Nil desperandum

Or don’t let the buggers grind you down. We are in a very Black Friday indeed after yesterday’s referendum and many of us are feeling more cast down than we have in years. The Brexiteers are already out on the streets with their flags singing ‘Rule Britannia’, Farage is gloating and triumphant and the pound is already falling. It reminds me hideously of Germany in the 30’s.

But all the more reason for us to organise and plan for what can and must be done next, even if we have to do it surreptitiously. We are in for a very hard time and we must do what we can to help and support one another and to oppose the now inevitable outbreak of xenophobia and misogyny. There is still hope not hate. Jo Cox’s courageous words and brave example still echo in our minds for us to remember and follow. We have to hang on to the fact that nearly half of us are still decent human beings.

It will be a long struggle but we still have Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Nye Bevan and William Beveridge to guide us. And Keats, and Shelley and William Blake. We are not alone.