Email
January 31, 2017
Dear Editor,
There is an old saying that “Empty barrels make the most noise”, and so it has been proved by the never-ending moans of the “Remoaner Party” ever since the Referendum result was known! For all of their insults and personal attacks on people who voted to Leave, it has turned into a “Really Nasty” party.
Such people, both here and in Britain have, in effect become the equivalent of a pack of hyenas chasing down a wounded animal, denigrating anyone who has the temerity to speak against them! Isn’t Britain supposed to be a democratic country? Maybe it was once, but no longer, and the “Remoaners” are in fact, arguing against democracy!
Really speaking, those wanting to stay in Europe should try asking why it was that 13 million of their own people could not, would not or did not cast their vote in the Referendum. Yes, it would have made a big difference, but to which side? And in the unlikely event of a second referendum being held, what is the guarantee that the Remoaners would win, unless of course, the result was “doctored” in their favour?
The Remoaners are very fond of attacking anyone who speaks for the “Leavers”, insinuating that they are not of sound mind, and therefore not be eligible to cast their vote! What a disgraceful situation is this, and perhaps the other side should concentrate on the issues and not personal attacks. For, was it not the Remain Party who, with all their falsehoods before the vote, were forecasting nothing short of Armageddon that very weekend in June? And they still are. Their “Project Fear” campaign is alive and well, ably supported by the hitherto unknown millionaires and fashion model, Gina Miller (“Don’t want to stop Brexit, just delay it for the next hundred years”). Not to mention Messrs. Blair, Mandelson, Clegg, Farron and now Branson. Anyone want to follow them?
Where is the pride and respect for their own country? Has patriotism become a dirty word in the eyes of Remoaners? If so, why? Before these people continue their attacks, why not wait and see what the forthcoming elections in France, Italy, Netherlands and Germany throw up? After all, Brexit arrived on the scene, followed by Donald Trump in America. So what is the future for the European version of Titanic?
And to suggest that Britain should now remain in Europe, what will happen when the government has to say to the bureaucrats, “Please, sir, I‘ve been a naughty boy by wanting to leave your “wonderful system”! Please let me back in, and I promise not to do it again!” That really would send out a message to the other 27 EU countries that Britain is weak, not strong enough to stand on its own feet. And for those people, both here and in Britain who say they feel more European than British, a question. Are they still claiming their British pensions and allowances?
Should this situation continue, then in the words of a now ex-president, “Britain really would beat the back of the queue”! Try looking beyond the end of next week. The world (and Europe) is changing fast!
Accept the referendum result with good grace, and support your real country!
Regards, N.J.Whiteside.
Dear Mr Whiteside.
Am I to assume that you live in Spain? If so, why? You will of course realise that several thousand British immigrants to Spain and other EU countries were denied the vote in the referendum. We were placed on the same level as convicted criminals merely for using our rights as EU citizens to fix our abode in any part of the EU that we fancied. This does not make us criminals, or traitors. We have done nothing wrong. We are just using rights that are soon to be taken away from us.
I cannot understand that anyone who lives in an EU country other than the UK would want these rights to be taken away for reasons which even the Leave campaign controllers admit were LIES. The reasons why Leave won are LIE No 1) Save the NHS by giving it the 350 million a month claimed on the side of the big red bus. Where is that money? Of course after the result was known, it disappeared. Lie No 2) Regain control of our borders. We never lost control of our borders, we just chose not to apply the legislation already in place. Lie No 3) Regain sovereignty. Even the government in the Whate paper states categorically that we never lost it.
Whether you agree or not, we have a perfect right to defend ourselves against a marginal majority of Leave voters who were conned and duped. We are the opposition whether you like it or not and we will continue to fight against what we consider to be a coup d’etat by UKIP and the extreme right wing of the Tory party.
What has made the situation intolerable is the stupid threat of May and her cronies of MASS DEPORTATION of EU citizens living in the UK. This gives the whole world an image of the UK as a Fascist state. It is THIS which has weakened the UK This intolerance, this superiority complex which hides an even bigger inferiority complex.
However, ou are right in one sense. All pride and respect we had for the UK or rather Little England as it has become, has been blown away. It is not the country we once knew and loved. But if you want to go back there, by all means feel free. Your jingosim is not welcome here anyway, I’m afraid. I sincerely hope you enjoy your life back in Little England.
Yours etc
I – like probably the MAJORITY of expats living in Spain – had NO OPPORTUNITY to vote. We WEREN’T ALLOWED TO VOTE on the Brexit referendum. We were left completely out of the loop, despite the fact that Brexit could so badly affect us. Stop insulting us, when you are obviously so bloody ignorant.
