--- title: Brexit: The Comment That Has the World's Attention description: In the wake of Brexit, one comment wishing Britain had remained in the European Union has been shared across Twitter thousands of times canonical: https://time.com/4381520/brexit-lament/ author: IDEAS Desk article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-24T14:47:38.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T22:50:13.662Z article:section: Ideas og:title: This Brexit Comment Has the World's Attention og:description: It was written by a man who sees the decision as 'three tragedies' og:url: https://time.com/4381520/brexit-lament/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb6de3add3df84516/6988994ecf40a89ef2c43c28/gettyimages-542662866.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Stronger In Campaign Gather Together To Wait For The Eu Referendum Result og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Brexit Comment Has the World's Attention twitter:description: It was written by a man who sees the decision as 'three tragedies' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb6de3add3df84516/6988994ecf40a89ef2c43c28/gettyimages-542662866.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Brexit Comment Has the World's Attention by [IDEAS Desk](https://time.com/author/ideas-desk/) ## IDEAS Desk Jun 24, 2016 2:47 PM UTC  LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 24: Supporters of the Stronger In Campaign react as results of the EU referendum are announced at the Royal Festival Hall on June 24, 2016 in London, United Kingdom. The United Kingdom has gone to the polls to decide whether or not the country wishes to remain within the European Union. After a hard fought campaign from both REMAIN and LEAVE the vote is too close to call. A result on the referendum is expected on Friday morning. (Photo by Rob Stothard/Getty Images) LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 24: Supporters of the Stronger In Campaign react as results of the EU referendum are announced at the Royal Festival Hall on June 24, 2016 in London, United Kingdom. The United Kingdom has gone to the polls to decide whether or not the country wishes to remain within the European Union. After a hard fought campaign from both REMAIN and LEAVE the vote is too close to call. A result on the referendum is expected on Friday morning. (Photo by Rob Stothard/Getty Images)Rob Stothard—Getty Images by [IDEAS Desk](https://time.com/author/ideas-desk/) ## IDEAS Desk Jun 24, 2016 2:47 PM UTC In the wake of Britain’s vote to exit the E.U., those who wished for their country to remain—a view held by 75% of voters between the ages of 18 and 24, and 56% of ages 25 to 49, according to a [YouGov poll](http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus%5Fuploads/document/640yx5m0rx/On%5Fthe%5FDay%5FFINAL%5Fpoll%5Fforwebsite.pdf)—started to speak out about what they saw as a tragedy. One brief lament, written by a commenter named Nicholas on the [_Financial Times_](https://next.ft.com/content/f4dcdf62-399d-11e6-9a05-82a9b15a8ee7)’ website, seems to have captured the core of that sentiment. It is being shared thousands of times [across Twitter](https://twitter.com/nicoleperlroth/status/746272418075807745). It reads: --- > “” --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4381520/brexit-lament/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4381520/brexit-lament/"},"headline":"This Brexit Comment Has the World's Attention","datePublished":"2016-06-24T14:47:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T22:50:13.662Z","description":"It was written by a man who sees the decision as 'three tragedies'","url":"https://time.com/4381520/brexit-lament/","keywords":["Brexit"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb6de3add3df84516/6988994ecf40a89ef2c43c28/gettyimages-542662866.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"IDEAS Desk","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ideas-desk/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb6de3add3df84516/6988994ecf40a89ef2c43c28/gettyimages-542662866.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Stronger In Campaign Gather Together To Wait For The Eu Referendum Result","caption":"Stronger In Campaign Gather Together To Wait For The Eu Referendum Result","creditText":"Rob Stothard—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/brexit/","name":"Brexit"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4381520/brexit-lament/","name":"This Brexit Comment Has the World's Attention"}}]}] ```