Brexit: So What Happens Next?

I had a bad feeling about it. And although we got the desired result against all expectations, the sense of foreboding is still there. Maybe it’s reserved for the actual implementation of Brexit and the possibility – no, probability – that it will be comprehensively fouled up.

All the parties (except UKIP) tried to bludgeon the British public into voting to stay in the EU. None can therefore be trusted to carry out the people’s wish as diligently as one would normally expect. David Cameron is standing down as prime minister but not soon enough. With all this in mind I decided to drop a line to my (SNP) MP….

Nobody during the campaign offered a roadmap charting the way ahead in the event of a Brexit vote – a serious omission by the Conservative government which called the referendum.

Parliament can hardly allow Mr Cameron, after his performance, to head negotiations for disengagement. Furthermore the Conservatives have no popular mandate and no carefully considered programme to lead us into a new era. In this unprecedented situation it would be better, surely, for MPs to insist on an all-party Transitional Cabinet pooling the best talent. The SNP should be part of it and focus on the challenges, seize opportunities and safeguard workers’ rights and other issues of concern.

I hope Nicola Sturgeon will shelve all talk of a second Scottish independence referendum until we see what can be achieved in a new relationship with our European trading partners and security and environment agencies. We should also pause to see what happens to the EU itself.

These are extraordinary times. Good luck to you and your colleagues as you make Parliamentary history.

Stuart Littlewood, after working on jet fighters in the RAF, became an industrial marketeer in oil, electronics and manufacturing, and with innovation and product development consultancies. He also served as a Cambridgeshire county councillor and a member of the Police Authority. He is an Associate of the Royal Photographic Society and has produced two photo-documentary books including Radio Free Palestine (with foreword by Jeff Halper). Now retired, he campaigns on various issues, especially the Palestinians' struggle for freedom. Read other articles by Stuart, or visit Stuart's website.