The Daily Mail accused those fighting for parliamentary sovereignty of being unpatriotic and undemocratic in a rabid full-page editorial yesterday. The article’s headline read: “Whingeing. Contemptuous. Unpatriotic. Damn the Bremoaners and their plot to subvert the will of the British people.”
It is actually the tabloid which is being unpatriotic and undemocratic. Its views are dangerous.
Being patriotic means being proud of what is best about our country – and standing up for this. This includes engaging with the world’s problems, as we have over the centuries, not running away from them. It means being open to the best of what the world has to offer – and giving the best of Britain to the rest of the world.
Patriots are tolerant of diversity but intolerant of bullies – whether abroad or at home. They value free speech, rather than try to squish it. Tolerance, free speech and openness are some of the best things we have contributed to the world. We have also been a beacon for parliamentary democracy.
It is this noble tradition that the Mail is attacking. MPs who want a vote on Theresa May’s Brexit plan are insulted as anti-democratic, when they are continuing the brave, time-honoured tradition of holding the executive to account.
The people voted for Brexit. But they didn’t vote for the destructive, xenophobic Brexit that the prime minister seems intent on. They didn’t give her a blank cheque to pick the divorce which would best suit the Conservative Party and her personal ambitions.
It is right and democratic for MPs to force May to produce a blueprint, debate it and then vote on it. She has so far agreed to a debate but not yet a blueprint or a vote.
What’s more, when the prime minister comes back with a deal, the people should be allowed to vote on that and say whether they still want to quit the EU. That, too, would be democratic – particularly since the final deal is almost certain to be different from the “have-your-cake-and-eat-it” Brexit Boris Johnson promised.
The Mail says: “You lost. Stop the anti-democratic games and respect the emphatic verdict of the British people”. In seeking to silence the voices of the people’s representatives, it is the one being anti-democratic. It is also being whingeing and contemptuous. If its version of patriotism and democracy becomes entrenched, Britain will be a poorer and nastier place.
Hugo Dixon is co-founder of CommonGround as well as editor-in-chief of InFacts. You can sign up as a supporter here.
When will the problem of the abuse of Press Freedom by the Press be resolved in the UK ? A free Press is essential for democracy but the publication of lies or blatant disinformation for personal, political or commercial reasons perverts the very system of democratic government which a free press is supposed to protect. The recent referendum campaign is a perfect example of the terrible consequences of what is a major political problem in the UK, the abuse by the press of ” their freedom”.
Took you guys a long time to find out that the Daily Wail hasn’t a clue what democracy actually means and doesn’t want to know either, as it doesn’t suit their owner. Also, maybe you should start to fight that “The British People” nonsense. Slightly more than just half voted for this Brexit nonsense, many of those trying to give Cameron one on his nose and not actually thinking that Brexit would come off. So tell them each and every time this the British people moniker is used. Furthermore it starts to look like that most of those who voted for Brexit did in fact not vote for jingoism and destroying all goodwill across the North Sea, with a fair chance that Britain ends up in bits and the economy a fraction of what it used to be. Maybe tell them that as well.
Completely agree with this, but I have one small fact to correct: when you take into account the portion of the electorate who didn’t vote, only 37% of the electorate voted for Brexit. This is what we call an overwhelming mandate, and democracy, in the U.K. My rights, those of my children and 4 grandchildren will be diminished because of this travesty of democracy.
These people have no understanding of history. The civil war gave Parliament Sovereignty so that you did not have somebody walking in as saying “I’m the boss I can do what I like and if you don’t like it I will have your head cut off.”
It appears the Daily Mail is the happily playing the role of the ”angry winner’. If so assured of their stance, why be worried about opposing opinions? Indeed, why so angry? They ”won” after all! I rather think they protest too much.
This odious rag needs to remember that 48% voted to remain. What contempt and a slap in the face for millions of voters!
To suggest those who believe remaining in the EU is ”whinging” is most ridiculous. This is after a mere FOUR MONTHS after leaving the EU. Yet the Mail, other anti-EU papers, Tory Eurosceptic MP’s and ukip have had the luxury of 41years of whinging about the EU! Utterly pathetic!
