Dark Days

[deceptica]

Well, the die has been cast. I was wondering whether it was a dark omen that the day of the referendum saw torrential downpours across the South-East while thunder and lightning were roaring/flashing above. It was as if the sky itself was maddened by the stupidity of it all

Comments

[eofs]

Certainly, these are uncharted waters. But the government has got to come up with some sort of solution for the millions (millions) of EU migrants who've lived here for more than five years - and even the ones who've not been here that long. Quite aside from anything else, we can't survive without you! And for all the lies and bluster, Boris Johnson is power-hungry but not stupid - I'm pretty certain he'll be well aware of that. (It's worth noting that his early position was 'vote no to secure a better yes' - and that he waited until Cameron came out for Remain to declare that he was Leave. This is a man who wanted power much more than he wanted to leave the EU.)

Once you're 'secure' here of course you could still choose to move back, but at least you'll be able to make the choice yourself rather than being forced into it. Or the third choice, which I acknowledge would take a lot of thought and not be an easy decision, is to look at you both moving to a third country. I should think Ireland will do well out of this, they're well positioned to take on our role as the conduit between the EU and the US. And I'd also consider Scotland - independence looks pretty much nailed on at this point and they are very pro-EU. (I have a theory that the low turnout in Scotland was in hopes of triggering Indy Ref II: This Time it's Successful.)

I think we're going to give it a year. See what situation we're in what situation the country's in, then give some very serious thought about whether we stay or whether we get me out whilst we can. (The problem being that we already thought long and hard about which country to live in and the pile of negatives in the Germany column does not disappear just because a pile of negatives appeared in the England column.)

In the mean time I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much by the articles talking about how we prove there's a democratic mandate for a second referendum or speculating over the fact that Cameron didn't invoke Article 50 before stepping down. (And that Boris, as PM-presumptive, is also talking about taking it slowly.) Right now we're in full-on Prepare for the Worst, Hope for the Best mode.

We will find a way through this and you will find a way through this. If you need to chat anytime just grab me on messenger.

(Hey, at least splitting the comment allowed me to use both my appropriate icons. This one, I feel, is particularly fitting!)

[deceptica]

I've calmed down a lot since I wrote this post, which was more or less an expression of my raw feelings on the matter. Not that I'm not agitated anymore, but it has been somewhat reassuring to see the outpouring of support and also annoyance at the result from the 48%. People realise this is important enough to not accept a leave vote without a fight, and it's clear that even among those who voted in favour things are going to be chaotic for a while. I almost feel sorry for Boris, who I'm sure knows that it's a bad idea and will be remembered as someone who made a very bad decision no matter which route he chooses to go down should he become PM.

I think I did register with the Austrian embassy ages ago, but never heard from them again, so not sure what's happening there. I also don't have an ID card - never felt that I needed one, but it might be a good idea now. I did look briefly at the application form for the certificate and went "ugh" at questions like reciting exactly how many days I've spent outside the UK in the past five years... hope I still have all those Easyjet flight confirmations. Definitely no interest in applying for British citizenship after this. No way I would give up my EU passport.

To be honest I'm kind of surprised you're considering moving to Germany. I figured you two were pretty set on England after buying a house and all that, even in the face of something like this. My thoughts are with you guys as well.