The morning after a senseless tragedy which has appalled the whole of Britain I’d like to ask you a simple question:
Is there any depth to which you will not stoop in order somehow to snatch victory in this EU referendum?
The answer I’m getting from some of you is: “Nope. None.”
Here’s Alex Massie in the Spectator. Having generously acknowledged that “Nigel Farage isn’t responsible for Jo Cox’s murder. And nor is the Leave campaign”, he then suggests that no, actually, they were.
But, still. Look. When you encourage rage you cannot then feign surprise when people become enraged. You cannot turn around and say, ‘Mate, you weren’t supposed to take it so seriously. It’s just a game, just a ploy, a strategy for winning votes.’
Let me precis for you, Alex, what you’re trying to say in your oh-so-subtle way: “Vote Leave. Vote Fascism. Vote Murder in the Streets.”
Here, is the Guardian’s Polly Toynbee playing a similar game.
First the disclaimer:
There are many decent people involved in the campaign to secure Britain’s withdrawal from the EU, many who respect the referendum as the exercise in democracy that it is.
Now the inevitable “but…”
But there are others whose recklessness has been open and shocking. I believe they bear responsibility, not for the attack itself, but for the current mood: for the inflammatory language, for the finger-jabbing, the dogwhistling and the overt racism.
Read the rest at Breitbart.