Now is the time for comfort reads

It all started on the day after the Brexit referendum. People who do not get the result they voted for in any election are naturally annoyed, sad, even despairing. If we sincerely believe in one political party and point of view, and lose to the opponents, we feel doomy and gloomy and say so. We used to speak our minds to friends and fellow believers, and that was that.

Brexit changed everything. For many who lost, that was not that, and it still isn’t. What started on social media extended to public platforms and personal communication. Disagreement became vicious, language abusive, people tore at one another, claws out, simply for having a different opinion. I lost count of the old friends who dropped and blocked me on discovering I voted Leave and have never picked me up again. The media stirred the pot. Interviewers aimed to trip up and trap anyone ‘on the wrong side’, rudely and aggressively.