Do you want to know how UK immigrants in Spain feel? I think you have no idea what you are talking about and you are showing yourself up with your ignorance. https://www.change.org/p/european-union-an-open-letter-to-the-citizens-of-spain
Dear Editor,
In reply to Mt N.j. Whitehouse’s I would like to suggest that the group of people he insultingly calls Remoaners are, in fact the opposition to what we firmly believe to be a travesty of British political history. Far from being a Nasty Party, we are people who value democracy. The fact that many of the British people who live in the area of coverage of tis newspaper were denied a vote although the referendum affected us directly is intolerable. Those of us who have been living out of the UK for more than 15 years were effectively considered to be on a par with convicted criminals, merely for exercising their rights as citizen of the EU to live and work in any of the EU member countries. The referendum result showed a marginal preference to leave, but it was won on LIES as the leader of the Leave campaign Mr Dominic Cummings, has since admitted. The main LIES which won the campaign were 1) The big red (German) battle bus with the famous slogan of We send the EU 350 million pounds a week. Let’s fund the NHS instead.As soon as the result of the vote was known, this slogan was found to be baseless. 2) Let’s take back control. Control of what? Sovereignty? The government has recentlly stated categorically in its White paper that the country had never lost sovereignty. Control of our borders? Again, it has come to light that the government has never lost control of our borders, it just did not apply the rules. And the 3rd big lie was that EUimmigrants were “taking our jobs” and were a net liabilty to the economy. This does not hold water either as they give a 1.9 billon pound surplus, whilst doing jobs which Britons either cannot or do not wish to do. So, we feel very strongly that when Mrs May is now claiming that Brexit now has the beneplacet of 65,000,000 people, she is yets again, equivocating with the truth.
We consider that we, the REMAINERS, are the ones who refused to be duped by the lies and have a perfect right to fight against the destruction of the United Kingdom. 48% of the electorate is being ignored and we must and will be heard.
And finally, in answer to Mr Whiteside’s question about whether patriotism has become a dirty word, I would answer that we consider that the TRULY patriotic thing to do is to stay in the EU, where we would have a voice, a market and a future, rather than jump out of the plane without any form of parachute. This is what we are still fighting for and this is why May refuses to have a second referendum, because she knows that her hard Brexit is NOT “the will of the people”
Yours faithfully
Christopher B. Dennison.
No you are not “people who value democracy”. Remainers might but REMOANERS most certainly do not – by definition.
I wasn’t aware there was a “Remoaner Party”. I’m assuming you are being metaphorical. You mention “insults” and “personal attacks” on people who voted to leave. Could you be a little more explicit? I was very much under the impression that that particular boot was largely on the other foot. In fact, the very fact that you choose to use the term “Remoaner”, which I personally find neither funny nor clever, would very much put you in that category of person you seem to dislike.
I’m making the assumption that you live in Spain given that this paper’s target readership is in the Costa Blanca. I am a little bemused that you appear surprised by the reactions of other Brits who are most probably enjoying all the benefits of membership of the EU. They are probably people who have invested time, money, and hard work to either working here or simply living out the twilight of their Autumn in a place of their choosing. If that is the case, then it strikes me as highly probable that you are going to be in a minority if you express views that are in favour of Brexit which might explain your sentiments when you claim they are acting like “a pack of hyenas chasing down a wounded animal, denigrating anyone who has the temerity to speak against them!”
Obviously, you are in favour of Brexit. You obviously think that Brexit is going to give you certain advantages and is going to improve your life somehow. Quite what those advantages are and quite how your life is going to improve, I must admit, is a total mystery to me- but that is your opinion, which you are indeed entitled to have. Like the vast majority of Brits who live in the EU, I oppose Brexit and will fight it at every turn. That is also my democratic right. It is also the democratic right of the “hyenas” you refer to. Might I remind you Eurosceptics did not just roll over and shut up after the 1975 referendum? Indeed, they moaned on and on for over forty years. Furthermore, bearing in mind that had Remainers been successful, would you have meekly crept back into the woodwork to lick your wounds? Not that you would have lost anything because you would have been in the same situation as before the referendum. Life would have gone on as before-nothing lost, nothing gained. You pose the question as to why 13 million odd people didn’t vote. Actually, many British people who are directly affected by the referendum result (probably more so than the vast majority of people living in the UK) were not allowed to vote due to the fifteen-year rule. At this point, you’ll probably be muttering to yourself something along the lines of “Well, they left the UK – They shouldn’t have a vote.”Two points regarding that 1) Why 15 years? Why would 14 and a half years be OK but 15 years and a day be any different? It’s totally arbitrary. 2) The government has also said that votes for life are going to become policy (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/expats-to-get-votes-for-life-a7349746.html). Other reasons for people not voting would be to some not being able to, for whatever reason, others not having an opinion on the subject (Yes, they exist!), others would not have organised a postal vote in time etc, etc.
