Talking about brexit

Who are you calling a snob? and why??

Here is the dictionary definition of the word.

noun
1.
a person who imitates, cultivates, or slavishly admires social superiors and is condescending or overbearing to others.
2.
a person who believes himself or herself an expert or connoisseur in a given field and is condescending toward or disdainful of those who hold other opinions or have different tastes regarding this field:
a musical snob.

I do not direct silly names such as snob. moron or racist to any fellow GNetters. I would advise any who are tempted to do so to think better and desist.

Well, I think you've got your answer Varian; you have no right to air your views anywhere...it seems thats how democracies work these days....

I do hope Tegan2 that you are not right It would be a very sad state of affairs if you were.

Not democracy, Tegan, fascism.

Just don’t air your views at funerals! With relatives of the deceased....does nobody get that?

That's brilliant thank you MaizieD

Yes, lemongrove I do feel a bit uneasy about that conversation, which is why I started the thread. But the lovely Tory lady brought up the subject of brexit. Should I have just pretended to agree with her??

That would not have been honest and would also, in a sense, been letting down the dear departed who was an ardent Remainer. Can you suggest how I should have responded. whilst being true to his and my own beliefs??

of course the tabloids influenced the vote..in exactly the same way they influenced the Scottish referendum...remember the Daily Records front page on "The VOW" that'll be the same vow that the same paper said didn't exist a few weeks later ...the vow that Cameron overturned within hours ...and created EVEL ..now we can have MP's in Westminster who can vote on matters affecting Scotland but we cant vote on anything except purely scottish matters EVEN where the results will affect us...and of course NO scottish MP can ever be PM ....such a fair union!!I too would equate Tory and unionist Varian ...it seems to us that BOTH creatures have the same end game .That goes for Tories of all hues and unionists of all parties .

Those of us who are unionists, paddyann might be supporters of the Liberal Democrats, the Labour Party or the Tory Party. It is utter nonsense to claim that all unionists are Conservatives and I think you know that. What all of us, and the majority of Scots, have in common is a pride in being both Scottish and British.

This has absolutely nothing to do with the subject of this thread whichnisvabout when wr can or cannot talk about brexit.

Well I live in Germany and was in the UK for some weeks in September. I agree with jura2 it is like walking on egg shells especially as we are better informed here with solid well written an researched newspapers like the British newspapers used to be before Rupert Murdoch got hold of them.

I heard last week that poor Mrs May was to blame that they only had 2 years to discuss leaving when actually that is the time that any country has which wants to leave, and nothing to do with TM

I have yet to hear a really good reason to leave and if that means liking the company of such as Rees- Mogg then heaven help Britain when it has achieved its goal.

Varian if at any event somebody mentions Brexit, either for or against I just say sorry, I don’t talk about politics.
Or, you may want to say something along the lines of ‘ I can’t agree with you, sorry, better not discuss it’ it can be said with a smile to take any sting out of it.
I never get into anything political in a social situation, ever.

Great advice Lemongrove - stick to it - a Forum is very much a social situation too.

No, a forum is for opinions jura as you well know.
That’s why we all post our comments in the news and politics threads.Be a bit funny not to discuss politics on them.

When are we allowed to express a political opinion in a social situation? When someone else makes a statement we disagree with? When they say something quite offensive and tacitly assume thatwe share their views? Or never? Should we just change the subject abd talk about the weather?

There are some occasions when it's probably a good idea to change the subject and talk about the weather and I think a funeral is definitely one of those.

Even if provoked I wouldn't rise to the bait.

Why would someone even introduce the topic if they didn't want to talk about it?

varian did say that she didn't start the topic.

Depends if you want to risk a bloody great row in public, or
Don’t care about offending.If so, go ahead.There are ways of
Dealing with it, just as any touchy subject that you don’t want to get embroiled in.
If talking to friends at a party or a meal out I would say very little either if I value them.We have friends who voted both ways and DC who voted both ways, and we all get on just fine ( by saying very little.....least said , soon mended.)

