Random #Brexit thread by middle-aged, white, Northern, working-class guy...

1. Before #EURef I knew little about EU. Decades of negative UK media had made me a bit sceptical. But I was not really “political”.

2. Got a Polish partner. Been together 18 years. Long before #EURef she’d started getting snarky comments from folks about being “over here” & “going home” etc. This got steadily worse & was kinda shocking.

3. During #EURef campaign I went on Twitter (different account name back then) to suss the mood. It was ugly. Loads of pro-Putin accounts abusing Remainers & calling them “traitors” ...

4. ... I had expected to find reasonable debates online, but instead found abuse & intimidation. A leading #Brexit blogger called me “fucking Europhile scum”. And many pro-Brexit politicians simply blocked me.

5. Old-school media was little better. Tabloid headlines were hysterical, jingoistic jibberish & editorials contained outright lies. More shocking was the #BBC #Brexit coverage, which let gallons of bullshit go unchallenged...

6. ...Watching #EURef telly coverage, girlfriend said: “It will be a total pogrom.”

7. ... After the #Brexit result, girlfriend said: “Just think, last week we were happy but didn’t know it.”

8. Aftermath of #EURef saw my freelance work stop (for a full 6 months). I was also walking girlfriend to work for protection, after a bloke drove his car at her after hearing her accent ...

9. ... At this time, my elderly Auntie was dying in an #NHS hospital after a severe stroke. I visited & saw her well cared for by EU nurses, while, outside, English folks were assaulting foreigners & telling them to “go home”.

10. And so I signed the #StopBrexit petitions, wrote to my MP & politicians, gave cash to crowdfunders, complained to the #BBC ... all to no avail. Meanwhile, my own Govt called my partner “bargaining chip” and me “liberal elite” or “traitor”.

11. As months pass since #EURef, I have seen #Brexit cheats & liars promoted to high office, Electoral Law broken without consequence, “Cake & eat it” change to “Stockpile food”, Parliament vote to stop itself having a say on #Brexit...

12. ... Meanwhile, politicians abandon the National Interest to tweet support for the likes of Vote Leave cheat Darren Grimes & far-right activist “Tommy Robinson”...

13. And every second on social media, another wedge is driven in, dividing people who should be united.
/End