A short while back I attended the Brexit meeting hosted by Christchurch MP Sir Christopher Chope. I am not a Tory, or a supporter of the type of ‘no deal’ Brexit he advocates, but I went with an open mind to hear what he had to say, see what issues others in the room were raising, and maybe ask a question myself. What I found bothered me deeply.
Sir Chris spoke briefly, and was eloquent without providing much detail, and having told us this would only last for an hour as ‘we all had better places to be on a Saturday morning’, we embarked upon the Q&A session.
After a few generic, sympathetic questions and statements, one gentleman got to his feet to state that he worked in the pharmaceutical industry and told us how it would be devastated by the type of Brexit that Sir Chris was backing.
The whole room erupted! Shouting, swearing, rude hand gestures, and the person in front of me was even making threats of violence! ‘Scenes’ as the youth might say.
I was shocked at the vitriol being thrown at this person just for posing a different view and disagreeing with a ‘no deal’ Brexit scenario. It was akin to being on the terraces when I was younger and hearing the hatred directed at the referee, but not fully comprehending why everyone could be so angry?
I cannot say that all the people shouting, booing and threatening this person and other speakers were Conservative members, but they certainly lapped up what Sir Chris was offering, and had no intention of allowing anyone of a different mindset to be heard, or feel welcome to be.
If this is the level of debate supposedly rational adults on the right of politics are capable of, especially in an area where their political domination is almost total, then I weep for our Country and what this inept Tory Government has done to it.
We’ve seen a return to the ‘hostile environment’ for politics that led to the murder of MP Jo Cox back in June 2016. Let’s not brush it under the carpet or forget what we’ve learnt. Let us try harder to listen to, and understand our neighbour, otherwise we will descend further into the darkness that is lurking, just waiting for its chance.
Andy Dunne
