Politics

Boris Johnson could ignore Arcuri summons, says Tory chairman – live Brexit news


“I was genuinely shocked by the the willingness to descend to vitriol, because I think it does long lasting harm. To have this debate descend into this bear pit of polarisation, I think it’s dangerous for our country.”

There is a willingness to jump out and decry the other side when they use language like ‘surrender’ or ‘traitor’ or ‘betrayal’. And I think that is inflammatory language. But as inflammatory are those people who have used the language of it being a ‘coup’ and ‘dictatorship’ and ‘fascism’.

I think both of those approaches are unacceptable. It is not just bad behaviour by one side of the debate. This is something which is infected our politics, and it’s this vicious cycle where language gets more extreme, response gets more extreme, it all gets hyped up … It creates an atmosphere where I think violence and attacks are more likely.

You can disagree passionately with people. But you don’t have to impugn their motives, whether you are a hard Brexiteer or a hard remainer, actually, what you have in common is a desire to do what you think is best for the country.

What isn’t acceptable is to demonize each other to build a culture of hatred to the other to create this tribal identity. Whatever happens with Brexit, the country is going to have to come together again. And we have to remember that, otherwise, we’ll be building a toxic legacy.



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