PEOPLE have voted for change. It is understandable: many people are angry with the way things are. The economy is not working for everyone and austerity has hurt.

I believed that remaining in the EU would have created employment and protected workers’ rights and in general would have been better for people who have not shared in the benefits of the economic growth of the last few years. I also believe it would have been better for protecting our environment. This is why I, and the Green Party, campaigned for Remain.

We must now accept the new reality: people have voted us onto another path, one which will disrupt much of what we took for granted. We can expect choppy waters ahead. But any shock to the system also creates new opportunities.

We, at the Green Party, have policies for getting the economy to work for everybody, not just the favoured few, and for protecting our environment for generations to come.

We must make sure we are ready to challenge calls for watering down workers’ rights and environmental protection, and that we are ready to grasp new opportunities as they arise.

If you would be interested in finding out more about Green Party policies and discussing the coming challenges and opportunities, please come and join our next meeting entitled “Brexit: What next? The Green Party Perspective” on July 14, starting 7pm at The Lamb in Marlborough.

EMMA DAWNAY, Chairman/co-ordinator, Devizes Green Party