The day after the United Kingdom voted by a slim majority to leave the European Union, the future is still unwritten. The full consequences of the historic decision by the British people will not be known for some time. Maybe the result will bring about some much needed reform of the EU--prime minister Xavier Bettel has already said that the 27 member states need to take a hard look at how the union works and promotes itself.  And maybe in the long run the UK, or what is left of it in a few year’s time, really will manage to negotiate its own bilateral free trade deals. But for now the result leaves a bitter aftertaste. 

The taste is one of uncertainty, disappointment and anger among the vast majority of British citizens living in Luxembourg. They are uncertain about their future, even if Bettel has said they will always be welcome in Luxembourg. Social media on Friday morning was awash with British residents pledging to begin application procedures to obtain Luxembourg citizenship in light of the Brexit result. 

The disappointment is in their compatriots who did vote for leave and in the politicians who so divided the country. They are ashamed of the rhetoric used by both sides of the campaign, of the blatant lies that were peddled by the leave campaign to an electorate unfamiliar with the intricacies of the way the European Union works; and of the ineffectiveness and divisive nature of the Remain campaign. Many are embarrassed by the shrivelling regard in which Great Britain is now held by some of their fellow Europeans--their work colleagues, team mates, friends. 

Above all, a great number of long-term residents--those that have been away from Great Britain for more than 15 years--are angry that they were not allowed to vote in a referendum whose outcome would directly affect them. The final result was a million votes or so in favour of the Leave campaign, but a very substantial number of the estimated two million expat Brits living abroad were barred from voting under the 15-year rule. 

And they are angry that all this came about because the Conservative party was so divided prior to the last general election that its leader, David Cameron, played a dangerous short-term game in order to win votes by promising the referendum on EU membership. That short game has not only led to Cameron’s own demise, but has led to an irreversible decision by the British people that they, and others, may yet regret for generations to come.