A Miscellany
Lemme tell you a story.
Those of us who stood on the street before June 2016, with our banners and leaflets, constantly heard the ‘what about the immigrants’ refrain. ‘Sovereignty’ and ‘make our own laws’ featured far less (and, anyway would have code for ‘what about the immigrants’). So, we said to Remain Central, let’s have some well thought-out, high production value leaflets rebutting this Farage frightener.
Sorry, said the pillock who was the ‘regional co-ordinator’, we’re not doing that as we don’t want to let the opposition set the agenda. Apparently completely oblivious to the fact that the Referendum was happening due to Farage and the ERG having set the bloody agenda.
Disastrously, Remain central then chose the wrong battleground. The Tories had recently won the Scottish referendum (soon to be replayed, I’d guess) by going heavy on the economy – so let’s use the same strategy this time, they said. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Dire (and generally realistic) warnings about what Brexit would do to the economy were dismissed as Project Fear (the devil always has the best lines) – and anyway, what about the immigrants? Leave were fighting an emotional culture war, Remain a fact-based one.
Back to the story.
OK, we said, we’ll write and print our own leaflets which will, at the least, respond to what people are actually saying on the street. Go ahead and good luck, responded the pillock, but don’t you dare put our logo on it. Result? We wrote something and printed it. Our relatively meagre resources meant it wasn’t as eye-catching as it could have been – but, sod them, we put the logo on it.
Our town voted Remain by a decent margin. No thanks to the command and control boys up Lunnun.
Fishin’ for immigrants
Dan O’Mahoney is the Clandestine Channel Threat Commander, which leaves us confused as to what or whom exactly is the clandestine threat. Whichever, he’s suggesting that migrant boats might be stopped with nets and sent back. It’ll keep the fisherfolk busy after the Tories have thrown them under the bus: ‘you can catch as many as you like – but you have to throw them back in’.
NB: fish is 0.1% of UK GDP and we exercised our sovereign right to sell most of our own quota to Johnny Foreigner. The Belgian fishing fleet catches 50% of its fish in British waters. They bought the quota from the six British family firms who own the licences to fish in UK waters. Nothing to do with EU fishing policy.
Just a rumour
The Government has just announced that owing to the Covid-19 crisis postmen (and post ladies) will now be working from home.
They will read all your letters and ‘phone you if there’s anything important …
My colleague, Paul Ryder, has written two blistering pieces about the Great Tory betrayal over the Referendum. (https://westenglandbylines.co.uk/the-great-brexit-hijack-the-great-conservative-party-betrayal/).
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