To wonder how the divisions in the country will ever be healed?

[amandacarnet]

Brexit has divided this country. I wonder how this is ever going to heal. And the repercussions of this deep divide in our country.

Certainly agree that empathy is lacking in all areas.

I don’t hate leavers, but I do want to understand their views.

*almost half the country will BE dissatisfied

I don't think there is any point worrying about this at the moment. I think Boris is right that we need to leave and work on the divisions afterwards.

My expectation is that leaving will be such an utter shitshow that by any election in 2023 only about 3 people in the country will admit to voting leave at all.

I agree we need to just get on with it. Ididn't want it to happen, it's most likely going to be a shitshow but all this waiting about isn't helping.

It’s underlined to me how many people have very few critical thinking skills.

Same here. The ignorant nonsense spouted by some people astounds me. Most of it fed by the right wing media.

The people I know who voted for Brexit are definitely the “haves”. One particular couple have a holiday home in France and one of them works in the NHS. They complain about immigrants coming here and in the next sentence say how worrying it is that they are so short staffed at the hospital.

I actually despair!

And I should add yes it’s affected friendships in my circle.

I don’t really want to spend the evening with people spouting such ignorant rubbish.

I wish people would stop blaming the 'have nots', as if to suggest only the poor voted for Brexit. Plenty of 'haves' voted for this shit too.
The people I know who voted leave are far better off than I am
I understand the 'have nots' voting to leave far more than the 'haves'. They are most likely fed up of struggling to make ends meet, and instead of blaming this useless fucking government and its years of austerity, they have instead been led to believe that the fault lies with the EU.

Haven’t noticed any division apart from MN. Nobody really talks about it. I discuss briefly with DH when watching the news but avoid it the rest of the time. We are all powerless anyway. No point worrying, just have to move forward. It could be crap or it could be good. Not wasting my time thinking about it anymore than I absolutely have to.

I feel any divide is no different to who voted Tory or Labour in the last GE. Politics and religion are off the table.

Plenty of divides besides Brexit:-

Old v young
North v South
Scotland v England
Public s versus private sector
Workers v benefit claimants
Religious v Atheists

Divisions are nothing new and these will continue long after Brexit is forgotten

No one mentions Brexit around here, we just get on with our lives. Most people don’t understand why people get so stressed about it

The protestors look like the usual suspects, students who are still on holiday and Momentum supporters presumably either trust funders or the unemployed and unemployable ..

I do think people understand why people are stressed about it, I just think most of us are pragmatic enough to park their opinions and concerns to maintain civility with friends, family and the wider community.

The Media needs to change before any division repair or healing can take place. I am so fed up of their doom mongering stance on every issue and not just in relation to Brexit.

Remember the Olympics in 2012? When we first won the hosting contest in 2007 it was great but I prepared myself for years of news stories about late building works and budgets running away and negative information about the preparations, the security and the inadequate transport etc. But...it didn’t happen! For once the country’s media backed the UK and by the time the Olympics arrived there was a genuine buzz and excitement about the whole event. I was lucky enough to go to an athletics day and the atmosphere was amazing, smiling staff and jolly security, friendly fellow ticket holders, immaculate transport setup - an overall sense of togetherness and pride in our country.

Obviously we all have the ability and freedom to form our own opinions about any given event facing the country but I truly believe that the continuous grinding down forced on everyone by the media is responsible for a large part of the division problem.

leckford You seen the hundreds of people who descended on Alex Chalk MP's office in Cheltenham? The vast majority look anything like those you describe. But you're not adding to the sense of division at all, there, are you?

Yes I agree that the people I know who voted leave are better off than I am too.

Don't be so sure about Scotland leaving. In the privacy of the ballot box the quiet majority will speak, as they did before.

Brexit makes me more likely to vote no in a second referendum. As a comedian I saw recently said, 'it's really hard to leave a union'.

Agree malteser

Malteserdiet That is because whoever got the contract ran it properly, Didn't the building work come in on budget and before the deadline? Although there was coverage of how G4 fucked up and we had to get the army in to do the security for the large events. I suspect large contracts too often get tucked up because they are awarded on the basis of backhanders rather than ability. G4 should never have been given that security contract. They already had a long history of failure.

I think the fact that Brexit is rarely talked about socially is actually a symbol of the division. I think about it a lot but only talk with those members of my friends and family that I know voted the same as me as I don't want to start an argument.

The main trouble is that no sort of compromise was sought and we seem to be left with only the most polarising versions. Whatever happens, there is going to be some very angry people. If we were to cancel it, a lot of people who voted leave would be angry. If we exit with no deal, people who want to remain (and people who wanted to leave with a "soft" option) will be angry. If we had gone with some sort of Norway-style arrangement,bit would have fulfilled the mandate of the referendum (which was simply to leave the EU) but been palatable to most people who voted remain. Unfortunately the TM government immediately ruled out such a compromise.

Personally I think the only way that something of this magnitude could ever be done is gradually. Leave, but with a very close relationship. Give it a few years and see how things re going. Leave the door open to either gradually disentangle further if things are going well or leave the door open to rejoin if things are going badly and judging the mood of the public (which will start to include new generations of voters).

That option is still very much on the table, and is pretty much what Angela Merkel meant when she referred to 30 days as it could pretty much be sorted in that length of time. It was the most obvious solution straight after the vote. Unfortunately, government rhetoric, whipped up by the media, have left that option almost impossible now.

I feel any divide is no different to who voted Tory or Labour in the last GE. Politics and religion are off the table.

I agree partly with the last statement but think we are moving away from typical left-right party divisions and into an era of authoritarian/libertarian divide.

Agree with @DippyAvocado the fact that nobody will talk about it is a sign of the deep division.

I'm deeply worried about it and talk on social media about it but barely at all in RL except with my husband (who luckily thinks the same as me). Subconsciously I am worried that friends will turn out to be either apathetic or Brexit/Boris supporters.

I have a good friend who voted remain who is my age (45) and at Christmas two years ago discovered his parents voted leave. Quite civily, he asked why. He was confronted with a stream of racist views which shocked and upset him greatly. He's suddenly discovered after knowing them for 45 years that they aren't the people he thought they were. And since the vote, they have continued to air racist views. He is verging on having nothing more to do with them. It's dreadfully sad.

I think as you can see from MN leavers and remainers are not talking a about the same things when they discuss Brexit. They are usually so poles apart they don’t even agree on what Brexit is or what the EU is...

I think you are right dippy

Politics is now divided on authoritarian / liberal lines. I struggle to understand authoritarians.
The country is divided. If no deal Brexit goes ahead we still have to agree a deal with the EU. The idea that no deal is a “clean break” and will finally be an end to the endless Brexit discussions is utterly wrong.