[mangecoeur]

This article does a great job at capturing the mood in London. I think a lot of Londoners feel a kind of betrayal - when Brexiteers talk about 'reclaiming' the country, to diverse Londoners that means 'reclaiming' it from them. There is no doubt that people are feel targeted and alienated by this kind of discourse - and this very much includes EU citizens who have been witnessing the rhetoric with increasing concern.

I particularly dislike the arrogance of the uniquely British 'reassurances' given to skilled non-UK citizens with regards to this anti-immigrant rhetoric, which goes something like "Oh when we talk about throwing out the filthy immigrants, we don't mean YOU - so long as we find you useful". I mean, geez, thanks I guess it's just friends and family who'll get forcibly deported then, nothing to worry about.

In general there appears to be a (possibly wilful) lack of appreciation among the Brexit crowd that when you say horrible things about the Europeans and immigrants, those people can actually hear you. I'm not sure how they expect to build an 'open trading nation' while becoming known as the country that calls foreigners scum.

[mrec]

Is it really Leavers saying that, though? Or is it Remainers telling everyone that Leavers are saying that as a way of trying to make Leavers look bad?

Obviously, as with anything in reality, it's a bit of both. But polls both before and after the referendum consistently showed that immigration was not the primary concern motivating Leave voters, support for immigration in general is still very high across the board (well into the 80s IIRC, and ISTR the most recent poll I saw showed only about a 1% gap in support for it between Leave and Remain voters), and support for all existing EU residents being able to stay after Brexit is near-as-dammit universal. The only reason that hasn't been officially confirmed already is that the EU refused to reciprocate for UK citizens living in the rEU until the Article 50 notification had happened.

I understand that a lot of people are anxious, and I hope things get cleared up soon to remove that anxiety, but the people continually screaming that Brexiteers hate immigrants and want to throw them out, against all evidence to the contrary, are not really helping matters.

[Boothroid]

I've heard the feeling expressed by many Brexit supporters that their concerns about migration have nothing to do with immigration or foreigners per se, but more with the pace of change due to mass uncontrolled migration. Also I don't recognise the image you portray of the UK being 'the country that calls foreigners scum'. This might be what the vested interests including the media would have you believe, or what you might choose to believe if you are pro-EU, but I suspect the portrayal of Brexit supporters as arrogant racists is a little one-dimensional and doesn't have a strong basis in reality.

[ng12]

How is that uniquely British? They do that everywhere. The primary justification for accepting immigrants is that they are a driver for the economy.