Although I have always been interested in politics and have some quite strong views, I don't think I have ever felt so concerned as I do about brexit. It is the defining issue of our times and British society is very divided in a way we have never previously experienced. It has therefore become much harder to ignore provocative statements, especially when expressed at the funeral of someone who, were he still able to do so, would have argued very passionately against them.

Perhaps I should tell you that we did not create a scene, did not descend to a slanging match but eventually parted on an "agree to disagree" basis. Neither of us had changed our views, but I don't think it did this lady any harm to meet someone who disagreed with her. I am used to hearing different opinions but she seemed to assume that I would agree with her.

I did later tell the widow of the dear departed that I had had this disagreement with her relative and apologised but it didn't seem to bother her at all as she is also Liberal Democrat and knew that this lady was not of our persuasion.

I can't get over the fact that she thought Brexit was 'all good fun'

It wasn't lemon in disguise, was it?

I think it was wrong of the other woman to talk about Brexit at the funeral of someone she knew she disagreed with.
It was belittling the man who had died, and his views.

I know what you mean varian about Brexit dividing the country, but we have to try to get along in spite of that, and not carry on with resentments and childish insults ( see the above post by Maizie) especially as we are supposedly mature people.
It obviously bothered you ( disagreeing with a relative at a funeral ) which is why you posted on here. Naturally some on GN will say the equivalent of ‘you go girl!’ But I think you realise that a funeral is not the place for disagreements of any kind.
It seems from what you say that no harm was done this time and you apologised to the wife of the deceased, but it shows how careful we should be.

"You only have to watch Question Time or attend any anti brexit rally to realise that it's the brexiters who are the aggressive ones."

Well, that has not been my experience. I have found many Remainers to have incredible superiority complexes, assuming their beliefs are the only credible ones. There is an arrogance that they have to suffer anyone who dares to have opinions different from theirs.

Having said that, I have been feeling fairly bruised and battered, verbally, over the last year because of politics - not just Brexit.

WHEN has there been any time like this where politics are discussed in such detail, on forums and social media, constantly?

It's strength -sapping, mentally and physically, reading so much in order to keep abreast of what is going on every single day. Screen battles are becoming a way of life. When all is said and done, the words we commit to the screen are old news 24 hours later, such is the speed at which we receive information now.

It worries me that enmity is created. It's not me really. Before social media I didn't ever judge a person I rarely knew on the way he voted. I am mild mannered in reality and my philosophy has always been live and let live. I tend to like most people, take them as I find them and make friends easily. On here the claws come out. Why?

It disturbs me. Politics and religion can make for interesting discussion but also create horrible divisions. Let's face it, there are lines drawn in the sand here on GN and not once has there been jolly banter when people with opposing views go off as online friends, agreeing to disagree.

It's not good to feel this disturbed about relationships even if they are only on-line ones, not in my book, anyway.

Great post Day6, I think it is our anonymity , it sadly emboldeneds all of us to perhaps be a bit more bullish than we would normal be if we were face to face( obvious not all)
Varian, there is in polite society a thing called ' a sense of occasion ' which you may not recognise in your quest to have your say at all costs. Yes it is certainly ok & important to say ' now is neither the time or place' or we must agree to differ. You are most certainly have a right to believe & voice your opinion, but not any time anywhere, also & I could be wrong(choke choke?) you do not seem to be able to accept another's opinion, or even consider that there may be another way to view a subject .

It is probably better not to get into a political conversation with a stranger but if they raised it it would be difficult to ignore and it is the conversation of the day - every day - at the moment.

I think you would need to get out of the conversation as quickly as you could but she actually sounds like one of those people who think everyone will agree with their views - there is a lot of that within the Brexit community and I think you are right - the press has a great deal to do with this level of arrogance.

I think you had to defend your point of view - as you did - but what an awful position to be put in. You are both adults so either neither or both were in the wrong.