That's fair enough - we can only speak from our own experiences and those we know I guess, and I guess I'm clearly shielded from it to some extent. I'm certainly in agreement that it's given those with questionable views the confidence to speak out when previously they wouldn't have. However, I again wonder how much of that effect is down to the media whipping up the storm and giving a few nutters more of a public platform - Tommy Robinson anyone?Nefarious wrote: ↑Fri Aug 02, 2019 3:58 pmYes I see it in the media and that's shameful, but my comments were based on one-to-one conversations with real people and personal accounts from non-british friends, which in many ways is far scarier.Swervin_Mervin wrote: ↑Fri Aug 02, 2019 2:52 pm Do you really believe that's the case? The media lies to whip up a storm....etc etc
My brother employs around 20 mostly polish builders in London, and the anecdotal reports from them are that the incidence of open in-your-face racism (i.e. "go back where you came from" etc etc) to either them or their families has increased from "occasionally" to "several times a week" since the vote. I know three who have gone back to Poland directly as a result of what they feel is an increasingly hostile environment.
My site manager (Croatian/German) was recently accosted in the street, accused of being Polish, told he "couldn't even speak the fucking language" (he speaks fluent English, Polish, Czech, and Russian, as well as Croatian and German), and was spat at. That shit hasn't been the norm since the 70s.
Personally, one of the things I find most noticeable is how much more emboldened those with already iffy views have become. e.g. Older folks who may have previously harbored such views now appear to feel free to spout forth to random strangers on how all the ills of the world are down to muslims. Middle class people in leafy Surrey who've only ever seen an immigrant from their Range Rover now feel legitimated in openly saying that "taking control of our borders" should be top of the government agenda. "Normal" businesspeople seemly now openly blaming economic shortcomings on "scrounging foreigners".
However, I still don't think it's quite the epidemic it's made out to me - we still remain one of, if not the, most liberal and accommodating country in the world. We have a long way to go sure, but we should never lose sight of that fact.