Since the EU Referendum result, a great rewriting of history has occurred. Remainers continue to claim the 'Leave' vote was only about immigration, and therefore insist all 'Leave' voters are racist. This is a dreadful false premise leading to an illogical conclusion worthy of an out of touch elite.
Of course, immigration was a factor in the EU Referendum, but it was not the only rationale for a 'Leave' vote.
There are many reasons to oppose the EU, whether you are motivated by the fishing industry, the unfairness of the Common Agricultural Policy, EU state aid rules etc. the list goes on and on. But you will note, all these factors revolve around one word - control. Control over the fishing industry, control over agricultural policy, control over state aid and yes, control over borders.
Even those who want to leave the EU due to immigration, don't necessarily believe in stopping immigration altogether. Rather it is about regaining control over our immigration policy. Allowing the immigration policy of this country to be decided by accountable politicians, who are subject to the people's verdict at General Elections.
This argument of control is nothing other than a democratic argument. A belief in accountable Government, where the people get the lawmakers they have voted for. The EU is by its very nature fundamentally undemocratic. Laws are proposed in secret by 28 unelected EU Commissioners who are deliberately invulnerable to public opinion. This was the true rallying call of the 'Leave' campaign, and the research bears this out.
On the day of the referendum, Lord Ashcroft surveyed 12,369 people after they had voted to help explain the result. Ashcroft found:
Nearly half (49%) of leave voters said the biggest single reason for wanting to leave the EU was "the principle that decisions about the UK should be taken in the UK". One third (33%) said the main reason was that leaving "offered the best chance for the UK to regain control over immigration and its own borders." Just over one in eight (13%) said remaining would mean having no choice "about how the EU expanded its membership or its powers in the years ahead." Only just over one in twenty (6%) said their main reason was that "when it comes to trade and the economy, the UK would benefit more from being outside the EU than from being part of it."
As you can see, democracy won the day by a landslide, with immigration coming a poor second. This is because immigration and a whole host of issues are wrapped up into that essential value of democratic accountability which motivated the majority to vote to Get Britain Out of the EU.
Next time you hear David Lammy, Tim Farron or Anna Soubry unleashing a spurious tirade against 'racist' Brexiteers tell them to do their research. We will no longer accept their post-truth politics.