Opinion

and how this will harm the UK It’s becoming clearer by the day that the result of the referendum for the UK to leave the EU was a right wing coup. Some types of right wing are “simply” nationalists - they like to keep things British and some of them don’t like too many foreigners. Enough is enough. But there are other types of right wing which are more interesting - the right wing liberals. These are ultra-conservatives who believe that anything interfering with a free market is inherently wrong. Free marketeers are not particularly concerned about immigration. But they are instinctively suspicious of the EU, with its working time directives, environmental protections, human rights, workplace rights, product quality standards, and “red tape” (ha - wait until the UK leaves the EU!) and somewhat left-wing leanings. In short, ethics. Some prominent right-wingers may even have experienced personal inconvenience or minor financial loss at the hands of the EU, and are out to get it. For

Free-marketeers were all too happy win the EU referendum by exploiting a wave of nationalism, but in doing so they locked themselves out of any “deal” with the EU, ensuring catastrophe and sealing their own downfall. There are many honest reasons that people voted to leave the EU, and “simple racism” or “a cry for help” don’t really capture it. For sure, people wanted change, and wanted to take back control of their own lives if not their own country. Most people vote whichever way their newspapers tell them to, and the gutter press is awash incessant drip-drip of anti-immigration anti-EU sentiment. If the newspapers tell them they’ll be more prosperous outside of the EU, then people will believe it. There are plausible arguments on both sides. I can’t do the maths either, and it boils down to who you trust. We really need to look behind the headlines, to see who is pulling the strings. From James Dyson, Rupert Murdoch, Boris Johnson, Daniel Hannan and Nigel Farage, these were all