Shocked about Europe – and a morsel of good (book-related) news
— by Alyson Walsh
Devastating news about the European Referendum. For as long as I can remember, I’ve felt European, part of Europe and proud – and now, everything’s changed. Everything. I was up at 4.30am this morning watching events unfold, and I’m still reeling. While I’m shocked and saddened by the result, I believe in democracy and that means respecting the outcome. I’m not going to blame other voters but The Economist has called it a ‘tragic split’ and David Cameron’s decision to hold a referendum ‘reckless’ and I wholeheartedly agree with that. And anyway, as if things weren’t bad enough…Donald Trump arrived in the UK, this morning.
Anyhow. You came here expecting style not politics – but this is a personal blog, and politics is personal – so scrabbling around for a morsel of good news, something positive to say, I realised that I haven’t mentioned BOOK NUMBER TWO. I’ve had the contract for a while now, but literally only just started writing it this week. This time round there’ll be more of a focus on style rather than age. Things have changed since I started blogging eight years ago, and while there is definitely still room for increased visibility and diversity in the fashion and media industries, this emphasis does feel right. The new book will be about ageless style and once again it will include lots of interviews with FABulous (Fifty And Beyond Stylish) women – I’m hoping to be spurred on by the new challenges all-round.
Linking to broadcaster/writer/author Paul Mason’s Exit Plan.
Stay positive.
Discussion (69 Comments)
- Patricia says:
And it’s ironic that it now looks like the Scots will have another referendum. I was glad of the No vote last time (I’m Scottish, but have lived abroad for the last 32 years) but I don’t think I would blame them if they decide on Yes next time. This was a very short-sighted move.
But congrats on book 2, good luck with the writing!
- Michelle says:
I’m staying positive and looking forward to your second book!
- Emma says:
We’re still part of Europe, so I don’t understand why you say you don’t feel European anymore. Our location hasn’t changed, we’re just leaving the European Union! We all need to take a collective breath…… I’m very much looking forward to book number 2, I gave book number 1 to all my girlfriends last year on their Birthday, everyone love it x
- TNMA says:
Hello Emma, so pleased that you enjoyed the book. Thank you. I think what I was trying to say was that I have always felt that I (or we as a country) belonged in Europe, and now that’s changed. Tumultuous times.
- Linda R says:
I am from the States and I share your feelings on the BREXIT and on D. Trump. Thank you for saying it like it is.
Looking forward to the new book. Your blog is simply the best. - Disnyrollergirl says:
Whooooop – congrats Aly! Loving your jumpsuit by the way, very similar to one in the new Louis Vuitton menswear ss17 collection ( on my blog, link in bio. Lol) . Wonder if Kim Jones has been reading tnma…!
- Heidi says:
Great news about your book. I look forward to its publication.
The Brexit thing is so strange, sad, and worrisome. It seems as if Cameron was very confident about the outcome, so willingly took a gamble, with perhaps a secondary gain in mind. The outcome is upsetting for many… maybe actually more than half the UK population… overall!
I have relatives in the UK and a few on the Continent as well. I’m in Canada.
- Wendy in York says:
Yes , awful news . In our area of the north we voted to stay in , but we are comparatively well off round here & I think many areas are ignored by London & the parliament there . So they feel deprived & think the alternative will be better . This won’t solve their problems of course .
Good to hear of your new book though . - Chicatanyage says:
I like you am finding it difficult to stay positive today. I was up at 5.30 am and thought that my husband was joking when he told me the result. We have strong connections with France and I cast my vote with my children and grandchildren in mind.
- retrochicmama says:
I couldn’t write my floral dress post today – Don’t feel very florally 🙁
I’m fed up. I’m an immigrant but nobody here treats me like one because I’m white Australian. I’ve also been on the dole. But that’s ok because I’m not taking advantage. There is such a gaping discrepancy with all of the rhetoric.
What is really upsetting me right now is the fact that I didn’t vote for Cameron but he got in anyway (although with this voting system that’s questionable) then he calls this stupid referendum. I didn’t get what I voted for there , again.
What does the wanker do? He resigns?
Excuse me mate wtf!
Might pack up the family & go live in Scotland. - Michelle Braverman says:
Could you possibly hold a referendum on Trump while he’s there and possibly ship him off to where he might do the least harm?
