How can Britain's divisions be healed?

The country is massively divided on Brexit and these divisions are only getting deeper. Here is when Owen Jones, a prominent left-wing Guardian journalist, went to interview people at a rally for Nigel Farage's Brexit Party. He got insulted and shouted at by almost everyone he was filmed interviewing. The main points made by these people were about democracy but ironically almost nobody tried to engage him in rational discourse and one person even said that the Guardian newspaper should be banned:

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sltIisHseA]

The mood at the Brexit rally was one of right-wing anti-establishment anger fuelled by tribal bitterness against anything that they disagree with. Obviously, its a rally and it's the hard-core rather than the majority of party support, but they are the hard-core of a party which is polling very well.

The Brexit Party won't win a UK General Election, but they will probably push the Conservative Party into supporting a no-deal Brexit. Boris Johnson, now the clear front-runner to replace May, has already said that Britain must leave the EU by October 'with or without a deal'. There is no deal that could conceivably be negotiated that would appease the majority of Brexit voters.

The anger and sense of betrayal felt by the people at the Brexit rally is only likely to increase. If the unscrupulous and caddish Johnson walks back on his no-deal promise then Farage and our right-wing tabloids will further inflame these tensions. If there is a no-deal Brexit then there will be a huge recession and people will feel betrayed again. This anger could go in different places but some of it will go further down the well of the nationalist right.

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Mugin16 · 46-50, M

Yes, the country is deeply divided. And not just on one issue.

Boris Johnson does not strike me as a serious leader. I think he is a clown.

As for the people whom Owen Jones, what a prat he is, has interviewed, remember that the ruling class and people like Jones despise them and have nothing but contempt for them. So no wonder they return that contempt with interest.

Burnley123 · 41-45, M

@Mugin16 Jones is not exactly ruling class.

Its about civility. OJ was trying to be civil with these people but just got anger. He said on twitter that the police asked him to leave because the crowd's anger was getting close to violence.

Mugin16 · 46-50, M

@Burnley123 If you read my commment carefully, you would seen that I wrote "the ruling class and people like Jones". That does not imply that Jones is a part of the ruling class.

Civility? People like Owen Jones call such demonstrators all kinds of names when they write about them. Just look what Jean-Claude Juncker recently said about people who love their country.

SW-User

@Mugin16 I thought Junker was referring to nationism rather than patriotism.

I found this quote online at differencebetween.net

[quote]Nationalism vs Patriotism

Nationalism and patriotism both show the relationship of an individual towards his or her nation. The two are often confused and frequently believed to mean the same thing. However, there is a vast difference between nationalism and patriotism.

Nationalism means to give more importance to unity by way of a cultural background, including language and heritage. Patriotism pertains to the love for a nation, with more emphasis on values and beliefs.

When talking about nationalism and patriotism, one cannot avoid the famous quotation by George Orwell, who said that nationalism is ‘the worst enemy of peace’. According to him, nationalism is a feeling that one’s country is superior to another in all respects, while patriotism is merely a feeling of admiration for a way of life. These concepts show that patriotism is passive by nature and nationalism can be a little aggressive.

Patriotism is based on affection and nationalism is rooted in rivalry and resentment. One can say that nationalism is militant by nature and patriotism is based on peace.
[/quote]

Burnley123 · 41-45, M

@Mugin16 Can you give me a specific example of what you just said?

I've followed OJ's work since before he joined the Guardian and I can't think of an example of what you claim.

He's insulted politicians plenty of times but never voters he disagrees with. To me, the video does show the hypocrisy of many in the hard right: accuse the left of being against free speech but prevent free speech of people they disagree with. It's a Nimby mentality.