A RECENT tweet sought to console defeated Remainers in the (advisory only) EU referendum with the following:
“If you’re having a bad day at work remember that at least you’re not David Cameron and you didn’t unintentionally lead the UK out of the EU!”
What might well be more comforting is the thought that the ignorant twit who posted the following petition on Facebook might have unwittingly saved the day.
The stupidity of his ignorant argument might just awaken enough embarrassment in his fellow Brexiteers that, so shamed, they never urge the enactment of Article 50 and, as a result, a reluctant Prime Minister never has to withdraw Britain from the EU.
“Remove all French words from the cover of new British passports” exhorts The Twit in one of those gimmicky and quite useless petitions to the Commons. His argument is as inaccurate as its logic is flawed:
“The vote to leave the EU means people voted to Take Back Control. Control of their borders, their culture and their language. Whether ‘Dieu et mon droit’ and ‘Honi qui mal y pense’ (sic: what happened to the ‘soit’?) have existed as mottos in England for ages is irrelevant. French is an EU language and has no place on a UK passport.”
Considering that seventeen million of the 33 million people who voted supported The Twit’s side of the argument it is refreshing to find that at time of writing only 405 fellow dimwits had thought to add their names to his call to cancel out history and the very foundation of modern English. As of now, The Twit needs only another 99,595 signatories to have his proposal debated in the Commons. Of course, the oxygen of publicity supplied by this column may cause his call to gather pace.
But really! The Little Englander who started this monumental flop of a petition would presumably nitpick his way through our entire history to unstitch us from the Dreaded Control.
Take, for example, ‘Honi soit. . .’, the motto of the Order of the Garter. Back in the day when educated Britain spoke French, so tradition has it, King Edward III was dancing with Joan of Kent, his first cousin and daughter-in-law. Her garter slipped down to her ankle causing those around her to snigger at her humiliation. In an act of chivalry, Edward placed the garter around his own leg saying, “Honi soit qui mal y pense. Tel qui s’en rit aujourd’hui, s’honorera de la porter.” [ “Evil on him who thinks evil. Those who laugh at this today, tomorrow will be proud to wear it.”]
As for The Twit’s dismissal of “Dieu et mon droit” [God and my right], the motto that graces the monarch’s personal coat of arms, all I can say is “Que Dieu me donne la force!”
God give me strength!