Meanwhile lots of good luck in writing your new book; hoping the same illustrator will be collaborating. I think it says a lot that we now acknowledge style has no age limit. In defense of my fellow older stylista sisters, it does take some time to get there!- Rochelle says:
Dear Alyson, Please please include a chapter on styling outfits to be worn with flat shoes in book #2! And I’m not referring to ankle-turning wedge styles or ballet flats with no arch support. You aren’t there yet, enviably, but in 10 more years, you’ll be needing substantial footwear pretty much all the time. As for Brexit and other threats to global harmony, well, my sincere sympathy. Carry On!
- TNMA says:
There will be a chapter on how to wear flat shoes Rochelle – working on it right now, you must be psychic!
- Fran says:
I have to agree, here — feet acquire a lot of issues with age! It’s often not just a matter of not wearing high heels — shoes more often have to fit perfectly, stay on your feet, and offer both cushioning and support while being flexible! It can get really, really challenging to find a pair of shoes that’s even remotely attractive while being comfortable enough to stand/walk in for even a couple of hours.
People will say, “wear ballet flats”, and I’m like, “you’ve *got* to be kidding! Instant foot pain from lack of a decent arch support or sole, and they won’t stay on my feet, either, unless I can find them in a 9.5 AAAA U.S. (European shoes don’t even seem to come in narrow widths… )
So, even with lots of other fit issues going on, shoes are easily the trickiest part of styling an outfit… I’ve developed a few strategies, but would love to have more!
- Jenny says:
Absolutely gutted. How backward thinking can we be? I have been a proud European now for 40 years and cannot believe how stupid people can be. They don’t realise how important it is to be connected to our European neighbours and what a force for good it is to be part of the bigger community. I have been quite depressed all day but maybe soon I can see a positive side. Very, very sad.
- Lauren Brewer says:
We’re shocked and devastated on this side of the pond, too. It’s very troubling when something is praised by the likes of Trump, Putin and Le Pen!
- Catbird Farm says:
Wow, Trump arriving over there today of all days is adding insult to injury methinks. But any chance you could keep him? Wall off his golf course as a toxic waste site and keep him (and his creepy family) inside its borders? He does love walls . . .
Here’s a sincere hope that this new course for England works out and isn’t simply the first domino in the line.
- Sue says:
God, awful, isn’t it. I was stunned. Stayed up all night watching it with Student Son No 1. But, you are right vox populi, vox dei etc (though I guess we know how the quote ends…). Congratulations on the book deal – will buy and read for sure.
- Heidi says:
As a German who’s been following your blog for quite some time, I couldn’t agree more with your feelings to the BREXIT. It will be a great loss for all Europeans, and I’m afraid it might further fuel right-wing nationalism throughout Europe. We all thought we’d left those times behind us!
Sometimes a style blog must be about politics too. - Sue says:
I’m impressed that you respect democracy. I’m not there yet having listened to people saying things like “we’ve got our country back”, “the NHS will get more money” ( I work for the NHS and know with all my heart this won’t happen) ,. I’ve never felt so embarrassed as I do today, people giving the most ignorant of reasons for leaving Europe, because that’s what it amounts to. Hope I can feel more hopeful about the uk at some point soon but please, you must have cringed hearing what some people have given as their reasons for leaving and the statements they made in celebratory mode.
- TNMA says:
I hear you Sue, I do. It’s very sad. I grew up on a council estate, up north, and had a run-in with members of my own family last night, so I’m trying to be a bit more conciliatory today.
- Leslie in Oregon says:
Democracy depends upon an informed public. Ignorance and fear, as well as greed, are posing an ominous threat to the U.S., the U.K. and (the rest of) Europe. Let’s all strive to know more, do better and treat each other with kindness and compassion…and work very hard to minimize the disastrous effects of this referendum and the same kind of election result in the U.S. in November.
- Sandy Droniuk says:
Congrats to you on the new contract. Your first books sits on my bedside table.
Love the shoes in the above photo. Finally – this Canadian gal is finding Brexit outcome very unsettling. - Lee Ripley says:
I lovet your first book and greatly look forward to the next one. I love your blog.
