A people’s vote? Remainers want a ‘people like us’ vote
On Saturday afternoon, Himself was on a train back to Cambridge that was packed with Remainers, burnished with sun-kissed fervour from taking part in the anti-brexit march through London. “They were the most charming, good-humoured protesters you could hope to meet, extremely considerate with their placards,” he teased. “You would have absolutely hated them, darling.”
Actually, you know what, I wouldn’t. I could never dislike anyone for voting to stay in the European Union. Some of my best friends are Remainers, although I notice the bolshier, more entrepreneurial ones tended to vote Leave. I know of at least two marriages where the husband voted Remain and the wife voted Leave (funny, as women are supposed to be more risk-averse).
When I say that I respect the way the other side voted, I really mean it. There was a great deal to weigh up, and the dangers of leaving might easily be seen to outweigh the (seldom discussed) drawbacks of staying. I just didn’t fancy my country ending up as the smallest, most westerly province of a European superstate governed, as my colleague Charles Moore put it, by some twerp from Luxembourg. From Winston Churchill to Juncker the Drunker… that did not strike me as a fitting destiny for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
As Lord Owen, a former Labour Minister for Europe, told me during the referendum campaign, as soon as the euro was introduced, it was obvious that ever-greater union was Brussels’s end-game. It was equally clear to him that the British would never wear it. Some people are temperamentally happy with the idea of having their national identity subsumed; others are Geordies, Welsh Daily Telegraph columnists, Sir James Dyson and (probably) Her Majesty the Queen. It is now two long years since David Dimbleby said “That’s it, we’re out!”, yet the backlash and the abominable sneering goes on. Punishment beatings were to be expected from the EU, which faces a hole in its coffers and its credibility, but from our own people? The attitude towards Brexiteers shown by certain Remainers has revealed a side of my country I wish that I had never seen.
At a recent literary event, I sat in stunned silence as a member of the great and the good held forth on what attitudinal surveys had revealed about the habits of folk who voted to leave. “They use teeth-whitening kits,” he shuddered fastidiously. Honestly, the condescension was chilling.
When the Remainers demand a People’s Vote, what they are really calling for is a People-like-us Vote. Let’s keep the teeth-whitening Untermensch well away from decisions that should only be made by thoughtful, clever liberals like Gina Miller and Richard Dawkins!
The Oxford biology professor showed his true colours in a tweet about taking part in Saturday’s protest: “Yes, of COURSE there are people who voted Leave for reasons other than xenophobic bigotry or fading imperial jingoism. I’ve met at least four,” snorted Dawkins. “But it felt good to be marching… to be reminded of the decent half of Britain.”
The decent half of Britain? Does the professor seriously think that Remainers have the monopoly on virtue as well as brains?
It seems curious, to say the least, that so many enlightened intellectuals prefer the vast, trotters-in-the-trough bureaucracy of the European Union to the free will of their own people. Displays of rebellious popular sentiment in the Middle East are warmly welcomed by them, just don’t let the oiks try it at home.
In its ruthless pursuit of political integration, the EU has stamped on any country that has dared to defy the treaties, telling them to go and vote again until they come up with the correct answer. That’s one reason why the decision brought about by 17.4million people on July 23 2016 cannot, and should not, be overturned.
Our country does not kowtow to bullies. Britons never, never, never shall be slaves.
As for the key Remainer objection that “people didn’t know what they were voting for”, try telling that to a couple of my neighbours, a retired female GP and a hugely successful exporter of hi-tech equipment, neither of them exactly prize dimbos. The exporter agrees with the US ambassador, Woody Johnson, that a great future awaits Britain if we can only overcome the “defeatist attitude”.
It really is about time, ladies and gentlemen. We are fed up. Fed up of the constant whingeing, the cold condescension, the snobby scaremongering, the “Best For Britain” campaign financed – oh, the irony! – by George Soros. (Where does a US billionaire currency speculator get off interfering in British democracy?) Remainers who have the nerve to complain about the uncertainty caused by Brexit make it 10 times worse by plotting to reverse it and undermining our negotiating position.
Imagine if we actually gave them what they wanted. OK, let’s hold a second referendum. Everyone would have a vote, even “non-people” with their ghastly teeth-whitening kits and xenophobia. Whatever the Remainers claim, I very much doubt they would win. Something in the British character would recoil at such craven capitulation. Still, let’s play along and imagine Remain did win by a narrow margin. What then?
We’ve already triggered Article 50 so would we have to reapply to join the EU? Brussels needs our money and they’re unlikely to turn us down, but the whole process would be made as unpleasant as possible. The budget reductions, fought for tooth and nail by Margaret Thatcher, would be surrendered. Our annual contribution would go up while our influence would go down. The logic of rejoining would be that the UK would no longer oppose the move towards a European superstate, with a shared foreign policy and army. There would be pressure to give up the pound and join the Currency of Doom.
Does this sound in any way appealing? To be Brussels’s cash register and whipping boy? You know, I’m rather grateful to the diehard Remainers and their charming, middle-class march against the tragic halloumi shortage. Oops, against one of the biggest democratic votes in our history. It helped to confirm my view that the people made absolutely the right decision.
The marchers do not represent the majority in this country, those who accept that we’re leaving and would like to get on with it, thanks very much. Time to stop being sore losers and start listening. Anything else is, frankly, un-british.