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SMILE AS YOU WAVE THEM GOODBYE - by Mr Biffo

24/6/2016

34 Comments

 
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My mum, dad, sisters, nephews, nieces, brother-in-law, and cousins all voted Leave. As far as I can tell, pretty much the only members of my family to vote in favour of Remain were me, my partner, and my three daughters. Ever the black sheep, I have now tarred my closest loved ones with the same sticky brush. 

This EU Referendum was a nasty, nasty campaign. It divided us more than any other issue I've seen in my lifetime. From many on the Remain side there was an unpleasant sense of haughtiness, and the sense I got from many Leave voters was anger. They were angry at how they saw their country changing, angry at feeling powerless, not having a voice, and angry for being called racist, or stupid, or ignorant, by condescending "left-wing intellectuals". 

If the goal of the Remain campaign was to make their opponents entrench their position by patronising them, then good work.

This is a win for the disenfranchised, for those who feel they've lost control of their lives, who wanted to hit back at a sneering establishment, who they felt didn't have their interests at heart, who they didn't feel understood them.

"Decent, ordinary, people", the awful, anything but ordinary and decent, Nigel Farage has called them this morning, and... much as it pains me to admit... he's sort of got a point. 

However, the win for Leave is also a win for Farage, Gove, Johnson... rich white men, who mostly have only their own interests at heart; the very definition of the sort of establishment figures that many on the Leave side claimed to despise.
The trouble is, you look at many of those supporting Remain, and the picture isn't much different.

Leading the call were an alleged posho porksmith, a half-arsed scarecrow, and a bunch of multimillionaire celebs, who probably take their kids to school in a gold-plated helicopter.

The image of Bob Geldof on a boat, sticking his fingers up at the Leave campaign, pretty much summed up the tone of most Remain supporters for me. You don't win support, you don't make your point, by telling people to eff off, and sticking your fingers up at them.

​Especially when you've more money sat in your bank than most people will earn in their entire lives.
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LAST NIGHT
Weirdly, as I was in bed last night, I realised there was a part of me that wanted Leave to win.

Not because I think Leave is a good idea. I feel that it's a terrible idea - apparently the rest of the world does too, apart from the rich idiot Donald Trump. But Remain was the dull option.

​We'd have woken up this morning, and nothing really would've changed, other than Nigel Farage having a bloodied nose. 

Leave winning means we're in uncharted, raging, waters, and something about that is ever so slightly exciting. I can see the appeal. Though that's the only part of leaving the EU which I can see the appeal in. But I have to accept that I might be wrong.

My vote was as much an emotional decision as it was an informed one. I can track it back to my own desire to want to feel a part of something, of belonging, of feeling that we're stronger the more of us there are, and of not liking bullies who seek to divide, and pick off the weak.

Speaking nationally, I'm in a minority now... because that's democracy. Those of us who live in London are in a bubble, evidently out of touch with the rest of the rest of the UK (apart from Scotland) - and last night proved it more than ever. For whatever reason, 52% of voters chose Leave, and there's no second-guessing their motives. They're individuals, not a mass of "racists" or "idiots".

I mean, on social media this morning there's hysteria about the country being ruined as a result of the referendum. Are they right to be all doom and gloom? Honestly...? I dunno. None of us do.

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UNITE
But it has happened. It is what it is. Those of us who voted Remain are best off shutting up and moving forwards.

We live in a democracy, and there's no point whingeing when your side loses, or spouting paranoid, embittered conspiracy theories about the vote being rigged, because... y'know... pencils.

And the main concern now is how we find a way to stitch the country back together. We need to move forwards in a way that doesn't hand additional power to an ugly force that could seek to piggyback its way to even more strength, on the concerns of 52% of our population. The last thing we need might now is more hatred and fear being stoked up.

We have to seek to make this an opportunity rather than a disaster - and it's for the politicians who supported Leave, those who will leap into the vacuum that appears in David Cameron's wake, to put their money where their rhetoric is. They need to prove to us that this is the best thing that could have happened to Britain.

You got what you wanted. Now prove to all of us that you were right.

FROM THE ARCHIVE:
ON SALE SOON: BLOCK PARTY 2016 - THE TELETEXT AND DIGITISER FESTIVAL!THE REAL THREAT FACING BRITAIN: GIANT MIGRANTS
WE INTERRUPT THE USUAL PROGRAMMING... BY MR BIFFO​

34 Comments
Gaijintendo
24/6/2016 10:42:12 am

Pedantry: 52% actually translates to approximately 37.4% of the electorate. I am sure if you dragged the other quarter along, it wouldn't have made much of a difference.

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RichardM
24/6/2016 10:51:43 am

Well said, sir. Not the outcome I wanted either and I fear what might happen, the unknown... But change can be a good thing. Fingers crossed.

Hope Boris doesn't end up as PM, mind you.

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Walter Peck
24/6/2016 11:27:37 am

I'm pretty certain the country isn't going to be stitched back together.

Cya later suckers!

Yours,
Scotland

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Alastair
24/6/2016 01:36:29 pm

And possibly N Ireland, but I doubt the English would care.

