’ve been up and down the country and people tell me they want this
thing done. Says every senior politician wheeled out at present to push
for a no-deal Brexit. People are, according to these senior politicians,
sick of things.
Where are these people, I wondered? We get a lot of letters into The Big
Issue– yes,letters,handwritten.Wegetemails,Facebookmessages,tweets.
Wegeta lotofpoetry.Andthereisnuancedargumentinallofthesemissives
fromallofyou.Evenmostofthepoetry.Also,ourvendorsareoutonthe
streetsofBritaineveryday,speakingtothousandsofpeople.They’renot
reportingsuchclarityasthoseseniorpoliticiansreport.
Howaretheygettingsuchclearanduniformresponses?Nodoubtsome
peoplehereandtherewillsayit.Butallofthem?Upanddownthecountry?!
Thereisa fascinatingwebsitecalledYouGovRatings.It’spartoftheyougov
marketresearchnetwork.TheYouGovRatingspartofit,accordingtoYouGov
Ratings,measuresthepopularityofeverything.Andboydoyoulosetime
inthere.
S ƫƸÿƣƸĪģǝŏƸŊ ŲżᠵģĪÿŧ ƣĪǢŏƸ᠇¼ŊĪ ŰÿšżƣŏƸǣżł ƠĪżƠŧĪ᠁ǝŊĪŲżdzłĪƣĪģǜÿƣŏżǀƫ
scenarios,felttheeconomicimpactofa no-dealBrexitwouldbedamaging–
wheretheylive,onjobs,onpricesinsupermarkets.Thatstilldoesn’tanswer
whethertheywantthisthingdone,asthosepoliticianssay.
ThenI gotlost.AccordingtoYouGovRatings,anever-evolvingup-to-the
minuterenderingofpublicmoodandtaste(mydescription,nottheirs)Boris
dżŊŲƫżŲŏƫ ƸŊĪ ŰżƫƸƠżƠǀŧÿƣƠǀěŧŏĜǿŃǀƣĪŏŲ ƣŏƸÿŏŲ᠁ǝŏƸŊŏŲƠżŧŏƸŏĜƫÿŲģ ĜǀƣƣĪŲƸ
ÿdzłÿŏƣƫ᠇S ƫŊżǀŧģƢǀÿŧŏłǣƸŊÿƸ᠇NĪ Ŋÿƫ ÿ ᙹᙹ ƠĪƣ ĜĪŲƸ ƠżƫŏƸŏǜĪƣÿƸŏŲŃ᠇NĪ ÿŧƫż Ŋÿƫ
a 48percentnegativeopinion.ThingslikedbypeoplewhoalsolikeBoris
JohnsonincludeBlackburnRovers,ShandyBassandRosamundPike.And
Wranglerjeans.
Thetweed-loving,poorlyreviewedwould-behistorianandarch-Brexiteer
JacobRees-Mogghasa 19percentpositiverating.Thoughhehas 40 percent
negativerating.PeoplewholikehimalsolikeretiredWelshrugbyheroShane
Williams,ScottishactingroyaltyDougieHenshallandthebrilliantAtHome
WithColinMurrayradioshowandpodcast.
Twothingsbecamecleartomeduringmyincreasinglylosthoursof
ƣĪƫĪÿƣĜŊ᠇¼ŊĪ ǿƣƫƸ ŏƫ ƸŊÿƸ ƸŊŏƫ ŏƫ ÿ łÿƫĜŏŲÿƸŏŲŃŃÿŰĪƸż Ơŧÿǣ ᠲ ŃǀĪƫƫŏŲŃǝŊż ŧŏŤĪƫ
whatbasedontheirfavouredpoliticians.It’salmostimpossible.Anddueto
thisimpossibility,thereisnowayofspeakingforvastswathesofthecountry
inthewayseniorpoliticianswhoarewheeledoutpushfora no-dealBrexitdo.
It’salmostasif they’rebeingcreativewiththetruth.
OperationYellowhammerillustratesthatregardlessofwhatelseoccurs,
undera no-dealscenario,thepoorestinBritainwillbedisproportionatelyhit.
