I’m on the train to London & finally found a spare moment to blog. Today’s chosen subject is the referendum on the UK staying in the European Union (or Brexit for short).

I’m unashamedly pro the UK staying in staying in and I’ve been voicing that opinion loudly on social media. Of course, that’s made me a target for the the Brexit camp – and what a depressing insight into humanity that is.

Social media has become the modern refuge for the old green ink brigade as it’s given them a voice they never had before. Most newspapers & magazines (unless they were desperately short of copy for the letters page) would normally spike the most extreme rants, deluded nonsense and Walter Mitty fantasies. Plus, they wouldn’t risk publishing the full fledged racism for fear of falling foul of the  law. In contrast, the internet is far more of a free for all, which is what appeals to these characters. What also attracts them in their droves  is Brexit. Why our membership of the European Union attracts such extremists would make an interesting study into the human psyche – because there’s plenty of material to study!

These people are easy to find because they find you! All you have to do is tweet something in support of remaining in the EU using a hashtag like #Brexit or #StrongerIn. Within minutes you’ll have some anonymous creature with a name like “nocash no dash”, “Una Discamus” or “Roddytherobot” (they’re all genuine examples by the way) bombarding you with paranoid nonsense and made-up ‘facts’ about the EU. I do wonder why if the Brexit argument is so strong these people have to hide behind fake identities and spend all their time lying. Here’s another (genuine) example.

An American ‘survivalist’?  God help us…

One thing they all seem to have in common is an unhealthy obsession with Hitler and Nazi Germany. The irony here is that they love to label the EU as a ‘fascist’ state & compare it to the third Reich. Of course, the EU is so ‘fascist’ and we’re so controlled by it that, err, we’re able to hold a referendum on leaving!

Apart from attracting those with an unhealthy obsession with fascism, Brexit also seems to attract the Walter Mittys. Here’s a prime example.

This one bombarded a few of us with a stream of Tweets along these lines, so I spent a few minutes on Google and found this. As soon as I posted the link Haseler blocked the folk he’d been bombarding and ran away!

All this would be funny were it not for one thing. Many of these ‘characters’ will be real people and a lot of them will actually have a vote in the referendum. Paranoid nonsense, Walter Mitty fantasies or not – they could help propel us out of the EU and wreck the future of the UK. They don’t just exist on social media either. The other day I had a depressing ‘discussion’ with one such individual who’d swallowed all the newspaper garbage and genuinely believed Tony Blair had sold a UK warship to a secret EU navy (I know, I know – but try telling them..)

That is why I’m no fan of referendums – especially on complex issues such as membership of the EU. Our future could be decided on by the paranoid, the ignorant or the plain delusional!

This is why I’m appealing to all right-minded people to make damned sure they get out and vote in the referendum and leave nothing to chance. I’m also appealing to younger people (who are less likely to vote). After all, the future is yours – but you could find it’s set for you by a bunch of fearful old people who’re more likely to vote than you are, and once we’re out, there’s no going back…