For millions, Friday is the joyous day we “get Brexit done”.

For millions more, it’s a moment of sadness and uncertainty as we break ties with our continental neighbours.

An exclusive poll for the Daily Mirror found that 74% of us feel the UK is currently divided.

While the figure is down from the 82% who felt Britain was divided last year, schisms in the country are still very much apparent.

So also on Friday we relaunch Britain Talks for 2020.

Last summer thousands of Remainers and Brexiteers met to talk about big issues and discover what they had in common – you can see the results at britain-talks.mirror.co.uk

• 
  Martin Lewis warns of big Brexit changes to using mobiles and taking pets abroad

• 
  Keir Starmer calls on Boris Johnson to give EU nationals the right to vote

This summer, we plan to repeat the experiment, from Friday June 19 to Sunday June 21.

We’ve partnered with the Jo Cox Foundation’s Great Get Together, and organised our event on the same weekend for maximum impact.

The Foundation is named after murdered MP Jo Cox, who said: “We have far more in common than that which divides us.”

As the fourth anniversary of the Brexit vote approaches, Britain Talks feels more important than ever.

Deltapoll interviewed 1,536 and the results also showed 63% of us think the UK is continuing to “get more divided”, while just 15% see change happening the other way.

• 
  Nigel Farage unveils a portrait of himself as 'Mr Brexit' that will haunt your nightmares

Asked which three issues most divide our country, the biggest is still Brexit, which 42% of people see as the greatest divider.

This is down from 75% last year, suggesting the issue is becoming less divisive.

But other issues are continuing to split the nation – wealth (32%), immigration (22%) and left-right politics (21%).

As one of our first ever Britain Talks participants, Jon Conor Lyons says there are new divisions growing.

“After the general election it did feel people were becoming even more entrenched,” he says.

“You saw people saying, ‘if you voted this way, you’re an idiot’.

“And here in the north, where the Tories made gains, there is that danger that we’ll see more division.

"If we don’t talk about that and find ways to talk about the choices we’ve made, things will become more entrenched.”

Catherine Anderson, CEO of the Jo Cox Foundation, said: “It has never been more important than it is today to get Britain talking again. Today emotions will be running high.

"Some people feeling fearful about the future post-Brexit, others excited. But we are going to have to come together as a country and sooner rather than later.

“Britain Talks will play a huge part in that healing process and we’re delighted that it will again go hand-in-hand with the Great Get Together on June 19-21 when we remember Jo Cox’s words that we all have ‘more in common than that which divides us’.”

What Britain Talks participants said…

Jon Conor Lyons, 23, Student, Labour councillor and Remainer from Manchester, met Ada Pratt, 72, Tory Brexiter and retired nurse, from Littleborough, Greater Manchester.

Jon said: “I didn’t think Ada and I would get to know each other in the way we have. We’ve found a lot in common and we wouldn’t have done that any other way.

“A lot of the toxicity comes from social media, where you’ve taken the human element out, you’re just reducing people down to their politics.

"You have to move past that and see them as a person. They’re not a monster with different views than you. They’re not someone you can just dismiss.

“People are more than just their politics but the deep divisions in our society can stop us seeing that.

“I wasn’t sure what we would have in common but there’s a lot. We’re both engaged with politics and we’re both proactive in our communities. It’s challenged the perceptions I had about meeting an older lady from a town.

“I’m so glad I got involved.”

Ada added: “Meeting Jon was interesting because of who he is but also because he’s young. It feels like we’re always getting told that old people have ruined everything. But Jon has given me hope for the future.

“He was easy to talk to, and he wasn’t bigoted or judgemental. We found out that we’ve come from quite similar backgrounds, from working class families, so we share values in some ways.

“Jon was happy to listen, and it made me realise that young people do have a lot to contribute, a lot to say. It wasn’t just talking, it was seeing how his life is, it made it easier to understand what life is like for a lot of his generation.

“Church bells might ring out on 31 January – but we still have plenty to talk about. We need to find ways to move forward as a nation don’t we?”

Abi Reader, 34, Dairy farmer, from rural south Wales met Sarah King, 27, a vegan fashion blogger from Bristol.

Abi said: “Sarah and I don’t live that far from each other, but our lives couldn’t be more different. Taking part was about seeing the bigger picture – discussing the big issues rather than getting stuck in the usual arguments. I think Sarah and I both looked at things from each other’s perspective.

