We Asked Everyone At Glastonbury How It Felt Waking Up To Brexit

This post originally appeared on Noisey UK

Fancy the feeling: you wake up cold in a field, your mouth is stone dry, you’re at the bottom of a horrendous comedown and you can actually hear the sound of the odd person sobbing in a tent nearby. The Prime Minister has stepped down after serving just a year of his second elected five year term, and Labour alternative Jeremy Corbyn is facing a possible vote of no confidence. We’re out of the EU, the country is screwed and - in one night - your money is worth less than ever: say hello to Brexit Britain!

Of all of the emotions that I’ve experienced on Worthy Farm over the years, the news of our decision to depart Europe trickling through at 6am inspired one like never before. Dumbfounded and struggling to put a finger on just how the fuck it happened, I needed to ask Glastonbury’s kind folk that very question. So I headed out on the sour, sullen morning after the EU referendum results to question the people of Glastonbury themselves. And, for a festival that prides itself on being rooted in hippie culture, the answers I found weren't unanimously in support of remaining in the EU, either. Here's what happened.

How has the Brexit made you feel?
Ellie: Fucking annoyed.
Fran: I think it’s the worst thing that’s ever happened to this country.
Ellie: We all voted in, didn’t we? But you’ve just got to go with it, haven’t you?
Fran: I think the majority of people who voted out were the older generation.
Tom: We need to make sure that now, when the UK is making deals with Europe and the rest of the world, our voice is heard.
Clara: It’s so tight as well, I feel it should be a revote. We were watching the stocks this morning and it was stressing us out. They dropped by 8.3% by 10am.

How do you feel about Boris Johnson?
Ellie: I think he’s a power hungry maniac. Making him the prime minister would be the worst decision we could ever make.
Clara: He’s a nasty piece of work.

What were your thoughts when you heard the referendum results?
I’m a little upset, to be truthful. I think the whole thing was based on too much hate. I see the sign of a Brexit, I see white. It was a hate campaign, I think it was morally wrong.

Did you support David Cameron?
No, I’m a Labour supporter. But David Cameron as a Tory is not bad. There’s been far worse Tories than him, but I believe that he did some really good stuff for the country. I believe that he stood up for what he thinks is right as well. Sometimes he goes against the grain, like when he first tried to refuse to bomb Syria, which I thought was the right decision but it was overthrown by the house. I’m a little bit sad that he’s leaving, because he’s the best option when it comes to Tories. And I’m really scared of what’s next.

Has it stopped you from having a good time this weekend?
I think it’s slightly disappointing, but it has happened, and you can’t change that. The only way forward is not, for example, stomping your feet. It’s making the best of the situation. We are a democracy and, as a country, we decided to vote out. So respect it and let’s make the best of it.

How do you feel about today’s Brexit?
Wendy: Well, it’s what we voted for, innit? Whether you like it or not, it’s what we’ve voted. That’s what you get in a free country.

What about the fact that Britain lost £125 billion in stocks this morning? Is that the sort of catastrophic fuck-up that should be happening in a free country?
Wendy: It will come back. Britain has got plenty of money.

That’s the equivalent to 15 years’ worth of EU payments, though.
Paul: But it’s like house prices, isn’t it? It’s only worth that amount of money if it’s sold.
Wendy: You just think about the people who are going out today and buying all of the shares.

The pound is now the lowest it’s been since the eighties.
Paul: Yeah, well we lived through the eighties. We’ve come through the other side.
Wendy: And the house prices and mortgage rates going up 15%, which we struggled to pay.
Paul: The thing is, we haven’t had anybody who’s really given us any credible reasons to vote one way or the other. So we voted ‘out’, if you haven’t guessed.

Do you not fear a little bit for the future generations?
Paul: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. But I fear for the future generations staying in Europe.

Do you think that it was right to put a decision like that in the hands of the people?
Paul: No, because if it was that bad for us to come out, why did they give us the choice in the first place? And I’ve always asked that question.

