I visited my dear old dad today. He's 85 and has been a Tory voter all his life, and a party member for decades. He reads the telegraph every day, and the guardian. (that used to be mum's paper , but he kept it on after she died.)
After much careful weighing of the options, he voted remain. He said he thought there was much wrong with the eu but reform was better served by staying in. Plus he had found it hard to get to the bottom of what a leave vote actually meant. He had concluded we were better in than out. He said he thought most people would feel the same way.
I asked him what he thought of the result. He looked very grave and said , he thought it was the worst mistake in British politics since he was a small boy and chamberlain's 'peace in our time.' He said he was worried for my generation, and our children. He said he felt almost glad to be 85. He remembers a world pre nhs; he remembers gas masks and rationing, his older cousins served in ww2 and his father and uncles in ww1. For this very reason Heunderstands the European ideal and thinks the out vote was hijacked by extremists. He thinks we've committed economic and political 'hari kari' ( Japanese word for suicide.)
I couldn't disagree. 