Never Let You Go: Clinging to our Leave/Remain Identities

James Tilley | Issue 2 | Brussels, Magazine

From the Archive

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James Tilley on why our Brexit identities still dominate four years on from the referendum.

Anyone who has ever read the comments under online newspaper articles will be well acquainted with Godwin’s Law. As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis becomes a near certainty. Over the last few years, however, reductio ad Hitlerum has been rivalled by reductio ad Brexitum. The magazine Delayed Gratification runs a regular feature which reveals how quickly online comments on unrelated stories mention Brexit. No matter the topic, pretty much anything can degenerate into squabbling between Leavers and Remainers. Whether Liverpool winning the Club World Cup (third comment in The Independent: “Great news for Liverpool – football champions and Remain supporters”) or the first sub-two hour marathon (seventh comment in The Telegraph: “Brexiteers have got balls while remoaners can only stand by and gaze”). Of course, people who write online comments are hardly typical of the electorate, but it is remarkable how ingrained Brexit divisions still ar...

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