A few replies to this are « I don’t suppose Brexiters will mind being shut out of France » – well maybe not, some. But anyone who wants the UK back and playing a full role in Europe won’t fall for the trap of tarring all Brexiteers with that brush. twitter.com/Otto_English/s…
It is a trap, to believe that the charlatans in the political/media class and the barely sane ranters on here are the genuine voice of those who voted Leave. They are no more that than someone with a whole-body Thierry Henry tattoo is the voice of football fandom.
There is an addressable middle. The people who believed (as some of my Leave friends did) that nothing would really change and the NHS would get more money. Or that there would be more jobs, or national pride, without any costs to pay.
I don’t blame people much for thinking that, it was what a group of politicians were telling them and for many people one group of politicians is much the same as another. But now the challenge for British Europeans is to make those disappointed voters – and there are a lot –
connect their disappointment to British false promises not spiteful Europeans who hate British freedom. The majority of the print media will blame Europeans, some because they are proto-fascist by sympathy, others because it sells. The current government will
reinforce that, because it’s in their interest, and the current opposition won’t do anything about it, it seems. So the least we can do is not fall into the trap of claiming that Brexiteers want to ban travel to France. That sets up the maniacs as the mainstream. They aren’t.
Originally posted as a thread of 6 tweets on Twitter on 1 June 2021. View the original thread.