I had a much, much longer blogpost that was going to rebut the main arguments of both the Leave and Remain campaigns and make my own case for why we should vote Leave on grounds of democracy, but technical problems got in the way and it was never finished to the standard that would have let me get it out before the vote on the UK’s membership of the European Union today. Sometimes the moment is simply lost. All I can do is hope that next time there’s a massive national argument on immigration some of it might see the light of day.
But there are some things that I cannot let pass without comment, and that is the disgusting use of boogeypeople to try to frighten people into voting Remain, which I find an appalling tactic reverted to by even activists and friends that I (used to) admire. Boris Johnson is voting Leave: do you want to be on the side of Boris Johnson? Or Nigel Farage? Or THERESA MAY?! This point is emphasised by helpfully misleading memes like this one:
They’re misleading because they never mention all the equally appalling people on the other side. Have you forgotten the Remain campaign is headed by, the Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron and his Chancellor, George Osborne, the original architects of austerity?
Voting Remain is literally supporting the leadership of the Conservative Party in this country.
The leadership that tried to push through cuts on benefits for disabled people so severe that *Iain Duncan Smith* resigned in protest.
Funny how it doesn’t get put like that.
Also on the Remain side, but barely worth a meme:
* Every major banker, whose opinions prior to this referendum were considered to be automatically worthless by most lefties now fervently citing them;
* Tony Blair, a war criminal who laid most of the foundations of the privatisation tsunami befalling us today;
* The royal family, who would of course favour a political settlement that prefers quiet letter-writing to someone who knows someone over democratic accountability;
* And Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May. Are you *really* a feminist if you’re voting with them? (That’s a joke. Mostly.)
Want to vote with those people? Many would be as horrified as they would be to vote ‘for Boris’, but many will do it anyway because it doesn’t matter who else is on your side if that’s the side you believe should win. But that won’t stop the same people furiously trying to deter the other side with such baseless, emotional rhetoric.
The country is split down the middle. You will find odious bedfellows whichever side you choose because it turns out that large demographic groups previously despised as blocs actually have complex and nuanced political views (except for UKIP).
You are an adult, not a lemming. You are a political animal, not an adorably cute one. Make up your own mind and vote accordingly.
And if you are one of those people pushing this angle, stop embarrassing yourself and fight for what you believe in.
(If you don’t want to make up your mind, I’d like to politely ask you to vote Leave today, because I care and you don’t. There are some reasons here, although my reasons were much better.)