Should Cameron have called a referendum?
Wendy: Well, he wanted UKIP voters, didn’t he? And the thing is: it’s bit him on the arse now, hasn’t it?

Do you feel sorry for him?
Paul: Well, no because the people have been talking for a while and he’s not listened to them. They’re not really interested in us, the normal people, they’re only interested in people who own a lot of property and own big companies.

So what do you think about Britain leaving the EU?
I’m Cornish, so it’s good to stay in because of the funding, but it’s better for the country to leave. It’s one of these regional things.

Well, yeah, the Cornish have today asked for reassurances from the government following the fact they’ll be losing funding.
Well that’s it: we’re going to be losing funding for the Eden project, the timber mines down there. I used to work for Eden so I know where the funding comes from, but now that’s been withdrawn, what’s going to happen?

So did you support the out campaign?
I voted in, personally. Because I voted regionally, for selfish reasons.

But what’s beneficial for the country not being in the EU?
Well, we can control our borders.

So just immigration?
No. Immigration is what people have voted on, but it would’ve been other things. Keep exporting more than we’re bringing in and, if we keep that going we’ll come up again.

Describe in one word how Brexit has made you feel.
Excellent. I’m buzzing that Cameron’s going, mate. I’m actually happier about that.

Do you pity the man, tearing up after serving one year of a five year term?
Not at all. Out of Europe, change it to someone else, all good.

You know Farage’s promise that he was going to contribute £350 million a week to the NHS a week has already been withdrawn, hours after the Brexit?
Well, yeah.

Do you trust Nigel Farage more than David Cameron?
Definitely. Because he’s real, he’s one of us, goes down the pub, talks it how it is.

Except he's also a multi-millionaire…
Bob Geldof was taking the piss out of him though, that guy is a millionaire, Farage isn’t.

How was waking up this morning?
Lee: I was devastated.
Mags: Humiliating.
Karl: Big mistake.
Lee: I think people voted politically instead of on the actual issues.
Karl: Yeah, they just wanted Cameron out.
Mags: People voted because they want to close the borders and stop immigration, but it won’t work. We’ll just have less control.

Why do you think people voted for leave?
Mags: It’s just an immigration issue.
Karl: Also, because they didn’t vote for the conservatives at the general election, and they’re trying to get the Tories out.

Is there any hope?
Lee: There’s a lot of negativity because people don’t know what’s going to happen, because we’re entering uncharted waters if you like.
Karl: Well, they wiped £150 billion off the stock market this morning. Think of the hospitals we could have built with that.

Do you still feel patriotic?
Lee: Yes.
Mags: Definitely. We’re British all the way.
Karl: The reason we want to stay in is because of our British ideals and our patriotism. So, the fact that we are an island gives us that separation, but we got to trade will one billion people. Now, we’ve got to completely rebuild all of those connections.
Lee: The country has made a mistake, but we all make mistakes in life. I think we’ll learn from it and get better.
Karl: Listening to the lunatics like fucking Johnson, the absolute clown, so well done to him. He’s cocked it right up.

Who would you pick between Michael Gove and Boris Johnson?
Lee: Neither, I’d probably vote Labour just to stop those two fucking idiots. And I voted Tory at the last election.

Do you feel let down by the Tory party?
Lee: No, I feel let down by those fucking clowns. Cameron was spot on with what he did, that’s who I voted for. But Gove, Johnson, have just absolutely made shit up and ruined shit. Farage has already admitted that the £350 million for the hospitals is not true. Anybody who’s voted for Brexit on the strength of his word should feel let down. Wanker.

Was it right for Cameron calling the referendum when he did?
Lee: Well, it was in his manifesto, and he stuck to his word.
Mags: It was so close though.
Lee: Now the country is on its arse.
Mags: Well, at least we're in the Glastonbury walls now. I don’t want to leave, ever.

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