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I admit this is more than a little presumptuous as I have met neither Roifield nor his Mother, so sorry, but it made for a good post title! After causing a mini Twitter brouhaha I thought I’d explain my position in more than 140 characters.
I turned off DTD this week due to the Brexit politics. I didn’t say this on Twitter but it was actually just after the point that Roifield had denounced his Mother for voting Leave and I thought hang on this isn’t right, I need to say something on behalf of the silent majority.
I’ll put aside the arguments for or against Brexit as it’s been done to death, and just concentrate on the way it was all presented and how it continues to polarise.
A referendum is always going to be polarising by its very nature. An election is less so. I don’t know about you but I have never voted for an MP or a political party that I have been in complete agreement with. Your selection on the ballot paper is always to some extent a compromise. The same way with the referendum, I agreed with some of the Remain arguments but on balance more of the Leave arguments, and that is how I voted.
I’d have happily discussed this with my Remain friends had I been allowed to. But when every conversation begins with something along the lines of Leave voters are all swivel eyed, mad, racist, and pig ignorant, there’s nothing really I could say because they had decided not to listen.
There are plenty of perfectly normal sensible people who voted for Leave who are not racist, not ignorant, not any of the other things we’ve been violently accused of. There are plenty of noble reasons to have left, and I’m sure Roifield’s Mother did what she thought was right, along with 52% of the hugest turnout for years.
Both sides now need to recognise that:
– The people have spoken. Don’t be one of the 3.5m or whatever it is who want a second bite and only believe in democracy when it agrees with them. Holding neverendums until the “correct” result is achieved is exactly the kind of Brussels antidemocratic activity people voted against.
– 52% is not a big win, but neither is is a small one. For those in the 48% do you really believe just over half of your fellow countrymen and women are racist illiterate ignoramuses? I hope not or we’re screwed.
– 52% is not a small win, but neither is it a big one. We need to find a solution that continues our engagement with our European friends and allies, but ends our involvement in the EU bureaucracy. I did not vote to leave Europe. I voted to leave the EU.Oh yes, and at the risk of further enragement (I’ve already been unfriended on Facebook for my sins over this) but you may have noticed I live in Australia. I’m entitled to vote so I did. But look at Australia. Look at NZ. Look at Canada. Look at India. Etc etc etc. We all manage to stand on our own two feet and do very well trading and find our path in the world without being shackled to an EU superstate. It can be done.
Ok so I did stray into political arguments, sorry, but I’d like things to turn a bit more positive please. Both in Real life, the Archers, and DTD.
Keep up the good work Roifield and Lucy, and go easy on your Mother Roifield!!
Tom
Hi chaps, and thank you Landed Gentry for your reasoned and thought out comments. Cutting to the chase, impart my incredulity at my mother’s vote was the fact that she is an immigrant of some 50 years plus standing. For her to use the arguments that she did, about people coming to the country and not wanting to work hard et cetera et cetera would have been used at her and other West Indian, Indian and Pakistani immigrants back in the 60s. The irony was completely lost on her when she talked about immigrants using the national health service while forgetting that when she picks up the phone a Polish woman take her call at her doctor’s surgery. Don’t get me wrong there are principled arguments about smaller government and democracy which can be made against the European union, but these were not hers. As a parting note she also said that the fears of political and economic chaos was somewhat exaggerated, I would refer my mother to the chaotic state that Britain has been in for the last 14 days.
Britain is indeed in a chaotic state at the moment, but I don’t think it’s helpful to blame anyone who voted ‘Leave’. The blame lies squarely with the politicians who didn’t have any exit plan but told the British public they could choose between two options in what appeared to be a democratic vote. This may seem naive of me, but I think that if leaving the EU was going to be bad for Britain, and David Cameron knew it, then he should never have held a Referendum in the first place. I was horrified when I saw him resigning, leaving others to clear up the mess he’d knowingly created. I think people on both sides of the debate now feel very let-down.
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