Thisshouldcomeasnosurprise.Itisthepoorestwhohavebeenclobbered
mostalreadybyausterity.I don’thearadmittanceofthatfactfromno-deal
Brexitpushingseniorpoliticians.I don’thearthemsayingitisa scandalthat
onehouseholdismadehomelesseveryfourminutesinBritain.Orthatthe
sneakingtrickleofcriminalisationofsmalldebtsinlocalauthoritiesisin
dangerofcascading.Lastyearmorethan1.4millioncounciltaxarrearswere
ŊÿŲģĪģżǜĪƣ Ƹż ƸŊĪ ŊĪÿǜǣŤŲżĜŤżł ģĪěƸᠵĜżŧŧĪĜƸŏżŲěÿŏŧŏdzłƫ᠇¼Ŋŏƫ ŏƫ Ųż ǝÿǣ Ƹż
ŧŏǜĪ᠇ Sł ƠĪżƠŧĪÿƣĪ ŏŲ ƸƣżǀěŧĪƸŊĪǣ ŲĪĪģŊĪŧƠ᠁ŲżƸ ÿ £żŲƸŏǀƫ£ŏŧÿƸĪěƣǀƫŊᠵżdzł᠇
/ǜĪƣǣƸŏŰĪżŲĪ żł ƸŊĪ ŲżᠵģĪÿŧǵŧÿŃǝÿǜŏŲŃƠżŧƸŏĜŏÿŲƫƸƣżƸƫżǀƸ ƸŊĪŏƣŧŏŲĪƫ᠁
theymustbechallengedonwhathashappenedtothepoorest,andwhatthey
aregoingtodo.It’seasytohideunderthecapeof‘thisiswhatthepublicwant’
becauseofthe 52 percentmajorityinthereferendum.Butthatcapeisgetting
tatty.Andthe£100millionadcampaignurgingustogetreadyforBrexitis
moneythatcouldbesomuchbetterspent.
Also,I knowyou’rewondering– whatdopeoplewholikeNigelFarage
alsolike?VeteranGermangolferBernhardLanger,popular1970ssitcomstar
RichardO’Sullivanandhang-dogAmericanactorWalterMatthau.
I reallylikeWalterMatthau.I’mnotsureaboutanythinganymore...EDITOR’SLETTERI
PaulMcNameeiseditorofTheBigIssue
@pauldmcnameePaul.McNamee@bigissue.comThe public
gets what the
public wants
INMEMORYOFANDYWOTTON@crossan_richard
AndyWotton,whomost#Barbicanresidents
willknowasthe@BigIssueselleroutsideWaitrose
onWhitecrossSt,diedthispastMonday.Hewillbe
rememberedasanabsolutegentlemananda rayof
sunshinebyallofuswhostoppedtotalktohim.
@StarRedrum
Abitheartbroken,I foundoutourlocal
@BigIssuesellerAndrewWottonpassedaway.Andy
ŰÿģĪŰĪ ŧÿǀŃŊ᠁Ĝƣǣ ᥒ żǜĪƣƸŊĪ ᙸᙹ ǣƣƫ SᡉǜĪ ŤŲżǝŲǣżǀ᠁
youbecameanessentialpartofmylife.Youwerethere
forthemanyhighs&lows,asI wasforyours.Youwill
bewellandtrulymissed.
@LaPlumage
We’reallina bitofshockourway.
@StarRedrumandI paidourrespectstoAndrew
àżƸƸżŲᡈżǀƣᡉ ᥑ ŏŃSƫƫǀĪƫĪŧŧĪƣ᠇ŲģǣÿŧǝÿǣƫÿƫŤĪģÿǽƸĪƣ
ǣżǀƣŊĪÿŧƸŊ᠁ŧżżŤĪģÿǽƸĪƣĜǀƫƸżŰĪƣƫᡉģżŃƫ᠓ěŏŤĪƫÿŲģ
gaveouttrolleytokenstothoseofuswhoregularly
forgotthem.RIPAndy.
@_mike_chambers_
Great #cashless initiative from @bigIssue and
good to see @izettle selling devices for £9 and reducing
transaction fees.@missceclondon
Volunteered for a local #homeless project for
18 months. Very much aware of the desperate need
for change (and funds). Buy @BigIssue regularly but
struggle to carry cash so this is perfect. Well done!@PaulEnglishhack
Excellent move by @BigIssue. It’s a consistently
good read.@sarahfraser
Love the @BigIssue’s idea to allow contactless
payment for the magazine – hate walking past and not
being able to contribute.This is such an exciting development — The Big Issue
contains lots of excellent articles for Higher English
students to get their teeth into.
Aileen McKay MLitt – English tutor, FacebookǼȁɯǽǽ]VcCYǽǻǼȄ .&.]]g JCʸ 07