Thread by @GraWitMik

1/To all the people I follow who wish to leave the EU, I apologise for not giving any evidence whatsoever for the ‘opinions’ expressed in this series of tweets. This is just my experience of conversations with my French neighbours tonight inc. Us & 7 Family’s inc children aged

2/ from 2 to 17.These are ‘Apero’ fuelled opinions from all of us.
I needed some help today with a new drainage system. My neighbours instantly came to help with advice, details of French law and offers of help.

3/This became eventually an “Apero”, eventually turning into an “Apero Dinatoire”. Think beer, then spirits with beer then wine with the meal etc all accompanied by conversation in French which was mostly totally inane and you might have a tiny bit of an idea what it is like.

4/Then the coffees arrived and the real questions & serious conversations arrived. My neighbours here are from all corners of France. Imagine a Scott, a Geordie, a Welsh woman, a Scouser, a Cockney & a guy from NI.

5/My neighbours are between themselves in no particular order Muslim family, family almost communist, family of Macron supporters, (also think thatcher was good for the uk); a very religious (catholic) family &

6/a family of VERY hard working beef farmers, (had their first holiday for 7 years and had to pay 3 times the cost of holiday to pay for someone to look after the farm. An ex Ski instructor from the Alps & another single bloke & his girlfriend from Amiens.

7/Over the coffees I'm BOMBARDED as the token brit why the people of the UK, a country whom every single one of them agree is or was the SAFE home of democracy, are allowing it to be overtaken by bigotry & fascism. Why are the people allowing their government to impoverish them?

8/They honestly cannot understand what is happening & kept on asking me to explain the reasons. They all believe that no individual nation would do something so “suicidal”, (their words), unless it was in the control of a dictator.

9/ I tried to defend our people & I think I made good points using examples of history like the Miners Strike, the poll tax & how we used to stand up for each other. Their main thrust was why the people of the UK were not on the streets fighting the injustices NOT JUST brexit.

10/Again I mentioned thatcher and her laws that made much of what Europeans can still do to protest legally, illegal. I mentioned the ‘Gillets Jaune’ stopping the traffic & causing problems for all. There were arguments between them, some heated.

11/When it calmed, I asked if the Gilet Jaunes should be banned/not allowed to protest. Every single person looked at me as if I were mad. “Of course they should protest, of course they should have the right to protest.

12/Brought up the violence seen in Paris and how that can be justified. Again they laughed & thought me naive. Do you not have a ‘right wing’ or a ‘left wing’ that always agitates when ordinary people protest? I bought up Le Penn; everyone laughed & ‘nicely’ called me naive.

13/They challenged me, even the thatcherite French, saying that no country that had ever been occupied by a foreign state would ever allow for that state to become a fascist occupier of its own country.

14/ THE PEOPLE would defeat them before they could ever do again what had happened before. Apologies to all leave/remain/non partisan voters. My thread of tweets is definitely alcohol fuelled.

For my USA mates…….. Sorry this is just about Europe.

Night all Gra.