- Pam says:
As an American, but a frequent traveler to both GB and Europe this was a smart move in my eyes. Put the emotion aside and look at this logically. Not every passenger needs to go down with the ship. Use the lifeboats.
- Little Brown Bird says:
I’m seeking the positives and excited about book two x
- Jan says:
I’m British and have lived in France for the past 35 years. Today has been one of the saddest I can remember, what next???
Good news about your book,I look forward getting it. I love your blog and am deffinatly one of the “that’s not my age” women and proud to be!!! - northernlass says:
It wouldn’t have been my decision – but I refuse to be ’embarrassed’ by or ‘ashamed’ of (as I’ve heard people say they are by the decision today) people who happen to have a different view from my own. That implies they are wrong or misguided and I, somehow, know better. None of us really know what the best decision would have been – only the one we prefer. If we respect our democracy then we stand by the decisions it delivers – and move forward from where we are now.
So – having your new book to look forward to is a step in the right direction. 🙂 Write quickly! - Boadicea says:
Re the referendum: has no one considered that those who voted Leave are sick to the gills of the criminal waste of their (and your) money by immorally unelected, unaccountable, unscrupulous and very greedy bueaucrats from Brussels whose accounts have NEVER once been signed off ? Am I right in inferring that those folks shocked, saddened and upset by yesterday’s result were quite happy having even daily minutiae decreed for them, witness, for example, some 100+ Directives concerning teaspoons, for crying out loud?
Please lose the doom and gloom. Be positive instead. Europe is still our friend and ally. No drawbridge has been drawn up. Trade will continue, as will mutual visits et al. There’s no withdrawal of mutual respect beteeen decent people, just a wish for self-government this sife if the Channel. And on that subject, watch that space as some of the French push for similar independence.
The fervent wish now is for a fair and dignified withdrawl from the EU followed by fair and sensible use of its saved membership fees. Let’s be positive and look forward, and to hell with 100+ ways with teaspoons!
- Kaye says:
I am actually a US expat living (past five years) in Ecuador, South America. If not for your writeup I wouldn’t have known about the UK referendum issue. Glad to hear of it…and really appreciate your blog! Found via the Style Crone!
- Juliet says:
Fantastic news re the new book. Stunned regarding Brexit, what this means re the union I can only wonder – up here in Scotland people were very keen to stay in Europe. A sad day – who knows how long before people start feeling we are all together again.
- Jacqueline says:
I’m ‘en vacance’ & voted before I left the UK. This morning were greeted at breakfast by ‘au revoir’. Explained we weren’t leaving until tomorrow but this was a ‘joke’ French style. Lunch in a lovely small seaside restaurant was dominated by a British woman ‘explaining’ her self seeking & nasty anti immigration reasons for voting Brexit. No thought to the future for her grandchildren – 75% of 18 – 24 years olds voted to remain. Anyway at almost 70 I have decided I am European – as I have been for at least 43 years. Brexit is about processes & politics not about how I choose to live my life. I too will respect the democratic process that took us to this day but I fear the repercussions for the UK especially for the poorer & more vulnerable of us. Keep writing – I loved your first book – I can’t tell you how many new Bretons I have bought this week. All essential for a European women.
- The Sequinist says:
I was also really horrified by the Brexit outcome today, but I’ve sort of made my peace with it now. I certainly hate the elitist, self-interested, completely undemocratic, money-wasting, entitled cronyism that oozes out of Brussels, but whether that will be any different in Westminster remains to be seen. It seems governments always end up being puppets of the corporations who buy influence with them, no matter where they are based. The European Union has been limping along for some time, so maybe this is a much-needed jolt to get it back on track.
On a cheerier note, I am thrilled that you’ll have a second book coming out, Brava!!! xx
- Aud says:
I understand your pain Alyson and I am genuinely sorry. For me, this was a vote fundamentally about democracy and the lack of democracy and corruption in the EU. It was also a protest against the United States of Europe superstate project . The uk has always been an outward looking nation and will continue to be so. But as a nation we have to be able to determine and control what’s best for us. We can do that and be good Europeans also. But not in the EU superstate.
