The hatemongers of Brexit

In the last few years, since beginning this blog, I have followed the posts of Richard North’s EU Referendum blog, not because I agreed with him but because he often raised key points about Brexit and he has a lot of knowledge about the workings of the EU. Although I now realise he does not always know quite as much as he thinks he does.  It has always been obvious that he is a man with an enormous ego. In another time or place he could have been even more dangerous than he actually was in urging this country to turn its face away from Europe.

No doubt be would disagree and like a lot of Brexiters claim he loves Europe but is simply against the continental nations working together as they wish, through the EU. It's a distinction without a difference in my view, but I'll leave it there.

I scan Twitter most days and follow the Leave Alliance, an account run by Dr North and his son Pete, I believe. Pete used to have his own blog but they now both seem to earn a living writing posts for a new blog, Turbulent Times. It’s ironic that the times are now so turbulent because of what Dr North has campaigned for, for most of his life.

I assume this is one of, if not their main source of income since it seems to be a full time job and both blogs have a donate button.

The Leave Alliance account churns out pure vitriol every day. One can only feel sad that so much hatred can issue from a single household. Don't they ever talk of anything inspiring? It does not take much imagination to see what side they would have been on in prewar Germany. However, it is Remainers who come in for regular scourging.

I usually embed tweets in this blog (it's not difficult) and it enables you to click through and read the post or the thread if you wanted to. I'm not going to do that with the Leave Alliance, although I once linked to this one back in May:

What can you say?

Now what about this one from yesterday?

The RNLI is a charity that saves lives at sea. It's being accused of somehow being akin to an organised criminal gang. Even Brexit supporters and presumably their followers get the treatment:

Poor Mr Hall, who was a Brexit Party candidate at one point and I assume saw something in Nigel Farage, tries to remonstrate with The Leave Alliance but they just double down:

The RNLI is now a "mechanised component in the people smuggling network." These are people who put their own lives at risk to rescue others in difficulty but get abuse in the street while heading for their lifeboat station. Words fail. I worry what we are turning into.

One Tweet I will post a link to shows Kate Shemirani, a nurse who has been struck off for being anti vaccination, addressing a rally in Trafalgar Square apparently calling for NHS doctors and nurses to be hung, by the neck I mean  - I can't believe I've just type that - for administering life saving vaccine to millions of people including me and I hope you:

Conspiracy theorist, anti-vaxxer and struck-off nurse Kate Shemirani is here literally threatening NHS doctors with the noose.

I believe she is inciting hatred and would be grateful @metpoliceuk if you could please investigate.

Please RT if you agree. pic.twitter.com/0j5jRYBYhd

— Rachel Clarke (@doctor_oxford) July 24, 2021

This is just extraordinary and it's barely believable that it's happening right now in what used to be a civilised country.

I may be wrong but I blame Brexit and Farage for opening a Pandora's box that may not be closed again in my lifetime. It has given a license to the hatemongers like the Norths and Ms Shemirani, who may well be mentally unbalanced, but their views are listened to (and even applauded and I assume recycled) by thousands of like-minded nutjobs. 

As I say, I worry about the direction of travel under Boris Johnson, I really do.

Finally, for a quote of the day, I noticed this in a report by a House of Lords sub-committee on the NI protocol:

"Lord Frost said [in evidence to the committee] that 'the most durable agreements are those where both sides agree to them'."

He was talking about the Withdrawal Agreement that he negotiated, both sides agreed on, Johnson got elected on and then rammed through parliament with massive support but which he now wants to renegotiate because he does not agree with himself. How 'durable' was that?  Or indeed how durable can any agreement be when made with men like Frost and Johnson?

Incidentally, Dr North rubbishes it in his post this morning.