The end of the Brexit wars have left some Remainers feeling redundant. A few are now turning their attention to a new target: the census. The small group of voters who are reluctant to accept the result of the referendum are responding to the question asking ‘How would you describe your national identity?’, not with ‘British’, or ‘English’ but, with the answer, ‘European’. As a Remainer, this strikes me as somewhat embarrassing.
For a start, of course, ‘European’ is not a nationality. But that small point aside, how is this going to convince Brexit voters that their votes were a mistake?
The idea seems to be that if you state your nationality on the census form as ‘European’ as opposed to ‘British’ or ‘English’ or whatever else, this will send a message to the country about how widespread anti-Brexit sentiment really is. If you want a taste of this phenomenon yourself, put the words ‘European’ and ‘census’ into the search function on any of the major social media platforms and watch the naivety unfurl.
For a start, of course, ‘European’ is not a nationality
While the campaign pushing pro-EU people to do this is visibly silly, there are bigger things at stake here.
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in