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In this thread, we would like to address a few brexit issues. But before we do, we would like you to look up the terms 'Potemkin Village' and 'force multiplier' #brexit 
2/ In the UK, there has *NEVER* been a demand for a hard brexit. @_SimonBarnett can get you some stats on this. And the Tory backbench MPs who kept the flame of euroscepticism alive for decades talked about a Swiss style deal with the EU or a Norway deal, an FTA at the least.
3/ But then in a approximately 11 year period a perfect storm grew - A: the EU pushed for more treaty powers B: The EU wished to expand and incorporate new member states C: The media started reporting more about interfering "Brussels Bureaucrats".
4/ Mainstream Tories were sick of banging on about Europe and wanted to just get on with things - they didn't want a return to Maastricht-era ideological civil war. So they left the arena open to a new challenger - UKIP.
5/ Unsuccessful in General elections and not very impressive in local elections, UKIP were paradoxically gaining seats in European Elections where the D'Hondt voting system (with a strong element of proportional representation) allowed smaller parties to thrive.
6/ Since the mainstream tories didn't want to fight over europe, UKIP suddenly took up the discarded eurosceptic mantle - repeating the lurid media stories of bendy bananas and brussels bureaucrats to a growing audience.
7/ With a growing number of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) UKIP gained some credibility, money, offices, staff, researchers, press officers - all the machinery that you need for a real political party.
8/ [They would later come under investigation for using these newfound resources incorrectly] see: theguardian.com/politics/2018/…
9/ And bbc.co.uk/news/uk-englan…
10/ We also saw in this period a strange phenomena where the media would report on some 'crazy new eu legislation' - then UKIP MEPs would repeat it in the European parliament or on Question time, then the media would report on *that* and then MPs would talk about that in a loop
11/ But to nip all this in the bud, Cameron went for his renegotiation and then referendum strategy. To finally shoot the UKIP fox. You will remember that Farage had failed to get to Westminster about 6 times at this point.
12/ UKIP had a terrible track record when it came to getting Westminster representation - largely relying on defections. Carswell was their only real success and he only won because he had a huge personal following locally at the time.
13/ When the leave side won the eu referendum it looked likely that we would enter into a close relationship with the EU like Norway or Iceland or Switzerland.
14/ See:
15/ But at this point a small hardcore of Leavers (Banks, Mills, Farage, Elliott etc) collectively decided to 'go all the way' and push for the Hardest form of Brexit. But they knew there wasn't appetite for it in the UK. So what did they do?
16/ They started a campaign to create the *impression* that Hard brexit was what the people really voted for, and they knew that all along. So effective has been their retconning and gaslighting that people who pushed Norway 2 years ago will vehemently deny ever doing so.
17/ To do this they needed to create the impression that there were many, many people supporting Hard brexit - so they created websites, skewed reporting, fake campaign groups, dubious think tank reports etc to create that narrative.
18/ Guido fawkes promotes hard brexit - a coincidence that Vote Leave's Matt Elliott is a long term friend and business partner of Paul Staines? prweek.com/article/117461…
19/ Westmonster promotes hard brexit - who is behind it? A former Nigel Farage staffer and Arron Banks bbc.co.uk/news/entertain…
20/ Brexit central and Darren Grimes promote hard brexit - who is behind them? Matthew Elliott. brexitcentral.com/matthew-elliot…
21/ Basically we are looking at a series of Hard Brexit 'potemkin villages' which ensure that there is always a hard brexit voice available to appear on television programmes or radio programmes etc at the drop of a hat.
22/ And when you look at these groups they are always in the end linked to either Banks, Elliott or John Mills. The illusory multitude of voices are just heads of the same hard brexit hydra. The real voice of brexit is muted and ignored but it still exists - and we are it.
23/ We want a close, friendly relationship with the EU built on amity and free trade. We don't want to be part of ever closer union however and we want to be able to make our own trade deals and regain our voice on global bodies. In short, EFTA/EEA. /end