You go on to talk about Britain being a democratic country. Unfortunately, there was very little democratic about the referendum. Many people who should have been allowed a vote weren’t. I’ve already mentioned the 15-year rule. Many would argue that the age limit should have been brought down to 16 years old and that EU nationals should also have been included (There is a precedent for this in the Scottish Referendum). Furthermore, in practically every major democracy on the planet for a decision of this kind of constitutional significance, a super-majority of two thirds of the electorate would have been needed. It is for this reason that it was “advisory” i.e not binding. So, as you can see, to use your own phraseology, the referendum was actually “doctored” in favour of Leavers. Democratic it was not!
I cannot speak for most Leavers’ or your soundness of mind as I don’t know you. However, if you take a look at the press from around the world, it would be a fair comment to say that people practically everywhere else are, to say the least, baffled by the Brexit vote and many are of the opinion that Brexit is completely bonkers! I’m a little surprised to see that you refer to the Remain camp’s falsehoods without a single reference to the deluge of straight-out lies that came from the Brexit camp (350 million pounds a week to the NHS, the UK was going to swamped with hordes from Turkey, ridiculous stories about bananas, how most UK laws come from Brussels, how we are ruled by unelected bureaucrats, I could go on…..). It is true, financial Armageddon hasn’t happened………..yet! This is largely due to people thinking Article 50 was going to be invoked immediately. As we know, this hasn’t happened yet. Hold onto your seat when it does! Also, the drop in the value of Sterling has temporarily helped exports. However, people are starting to see the effect this is having on their wallets as prices start to rise on imported goods, many of which the UK no longer produce. Yes, you are right. Project Fear is still in place because the cause for fear is a reality.
You go on to talk about pride and respect for one’s country. I can only speak for myself. I am British but I really don’t get all this nationalistic flag-waving nonsense. What is it for? Pride and respect are things that are earned and quite frankly, the UK isn’t earning it at the moment. It has become a laughing stock around the world due to Brexit. As I said earlier, most countries really don’t understand why any country would leave the world’s largest and most successful free-trade block in history without a back-up plan. They think we are bonkers to commit such an act of self-harm. I have to admit, I agree with them. It certainly is not a reason for pride and respect. If that for you is what “patriotism” means, then yes it does become a dirty word.
As for the other 27 EU members thinking that we were weak if we were to ask to rejoin later on – I don’t care if that is what it means. I don’t think they would, either. It would restore the EU as it should be – with the UK in it.
On a personal note, I am not going to gain anything from Brexit and, quite frankly, I don’t think you are, either. It is making life more difficult for me and my family and has seriously compromised my daughter’s prospects for the future. Economics apart, the UK has a lot to lose in all kinds of joint educational and science projects, the Erasmus scheme and cultural exchanges. UK citizens benefit from a range of health benefits when in the EU without the need for private health insurance and do not need to go through the hassle of getting work papers to work here. We have been given a citizenship with accompanying rights (with a whole load of caveats especially for the UK).
Personally, I don’t understand your anger. You got what you wanted. Remainers, on the other hand, are set to lose a lot of things that they value. I’m not really surprised they are mad at you.
Only 4 words. Just a dick head, He has no idear what he is talking about.
Mr.Whiteside,
Apart from the somewhat infantile tone and tenor of your letter,it’s quite apparent that you neither have the wit or intelligence to understand where the true arguments ofRemain are lodged.I can no better than refer you to Prof.A.C.Graylings commentary on this matter,although I doubt you will seek this out,as many other Brexiteers have failed to do. And if you do, I further doubt you will grasp it’s content.
Why don’t you direct your letters to the Daily (Fascist)Mail, where you will be assured of an even wider audience for your purile views.?
Dear Editor,
I have replied twice to a letter entitled Remoaners but neither of these replies has been published. Can you tell me why? Or is freedom of speech not alowwed in your paper?
Yours C.B.Dennison.
Freedom of speech is not only allowed but encouraged – as is maintaing out website, which is why the comments had not been update.
Regards
A rather toxic letter Mr Whiteside that is very one sided, I seem to have witnessed nastiness from leavers as well, or have you choosen to ignore that. In answer to your question regarding pensions and benefits, yes we are claiming them regardless of where we now live because we worked for them.
On the subject of democracy, I believe it stands for freedom of speach and of political bias, a referendum result does not therefore place a gag on peoples opinion. Perhaps Mr Whitside you should re evaluate your stance on democracy before questioning others. May I ask you question, should you ever be in a position to influence legislation would you prohibit UK citizens from living abroad? you certainly give off vibes that you would.
REMOANERS > can you not see how ridiculous you sound?