The EU Referendum that has recently rocked our world in the UK has really got me involved. By that, I mean, that although I’ve normally been bothered by political matters, And have always voted in general elections, this one has really captured everyone in positive and really negative ways. I find myself unable to refrain from joining in a lot of pointless arguments on social media. In person, I’ve tried to stay out of it because I don’t want to get out of hand with friends and colleagues and also, I think everyone is entitled to vote as they choose.

I think I’m aware of who is ‘balanced’ and who isn’t, and which bits of data and information are likely to be politically motivated or not, but we all have a bias whether we acknowledge that or not and I know that I’ve been the victim of some of the hyperbole that’s been flung about.

When the campaigning began in earnest this year, I was pretty firmly in the Leave camp. I had read a couple of articles by Boris that seemed completely sensible and genuine. They weren’t jingoistic, anti anything except common sense and I felt that He really articulated what I believed and wanted. Moving through the months, the more I heard of Boris and Gove, the more I was uncomfortable with their rhetoric and seemingly unwise sound bites. In recent months, the anti immigration section of the Leave gang kicked up a gear and I just found it massively unsavoury, unwholesome and nothing I wanted to be associated with.

I don’t like ANYONE taking the piss out of our benefits system, but my personal experience of that has been when living in Essex and I’m afraid, it’s only been UK citizens born and bred that have the worst records and are the most offensive in this regard. My experience? Working for 6 years in the DSS in the east end of London.

I also began to look at exactly what levels of sovereignty were supposedly being eroded and the voting record of the UK just doesn’t indicate that we’ve been hard done by or dictated to. Some of the most reasonable and needed laws have been enforced by EU legislation, but these are ‘awful’ things like equal pay for women, longer maternity pay, equal maternity / paternity leave rights so the burden isn’t shouldered by the woman only and more. These are just the ones that really stuck in my head.

I looked at how much we spent per person. What the trade situations were (at a high, layman level obviously) and what the immigration figures were. Immigration has never even been on my radar as a problem and I’ve lived in London for a number of recent years. I most often travelled by bus almost every day in and out of the city and there were minimal English-as-a-first-language people that take the bus and it bothered me not. These people were either born here and we’re more comfortable talking in another language to their friends on the bus or the phone, came here years ago or might have arrived last week. I really couldn’t give a shit. They have Oyster cards and are paying for the bus. That’s where my interest ends aside from eavesdropping on the dodgy conversations I could understand ;-)

I can find no real facts that point to EU immigrants over using or taking the piss out of British resources. Certainly, there is no way to claim extensive benefits or housing unless you’ve paid two full years worth of national insurance contributions. All I heard during coverage from a number of sources (not just the Beeb) were pretty chavvy, ill informed types talking about refugees ‘coming over here, taking houses, money and jobs’. Well a) I think we have a moral imperative to help anyone fleeing for their lives who comes from a war torn region with a carrier bag and the clothes on their backs and b) since when the hell do these refugees come from the EU? I’ve seen a number of vox pop interviews post vote with people who have moaned about the Syrians etc and I want to shout into tellyland ‘Oi, you flipping moron – how will leaving the EU stop this particular form of immigration?’.

I digress though. The point I really want to make here is that the vote has been cast. Even if some are subsequently regretting their vote or were not properly informed or feel they were lied to (based on the confessions after the vote by a couple of key Leave leaders), it has happened.

We need to move on and make the best of the situation and in that vein, I am really surprised that there is a large petition gathering that wants a second referendum. If we had won, would we be tolerating the call for a re-count? No way in hell. It’s pretty insulting to think it can be asked for. As a person on the ‘losing’ side, I’m stunned and embarrassed by this.

A more useful petition would be to insist that this referendum is only used as an advisory – which is what it legally is. Nothing that has happened here is legally binding. If parliament get involved and say ‘thanks but no thanks’ to the referendum or call a general election and let a new mandated government deal with it, then maybe. Asking for a new vote because you don’t like this result, seems really…really….erm…rude.

I know that Farage hasn’t helped matters by saying before the election that if remain won by 52/48 then they’d have wanted another referendum because it would be ‘unfinished business’.

What it all smacks of is a lack of a credible plan on both sides. A level of complacency by the remain guys and a total lack of ‘we might win’ from the leave gang. Now they’ve won, what are their plans? There doesn’t seem to be a clear next step. If this is only advisory, why has everyone panicked and in turn, opened the door to Scottish and Welsh panic? It all feels like thinking about Friday hadn’t really happened on paper.