Brexit was for the rich, and they’re not even pretending anymore

The message was clear: this was a vote for the hard-working, average people of Britain against the entitled, moneyed elite who sought only to enrich themselves further with at best indifference and, at worst, contempt for the impact on those at the bottom of the ladder.

It was bollocks then as it is now, but for a long while it was a pretence the Brexiteers felt the need to play up to while their project struggled to clear some tricky parliamentary hurdles. They were the Robin Hoods and the elite Remainers were the Sheriffs of Nottingham, determined to defeat their plucky uprising.

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Now, though, the pretence is over. The Brexiteers don’t even bother to hide the fact that theirs was a victory for the rich, a victory for the entitled, a victory for the people who have clubs, butlers, and views on game. Hence, as it becomes increasingly clear that public opinion has turned against their prize project, a headline like this appears in the Daily Telegraph this week: “Billionaire Brexit backers pledge to fight to keep Britain out of EU”.

What is the reaction supposed to be to a headline like that? Only in the increasingly unhinged world of the Daily Telegraph are “Billionaire Brexit backers” the superheroes. Nobody thinks “phew, the billionaires are here to save us,” with the one exception to that perhaps being Batman. (Think of how much more good Bruce Wayne could have done for bringing down crime figures in Gotham City long-term if he’d sold the Batmobile and invested the money in early-years education, youth centres and rehabilitation services.)

“Lord Cruddas and Peter Hargreaves, who collectively gave almost £5m to the Brexit campaign,” were to step in to fight any attempt to dilute Brexit, the paper reported. Who are they? “Mr Hargreaves, the co-founder of the investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown, donated £3.2m to the Leave.EU group,” while “Lord Cruddas handed more than £1.5m to the Vote Leave campaign.” Real people!

Hargreaves rose from 73rd to 68th on the most recent Sunday Times Rich List, published earlier this month, his wealth rising by £25m to £2.32bn. Ordinary people!

Cruddas, you might recall, was the man granted a life peerage by Boris Johnson in 2020, despite the contrary advice of the House of Lords Appointments Commission, which had concerns about rewarding benefactors. Johnson did it anyway. Decent people!

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Still, you’re probably thinking, at least both men used the Telegraph article to explain why it was so important to protect Brexit – setting out in detail how it had materially improved the average Brit’s life – increased spending for the NHS, perhaps, as promised, or the economic boost that comes from being free-wheeling, swash-buckling Global Britain.

Er… no. In fact neither man gives any reason for Brexit except Brexit itself. “Fifteen million voted for Brexit whereas only nine million voted for Labour at the general election,” says Hargreaves. “There is no mandate for any UK government to take us back into the EU, without another referendum,” says Cruddas (well, if you’re offering…).

No – the pretence is over. Real people, ordinary people, decent people? Brexit was, and remains, a project by the rich elites, for the rich elites. And what about the man who said those comments at the top – the man who we now know received £5 million for his troubles campaigning for it?

The Daily Express, to give it its dues, finally got around to covering the fact the Reform leader had received a huge cash gift just before unretiring and returning to frontline politics. And what was the headline on the piece by chief reporter Giles Sheldrick?

“Nigel Farage deserves £5 million for securing Brexit – Reform voters couldn’t care less.”