You would expect the streets of London’s Soho, first thing on a Friday, to be teeming with French game designers, Italian interior designers, German music execs, Bulgarian doctors, Portuguese waiters, but if you’d specified to a focus group that you also wanted the view from Norway (“We’re doing well, we stand alone. But we have the oil”, said a woman having coffee with her daughter, who wished to remain anonymous) and Moldova (“For us Moldovans, it is very difficult to understand your decision,” said Pavel, 21. “For us, the EU is the path to wealth and prosperity”), they would have said you were asking a lot.

The capital was diverse, and united: “I think it’s going to be a catastrophe for the UK, but also for the whole of Europe,” said Constanza, 28, who came here from Venice six years ago to study, and is now an interior designer. “If you ask me today, I probably will leave tomorrow, because I am really upset.”

“It’s really bizarre that it came to this,” said Marius, a 28-year-old from Germany. “I don’t see any benefit, any benefit at all. All the things we believe in, the project of coming together … it’s taken a big hit. I don’t understand the anger.”



Anders Carlsson, 25 and from Sweden, understands it better, seeing it as part of a pattern. “We have put up borders, you have to show a passport when you travel from Copenhagen to Malmö now. I think the past year, the refugees from Syria, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, I think people in Britain feel the same, that it’s too much.”

But Max, 29, a management consultant from Germany, counters: “If you look at the current situation worldwide in terms of refugees, of Isis, we need a very strong union. This vote came at exactly the wrong time.”

Marie, 26, who comes from France and does artwork for Playstation, was utterly dejected. “Maybe I need a plan B for my life. As hard as it seems, I’m a Londoner. I have no idea what’s happening in France. This is home. When you’re not allowed to vote, you already feel like you’re an under-citizen. I really see it as a beautiful wedding, and one day, instead of fixing the problem, the husband just leaves.”

Max had already made his mind up on a plan B: “To be honest, I’m going back to Germany in four weeks. I’m not angry, but I am disappointed. I expected more support from you guys.” His colleague Samad, 23, said: “It’s a selfish decision. Whoever voted out, they just looked at their own interests, which is obviously not the point of the union.”

There was disappointment, but with more of an edge, from those who have been here for their adult lives and had their children here. Bruno, 39, came here from Portugal just after his 18th birthday and works in Patisserie Valerie on Old Compton Street. “I’m actually disgusted with the decision. A lot of people come to England to find a better way of life, and …” he tails off. I can’t say for certain what his gesture meant, but it seemed to me: whether or not immigrants are allowed from now on is a moot point. The opportunity years are finished. “I have two little kids,” he continued. “What it means for me personally, I don’t know.”

Linda Ticha from the Czech Republic in Soho: ‘I don’t know what it will do to me as an individual.’ Photograph: Felix Clay/The Guardian

Connie Greber, from Germany, had just dropped her children off at school. “I am in total shock. I cried this morning. My daughter said, ‘does this mean we have to leave, mummy?’. Having followed the press in Germany, they could not believe that the debate was so vitriolic. Even though I’ve been here for 25 years, my identity is totally European. I cannot believe I’ve made my place in a country that has such extreme attitudes.”

In front of a hairdresser, Colin Smith, 46, originally from the outskirts of Glasgow, was also on the point of tears. “I’m gutted. I’ve got plans for my future and I feel like they’ve been ripped out of my hands. Not that I want Scotland to be independent, but if they go, I’ll be applying for a Scottish passport. I can’t believe this decision was ever allowed to happen.”

A Bulgarian doctor who works at a world class HIV clinic didn’t want to be named, if I’m honest, didn’t really want to be interviewed, but did say: “They’ll want to keep me because I’m a doctor, but why would I stay when I have no rights?”

Linda, 36, came here from the Czech Republic 16 years ago and works in children’s services. “I don’t know what it will do to me as an individual. The contact and energy you get from people you meet, that won’t change. But on a legal level, of course [my status] will change. That’s what people were voting for, to make that difference. I want to see everybody’s vote on them …” “Like a tattoo, in or out?” I queried. “Yes.”

Grace, 24, was having the time-honoured breakfast of a Diet Coke and a fag. She’s from Derby and didn’t vote. “Because you didn’t care?” “No, I cared. I just couldn’t get hold of my polling card. I would have voted in.” Maybe next time we do this, we should try Scottish rules, and give a vote to everyone who lives here. Except, right. There won’t be a next time.