1. Here are my ideas on how the you can use Twitter to change the course of Brexit…
(Expect trolls from doing this so be prepared to ignore and block them)
2. This works because political parties use social media sentiment monitoring tools to analyse the public mood.
3. The aim of paid troll disinformation farms is
(a) to demoralise you,
(b) to ensure they get more tweets out than you that are negative about what you are calling for,
and (c) ultimately to destabilise society and make you think your fellow countrymen are idiots.
4. So how can you change the course of Brexit?
Well you tweet every day and say what you want to happen and ask people to follow and RT.
5. Won’t I look daft if people disagree? Or if it doesn’t happen?
No not really.
Political parties follow the voting public and adapt to suit you, not the other way round.
They want your votes. They are watching you.
Tag your MP with an @ mention sometimes.
6. Don’t just say “reverse Brexit”. That’s too simplistic. Instead say what things you want to work again and why.
7. For example you could say (as I do) that you want fully reciprocal Freedom of Movement of People to be restored for all Europeans because it’s good for our cultural understanding of each other.
8. Or you might say you want the queues scrapped at Dover and passport control made faster.
(Yes we know why it’s slow… you just need to say WHY you want it to change)
9. Or you could say you don’t want to pay customs duties, import VAT and fees on things you buy online from abroad. Or you want better stock levels in the shops.
10. Just say what you want to happen.
Expect trolls. Hide their replies and block them. Don’t let their little troll friends and their negative replies.
RT and like things you agree with.
11. That’s it. If everyone did this, the political parties would begin to shift. Don’t wait for them to write their manifestos. That’s too late. The time to do this is now. .
12. Please share this thread if you found this helpful.
2. The UK government claims to want to take back control of borders.
But did they mean control of settlement immigration? Or actual control of border crossings?
Do they even know what they want to control?
3. In reality, as a non-Schengen country, and as an island, the UK has always had full control of its border crossing points. UK is surrounded by water which helps. The only exception perhaps is the open Irish border but that’s down to the Good Friday Agreement not EU membership.
1. Freedom of Movement of People isn’t “uncontrolled immigration” despite what some politicians want you to believe.
This thread explains some of the benefits of it.
2. It’s superior to visas because:
- it’s quick (shorter queues)
- on demand (not months of waiting)
- reciprocal (not one-way immigration to the UK)
- not tied to a particular job
- cheap (no wasteful fees)
- conditions in event you want to stay more than 90 days
3. It’s superior to visa-waivers because you get:
- treated as national
- more certainty at borders (no reliance on whim of border guard so long as you have valid ID that’s valid and don’t present a threat.
- no day counting (although UK has no outbound checks)
- faster borders
1. The reason I champion the rights of per year dwellers, itinerant workers, seasonal workers and even general travellers is that Freedom of Movement was so much more than IMMIGRATION. Mobility is about staying where you are and temporarily being somewhere else.
2. I think the idea of MOBILITY has been lost and misunderstood. Thrown away in haste in a futile and misguided attempt to limit or control permanent immigration.
3. The biggest champions of FOM in the UK tended to be people who had used it once to emigrate permanently. For them it avoided a one-time visa.
1. The online abuse I’ve received in recent years has been quite phenomenal. It’s easy to block some of it out but it does get a bit wearing after a while. Nevertheless I want to help correct some of the deliberate disinformation perpetuated about Freedom of Movement and Europe.
2. Freedom of Movement of people isn’t the same as “uncontrolled immigration”. It matters to people all over Europe and it gives them freedom from abusive employment where visas are conditional on jobs.
3. Freedom of Movement ended purely because of UK government choices. Not because Brits voted for that. Not because UK left the EU and not even because UK left the EEA.
THREAD 1. I'm constantly frustrated by the inability of politicians across Europe (especially in the UK) to agree and broker an adequate outcome to Brexit for the Citizens of Europe (including British people) #SaveFOM
2. Brexit never needed to mean loss of Freedom of Movement of People (FOM). The border control craved by UK gov and the Rest-of-World immigration limits wanted by a few Leave voters, are unrelated to the mobility that European FOM gave us. Visas don't replace it adequately.
3. I'd love to reverse Brexit, but too many people tell me that's either not possible, or not achievable quickly. And so I don't think we should wait for Brexit to be reversed before demanding improvements to people mobility for all. (Especially those "mobile" before Brexit.)