We have left the EU and I think I have got my head round it.

Last Friday I was one of those who was disappointed to wake up to find that the UK marriage to the EU had been annulled. The 'conscious uncoupling' may turn out to be acrimonious or amicable, lets strive for the latter, but we now to talk about the who gets what, what's best for the kids and who will pay.  

I have been thinking about those who voted Leave and have seen the hurt that they have felt because they have been labelled as racists, which most are clearly not.  The problem is that the single issue of membership of the EU has divided the country as no other - party politics, class, nations of the UK, regions etc.  Essentially, this seemingly simple question, with a seemingly simply vote, has produced an answer so complex that it can't be considered an answer at all.  Especially with the amount of back-tracking that is going on (Immigration is not going to be drastically reduced, we are not going to spend an extra £450m per week on the NHS, and we won't get a free market unless we have freedom of movement). Part of the frustration of those who voted Remain is that while we know that Leave was against the EU, we don't know what was standing for.

It occurred to me that the Leave vote was as much a vote about the state of our country as it was about our relationship with the EU. What united the disparate groups around the Leave vote was the sense that this country is being shaped and run those who by structures which have become self-serving and which are failing the ordinary people of our country: our NHS, our schools, our public services, the ability to afford to buy our own houses, providing support for the most vulnerable, etc. It seems that the difficult choices that face the country are always being paid for by those who can least afford it.   But it occurs to me that these same reservations are shared by the Remain camp.  Many of us are tired those same failures - an elite are making decisions which to benefit the elite and not the majority.  We have a new future to forge and I am frankly worried by the people who are currently shaping it. The architects of austerity, zero hour contracts, elitism and privilege are the same names who are now looking to shape our future outside the EU.  

What I was most upset about was the fact that this vote is irreversible.  There should be no 2nd referendum and there will be no repeat vote in 5 years time, if you regret voting Leave it is now too late. But what this does is to create a situation where our future can be dramatically different from the past. It has to be. Whatever your vote it can't be 'more of the same' but the possibility of our country returned to us, not just from the influence of EU but from those principalities and powers in our own country who direct power for their own purposes.

For me, I can see how Leave and Remain can be united in the future and it is by ensuring that we rebuild along the strengths of opportunity, innovation, fairness and compassion. I don't want a country designed by and for the likes of Boris, IDS, Gove and Farage. I want a country that is designed for us all.  

A jigsaw is made up pieces which are completely different but fit together perfectly. Lets make it happen.