This weekend Remainers are marching in London to demand a rerun of of the referendum in which the UK voted to leave the EU. Following the success of the “wooferendum” – the celebrated march of London’s most middle class dogs that took place recently – their owners and others will march this time. It’ll be huge. But the optics are simply appalling. Here are five reasons it is a truly terrible idea that will be loathed and laughed at by millions of us not on the march.
1) The berets. There will be thousands of EU berets – berets adorned with EU stars – worn on the march. The beret is an item of clothing that has long had comical connotations in British popular culture. From Frank Spencer, through the work of Sue Pollard, and Victoria Wood in character, and in the cast of wartime television comedy Allo Allo, the beret in British terms is seen as one of the most ludicrous items of clothing available. Seeking to persuade British people that you deserve to be taken seriously? Do not wear a beret.
2) There will be many EU flags on display. This flag and emblem was never popular or widely used in the UK even before the 2016 referendum, yet ultra-Remain campaigners seem to think that waving it now – rather than the UK’s Union flag – will convince any of those of us who voted to leave to change their minds. It won’t. The waving of the EU flag makes no sense. Some of those running the People’s Vote have in a previous life been successful in marketing and advertising. How can they not spot that deploying the EU flag is counter-productive? It is almost as though some of the organisers and marchers have been driven mad by Brexit…
3) Nick Clegg, Facebook’s new head of public relations, will almost certainly be on the march. Colin Firth will probably be there too. Bono of U2 is bound to send a message of support. Nicola Sturgeon is being beamed in by satellite. Inevitably, crisp salesman Gary Linekar will be involved in some way.
4) The march and the entire second referendum campaign is a distraction and an evasion from real problems that need addressing, urgently. Suzanne Moore, writing in The Guardian, puts it well. “We are all familiar with the economic arguments and yet the earthquake of leave turned on its head the mantra that everyone votes out of economic interest. Something deeper and darker is going on. Identity matters, belonging matters. If the left don’t address these issues, the right owns them. Brexit was an act of transgression in terms of the articles of faith of liberal democracy – and it is this transgression that we need to address.
5) The march embodies the arrogance of people who are not used to losing and who cannot accept it. The People’s Vote campaign is based on the dangerous assumption that if only the Remainers shout louder at the plebs then the plebs will do what their told by their betters. Sorry. No.
