Sun Brexit Incitement Busted

Although former editor Kelvin McFilth has today declared that he has “buyer’s remorse” over voting for Britain to Leave the EU in last week’s referendum, the remainder of the Murdoch doggies at the Super Soaraway Currant Bun are clearly over the moon at not just the result of that referendum, but the increasingly vicious fallout, which has included a significant amount of hate crime directed at EU migrants.

As the principals of the Vote Leave campaign - Bozza, “Oiky” Gove, and the behind the scenes polecats Dominic Cummings and Matthew Elliott - have declined to take any responsibility for the verbal and even physical assaults, which have extended beyond eastern Europeans to anyone who is not white, one might have hoped that the Leave-backing press might urge a measure of restraint on its readers.

But that hope has been dashed as the Sun has instead chosen to cheer on the bigots, telling readers “WHERE THE BREX WAS WON …  Streets full of Polish shops, kids not speaking English … but Union Jacks now flying high again … People from Portsmouth, Plymouth and Boston revel in their relief at EU exit”. “Kids not speaking English”. Shops with people talking foreign. Not flying the right flag.

The Boston story was typical: “One in six of the Lincolnshire town’s 65,000 population are Eastern Europeans - the highest percentage in the UK … Translators are employed at Park Academy primary school where half the children speak Eastern European languages … Locals yesterday talked of celebratory parties, extra busy pubs and cheering in the streets”. And then the Murdoch doggies sell the pass.

“There are around 1,200 people, mostly Brits, out of work in the town and many hope the result might see a change in fortunes”. Given the eastern European migrants are generating so much of Boston’s economic activity, and their labour is propping up so much of the area’s agricultural sector, it’s more likely that if they all piled off back tomorrow, the only change of fortune would be a big increase in that unemployment number.

As for the headlines, these mix the incitement with the fraudulent, such as “We couldn’t see GP”. The reality? No-one said they couldn’t get to see their GP. Readers are told “Wages pushed down”, yet there is not one example of this. The report from Cannock claims “They have grown angry with EU meddling on UK issues such as the HS2 rail line, planned to run through countryside near the town”, yet HS2 has nothing to do with the EU.

Also, there is something else missing from this slice of triumphalist hokum: not one of those eastern European migrants gets interviewed. Nor is there any comment from anyone who is not white. That’s very telling. It confirms that the Sun is retreating to being a paper for only a part of the population. Rupert Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks aren’t interested in anyone who isn’t white. What a way to run a business in the 21st Century.

The Sun isn’t interested in stopping the hatred. That’s what sells papers. Sad, really.