I am very interested in appalachian 's previous post about trying to "make a plan to resist some of what's coming" and "thinking of how to circumvent the wider changes that some of the powerful people who supported Brexit want to bring in."
Essentially: reductions in working conditions, increased privatisation of public services, a more divided and unequal society, a growing disdain for experts. Manipulating people through demonising and othering the weak in society- it's been happening for years, but it feels like it's now that these seeds of division are being harvested with a goal of actually reshaping society, in a way most of us would be v afraid of.
I know this was posted from a remainer point of view but the problem is that as long as people continue to see remainers/leavers in a simplistic way as if how you voted in the referendum defines everything about your politics and opinions, it is going to be very hard to stand up against what I suppose is essentially the far-right of the Tory party, as there is such a huge division between people who have many interests at heart.
To start I think more people need to join and influence trade unions. I think there needs to be more engagement with political parties: in not sure what can be done with labour but as with all things, you have to be inside to have an influence, so at this point joining the party you agree with the most and starting to get involved seems like a start. There is a lot that should be done to make people who feel unwelcome know that they aren't. In our case, the shift has been immensely personal and upsetting. The difference between feeling you're a contributing part of society to realising most people see you as an outsider, to be tolerated while you continue to add value. Obviously the majority aren't racist, but a lot more people clearly view EU migrants as less than than many of us realised
Yes, joining a union or political party is a good move. But the referendum hasn't just uncovered intolerance of immigrants. A level of intolerance, and unwillingness to accept that people may have a different view but still be good people, and a denigration of people due to their age, education, wealth etc has become acceptable in a way which is just horrifying. It's not an environment in which people are likely to feel comfortable joining, say, the labour party or generally engaging politically if they haven't in the past.
Perhaps remainers think they want nothing to do politically with anyone who voted leave. If that's the answer then I suppose this demonstrates what I am trying to say and if that is really the case then there really is no hope. People need to move past a simplistic view and try to understand other people's reasons for their vote (even if they don't agree or think these are correct) or the division in society caused by the referendum will be exploited (as appalachian says).