Completely agree with the sentiment. It should be repeated though that we have *not* yet left the EU of course (as I am sure you know). If we had – and when and if we do – the economy will drop off a cliff, as only Nicola Sturgeon seems to have the guts to spell out in plain language so far.
I’m sure the Mail’s cognitive dissonance at that time will allow it to find someone else to blame: reality-challenged proto-fascists always can. Perhaps they could trawl through Trump’s drivel for inspiration.
At a time when half the world’s nations are trying to create or join their regional trading blocs, to promote prosperity, trade and peace, to be leaving the one on our doorstep – the largest and most successful in the world – is insane to an unbelievable degree.
This should be mandatory for all Daily Mail readers: http://blogs.ec.europa.eu/ECintheUK/ (Unfortunately that don’t have an ALL CAPS version.)
This is going to be a long rant and you will have to excuse me as I was up for much of the night trying to think of what I should have said to Isabel Oakeshott editor-at-large of the Daily Mail during question time last night and this is a platform where I can do it. She got such an easy ride from the audience it was worrying. She was applauded on arrival and when I would have expected her to be the obvious villain. She sailed through the hour spouting soundbites amongst them worrying ‘Soft Brexit is sellout Brexit.’ During the evening I tried to make the point that by interpreting the leave vote as a mandate for hard brexit the Govt is hijacking the leaver’s voice. She was silent until I was asked how I voted. I wish I had refused to answer as I knew that as soon as I did I’d be labelled a Bremoaner which duly happened. So this is what I wished I’d said when Dimbleby asked me what I voted… ‘I am not going to answer that as I will either be labelled a racist bigot or a whingeing member of the elite. I am neither of these things and very few people are. We are just normal people who were asked an over simplistic question about a fiendishly complicated situation. The vote has divided the country and the debate is acrimonious. The press, in particular papers such as the Mail peddling half-truths and vitriolic name-calling have widened the gap between the two sides. You could go so far as to say they are inciting hatred and I thought there was a law against that. ‘ in my midnight wakeful fury she would then respond saying blah blah remoaners, blah blah, weasels,blah blah will of the people and my response is ‘your paper stinks and it’s not fit to wrap my chips in.’ Cue question time audience reaction. Sorry to make you all read the ‘wish I said that rant’ but unless I get it out there I’ll be muttering under my breath in a fury for days!
Totally understandable. She appalled me to.
However, I don’t think it is at all fair to accuse the Daily Mail of peddling half truths. I’ve yet to see an article that hasn’t perverted some miniscule nugget of reality, distorting and twisting it until it is the exact opposite of the truth. That’s ignoring the articles – which may well be the majority – that are just complete fabrications. (I refer you, as one revolting instance, to the recent article claiming EU doctors are a threat to patient safety.)
A recent edition of The New European (which I recommend) included an article, ‘The Real Project Fear’, enumerating just how many bigoted anti-immigrant and anti-refugee articles had been published in various rags. http://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/articles/liz_gerard_on_how_the_press_conspire_to_brainwash_britain_on_immigration_1_4718203
This is a useful antidote to Mail and Express lies: http://blogs.ec.europa.eu/ECintheUK/
I’m ashamed to be English. The bigoted, xenophobic, small-minded, factual challenged, reality-inverting, anti-intellectual, conceited, proto-fascist country it is becoming disgusts me.
is this the same Daily Mail whose owner is so patriotic that he uses non dom status to avoid paying tax by stashing all his profits in Bermuda?
Oh sorry, lets quote The Donald here and say its “good business” practice! The fact that its legal makes it no less immoral.
The fact that Leave got 52% and we’re all democrats now is somehow supposed to make it wrong for anyone who voted Remain to point out that during the campaign the Leavers not only lied, but also, between them (I’m thinking of Gove, Farage, Johnson,B.) presented an inconsistent view of what leaving would entail, . How then could it be thought that the referendum result embodies the will of the British people?
Who other than Parliament might sort this out? And would it be anti-democratic for MPs to take account of the fact that 48% voted Remain?
I’m not a whinger, but I do think contempt is the most fitting attitude to the Daily Mail.