“You don’t just bump into people with completely different views to yours, you have to make an effort to find them and be ready to listen. It was a big deal to have Sarah visit my farm, it was a really special thing to do.

“One of the biggest things I took from the experience was this feeling of pride. I realised how rich my life was.

“I’ve not become a vegan – I have salad with my ham and that’s as far as it goes! But I did enjoy listening and talking through some of the issues.”

Sarah responded: “I would like to stay in touch because it was such a positive experience. It was great to meet someone completely out of my normal circle but open to chat, and Abi was so welcoming. To have that chance to communicate was great.

“You do see a lot of confrontation on so called debates on TV – where they pit people against each other but there is no real dialogue. The election has made things worse, it’s closed down conversations. It happened so quickly, there was the sudden shift – I’m that team and you’re this team.

“There is still a lot to talk about. As veganism becomes more mainstream it’s on the news agenda more but there are lots of tensions within the vegan community, especially around class and race and it would be good to discuss some of these things too. It was interesting to speak to someone who is an authority in their field.”

Bob Roberts, 71, fisherman and business owner, Scarborough, Yorkshire met Razan Alsous, 36, Syrian refugee and business owner, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire.

Bob said:: “Meeting Razan certainly made me think – when she explained her story you can’t help but think about why people make a journey like that, what brings people who really are in need of help to the UK. There still has to be a balance but on a human level, talking to Razan you can completely understand why you would flee and how hard it is to start again.

“It’s very different talking face to face, being with someone. You can’t just dismiss someone’s experiences when they’re sitting there with you.

“You’re two humans sitting together, not just two lots of ideas. And you can’t write off someone’s views when you’re sat having a cup of tea.

“Meeting Razan confirmed some of my views and gave me a chance to think about some others. I’m still a big believer that immigration policies have to be strengthened.

“Brexit is such a difficult issue and for me there are particular ideas we’ve got to discuss. We’ve got a very significant coastline, that will be right at the forefront of negotiations, and we’ve got to be ready for that.”

Razan said: “Britain Talks was a really good experience for me. I don’t always get to meet people I can talk to about politics, people who might have a different idea to me, so meeting Bob was really important.

“It was good to hear someone’s real views – someone being honest and direct – instead of just general views, I was getting to hear about things from a new angle.

“Talking can help you think about how you see things and also to make decisions – to think more about how you want to do things. Are you deciding for yourself or for others?

“Having these debates has to be better for society. And I hope it presented a more positive story about who refugees are to the media. As refugees we aren’t always good at doing that. There’s a lot of bad feeling towards immigrants and refugees and we need to talk about that and where it comes from.

“There’s no problem with being different or having a different point of view than anyone else, if we can talk to each other with respect, if we can sit down and really listen to each other.

“There is a lot we don’t know about each other’s life and we need to find out more so we can find out how we can live together. Because the world is changing, we’ve got to change the model of how we live together and understanding has got to be part of that.

“Bob was so nice and respectful, and we did have more in common than we think. Deep down we both want the same things, like most people do.”

Stevie Sinclair, 59, Rangers superfan and thalidomide campaigner met Stephen McBride, 67, Celtic fan and publican in Glasgow.

Stevie said: “It was very worthwhile for me. Yes, we do have a rivalry through football but being a similar age, from a similar generation, we were able to share a lot of football memories too. Steve was very knowledgable, so it was easy to spend time with him.

“It’s not every day you’ll see a Celtic and Rangers fan taking a drink together but it was good, we had a lot to talk about and I’m really glad I got the chance to do that.

“There is division everywhere – whether it’s football or the politics, we all have our traditions and views. We need to talk about politics and these things between ourselves, to work out how we make sense of things without things getting silly.

“We need to keep talking and meeting – not just talking on social media. You see friends falling out on there. We should be able to share our opinions, embracing things that are different, chatting more to more people to find out what people really think, rather than just assuming we know.

“Meeting in real life means you can stop things getting heated, have a laugh – humour goes a long way.”

Stephen responded: “I’ve never had a problem talking to anybody but there is this rivalry, so meeting Stevie was great. We both wanted to show that most fans are just interested in enjoying the football and that’s that.

“It was good fun. Talking is always the way. This is very much a community pub, we’ve got a lot of regulars and we don’t see much trouble here but if there ever is a problem I always say, ‘solve it by talking’.

“It’s the only way. If not, you get this situation where we all just do our own thing and never discuss anything and that isn’t healthy.”

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