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12th Oct 2016

Both the Mail and Express under fire for ‘toxic’ and ‘nasty’ Brexit front pages

Brexit means shut up

Nooruddean Choudry

If you’d hoped that the bitterly divisive nature of the EU referendum was behind us, you are sadly mistaken.

The true ramifications of the Brexit vote remain to be seen. British holiday makers are already alarmed that they’re getting just €0.88 for your holiday pound, whilst the greater effects on sterling and the UK economy are hugely concerning, if expert projections are to be believed.

The Times’ report on leaked government papers predicting Brexit could cost the UK as much as £66bn a year (a 9.5% drop in GDP) did little to assuage a growing sense of panic. Indeed there have been many vocal calls to delay the triggering of a ‘hard Brexit’ via evocation of Article 50 in March.

But Wednesday morning saw both the Mail and the Express come out fighting in defence of Brexit…or rather on the attack against anyone expressing concerns or speaking out against it. The headlines and sentiments were strikingly similar – ‘Shut up and quit moaning – don’t say anything negative’.

Although some ardent Brexit voters may appreciate this hard line approach, others – who voted both for and against leaving the EU – are deeply concerned and troubled by the rhetoric. The consensus between the two papers seems to be that there was a democratic vote so that’s that – we don’t appreciate your freedom of expression.

Here are just some of the exasperated responses to the controversial headlines. As you can see, the fracturing nature of Brexit is not about to go away any time soon…

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