What a crazy week it's been. After the results of the EU referendum, with 52% voting to leave and 48% to stay, David Cameron resigned as Prime Minister. This was swiftly followed by the stepping down of Brexit's chief architect and former London Mayor Boris Johnson, who battled for the sake of winning the Tory leadership in his arduous bid to become the next PM.
Now Britain is in turmoil, with the EU wanting us out as soon as possible to quickly stem the possibility of other countries following suit. Meanwhile the Leavers want to take things slow because there is no plan for what to do next, having never expected the campaign to be successful in the first place.
So if we do pull out, what will this mean for Londoners?
The cost of homes has already been slashed - in fact they started dropping the day after the referendum. The most affected so far have been the luxury developments along the river from the Docklands to Vauxhall, with fears they could decrease by as much as 40%. While this is bad news for vendors, it's positive for buyers. It's too soon to say what will happen to the rental market - if there is less migration from EU countries this could mean more empty properties, however if landlords panic, they might choose to hike up their prices to even out losses. But there'll be less investment for building new homes, including affordable housing stock. Persimmon, the UK's biggest house-building company, immediately saw its share price drop by 27.5 % in the aftermath of the referendum.
What we do have hard, cold data about is the spike in racist outbursts which have increased by 57% post-referendum, and have even been debated in Parliament. Those with with far-right, anti-immigration views have suddenly felt validated by the outcome of the vote. Two of many examples are POSK, the Polish Social and Cultural Association in Hammersmith, which had the words 'Go Home' sprayed over its frontage, and the Vicente Cañada Blanch school in Notting Hill, with 'Foreign Pack' graffittied on its gate. And this is happening right here in London, the city that largely voted Remain and is meant to be the most liberal, multicultural part of the country.
New Mayor Sadiq Khan stayed firmly in the pro-Remain camp throughout the whole campaign, and there have been talks about an alliance with Scotland (also overwhelmingly pro-Remain) to negotiate the terms of Britain leaving the EU in Brussels.
On Saturday 2nd an estimated 50,000 people marched to Parliament Square in an anti-Brexit protest. The demo was attended by singer turned activist Bob Geldof and satirical comedian Mark Thomas. Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker sent a video message from Paris, chanting 'You cannot deny geography, Britain is in Europe' which got the crowds singing along.
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Image: A pro-Remain voter holds up a placard during the March for Europe demo on Saturday 2nd, by Paula Hughes
