On Friday, 24 June 2016, Brits woke up stunned to discover that the UK had voted to leave Europe. It was an earth-shattering sensation. As a Scot abroad, I was devastated. Thirty years for nothing? The vote of the ignorant, the elderly and some so rich that they don’t need to belong to anything, had turned their back to the world, progress, positive environmentalism and so many other elements that are an integral part of belonging to the EU.
The Conservatives’ sweep to victory in the 7 May general election means that a triumphant David Cameron will be back at 10 Downing Street without much hassle and without relying on a coalition partner to form the next government. The Tories’ 331 seats give him an outright majority, the first of its kind in over two decades. The Labour Party suffered a humiliating defeat and the Liberal Democrats were crushed beyond anybody’s expectation. In response to such a dismal outcome both Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg stepped down as party leaders, followed by Nigel Farage of the UK Independence Party, another underperformer in this year’s general elections