On Scotland, as a proud Scot who voted for independence as a protest against unrepresentative rule, and voted yesterday without contradiction, to leave the EU I would say don,t be fooled by the Scotland vote. The pain of the last independence vote is felt very deeply here, and no one really want to repeat that. A lot of Scots tactically voted remain yesterday because we knew than a brexit vote would lead to another independance vote. We don’t want that. Sturgeon is wrong to think that what happened was particularly pro EU. It’s not. It’s actually pro UK. And anti another divisive painful referendum.
It’s all a bit messy right now, but I have great faith in Brits, we,re a solid stoic bunch and we get on with stuff. It will be ok. - Linda Boardman Kerr says:
So sorry about Trump’s visit. He is such an embarrassment to us Americans. Looking forward to your next book.
- Miss M says:
The people have spoken. Democracy in all its glory. Here in Australia our politicians mainly the left wing don’t trust the people to decide on the issue of gay marriage because we might make the ” wrong” (according to them) decision. Let the majority rule.
- Jan Wood says:
Once again, political opinions (that no one cares about) take their toll. My many lovely & wise friends come from differing layers of experience that place us all in varied political arenas. We know not to press our own agendas on one another, yet we share information all day long, knowing all factual information is good. We are all at the top of our fields and we stick with that & sharing what’s happening in our lovely lives if we’re going to have anything good to offer. I can get political b.s. from any news site. I came here because I love fashion and aging as a beautiful alive woman and wanted to see others doing the same. What a shame, I’m out.
- Roz says:
Since you introduced BREXIT, I want to tell you and your readers that, with the decision to leave the EU, I and my daughter have a lightness of spirit that has been missing for years. I am not European, I am English. In the last ten years or so, I have witnessed the population of the UK increase by about TEN MILLION, mostly from eastern Europe, the middle east and African countries. My own city now has a massive immigrant influx – 25,000 Polish alone. There are pockets of immigrants throughout the city – Polish in one area, mixed Africans (who have come into the UK via Europe) in another area, Greeks in another area, Indians in another, West Indians in another…. We may seem to be a cosmopolitan city but we are not because all nationalities live their own separate little lives where they make no attempt to co-exist with other nationalities. As regarding the Prime Minister resigning – how stupid he was to introduce a referendum on the subject and then devote his time to publicly campaign against leaving the EU. If he had stepped back and allowed other politicians to campaign either way, he would not now be in the position he created for himself. The United Kingdom population who voted for BREXIT are not anti Europe – we are simply against the United States of Europe that has eroded our national identity.
Thank you for allowing comments on your blog. For any readers who are interested, a campaign has been started (not by me) to make 23 June Independence day in recognition of BREXIT. - MaureenC says:
Great news on the book Alyson
I am from an immigrant family, mine came from Ireland in the 1950s. I used to be amused by people like the previous commentator who seem to think that Britain is like the Galápagos Islands and that somehow a plucky group of humans evolved here over thousands of years unsullied by “Foreign DNA” and that these mythical creatures are actually the real English. Well sorry to break it to you love but it didn’t happen like that. I’m not amused by them any more because they also seem to imagine that we don’t “need” the migrant workers who are currently wiping tens of thousands of English bottoms in care homes, patching you up after your car crash in A&E and picking your English strawberries in Herefordshire.
I respect the outcome of a democratic vote about a corrupt mainly unelected institution but don’t be a tit about it!- Roz says:
My sister-in-law owns a fruit and veg market garden/farm in Cambridgeshire. I shan’t tell you why she and her family voted out. My daughter is 25% Irish. She voted out. I originate from Cornwall, where my family are direct descendants of French. We all voted out. We are not the bigots you imply, are well travelled throughout the world. We just prefer not to be part of a United States of Europe…and I am far too polite to slag off individuals in the way you have chosen to do.
- MaureenC says:
Sorry if you felt you were being “slagged off” personally, you seemed to be declaring that you were English now apparently you’re French! As I have spent my life actively co-existing with English people (which you claim us immigrants don’t do) your words were a very personal attack – but of course you don’t think that’s what they are, we all think our views are very reasonable. If you invite people to petition for a spurious Independence Day then don’t feign surprise when you generate a strong response in current circumstances. As it happens I consciously abstained as I was sickened by the arguments coming from both sides.
- Jane says:
Totally and absolutely. God knows what will happen to health and social care now. I can rarely remember being so sad.
