Brexit Derangement Syndrome: philosopher A.C. Grayling calls Tory politicians "vermin"!

Actually, Grayling cast his rat-catcher's net even more widely:

This despicable gutter insult emanated from an eminent 67-year old academic who has produced about 30 well-respected books, was formerly the Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck College, is a supernumerary fellow of St. Anne's, Oxford, and is the founder and Master of New College of the Humanities, an independent undergraduate college in London.

The subject which has sent the silly old sausage screaming over the edge of rationality into a pit of irrational despair is - inevitably - the democratic decision of the British people to leave the European Union. The refusal by a man with a brain the size of a solar system to accept political reality - as with so many member of the left-liberal elite - has left him making the sort of idiotic arguments for which a dim-witted ten year old would be slapped down by any teacher worth his or her salt:

What pathetic, tawdry piffle. By "restricted", he presumably means that only British passport-holders were allowed to vote. And this is a problem, how? Or maybe he means restricted to people who can read and write English, or who could be bothered to vote: in which case, I'm still not sure why this would be problematic. As for his central argument - that a referendum result only counts if over half the eligible population votes for one side of the proposition or the other  - it is so childish as to be beneath contempt.

I initially found the reaction of Remainers to their reversal in last June's referendum astonishing. But then I realised that it was inevitable, given that they'd had their way for so long that they simply didn't know to cope with disappointment. Then, as every one of Project Fear's predictions failed to materialise, the wrath of the Europhiles became very, very funny. But after a few months, when it became clear that many of them were determined not to accept the result - were, indeed, determined to overturn it, whatever the cost to the nation of their divisive hate- and fear-mongering - I started to get angry. This is how spoiled, petulant children - and some football managers - behave when they don't get what they want; this isn't the behaviour of rational adults. But my anger has abated, and now I am genuinely beginning to feel sorry for them - not just because they are making absolute fools of themselves, but because I'm starting to suspect that they simply can't help themselves: that part of the psyche which should come to our rescue when we've got ourselves into a terrible tizz by telling us to take a deep breath, to look at ourselves in the mirror, and to calm the fuck down, you idiot! seems to have stopped working (or, at least, to have become inaccessible to these formerly rational bedlamites). Instead, they carry on spitting venom and hurling vile calumnies, destroying friendships, pitting one part of the country against another and class against class, seemingly desperate for the economy to fail disastrously so they can scream - See? Told you so! 

This is no longer amusing: it's depressing. One hopes that the triggering of Article 50 sometime between now and the end of March will calm the raging brains of A.C. Grayling and his fellow-sufferers - but the signs aren't good. In a YouGov survey last month (and let's face it, opinion pollsters haven't been noted for favouring Leavers in the past), 54% of those canvassed said they thought that triggering Article 50 was purely a matter for Theresa May: only 31% thought MPs should vote on the issue. The majority of Britons - including many who voted Remain - just want to get on with leaving the EU. I'm not sure what sort of mandate the likes of A.C. Grayling (e.g. Tony Blair - I mean, really?) feel they have to go on attempting to thwart the will of the people. But this isn't about mandates: it's about arrogant elitists who feel the world should automatically arrange itself to accommodate their desires. Spoiled brats in need of a good spanking, the lot of them. Vermin? God almighty! Get a grip, Grayling, you fool.

Graduates of New College of the Humanities will in future know how to respond if not awarded the level of degree they're absolutely convinced they're entitled to.