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A real-life Conservative councillor genuinely wants Remainers to be tried for treason

Published 17:46 17 Oct 2016 BST

Matt Tate
A real-life Conservative councillor genuinely wants Remainers to be tried for treason

Homenews

Are you one of the 16 million-odd people who voted for Britain to remain part of the European Union in the summer?

Are you still feeling a bit pissed off about the plummeting value of the pound, the disturbing rise in racist incidents and the relentless overuse of the meaningless phrase "Brexit means Brexit"? Maybe you're just still coming to terms with the fact that, for nearly 24 hours, we lost Marmite? In truth, you'd be forgiven for thinking Britain's exit from the EU has been pretty rubbish so far, and it's not even happened yet. But Tory Councillor Christian Holliday (actual person, actual name) is not having any of it. The Guildford Borough Council member reckons that anyone still pro-membership of the EU should be tried for treason.  You heard right, treason. Once upon a time such a crime would be punishable by death, and these days it can land you a lifetime prison sentence. Christian Holliday says wanting to be part of the EU since Britain voted to leave should be recognised as an act of the treason. He feels so strongly about it that he even launched an online petition. That backfired spectacularly, as not long after the leader of Guildford Borough Council, Conservative Paul Spooner, tweeted to inform followers that Holliday had been suspended from his position. https://twitter.com/PaulKGB/status/788000120591777792?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw But even so, the petition exists, and at the time of writing it has somehow garnered nearly 1,800 signatures. At 1o,000 the government is required to issue a response. If Holliday's petition passed - humour us here - then an amendment to the Treason Felony Act would include there following:
  • 'To imagine, devise, promote, work, or encourage others, to support UK becoming a member of the European Union.'
  • 'To conspire with foreign powers to make the UK, or part of the UK, become a member of the EU.'
Screen Shot 2016-10-17 at 17.01.35 This is how it was received. https://twitter.com/NickdeSemlyen/status/787910795296464896?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw https://twitter.com/simon_lindsell/status/787905205320949760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw https://twitter.com/TheMichaelMoran/status/787911129754402816?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw https://twitter.com/dhwg3010/status/788019248270630912?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw https://twitter.com/thegloamer/status/787963186360254465 https://twitter.com/mhoulden/status/787936615222145024 https://twitter.com/SimonMeechan_90/status/788044925979983872 https://twitter.com/TweetsofPaul/status/788034434486370304 Christian Holliday, ladies and gentlemen. You'll remember that name when you're behind bars. FFL new

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A real-life Conservative councillor genuinely wants Remainers to be tried for treason