- Heather Dyer says:
Couldn’t agree more. But actually, I’m not sure democracy is such a good thing now, considering how many of us voted because we ‘didn’t like those other people coming into ‘our’ country’. Such a pity. One day, we will all be one big ‘united states’ of the Earth, and will look back at the way we didn’t like people of different cultures and skin colour and be ashamed. Yes, we might be living in little pockets with our own ‘type’ in cities, but it won’t last. I saw a group of teenagers walking down the road yesterday, each of them a different skin tone. The young will take us forward 🙂
- Zanna says:
I too am terribly sad and ashamed , fearful what the future may hold for the teens of today . As said in a previous comment the vast ignorance and lack of research that fuelled the out vote sends chills down my spine .
I am European , born here but never felt British . I loathe the yobbish ethos of footballers, their wives and celebrity culture that pervades the tabloids and refuse to ally myself with that breed .
Now is not the time be spineless , let’s move on pray that next Prime Minister will be a woman . [Or at least not Boris Johnson.] - Lesley Somerville says:
As I read in the Guardian, if you’re rich you vote in, if you’re poor you vote out. And do it came to pass. We, the relatively rich, should feel ashamed that we have continuously voted for politicians who have promoted economic growth (for us) on the backs of ‘them’. And now they’ve bitten us on the bum, so to speak. Well good for ‘them’ . Great news about the new book.
- Judy says:
The news about your new book is the best news today! Book no. 1 is on my bedside table and I can’t wait to add no 2. The other news has cast a gloom over us, I think so many thought it would go the other way, but the reality is that we just don’t know what will happen now. We fear the worst but hope for some good surprises. The thought of Trump and Boris Johnson in charge of our two nations is truly frightening.
- Anna K says:
I’m going to be political here – delete me if you’re not happy, TNMA.
I voted remain in 1975 with joy in my heart. My father returned bloody and wounded from a terrible war, one of many that had torn Europe apart for centuries, so it was wonderful to join a community of friendly nations all aiming at peace through trade and prosperity, sharing the riches of European culture. It all promised a glorious future.
I voted remain again this week, but with a heavy heart. Europe I still love with a passion but the EU has turned from a friendly community into an empire – not a brutal one, but a wasteful, arrogant, power-mad and incompetent one that has caused simmering resentment not only here but all over Europe.
For example: the forced introduction of the Euro without fiscal union – doomed from the start and causing nightmares in Europe now; the admittance of Greece to the Euro, with the EU turning a blind eye to the books that were cooked by Goldman Sachs; and when that went sour as was predicted, Greece was subjected to monstrous humiliation and degradation and taxpayers in the Eurozone having to bail them out; the failure to act cohesively about the terrible war in Yugoslavia. It was NATO that sorted that out; the bludgeoning of Ireland when they voted against the Lisbon Treaty, with Barroso beating them into ‘voting the right way’ with threats and bribes; the horrific mismanagement of the tragic refugee crisis with Mrs Merkel, grandly, even nobly, unilaterally opening the doors to Germany, causing turmoil in stricken Greece and eventual panic in Germany, and Merkel having to scurry off to Turkey to stem the flow with bribes of billions of Euros.
The EU, which fancies itself a superstate, has demonstrated incompetence, arrogance and corruption (900 million Euros has ‘disappeared’ in Eastern Europe) and bloated greed and corruption. Believe me, there is simmering resentment all over Europe. A poll in France was 60% leave; the Dutch are restive, the Swedes say they might follow us. Juncker says we must be ‘punished’ to deter others from leaving. Is this the European Union or the Soviet Union?
All empires collapse eventually – the Roman, Ottoman, British, Soviet – all swept away by the tides of history and the disconnection of the elite from the rest. (The EU commissioners are unelected and meet in secret; the parliament merely ratifies their decrees.) I voted remain in the hope that we would stay in Europe but fire a shot across the bows of this arrogant elite to reform itself, and calmly and gradually dismantle the empire and return to the original, hopeful, joyous organisation that has been stealthily filched from us. I am furious with the Brexit leaders who are mendacious and malevolent; but I am furious with the EU too for crushing the dream we all hoped for that might now collapse in chaos and misery.
