Out in the Wilderness.
From my personal political standpoint, today was a very depressing day.
I got home from packing up Mostly Comedy late last night, shattered by the events of the day; so much so that I barely remember writing my blog, as I was falling asleep as I did it. Literally; I woke up on my sofa at 5am, with my cat on my lap and a crick in my neck - but no sooner had I checked the BBC News website and seen the lay of the land Re. the Referendum than I knew I wouldn't get back to sleep easily. The political landscape had changed in a day; the deal that was struck six years before my birth was unravelling: Britain was about to leave the EU.
I watched Tuesday's BBC Referendum debate with irritation. Were we not supposed to notice the Leave campaign's decision to use the soundbite "take back control" in answer to very question?; a statement that's as vacuous as it's lacking in substance or meaning. Were we meant to be oblivious to the thin veneer between Boris Johnson's assertion that leaving the EU would make us safer and more prosperous, and his being motivated by personal political ambition? Did I have to harbour the same skewed take on immigration that much of tabloid press had been spoon-feeding us for years? Apparently yes.
I'm embarrassed by what the rest of Europe (implying we'll still be a part of it) must think of us. I'm frustrated by how the vote seems to have been loosely split between the older generation wanting out and the younger one wanting in, when it's the latter who'll be lumbered with it for longer. I don't like to start the day confronted with Farage's bullfrog-like face gurning with glee at how narrow-minded and small the UK will now be. Jobs will be lost and ties will be cut, with Scotland and Northern Ireland possibly wanting to jump ship. At least Brussels won't be able to restrict our bananas; will anyone still ship us bananas?