Democracy has a price, and you can’t stop paying it.

Democracy has a price, and it’s not an easy price to pay. Nothing is ever completely settled under a democracy. Any decision that can be made by a democratic process can be over-turned by a democratic process. People on the Remain side are suffering the downside of that right now. They - we - thought the benefits of membership of the EU - and the downsides of departure - were so obvious and so clear that a vote to leave would be unimaginable. They - we - didn’t fight hard enought to make the positive case for the EU. And so they - we - lost.

However, the day is coming soon when the Brexiteers find themselves on the other end of the equation. They will have “won”, but then those hundreds of thousands who marched in London, and the millions who signed the petition become the beginning of a campaign to rejoin. The day we leave - the day that was meant to be today - is the day the really hard work starts for Brexit supporters, because that’s the day you have to start proving that you were right, that we will be better off out. Every day you fail to do that, every day the economy falters, that people get laid off, every day that international travel gets harder, or our young people lose out on studying opportunities or jobs because of Brexit is a day that democracy starts grinding against you.

Our young people are angry. They’re protesting against climate change, and our failure to address it. Children in my town protested against Brexit, and the response was patronising, rather than engaging. They will not forgive - or forget - that easily.

This price is why authoritarianism is so attractive to so many - when they have “won” they can stop fighting. We do not live in a authoritarian regime, and I pray we never do. If you supported Brexit, you don’t “win” on Brexit day - you start the hard, long job of proving you were right.

Good luck.

You’ll need it.