- Leslie in Oregon says:
This is really helpful background information, Anna K. Thank you for adding this to the other commenters who are educating this American about what the EU has become (or at least how it is perceived) since I last lived in Europe. Once again, I’ve learned that I have a lot to learn.
- Margie in Toronto says:
Well said Anna K. I was born in Scotland, raised Canadian but always follow the UK news (as we are all part of The Commonwealth) and I stayed up watching the BBC until the results were announced. I have to admit that I expected a closer result with “Remain” winning in the end. But – after following the news throughout the campaign, watching “BREXIT the movie” and listening to what people all across the UK were saying, I think I would have voted – LEAVE.
What I find so very shocking is the huge divide between London and the rest of England & Wales and I think this speaks to the fact that London, and the “City” are so out of touch with the rest of the population and that is a real failure of the politicians and the banks and big business – it speaks to their arrogance and blindness and that’s what should make you all really sad.
To infer that all those who voted LEAVE are old or CHAVS or racists or uneducated speaks to this arrogance and I find this to be some of the most shocking aspects of the whole process.
England will recover and I think it will strive. Just because you have left the EU doesn’t mean you have turned your back on Europe – and there is a whole other large world out there to trade with and I think a lot of them may be more inclined to trade with you once some of the more convoluted trade restrictions issued by Brussels have been lifted. Good luck to you all. - Jan says:
I’m a retired school teacher in the United States. My retirement IRA was small to start with due to low teacher salaries in Tennessee, where I lived and taught for many years. Then I moved to Connecticut to be closer to family. I’m happy here but the cost of living is higher so my fixed income doesn’t go as far. Now something that happened in Great Britain has adversely affected my IRA…seems crazy but that’s the way of the world these days. I’m hoping for the best for myself and those of you over there. I just got my passport renewed in case I have to move out of the country after the first Tuesday in November….I don’t think I can live here any longer if Donald Trump is elected president. However, I look forward to your new book and enjoy your blog.
- Sally says:
I’m from the US also. I was shocked and saddened by the UK vote to leave the EU. I don’t like Donald Trump at all and am very distressed that he’s bought up prime property in Scotland. I will be ashamed if he becomes POTUS. So fingers crossed for you all in the UK and for us in the US. Politics aside, I’m looking forward to your new book and love reading your blog every day.
- Judy says:
Aly, I’m an American and share in your sadness and shock at the Brexit outcome. Still can’t believe it. I keep thinking someone is going to come to their senses and reverse the whole thing! It frightens me that in today’s world when we need to be aligned more than ever before, people acting on anger (which is really fear), retreat and hunker down “with their own.” WTF???!!! I truly believe we are all better together. As a nation of immigrants, it can be difficult to integrate and assimilate new peoples, new cultures. But with a little patience and compassion, there is so much more to gain. The opportunity of learning others’ cultures, and ultimately learning that WE ALL WANT THE SAME THINGS — peace, family, love, belonging, is a gift. And to add insult to injury, Donald Trump is there today. Good grief. I’m so sorry. Talk about an embarrasment!
Stay strong. Things happen for a reason. Wonderful news about your second book. I’ve gifted your first several times — LOVE IT.
- Aud says:
There’s no way the US would agree to a situation where an unelected , unaccountable, foreign power with designs on creating a superstate, complete with an army, has control over your laws and borders. That’s what it means to be in the EU. Anna K set out the position correctly.
- Mandy Childs says:
Great to hear about your new book! As for the vote to leave…..that’s Democracy for you.
I voted to leave and refuse to engage in any blame and shame game on either side. We need to reach out to ‘Inners’ and ‘Outers’ and nurture the things that unite us….Love, hope and optimism! - Lynn says:
Your political belief is different from mine. Although I have income in the top tier, I feel the pain of the middle class. I see them every day in my professional life, struggling, working, yet still not making the ends meet. They are not you or some of your readers, sitting in your fancy home in a fancy part of town in the most fancy city, and writing about stuff that ultimately does not matter (but yes, I do enjoy reading your blog). I think the vote is the divide of the rich and poor, the have and the have not, the working and the privileged, the ruling and the ruled. There you have it, democracy goes both ways, you have your Brexit, we have Obama and eight years of his failed ideology. Yes, hope and change. Optimism is always a good option, for you and for me, from both ends of despair.
