I used to watch Question Time a lot, but found politics got a bit boring for a while. But it's interesting again (not entirely a good thing). I enjoyed what I saw of last night's raucous programme in which Lady Nugee, aka Emily "White Van Man" Thornberry, really got the bird from the Leavers in the audience, having got their goat by suggesting they didn't know what they had been voting for. Members of the audience couldn't wait to correct her, with several people, all notably young - please note Remainers! - making clear that, yes they did know. One young man eloquently said he was perfectly clear that he had voted for leaving the EU, return of sovereignty, control of borders and leaving the single market. Another young man took umbrage at Thornberry's suggestion that Leavers had voted their "neighbour out of a job", saying that leaving the low growth single market and its regulation would be positive for trade.
Judging from the noise there was a representative balance in the audience between Leave and Remain. (Well done BBC, for once).
However, what fascinated me was that, despite the assertions of Lady Nugee and Alex Salmond that voters were lied to and the implication that they would feel fooled, not a single member of the audience who had voted Leave indicated that they were having any second thoughts or regrets. On the contrary, many in the Question Time audience were clearly upset at the suggestion that they were incapable of evaluating the information presented to us in the campaign and seeing it for what it was. Indeed, not one of the many people I know who voted Leave has indicated the slightest bit of what David Cameron called buyer's remorse. Yet, anyway.
So my question is, when will the rearguard Remain campaign accept that people who voted Leave meant it and voted as they would in any election, having weighed the information presented to them, however contentious?
At least until the price rises from the weak pound filter through. As I am unavoidably on a variable duel fuel tariff currently, today I got news of a 25% price rise.....
Well you know I will not agree Phil! Look at it this way, do people really say 'hey I was conned', 'I believed all those ridiculous lies', 'why did I fall for that promise of an extra £350m per week for the NHS' etc. when it is easier to put their heads in the sand and pretend that their actions were the right ones?
ReplyDeleteWhatever people say, you can see it in their eyes if they think they've been had. Don't know if you saw QT, but the reaction to White Van Lady was rather stronger. That said, we are a year or two away from the full reckoning and I do worry that the hard line leavers, like the Corbynistas, would be quite willing to see the country go to the dogs in pursuit of their dogma
ReplyDeleteWhatever people say, you can see it in their eyes if they think they've been had. Don't know if you saw QT, but the reaction to White Van Lady was rather stronger. That said, we are a year or two away from the full reckoning and I do worry that the hard line leavers, like the Corbynistas, would be quite willing to see the country go to the dogs in pursuit of their dogma
ReplyDelete