Brexodus: Movement of the Sheeple

Dear Quitters,

You have been sold a vicious mongrel pup dressed up as a British Bulldog - and instead of demanding restitution or hauling it off to the pound, you're still letting it sleep on the bed and play with your kids - and crap all over the place.

And oh boy, are you going to need one HUGE poopscoop to clear up THIS mess..

.

The mainstream media machine rolled into action pre-referendum, spouting reams of faux-patriotic claptrap, false statistics, and outright scaremongering. To Paraphrase Kipling: 'They would not do an honest job, and so they lied to sway the mob'

There's lies, there's damn lies - and then there's the mainstream media.

The lies, and they were manifold, were designed to appeal to those who felt disenfranchised by government - calls of 'take back control' 'close our borders' 'make Britain great again' resonating with a segment of society who lapped up visions of Britain sticking it to Johnny Foreigner - it'll be great, they said, because everyone knows...

1. The EU costs us a fortune It doesn't - it makes us money. In fact, the Confederation of British Industry estimates that EU membership is worth £3000 a year to every British family — a return of nearly £10 for each £1 we pay in. And the budget for the whole EU is just 1% of GDP, compared to about 49% spent by national governments. That’s just 2% of our public spending each year. Evidence

2. We haven't got control over our own borders Wrong. We have full control over our borders as an EU member - both the UK and Ireland are outside the borderless Schengen area of mainland Europe. In addition:

We can maintain our border controls at Calais rather than Dover. This is an agreement with France, which means we can process arrivals before they reach the UK. If people arrived at Dover and then were found not eligible to come in, we would have the often difficult problem of deporting them — a problem which we avoid through our partnership with France.

We can use the Dublin regulation - an EU agreement that asylum-seekers should be dealt with by the EU country in which they first arrived. The rule can be waived, as Germany did recently, but we currently rely on it to send many asylum-seekers back to the EU country they first arrived in - some 12,000 since 2003.

3. EU migrants are flooding the UK and are a drain on the economy Only 3.6% of the UK population is from another EU country. Most migration in the UK is from outside the EU, which means freedom of movement rules don’t apply and it’s completely up to the British government how to manage this migration. Evidence

EU migrants are net contributors to the economy. Between 2001 and 2011, they contributed 34% more in taxes than they took out in benefits and services. Evidence

Compared to the UK average, EU migrants are more highly educated, more likely to be employed, and much less likely to claim benefits. Evidence

4. The EU makes our laws for us Rubbish. The actual percentage is just 13.2% according to the independent House of Commons library. And these figures include everything that even mentions the EU, even if it’s just a “passing reference” or a definition, according to the researchers! Evidence

5. EU countries (and everyone else) will be queuing up to trade with us Almost half of our exports go to the EU, whereas trade to the UK amounts to just over 3% of EU exports. Financial forecasters now estimate Brexit could cost the UK economy up to £66 billion a year. The EU will not say 'of course you can have access to the single market without contributing a penny' - why for pity's sake would they?

6. And that old favourite, SOVEREIGNTY Don't make me laugh - last time I checked, Elizabeth II was still firmly ensconced on the throne - and living it large on the public tit, thenkyou very much. Now if you really want to talk about taking back control......but that's a whole other piece.

So, lies - toxic tycoon Arron Banks, who helped bankroll Brexit, even criticised the Remain movement for concentrating too much on the facts. Yes, seriously. “The remain campaign featured fact, fact, fact, fact, fact. It just doesn’t work. You have got to connect with people emotionally. It’s the Trump success.” he said

That'd be success as in winning by lying and appealing to foaming rednecks and racists, would it Arron? Arron.....?

It's my belief that the laughable pro-Brexit tripe peddled my the Mail et al had a twofold effect - as well as swaying some 17 million 'proud patriots' to vote Out, they also may have lulled the other 3/4 of the population into a false sense of security. Intelligent, informed people simply did not believe that any significant number of their fellow countrymen could be so moronic as to believe them.....

The scrum of rats scrambling to leave the good ship UK - Cameron, Boris, Farage, Gove, Leadsom etc - after the result was announced suggests to me that more than a few really didn't think it would actually happen. And were horrified when it did.

The pound has crashed, jobs are at risk, there has been a sickening rise in hate crime and racism, including from government members, and oh yes, there's still no sign of that £350 million a week for the NHS - anyone (well, anyone with half a brain) might think Brexit is looking like a REALLY BAD IDEA.

However - a fact guaranteed to send Quitters apoplectic with outrage - it doesn't have to happen.

The referendum result is advisory, not binding, and does not have to be acted upon. Ask Nigel Farage, who was kind enough to confirm it last week.

This is not pro EU rhetoric, it is not sour grapes - it is enshrined in the constitution of the UK. To put it simply, even if the result of a pre-legislative referendum was a majority of 'No' for a proposed law, Parliament could pass it anyway, because Parliament is sovereign - there's that word again. Evidence

'There was a vote - you have to accept it' (or in the case of Theresa May 'there wasn't a vote, but you have to accept it')

Accept something that less than a quarter of the population voted for - under the cackhanded control of an unelected prime minister.

No. We don't.