NHS, police and schools.

The Brexit deal is a big deal – and our MPs, our government, those behind closed doors negotiating, they have a duty to find out what you want the future of this country to look like.

It’s no surprise to me that the biggest UK campaign on change.org this year was the petition for the public to get a Final Say on the Brexit deal. It has more than 1 million signatures now, and has been signed by people who voted to leave and to remain. In the absence of being consulted for their view, people have been turning to our platform and demanding to be heard. Importantly, in our survey, only 8 per cent of young people (those aged between 16 and 24) said they feel that their voices are being heard on Brexit, compared to 26 per cent of the over-65s.

There are five months to go before we officially leave the EU. It’s not much time. So instead of spending the days infighting and playing party politics, your MPs should be using that time to speak to the public. A vote to leave or remain in 2016 should have been the beginning of the conversation. But 60.5 per cent of those who voted Leave (and 94.5 per cent of those who voted Remain) feel they haven’t been given an opportunity to have a say on the Brexit strategy.

In reality, the dialogue with the public stopped when the referendum happened, and since then we’ve been subject to the equivalent of overhearing mum and dad arguing downstairs like children while we roll our eyes and wish they would grow up.

So if you’re feeling like me – bombarded but gagged by Brexit – don’t wait for the people in power to seek your view. Demand meetings with your local MP, write to government departments, start petitions and make sure that whatever happens on 29 March, you have been heard during one of the most important moments you will ever live through.

Kajal Odedra is executive director of change.org