Even if that was true (which is highly debatable - and the representation on here would suggest otherwise) how can people in general even be accurately informed when all our institutions (be they political, traditional / digital media or seats of learning) are now ingrained with the same ideological group think?

That's why people are turning to new media like long form podcasts which I would say are characterized by focusing on facts rather than emotions.

e.g. I went a long time (until about 6 months ago) accepting the general consensus that "orange man bad" but it's based on a lot of propaganda as the media class are almost entirely cut from the same cloth. Trump now has a 52% approval rating in the US despite 90% of his coverage being negative.

Wake up folks.

Post brexit we’ve had anti-immigration rants, pro-Tommy Robinson posts, a suggestion that all Muslims are potential sexual predators, anger at there being platforms for black people to celebrate cultures largely forgotten due to slave-trade and now people suggesting something as innocent as speaking in ‘black accents’ should exclude you from the job market.

Does HOL have an obsession with racism? When do you think it started to get so right-wing, bitter and scared of other cultures? I think brexit has given people licence to be far more vocal about their true feelings and ignorence. HOL always used to tackle delicate issues, with a real sense of debate. Now though, a number of posts come back to the same old tosh...an utter fear of foreigners or people with different skin shades or religions. Sad times.

For the record, I sand others have said they’ll not have the opportunities in some job markets, not ‘that they should be excluded’, although I have said they sound silly.

There is nothing wrong with like minded people using slang / street talk or as I like to call it shorthand. Everybody does it just listen to a group of doctors talking amongst themselves.

However dealing with the public is a different matter. If it is job related you cannot expect your colleagues or the public to be familiar with your particular shorthand. This has nothing to do with accents or being posh just manners. The best way to be sure you can be understood is to speak plain English with or without an accent. If you can't or won't do that then don't be surprised if your employment opportunities are limited.

As others have said when I worked I spoke different to when I was with my friends.

the leave argument was always an easier argument to make, whip up scepticism and anti foreigner sentiment with the migrant crisis a useful tool at the time.

It's for this reason I have retired from this section of the HOL, but as this comment deserves my support I will make an exception. It's the same small group of posters banging the same old tired drums. They are not, in my opinion, representative of the general sentiment held by the people in the UK as a whole, although I am only too aware that there is a vocal minority who think as they do. Brexit, the election of Trump and the rise of popularism generally has given them the confidence to express themselves more openly.

I hope it is just a temporary phenomenon and they will again retire to the shadows. Of course such voices need to be heard but for them to dominate anywhere makes me feel very nervous for the future direction of civilised, progressive societies everywhere.

As, in my experience, there is no reasoning with such people the only way to handle them is to out vote them, using the long established methods embedded in our democratic system. Which, by the way, does not include referendums or threads on social media platforms.

Edited by Wisbech Eagle (13 Feb 2019 12.27pm)