The Players – There are 3 camps:
- VoteRemain – Many in the VoteRemain camp are often painted as The Establishment, i.e. those who have power, money & influence.
– The UK Tory government (David Cameron, 16 other Cabinet members & maybe 170 Tory MPs)
– Opposition Parties: Labour (Corbyn, Alan Johnson, 218 Lab MPs), SNP, Plaid Cymru and the Lib Dems, the Alliance party, the SDLP in Northern Ireland and the Green Party
– Most of the Unions (representing workers – NHS, Unison, etc)
– Business (most large firms, except supermarkets who remain fence-sitters and small businesses)
– World Leaders (most of them)
– Economic experts (100s – Bank of England, OECD, IMF, etc)
– Scientists (83%)
– Celebs: Juliet Stephenson, Sir Derek Jacobi, Helena Bonham Carter, Bill Nighy, Dame Kristen Scott-Thomas, Mike Leigh, Sophie Okonedo, Sir John Hurt, Jude Law, Keira Knightley, Benedict Cumberbatch and others
– Tax avoiding billionaire press barons – None.
Remain is very much for maintaining the status quo, i.e. we’re in the club and we know what we’re getting. As is often the case, in a referendum, it is difficult to make a sexy case of an argument that is mostly about no change and naturally has to talk about effects of making a change. However, if you’re going to call a referendum, then perhaps more thought should be put into that beforehand.
- VoteLeave – Many in the VoteLeave camp rant about others being The Establishment hoping nobody will notice that they also have power, money & influence and so are also members of The Establishment
– The UK Tory government (5 Cabinet members: Michael Gove, Chris Grayling, Priti Patel, Theresa Villiers, John Whittingdale and Boris Johnson, Iain Duncan Smith & around 131 Tory MPs)
– Opposition Parties: Nigel Farage + 1 UKIP MP, George Galloway, 10 Labour MPs and the DUP
– RMT Union
– Business (Wetherspoon, JCB & Dyson leaders, except supermarkets who remain fence-sitters and small businesses)
– World Leaders (Putin, Trump, Le Pen)
– Economic experts (8 or so)
– Scientists (less than 17%)
– Celebs: Katie Hopkins, Sol Campbell, Beefy Botham, Duncan Bannatyne, Sir Michael Caine.
– Tax avoiding billionaire press barons – Murdoch, Rothermere, Barclays, Desmond.
Leave too often plays the Project Fear card against many of the Remain arguments that seek to point out effects of leaving. We saw too much of this in the Scottish Independence referendum and it’s not good enough. As the ones who want to make a change, then the Leave camp ought to be making a positive case for doing so with practical and workable examples and plans.
- Undecided – These people have disproportionate power to swing the EU Referendum one way or the other.
If you are Remain or Leave, but no-one knows, then pretend to be Undecided and invite others to convince you whilst buying you beer or wine.
Get to know your MP better – enter in postcode and then select their Voting Record link: www.theyworkforyou.com
#FactCheck EU vote: Where the cabinet and other MPs stand: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-eu-referendum-35616946
Majority of World leaders agree: Brexit would be bad for Britain: infacts.org/world-leaders-agree-brexit-bad-britain
Scores of UK stars back remaining in EU: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-eu-referendum-36338220
Celebrities backing Brexit: www.express.co.uk/news/politics/662258/Brexit-Michael-Caine-Ian-Botham-Duncan-Bannatyne-Katie-Hopkins
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Index
First posted on Facebook
Created: 18th June 2016, Published: 19th June 2016
Updated: 5th November 2018 – Minor grammar changes, heading style updates & copyright inclusion; 13th September 2019 – addition of Previous & Next links and subscription block.
© JAK 2016
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