British citizens devastated by the EU referendum result are leaving the UK to seek a new life abroad as statistics reveal rising emigration.
Following a report on the European citizens fleeing Britain in what is being dubbed a “Brexodus”, The Independent has been inundated with messages from Brits saying they are doing the same.
Cliff James, 44, describes himself as a “Brexile” after upping sticks in October last year and travelling to countries including India, Nepal, Australia, France, Israel and parts of South America.
“The EU referendum result was a huge shock, like a bereavement,” he said.
“Overnight, it felt like the country had returned to the Dark Ages of ignorance and hatred… I thought about staying and trying to fight this tide, but it felt overwhelming.”
Mr James, who has written a book on his experiences travelling the world, said he was disturbed by rising reports of hate crime and had European friends who were targeted with verbal abuse, vandalism and graffiti.
Like several other Brits who contacted The Independent, he has applied for Irish citizenship in the hope or retaining a formal link to the EU and the rights it entails.
Mr James plans to eventually settle in Spain and says that despite missing his friends and the UK landscape, he has no regrets.
“I can never see myself returning to live in England now,” he added. “I don’t recognise the country of my birth anymore… I feel like an exile.”
Sheree-lea Fox, from Southampton, is preparing to move to Denmark with her partner next summer and “cannot wait” to leave.
The 27-year-old, who is expecting their first child, said she felt proud to be British but now believes people are “becoming far more racist, less tolerant and generally selfish”.
“England has become such an unfriendly place,” Ms Fox added. “England is and will always be my home but I won’t miss anything.
“I worry massively about family I leave behind, it seems England is declining in so many ways.”
Her Danish partner, Marc Oliver Bahl, said he originally loved the UK after arriving to study at university but no longer wants to raise a family here.
“The referendum has made me fearful of what might happen to us as a family if we aren’t legally married,” he said.
“I feel that England cannot and doesn’t protect or look after its citizens in the same way that Denmark does and therefore would prefer to raise my family there.
“My plans now are to finish my degree and move home as soon as we can.”