Strange that the Welsh consistently forgive decades of sitcom jokes about their accent to stand alongside the English. Maybe it's a west coast thing, no neighbours but the sea and the English.

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Boo.box
24/6/2016 12:34:16 pm

Well said

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TekMerc
24/6/2016 12:36:59 pm

Well, for me, this was the final nail in the coffin for politics. I want nothing more to do with any of you.

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Andrew Gillett
24/6/2016 12:46:04 pm

"If the goal of the Leave campaign was to make their opponents entrench their position by patronising them, then good work" - did you mean Remain campaign?

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Mr Biffo
24/6/2016 01:03:44 pm

Yes. Yes I did.

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Ganapan
24/6/2016 04:35:54 pm

Well, that makes me a bit sad really. So this is how referendums work? An important change moves forward with 51% votes and without any knowledge about how and who.

Im not from UK, Im seeing this as an individual from a region that want to exit their country too. Im considered an "independent"by a lot of "unionists" but If a real referendum happened I wouldnt be happy about that result. IMO that result means the debate should continue and get deeper into details.

Theres so much nuance as how changes can be made yet you can only answer yes or no to a piece of paper.

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Alastair
25/6/2016 05:00:55 am

Was the referendum legally binding, like a vote in parliament or just an official opinion poll?

I'm aware the Swiss make choices like this all the time but I thought it was up to parliament to actually decide.

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Nick
25/6/2016 06:06:31 pm

The referendum isn't legally binding. Parliament was asking the country for its opinion on the question. It's very unlikely they will go against it though.

Clockwork Fool
24/6/2016 06:59:59 pm

If you think this time round is exciting, Biffster, you wait for when Scotland leaves.

We'll need to make a new Flag and everything.

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Mr Biffo
24/6/2016 07:12:12 pm

Skull and crossbones plz.

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Londoner
24/6/2016 07:09:56 pm

You live in London too?!

Whatever happened to the proposed Digi meet up? We should probably piggyback it on one of those Excel conventions they're doing in June and July. There's bloody loads.

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Mr Biffo
24/6/2016 07:11:30 pm

October 1st! In... Er... Cambridge. It'll be epic though.

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richard luncheon voucher
26/6/2016 04:02:16 pm

My Oyster Card won't get me to bloody Cambridge will it now Biffo

Kendall9000
24/6/2016 07:46:35 pm

It would've been a leave landslide if all those MI6 agents among the counters hadn't rubbed out so many brexit votes.

Unlike all those gullible sheeple with their stubby little pencils, I made my mark in blood with my own severed finger. Thankfully there were enough sane and sensible people like me to win the day and usher in Britain's new golden age.

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Jenuall
24/6/2016 08:40:02 pm

Frightening times.

Yes, not all Leave voters are racist, stupid, or ignorant, just as not all Remain voters are rich, elitist snobs. But the scary thing is that those individuals who are racist, stupid or ignorant will see this vote as a validation of their views and position, that the country had effectively said "yes, you're right, we should shut our borders and kick out all these foreigners, Britain for the British etc." and so will double down on their attempts to push this position.

It's only day one, and we're not out of the EU yet, but just today I've already witnessed a parent being abused during school drop off for not being British; "Have you got a British passport? You're going to get kicked out! Are you're kids British? They're going to get taken off you!", fortunately they were okay and myself and others stepped in, but it's not a good sign of things to come. Similarly a friend left work early today, he works in a post sorting office where today the English staff ganged up to abuse a group of Polish staff saying now they should get out so some English people can have their jobs.

Personally I'm genuinely shocked, and my confidence in the future has been massively rocked by the events of the last few weeks.

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omni
25/6/2016 02:02:17 am

I have heard similar tales from America regarding Trump. There are white American Trump supporters who think he's going to deport all the black people.
Obviously such people are the lowest end of the spectrum, but it demonstrates there are people who don't actually understand the nature of the thing they're voting for.

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Dr Kank
24/6/2016 09:44:01 pm

I'm a bit disturbed at the blatant ageism coming from embittered Remain voters, hating on all the old people who had privileged, easy lives growing up in the 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s and don't understand how hard it is these days for teh progressive yoofs.

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Dunc
24/6/2016 10:51:19 pm

So here's the thing: we're turning our backs on our European neighbours and will likely burn some bridges in the process. We're facing another threat of divorce from Scotland. It's not just the uk that could be on it's own but England. The last thing we need is to turn on each other. Everyone voted the way they wanted for their own reason, it's exactly how a referendum works. Yes there are dumb reasons to vote leave just as there are dumb reasons to vote remain but the decision has been made and we're leaving whether we like it or not. We only have each other so our best hope is to unite and make the best of this crazy situation. I'm not happy we're leaving but shouting at the 52% doesn't improve our chances of making this work.

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Alice Fever
24/6/2016 10:52:22 pm

Wow, the best article on Brexit read today

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Kara Van Park
24/6/2016 11:50:46 pm

On the plus side, your Patreon is in dollars, so you'll make a killing now.

