Britains historic vote on Brexit was announced on 24 June, garnering varied reactions from joy to despair, among people across the world. However, after the results were announced, some in Britain appeared to be still unclear on the EU referendum. Google has helpfully put things into perspective by listing the top most searches it noted in the aftermath of Brexit.
Google Trends data, in the aftermath of Brexit, reveal that among the top-most searched questions were: How to move to Canada, Are we European, How to get an Irish passport and even What is Brexit? Also among the top searches appears to be What happens if we leave the EU and What is the EU referendum.
Since Google Trends does not show the number of people searching, there is still uncertainty as to what portion of the population were Googling about Brexit. However, in one instance, Google did point out the location where certain searches spiked. For example, What is the EU referendum? was the top most searched question in Birmingham after polls closed, while in Newcastle, What is Brexit was the third most searched question.
According to a report by Washington Post, Google also noted that move to Canada searches spiked in Britain, with the numbers even eclipsing the popularity of football legend David Beckham. However, Canada was not the only country that Brits were setting their sights on. Move to Gibralter spiked by an immense 680% in London. Google also noted a 100% spike in searches for getting an Irish passport after Brexit.
Coincidentally, there is now a petition launched by change.org that calls for London to be independent from the UK and join the EU. Londenpendence as the petition is now fondly called has over 100,000 signatures at the time of writing. According to a report by BBC, LSE director Prof Tony Travers opines that London is radically different adding that, Maybe moving more decision making to cities and councils could be a solution to the differences within the country.
