The core element of democracy is the right to oppose. But for around 2 years after the referendum nearly all politicians and journalists were intimidated into treating Remain as political blasphemy. During that period Brexit politics was profoundly undemocratic. It was a coup.
That 2 years or so of populist intimidation hugely slowed the advance of the Remain campaign and shut out its message from much of the public. That Brexit happened at all is a direct result of that period of fascistic intimidation. Brexit was a coup.
We continue to see the effects of that intimidation in Starmer and Davey's extraordinary caution with regard to Brexit. It is only in a climate of political intimidation that opposition politicians would tread so warily. But we've become used to it. Intimidation is the norm.
After a Nazi referendum victory in 1933 Goebbels used the notion of the "Will of the People" to demonise opposition to Nazi policies. The same notion was used in exactly the same way by Brexit politicians and journalists. Brexit is the outcome of fascist political tactics.
The fascist rhetoric of the Brexit press and politicians incited death threats that affected the course of Brexit politics, and I do not believe that the politicians and journalists involved didn't understand that that would be the effect of their remarks.
Contrary to the lies of the Brexiters, democracy isn't just about votes. It is about the right to oppose, the rule of law, and the right to be accurately informed - all of which were cynically violated by the Brexit press and politicians. Brexit was won by the abuse of democracy.

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More from @nickreeves9876

2 Dec
If @Keir_Starmer makes Labour vote for a deal he will tie himself and Labour to the deal and all its adverse consequences, and Labour will once again be treating loyal Labour voting Remainers as doormats while sucking up to Tory voting red wall Brexiters.
theguardian.com/politics/2020/…
Given that Starmer is engaged in a battle with Corbynist die-hards, it seems an act of tactical idiocy to act in a way which will disillusion or enrage many of Labour's Remainers most of whom are his natural allies against the Corbynists.
Starmer should let the Tories sort out their Brexit among themselves. Let then own it and let them be accountable for the consequences. That's the line Starmer has been following so far, so why wreck it at the last moment by tying his and Labour's future to a crap Tory deal?
Read 5 tweets
28 Nov
1/ If you are sick of Labour's pandering to red wall Brexiters and its ignoring of the substantial majority who believe Brexit to be a mistake, here's what to do.
2/ To beat the Tories in the next General Election will almost certainly require electoral cooperation among opposition parties to overcome the toxic effect of FPTP. So we must campaign for an electoral alliance in key seats.
3/ The need for an electoral alliance means that Labour cannot play the game of saying vote for us or you get the Tories, because by so doing they would be serving as Tory enablers. And we should call them out on that if they try to block cooperation.
Read 5 tweets
12 Oct
1/ We should be pressing as hard as possible to get opposition parties to accept electoral cooperation and to immediately start work on the basic arrangements. Cooperation is vital for defeating the Tories under FPTP. Without it all our efforts will be in vain.
2/ We need a hashtag for an electoral cooperation campaign. Ideas would be welcome. One requirement is that the hashtag be short.
3/ Electoral cooperation does not demand monolithic unity. We in the opposition will continue to disagree among ourselves about all sorts of issues. But these should be treated as disagreements among allies and friends. Disagreement must not mean enmity.
Read 4 tweets
11 Oct
1/ We should take back the UK and English flags from the hard and far-right. They show no care for our country and its people, so they have no right to own our national symbols. But to do that we need a positive narrative about what the UK & England stand for.
2/ Many people will, understandably say - a pox on national identity. But there are two big problems with that stance. One is that if we don't forge a national identity others will. But there's a larger issue here, namely the interweaving of national identity and democracy.
3/ We are very familiar with anti-democratic aspect of nationalism. But there's another side of nationality that recent events have eclipsed. Democracy requires a sense of our belonging to a shared community, giving us a sense of solidarity with other members of the community.
Read 8 tweets
11 Oct
1/ Starmer is right to claim the mantle of patriotism. Real patriotism is care for the people of one's country, not the yelling of slogans and the waving of flags. Real patriotism takes careful thought and hard work. And real patriots do not wallow in Russian money.
2/ Real patriotism is not about 'believing in Britain'. It's not about distracting people from our country's real problems and the hard work needed to address them by pointing at foreigners or scapegoating minorities. Real patriotism is about care, not loud-mouthed pride.
3/ We have made a huge mistake leaving the hard and far-right in charge of powerful emotionally charged words and symbols like 'patriotism' and the UK and English flags. We have let them use them as sticks to beat us with. They don't deserve to own them. We must take them back.
Read 4 tweets
9 Oct
1/ "We won’t be back in the EU”: Rachel Reeves sets out Labour’s Brexit policy

Then we Remainers and Rejoiners should dump Labour. Electoral cooperation will be needed to beat the Tories so there is no need for us to back a party that spits in our faces. labourlist.org/2020/10/we-won…
2/ Ever since 2016 Labour has taken its pro-EU voters for granted while pandering to Brexiters. Well enough is enough. Why should we back a party that treats us with contempt? Electoral cooperation will be needed to beat the Tories, so let's leave Labour with its Brexity red wall
3/ I'm not a hardline rejoiner who demands the next government brings us back into the EU. Rejoining will depend on very clear majority support, and before rejoining we would need to radically strengthen our democracy.
Read 4 tweets

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