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Alastair
25/6/2016 05:04:14 am

Eye opening, what's my five quid Patreon contribution going to rise to now? And all those funky t-shirts I order from the US?

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Kelvin Green link
25/6/2016 12:51:31 am

I'm scared, and more than a little sad, but "You got what you wanted. Now prove to all of us that you were right" is how I'm going to go forward. Show me that everyone under 25 hasn't been screwed over. Show me that our public services are going to improve. Show me that this wasn't a decision made out of fear and hatred.

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Euphemia
25/6/2016 02:03:02 am

With the global swing to the right, things are going to get worse and more divisive before cooler heads prevail.

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PS1Snake
25/6/2016 08:34:39 pm

People that voted leave are acting like their living standards are going to dramatically improve now "we got our country back" (whatever that means). The unemployed and disenfranchised i.e. people in a shitty situation who voted to leave just voted to plunge themselves into an even shittier situation.

Do such people think they will be immune from the economic side effects of this referendum result?
People in areas that received millions in EU regeneration funding (Cornwall for example) still voted for Brexit.I don't get it. Leave will make things worse for everyone including the people that voted to leave.

All I've heard from leave voters across TV, radio and online is "get the immigrants/foreigners/Muslims out" - and yet people still say it isn't about race? The leave vote has galvanised the racists and nationalists in England - it's all about "taking back our country". There's already incidents where people have been verbally abused and told to "go back" because of this vote. Immigration was the biggest motivating factor behind the leave vote. People should be directing their blame at the government and it's failure to stay on top of things instead of actual immigrants.

The whole leave campaign was filled with lies and scaremongering and people bought it and now they will be fucked over along with everyone else who voted to remain. This referendum should never have happened, Leave voters have fucked things up for everyone because (from what I've seen and heard) they don't like immigrants and they want to stick to fingers up to the establishment.
I disagree that people who voted to remain should shut up and get on with it - democracy allows for dissent. Why should people be quiet when half the country has decided to flush the UK down the toilet?

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Scott C
26/6/2016 10:32:19 am

Indeed, the saddest day since the outbreak of WWII.

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Brexitbeast 37
26/6/2016 10:09:27 am

"All I've heard from leave voters across TV, radio and online is "get the immigrants/foreigners/Muslims out" - and yet people still say it isn't about race? "

All you've heard? Really?

So you will be able to link me to thousands of clips of TV and Radio shows of this happening.

Funny because I've not heard of it once and I'm sure if there were more than a few isolated instances of it, the likes of the Guardian and BBC would be revelling in smearing all 17m leave voters with it.

A quick check of their websites reveals no such narrative. So you either keep some odd company on Facebook or have been going out searching far right forums (or your mates circulating posts from them) to confirm your own prejudices.

What percentage of the 17m made such statements? What percentage can you prove?

As I said on the topic of the murder; don't smear millions of innocent people over the actions of a few. Accept that people have different lives and circumstances to you and that this leads to them having different and perfectly valid opinions as to what is in their best interests.

That you can't figure out why people who receive EU funding still voted Leave should be an indication to you that there is a lot about life that you don't understand especially when it comes to the diverse communities and cultures across the UK that each have their own very different problems to contend with.

Let's move on with life and make the best Britain we can with the hand we've been dealt.

I lost at the 2015 election (I've never been on the winning side and never will under fptp) but I just accepted it, let go and got on with working to make my life better. That's all any of us can do.

No one is flushed down the toilet. We left a corrupt bureaucratic superstate. We are still European, will still trade, travel, cooperate and work there. No one will be kicked out of anywhere, those with something of value to offer will always be welcomed in our country and in others. If you or anyone in the EU has no skills then my advice is get some. That applies in or out as automation is more of a threat than brexit.

Chances are the elites will wrangle a way out if it anyway as they don't care about democracy. You should be concerned about that because one day they will override something where you were in a majority that voted for it.

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Penyrolewen
26/6/2016 11:45:00 pm

Ah, Superbeast.
Was wondering where you were. Hope it all works out the way you wanted it to. Don't think it will though. Hope I'm wrong and it's all peachy from now on in.

Wonder what it's like inside your head? You can't help but bite can you?
I read that all exit voters now assume it's legal to assault any minority and are doing so by the million, claiming that "Boris and Michael made me do it". It's true, I heard it on MySpace.

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Spiney O'Sullivan
27/6/2016 12:25:07 am

The easiest way to deal with these screeds is just to ignore them.

Superbeast 37
27/6/2016 12:24:09 pm

Don't lie.

Don't smear innocent people.

Don't try to spread hate and create division with statements that aren't supported by evidence.

Don't exploit tragedies for personal/political gain.

Respect democracy, respect the freedom of individuals/consumers to choose what they consume.

Then I won't have anything to say.

Simples.

Clive Peppard
27/6/2016 12:15:17 pm

Boris hasnt got the cojones to pull the trigger on Article 50 and neither do his mates, and they all know this.

Watch the lizards commit an about face and decide we are all better in...

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minty link
28/6/2016 12:31:08 pm

Hey, not just Londoners, us Bristolians voted remain too!

Reply



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