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Paul has tweeted this, so I don’t have to. But, I’ll go anyway. I’ve said it before: it’s rather easy for white, middle class *English* remainers to be all “let’s take Brexit on the chin” and reconcile with leavers... /1 https://twitter.com/paulbernaluk/status/1288742280732585985
1. Being Irish, I am still appalled and offended at how leavers were and are willing to use Ireland’s economy and peace as collateral damage in their pursuit of their project. /2
2. Most leavers showed no interest after the referendum in reconciling and by and large still have none. They ignored the closeness of the result and by and large got behind the pursuit of hard Brexit. /3
3. With a few exceptions, leavers have not acknowledged the ugliness of the leave referendum campaigns, specifically the rampant xenophobia and lies that got the leave side over the line. /4
4. I could go on about the disregard for the other UK nations, the impact it has had on EU citizens/British citizens in the EU, the fact that the UK has now left and is unlikely to rejoin any time soon, and the fact that most leavers continue to press for the hardest Brexit. /5
As a non-national living in England, I feel zero compulsion to reconcile or make everyone feel better about themselves. I’ll continue to rant unconstructively that Brexit was quite foreseeably moronic. If you don’t like that, you can unfollow, block or mute. /END
P.S. the economic harm caused by Brexit also (obviously) won’t be visited primarily on the types that sit around having pub garden conversations with imaginary podcast microphones, stroking their chins and talking up the need for reconciliation.
And, yes, I’m aware that Melville is Scottish. It doesn’t change what was intended to be a more general point about some experiences I’ve had with similar reconciliation talk from former remainers in England.
