A leading Brexiteer says his eight-year-old daughter was asked to leave her school in a “nasty” unprovoked backlash against those that led the campaign to leave the EU.
Referring to claims that the referendum was “divisive”, former Ukip and Tory MP Douglas Carswell says “the real acrimony erupted afterward”.
Writing in Anthony Seldon’s book, ‘The Brexit Effect,’ which is being serialised in the Independent, Mr Carswell says: “Before the vote, we Leavers were dismissed as eccentrics; in its wake, the media recast us as racist extremists or even Kremlin stooges.
“We were told Brexit caused a nonexistent surge in hate crime. The demonisation of those of us who had won a free election fair and square was relentless, personal and nasty. A few weeks after the result, my eight-year-old daughter was asked to leave her London school.”
The serialisation is part of a new campaign by The Independent on how Britain can rebuild its shattered links with Europe. The campaign – Europe: The Way Back – will consist of news, analysis, interviews and live events examining the impact of Brexit and what our relationship with Europe should look like.
Mr Carswell says he was “elated” when the Brexit campaign won, but he accuses Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, who led the campaign, of making a mess of it within hours at a ‘Brexit victory’ press conference.
“Trouble began almost at once. Gove and Johnson came across as shifty, almost apologetic. Gove and his minions then fell out with Johnson. The former knifed the latter, allowing the absurd Theresa May in as prime minister.”
Britain was “still living with the consequences of the witless way she managed Britain’s Brexit negotiations,” says Mr Carswell.
Johnson did not fare any better when he succeeded her, he claims.
“After becoming prime minister and a commanding Commons majority with a pledge to ‘get Brexit done’, Boris Johnson had a golden opportunity for transformative reform. Yet he failed at every turn. Instead of securing our borders, he left them wide open.
“Vote Leave might have gained us self-government. We have yet to govern ourselves well. Britain might have left the EU. Tragically, we still have the European disease.”
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