Thread by @NiceConvos

Good morning. Today seems like a good day to tell you about my conversation with a brexiter, that I had a few weeks ago.
That day I was told to my face that #brexit means they can finally switch out all those EU migrants with better foreigners. /1

This person knew that I am one of "all those EU migrants". And while I've been told way too many times to count that I should "go home" or "go back where you came from", being told that I can and indeed will be "switched out" for something better was a new one to me. /2

There has been a shift, a reframing going on for a while. Back in the early #brexit days, any foreigner was bad. Then followed the phase of bad EU migrants (e.g. "those Poles! Those Bulgarians!"...) and good ones ("we don't mean you!, You'll be fine"). /3

The next phase was "you need to understand, we have to use you as a bargaining chip, so that we can make sure our "expats" are fine. There is some specific yet intangible genetic reason why British migrants are never called migrants by brexiters. They are "expats". But... /4

...it goes without saying that @BritishInEurope were as much a victim of this #Brexit mess than @The3Million to be thrown under the bus together. While we were told we had to be used to get a better deal for them, the next phase showed no-one really cared for any of us. /5

Both @The3Million and @BritishInEurope did what was our right: we made use of Freedom of Movement and chose to settle in a place we weren't born. These places became our homes. FOM is one of those evil things that's obviously bad now according to brexiters. Unless... /6

Welcome to the next phase: Ending Freedom of movement should only ever count one sided. That wonderous new blue passport comes with unlimited travel rights to places like Spain and the right to retire there. But only if you are a brexiter who voted for this. Makes sense, right?/7

I'm too tired, so I'll skip a few phases of brexiter logic. Now then, we would finally be allowed to swap or exchange all EU migrants for better migrants. This person is very much looking forward to the day when they can start doing so. /8

I asked about specifics: did they really want to take each and every one of us people who came from another EU country and kick us out of our homes? No matter how long ago we made this our home? Yes absolutely! /9

Would it matter who we are, what we did here? Which jobs we do here? Would they want to kick out, say the doctor that treats them, the countless nurses that work in the NHS? Indeed! If they are from another EU country, they should leave immediately come March. /10

Would it count for anything if we were married to a British person, if we had children here? Not at all, if we were born in another EU country, we should have to leave, so that they can finally start to switch us out. /11

And who did they want to swap us with? "Good people, like that teacher from Canada, who wanted to teach Gaelic in Scotland but wasn't allowed to". I then asked if they were aware that this was very much a decision by the UK home office and their hostile environment? /12

Apparently the hostile environment was to be only for EU migrants going forward. They believe that any other migrant from anywhere else will be welcome come brexit day. I tried to explain that this was more than unlikely, considering things like #Windrush but hey./13

Next, I asked about logistics of it all. How would this "swap-a-migrant-day" work in practical terms? You will be pleased to know they have a plan! "First, they will take away the houses from all those EU migrants and then we have enough houses to give to other migrants!" /14

What if we EU migrants own these houses, our homes? "You don't own them, Britain does and we can take them back from you when we want, to give to the migrants we want here, instead of you". You see, they have it all worked out. /15

This person was very much looking forward to "swap an evil EU migrants for a better anywhere-else-from migrant" day, come March. Things would finally be great again, once we evil ones are gone and the good ones are here. /16

Funnily enough they didn't believe me when I said I didn't think this vision was likely to happen. But hey, what would I know anyway, as one of those soon to be swapped for something better migrants! 🤔 /17

Apparently this next phase is now called "jumping the queue". 🤔

Also who needs facts, right? Facts such as...you already control your borders! Or...you can already allow engineers from Sydney or software developers from Delhi to come here. And there are no queues we jump! 🙄