I have had quiet conversations with several Remain backers over the past couple of weeks. All three were absolutely clear that Leave voters did not really understand what they were voting for. They said this to me, someone who has read the EU Treaties and studied the history of the EU, explored UK-EU Economic Relations and even read the Belfast Agreement yet voted Leave.
When I pointed out that the Leave voters I know were all clear that the EU is becoming a Nation State that is steadily usurping the independence of the UK the Remain supporters all said "No, Leave didn't vote for that, they voted for the £350m a week pledge on the bus". This is said despite the fact that the Brexit Bus appeared on 11th May 2016 and had no discernible effect on opinion polls. The claim that the slogan changed the course of the Referendum is made with a straight face despite UKIP having been getting between 13 and 27% of the vote years before any buses appeared.
None of the Remainers had heard that the court case against Boris Johnson had been thrown out by the judges because the case was clearly vexatious. None seemed to realize that even those prosecuting Johnson admitted that the £350m could have been a valid gross figure (see (5) in link above).
Obviously I did not want to press matters further. The dismissal of half the population as ill informed and stupid, even when confronted with people who are highly informed smacks of Classism. "Ah but Leave voters were all stupid" they would reply. Seeing over half the population as stupid is classist. Wishing to nullify the vote of people you consider stupid is anti-democratic.
So how did it come to this? Where are the loyal democrats as there were after the 1970s Referendum? Why are there British people who would clutch at any straws to deny the UK independence? The answer was given to me by one of my contacts "Leavers are not my sort of people". They had conflated some personal adverse contacts with people arguing for independence with the News Media Remain propaganda and branded independence lovers as "bad" people. It is now the case that Remain supporters believe that they are the "good" people who love poor migrants, want to stop global warming and want the state to support the poor and needy. The fact that the EU has much, much higher levels of racism than the UK, now has a rapid return policy for migrants, has provided little support for ending global warming even though this has been an EU responsibility for almost 30 years and has implemented swingeing Austerity measures under the EU Stability and Growth Pact in countries from Greece to the UK is not mentioned or perhaps not even known. Remain supporters who like the EU are "our sort of people" even though, if they bothered to look, the EU is not their sort of place.
There is an air of unreality about Remain supporters. They do not support the EU as it actually is but see themselves as a band of like minded good people seeking a holier future and have, because of the ruthless PR campaign by the Government before the Referendum and by Remain afterwards, mistakenly linked this feeling of political and personal superiority to the EU.
The persistence of democracy depends on the population recoiling from labelling whole groups of people as evil, democracy depends on a sizeable proportion of the population being able to address ideas on their merits. The racist mentality is bad whether it is found in loud Leavers or self righteous Remainers.
When I pointed out that the Leave voters I know were all clear that the EU is becoming a Nation State that is steadily usurping the independence of the UK the Remain supporters all said "No, Leave didn't vote for that, they voted for the £350m a week pledge on the bus". This is said despite the fact that the Brexit Bus appeared on 11th May 2016 and had no discernible effect on opinion polls. The claim that the slogan changed the course of the Referendum is made with a straight face despite UKIP having been getting between 13 and 27% of the vote years before any buses appeared.
None of the Remainers had heard that the court case against Boris Johnson had been thrown out by the judges because the case was clearly vexatious. None seemed to realize that even those prosecuting Johnson admitted that the £350m could have been a valid gross figure (see (5) in link above).
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| Opinion polls showed Leave and Remain support rising after bus Advert |
So how did it come to this? Where are the loyal democrats as there were after the 1970s Referendum? Why are there British people who would clutch at any straws to deny the UK independence? The answer was given to me by one of my contacts "Leavers are not my sort of people". They had conflated some personal adverse contacts with people arguing for independence with the News Media Remain propaganda and branded independence lovers as "bad" people. It is now the case that Remain supporters believe that they are the "good" people who love poor migrants, want to stop global warming and want the state to support the poor and needy. The fact that the EU has much, much higher levels of racism than the UK, now has a rapid return policy for migrants, has provided little support for ending global warming even though this has been an EU responsibility for almost 30 years and has implemented swingeing Austerity measures under the EU Stability and Growth Pact in countries from Greece to the UK is not mentioned or perhaps not even known. Remain supporters who like the EU are "our sort of people" even though, if they bothered to look, the EU is not their sort of place.
There is an air of unreality about Remain supporters. They do not support the EU as it actually is but see themselves as a band of like minded good people seeking a holier future and have, because of the ruthless PR campaign by the Government before the Referendum and by Remain afterwards, mistakenly linked this feeling of political and personal superiority to the EU.
The persistence of democracy depends on the population recoiling from labelling whole groups of people as evil, democracy depends on a sizeable proportion of the population being able to address ideas on their merits. The racist mentality is bad whether it is found in loud Leavers or self righteous Remainers.
Comments
So all you remoners there think your so superior to any one who voted leave make me sick to the pit of my stomach.