Why are we all so clueless about the EU referendum?

Last Updated: June 15, 2016By

Look at this:

160616 EU misinformation

What is the matter with people?

The referendum on the UK’s continued membership of the European Union is a serious question, being asked of people who are (allegedly) grown adults who are capable of checking the information offered to them and making up their own minds.

And this is the best we can do?

It seems people would rather base their vote on hearsay than fact.

I fear for the future of our nation.

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11 Comments

  1. joanna June 15, 2016 at 11:34 pm - Reply

    It might be because most people are trying to survive! It isn’t going to matter to those who are destitute because of this government, nothing in their world is going to change quickly is it?

    • Mike Sivier June 16, 2016 at 9:59 am - Reply

      So they vote to make their own situation worse, or don’t vote at all. Is that what you’re suggesting?

  2. Linda June 16, 2016 at 12:53 am - Reply

    I am not surprised the UK are confused.

    With the ‘scientifically’ constructed use of propaganda ‘hearsay’ based on alleged facts, designed to polarise opinion and to divide and rule, the public have it coming at them from all sides but only a few angles.

    The result…… a confusing soup of misinformation, outright lies with a sprinkling of presumption, assumption trickery and truth…..

    Much of the general public rely on what they read and hear in the papers and in the media. On a good day they are only pumped with a one sided debate laced with neoliberal ideology,

    But for the EU referendum its more complicated….

    They for one have the Neoliberals shooting from different opposing barrels which is enough to confuse the brightest and on the other, contrasting views and statistics all painting a grim picture.

    The story being propagated for the most part appearing to be a choice of Grim and Grimmer…

    I wonder if most people just switch off when being faced with such doom…..

    As for the polls,

    I personally never trust them…. yet another form of propaganda machine…

    designed to gather information in order to inform opinion and gain consent..

    Manufacturing Consent? Manufacturing Fear? Manufacturing Confusion…

    The choice appears to be either the Devil or the Deep Blue Sea….. easy choice then….

    For me it comes down to what snippet of Fact or Fear is most important to you……

    In or Out, we are to be Screwed over…..

  3. Zippi June 16, 2016 at 3:35 am - Reply

    Not enough of us know about the E.U. full stop. Without knowing what it is, what it does and how it works, all of the nonsense that is being spouted from both sides is meaningless. The three things that I mentioned – minimum – provide context. We are not being asked to vote on the future of the economy, or immigration policy, or security, we’re being asked to vote on our membership of the European Union, something about which most of us know next to nothing. we’ve been told lies, spin etc. I’m trying to get as clued up as I can, so that I can make my decision based on actual fact, not supposition, conjecture, hypothesis, or speculation; on what the E.U. is and whether, or not it is something that I think we should be a part. I’ve even enrolled on a course.
    I’ve written to both campaigns, the £abour party and to the Minister for Europe (my constituency M.P.) to ask for relevant information but all that I got from him was more nonsense. I had asked a series of specific questions, for him to answer, of which he answered but one. What hope do we have when our politicians do not arm the public with the tool that they require to enable us to make a meaningful decision? this referendum campaign has been an utter disgrace. It is small wonder that so many of us remain undecided. Every television debate descends into a slanging match, or shouting contest with neither side informing anybody, simply trotting out the same old, dame old, point scoring and crystal ball gazing. Shameful! Our politicians are treating the electorate with contempt!
    One chap put it very eloquently when he said of politicians, “When they can’t convince, they confuse you. When they can’t confuse you, they scare you.”

  4. Lynn Dye June 16, 2016 at 7:28 am - Reply

    I couldn’t agree with you more, Mike. I fear for our nation too. Particularly after hearing someone on BBC news stating that the EU veto all our laws. It goes beyond misinformation. The British deserve better.

  5. Jenny Hambidge June 16, 2016 at 8:22 am - Reply

    Perhaps its because the British public and politicians have given sod all thought to the EU since its inception. The voting turn out for electing MEPs has been extremely low and the calibre of many MEPs leaves much to be desired. I would guess few of us have cared too much about knowing whats been happening in the EU or what our MEPs have been up to.

  6. Steve Rudd June 16, 2016 at 9:28 am - Reply

    Unfortunately, Brexit are going to win because they have the best lies, and the people who are voting for them are stupid enough to believe them even when they are factually debunked in minute detail.

    When I worked in marketing we always used to trust in the maxim that “people buy with their emotions, and then justify it factually afterwards”, and this is what’s happening with Brexit. It will be a completely batshit crazy act of economic self harm which will screw the economy for at least two generations and a lot of poor and disadvantaged people will suffer, but hey, that doesn’t matter because we can have bent bananas and send all the brown people home.

    Cameron is an idiot for even calling this referendum. He has played into the hands of the likes of Farage and Boorish Johnson, and we will all have to bear the consequences.

  7. Rupert Mitchell (@rupert_rrl) June 16, 2016 at 11:15 am - Reply

    I echo your comments Mike with great concern.

    We have the opportunity to join together with our EU friends and neighbours (and our closest markets) to make things better not worse as we would be under this dictatorship of Tory power.

    It is up to the ordinary folk of this country to wake up and realize that without our membership of the EU and the European Court of Civil Rights, there will no recourse to the injustices inflicted by this government’s control of the DWP as in the past.

    What would happen if Calais opened its floodgates? I am all for helping those in desperate need and Calais is the port where the genuine can be sorted from the others.

    Wake up before it is too late everyone and don’t be fooled in to being ruled by a greedy dictatorship.

  8. mrmarcpc June 16, 2016 at 1:07 pm - Reply

    It’s because the government aren’t telling us the truth and giving us the full facts, we are all too busy trying to live day by day, plus also we’re a very ignorant and apathetic people and can’t be arsed to look into it ourselves!

  9. Brian June 16, 2016 at 1:37 pm - Reply

    Two sides of the same coin, conned by lies spoken by crooks designed to mislead and confuse. This is the Tory philosophy in it’s element. Led to the abyss on an agenda where you can not win. Apathy sets in, people wont even bother to vote and we will be sold down the river in the biggest tragedy ever to befall the UK at the hands of the most self serving load of ba**ards ever elected. As with the general election, people will appease their own avarice & prejudices, where the only gainers from this shambles will be those wearing the life-jackets of wealth. Leave speaks of ‘regaining control’, it’s control of your soul they want, for there is nothing else left.

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