We need to make the best out of a bad situation

I voted Remain. But seventeen million people voted Leave, and I can’t see the mileage in disappointed Remainers branding them a huge bunch of ignorant and racist “Little Englanders”.

As Wales was the country with the highest number of Brexit supporters, I wonder why nobody ever says “Little Wales-ers”?

The continual denigration of the English, specifically, may well have contributed to the backwash of resentment which has fuelled many votes to leave the EU by people who may have just wanted to be allowed to assert a respectable national identity once again. We should remember, amongst all the predictions of future far right takeovers, that we have never tolerated fascists and indeed fought a war against them. We are overall a tolerant nation.

Whatever the case, we must now find the backbone to make the best of the situation in which we find ourselves. We must assert our right to demand that our politicians retain the best of European laws, and develop a national strategy that is humane and worthy of respect not just in Europe, but around the world.

Penny Little
Great Haseley

I have been living in England for the last 25 years. I am married to a British citizen and I raised two children, now 19 and 17 year olds. I work and pay my taxes in England. Needless to say that my 19 year old voted Remain and is now upset, and my 17 year-old is taking every opportunity to protest and make his voice heard.

I am furious with the result, and with the fact that I had no right to vote in a referendum that will affect my life very directly and the future of my children. My 25 years in England have not been valued by any of the parties. I am no longer a European citizen with a French passport, I am an immigrant. Am I legal or illegal?

Shame on you, David Cameron, for calling a referendum for the purpose of your own political agenda.

Shame on you, Boris Johnson, for supporting Brexit in order to further your own political career.

Shame on you, Nigel Farage, for promoting hatred and racism.

Shame on you, Jeremy Corbyn, for being so weak and dispassionate during this campaign.

So, my "to do list" for the week-end: apply for my children to have French nationality ASAP.

Laurence Lemoine
Oxford

It saddens me to read the toxic outpouring by some of our young voters. They accuse their parents of ruining their futures.

These are the very same parents who in many cases sacrificed a great deal so their offspring could pursue a university course. Having then secured a highly paid job these offspring rely on parents to provide free childcare for their own offspring.

Hopefully this future generation will appreciate their parents efforts and aspirations to provide a better and more caring life for them.

Wendy Ledwidge
East Hoathly

After overseeing so many u-turns during his time as Prime Minister, maybe David Cameron could become a driving instructor when he leaves office!

Sarah Pegg
East Sussex

Brexit once seemed only a term to be branded about by bigoted, middle-aged men in front of journalists’ microphones and cameras. As a young person, I feel helpless that the course of my future has been changed by a majority that did not understand the deceit they were buying into. An argument based on fabricated facts and hypothetical theories somehow instilled the belief in 52% of the voting population that they should vote Leave. “Take back control,” they said. “Take back control of our borders.” “Take back control of our country.”

And in spite of this trivial statement that effectively means nothing, I feel that I have lost control. My future lies in the hands of politicians blindly fumbling their way out of the EU. The fact that so many Leave voters are now expressing "Bregret" only serves to heighten my outrage. I’m close to signing a somewhat ridiculous petition calling for London’s independence – though nothing seems too ridiculous now, with the once distant concept of Brexit becoming a reality.

Sophie Comninos
London

The people have spoken. The UK has voted to leave the European Union, while Scotland has decisively voted to stay in.

The result will have proven a surprise to many and the consequences far-reaching. We are far from being a United Kingdom and the divisions, not only between nations and regions, are clear. There are splits in voting patterns between rich and poor, old and young, the cities and the provinces.

Withdrawal from the EU will have major economic and social impacts, and the sadness of this is that it will unfortunately hit the poorest hardest.

In the run up to the referendum on independence in 2014, the Unionists devoted considerable attention to arguing that on independence Scotland would be out in the cold, would be at the back of the queue to re-apply for EU membership, which would take years.

Those, like myself, who warned of the current situation arising were ridiculed. The only way we could stay in the EU, we were told, was through our membership of the EU. That was “guaranteed”.

The tectonic plates have shifted and shifted dramatically. There will be another independence referendum, of that there is little doubt, and there will be many whose view will change from how they voted in the previous referendum to how they vote now.

Things will never be the same again, but we in Scotland can be masters of our own destiny. We can say loudly and clearly “not in our name”. The future is ours to decide, let’s go for it.

Alex Orr
Edinburgh