London (note: not Central London, that's another planet) always had this vibe to me of greyish-grimeyness mixed with a chaotic sense of unity -- like the bleak greybrown visuals coming from above and below bound everyone together under the same dull (sometimes suffocating) blanket of boredom and dysfunction, dotted with moments of spontaneity that would lend a friendly cheer or jeer alike before people hurried on to their next destination.
After Brexit, the blanket got lifted and I started seeing teeth. Sure, people used to shout at each other, but there was usually no substance to it, merely just a short disagreement between two people. Now there was something larger behind it, and I was seeing it everywhere.
Over the years, every time that I came back, the city would just get worse before my eyes. Public transport had always been bad and always been grotty, but it had never been this bad and this grotty, had it? Homelessness too had always been a problem, but I'd never seen these levels before, with what seemed like an entire community sleeping under a bridge, only to be swept away the next day either on their own volition or by the authorities. Watching my friends and family go from vibrant people with cheeky humour, to tired and vigilant individuals with a bitter edge to everything said.
Maybe it's just me getting older, but I always feel like I'm witnessing the loss of a badly defined culture/vibe that I had taken for granted before my entire life, vanishing before my eyes.