My first and only ?#?Brexit? post - Keep calm and carry on!

Best get this out of the way first...These are my own personal thoughts and views and not those of BWC.

So the UK, or rather England and Wales, has voted to leave the EU and we now move into unchartered territory. The UK government must now put its plan together for our place in the world outside of the EU. Whilst it does appear to be generally accepted that there will some economic pain over the coming years as our economy adjust to an uncertain future, I can be convinced that over the coming decades we will be in a better place…who is to say that our #Brexit won't actually be the first of many from the EU?

I followed events over the course of the evening and early hours with interest and the outcome of the vote has caught many in the press and the financial analysts by surprise (indeed the markets were already pricing in a ‘remain’ outcome only yesterday evening).

I have had a few hours to reflect on the decision that has been made and my thoughts have been:

-‘Why did the public vote against economic warnings from almost all major financial organisations, independent bodies, experts and the majority of our big employers?’

-‘Do voters really consider net migration will be cured by exiting the EU?’

-‘Did people put more faith in slogans on the side of billboards and busses than they did in the Prime Minister’?

I suppose the truth is all of the above are probably true to some extent which is why I think David Cameron was right to resign this morning.

Cameron put himself at the centre of the ‘Remain’ campaign and I do not think that he could have done anything else other than commit to resign whilst remaining in post in the very short term to minimise the turmoil.

Whilst I am not a natural Conservative voter, I have a huge amount of respect for David Cameron this morning following his dignified speech delivered outside 10 Downing Street. So often at such times politicians focus on self-preservation rather than making the right decision for the country which I believe is to move on when their position becomes untenable. I believe that our politicians, whatever their political persuasions, should passionately defend their beliefs whatever the political costs. It’s on this basis I’m very disappointed with Labour’s involvement in the debate which has been muted at best and certainly did not listen to and debate the concerns of labour voters. I would not be surprised at all if Jeremy Corban (who I still maintain is unelectable as PM) is challenged as leader.

Whilst personally I am passionately opposed to a number of the conservative party policies, I do believe that David Cameron has been a strong leader of the country at what would have been a challenging time for whomever came to power due to, in my opinion, the unprecedented economic and geopolitical challenges...i certainly wouldn't want his job.

What I believe not many considered yesterday when they put their X in the #Brexit box was that we will now have an unelected Prime Minster (likely to be Boris Johnson) who will lead the country through the most challenging negotiation we have ever faced…by all accounts Boris was hardly ‘hands on’ when dealing with major London negotiations. We must also now face the likelihood of a further vote on Scottish Independence and further political uncertainty in Northern Ireland which could lead to the UK breaking up.

All that being said, my outlook to life is naturally positive and my glass is always half full; I can do nothing else put push on and focus on the positives for the future. I've no doubt tomorrow will look very much like yesterday and life will go on. Pensions will recover, markets will stabilise and jobs lost in the coming months will no doubt come back in due course. Britain is at the forefront of scientific and medical research, our financial, service and engineering industries are the envy of the World. We are bold, inventive and at our core we are traders with the World. Now that the decision has been made and the leadership will be changed, I really believe we need to focus on healing the, what appear to me to be, stark divisions in our society.

Certain elements of the press really do enjoy stoking up the rich vs the poor argument, painting all immigrants as scroungers and vilifying all politicians which undoubtedly stokes social unrest. There has been a groundswell of opinion during the time of austerity that the political and business elite really are carrying on regardless whilst the poorest in our society are suffering disproportionately. I have no doubt the referendum was at its core about a belief that we will be better arresting control back from Brussels on all fronts however, I can’t help feeling that the exit vote in some small part was a chance for marginalised voters to express their opinion.

So despite my reservations, I am feeling positive for the future as I believe we all must be. I will however leave you with this, by 9 November 2016, Boris Johnson may well be our Prime Minister and Donald Trump the 58th President of the United States of America ?#?scary?!