- TNMA says:
Thank you for your comment, Lynn and I’m pleased you enjoy That’s Not My Age. Having grown up in social housing in one of the poorest towns in northern England, I am aware of the problems and completely understand why people have used this as a protest vote.
PS That’s Not My Age Mansions isn’t as fancy as you think!
- Sylvia says:
I wore Hillary blue to her ralley here in long beach, CA., working to keep trump out! Sorry he ended up there as you did not need his presence. We are rolling with the changes in the world as well as in styles which are reflecting a melting down of structure and boundries. Bound to be a bit scary so what next? A creative effort, your new book! Looking forward to this.
- Agnes says:
We elect politicians in a democracy because we believe that they will work in our best interests. We hope they will be well informed and will research issues and fight for their constituents’ rights and well being. What this referendum has shown is that this is not the way to make important decisions which will affect the lives of our young people for years to come. We should now be trying to be positive about a future where uncertainty is the norm…and we should be fighting to ban the referendum as a means of decision making.
Not even your new book can take away my sense of grief at the moment. - Susan Cairns says:
Last year I voted to remain in the UK and believed that it was the best thing for Scotland. Today I am devastated at this outcome and really wonder why I voted as I did . I feel that I saw through the hollow promises of the YES campaign but that in this case the hollow promises of the leave campaign have fooled the majority of people.
- Leslie in Oregon says:
Thank you very much for prompting this discussion, Alyson. It is far more than a discussion of politics; it is a discussion about a complicated set of issues that impact all of us (wherever in the world we live), and I for one appreciate the opportunity to understand better the many reasons why people in the U.K. voted as they did on this referendum. There is no way we will learn how to best live together, and maximize our opportunities to enjoy the beautiful aspects of life upon which this blog focuses, unless we better listen to and understand each other.
- Christine says:
I watched in horror as the result unfolded and would like to make a few comments from Australia, we are now living in a world that is so inter related each voter in a democracy has a responsibility to not only think of themselves but the ramifications of their decisions on the broader world community. Voters need to clearly understand the issues and the appreciate that Governments cannot be expected to provide everything for everyone. We are still recovering from the Global Financial Crisis brought on by incredibly wealthy USA citizens who were never brought to account because no doubt they are more powerful that Governments. The real worry now is that Donald Trump will be elected and then we will see the Brexit as a minor difficulty. Those living under a dictatorship (Putin etc) must be seeing the possibilities as we in the democracies seem to be unable to find the right leadership. Using the old Chinese proverb” we are living in interesting times” but we are still much better off that refugees and those suffering in the Middle East.
- Wendy in York says:
I always understood ‘ May you live in interesting times ‘ to be a chinese curse
- Rosemary says:
Seems I’m late to this party! Anyway, I just wanted to add my voice to this. TNMA, I am so much on your wavelength,
devastated by this result, especially as it affects my children’s present and their children’s future. I am almost embarrassed to be part of the generation which, it seems, voted in such large numbers to leave the EU. Yes, it’s in a bit of a mess, but we should be there at the top table helping to address the problems, rather than relegating ourselves to the sidelines.
On a happier note, I am delighted that you have begun your second book. I just love the first one. Bonne chance. - Anke says:
Being German I think the Brexit vote is a great pity for Britain and the rest of Europe. However, I think we all must stay calm and try to make the best out of it. I quite agree with other commenters on the shortcomings of the EU and the short-sighted politics of Mrs. Merkel, so in a way I can understand why many did not want to be a part of it any longer. Still, EU does not equal Europe as an idea, shared history and values – and Britain will always be a part of the latter no matter what becomes of the EU as an institution. Alyson: you have every right to feel as an European: it’s what you will always be.
- Val S says:
I don’t think anyone, including the Leavers, expected this result. Having just arrived in the UK again, I have wondered if we should have stayed in the States, with Trump and everything! Only time will tell if this turns out to be a good move for Britain.
Congrats on the new book! If you ever need a copy editor, proofreader or US localisation specialist, I’ll be back in business as soon as BT finds their way out to our village to fix our line!#%!*! Maybe in time for your third book. 🙂
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Oh how exciting about Book 2 Aly!