scotland-brexit

CBC News: The National/YouTube

How ‘F*ck off Scotland’ became a Scottish rallying cry amid Brexit madness

It started out as an insult.

 

Siobhan Ball

Internet Culture

Posted on Sep 14, 2019   Updated on May 20, 2021, 3:55 am CDT

Unlike England and Wales, the majority of Scotland voted to remain in the E.U.  (Northern Ireland also voted to remain in the EU) in the 2016 “Brexit” vote. Unfortunately for Scotland, England is a larger country with more voting regions, meaning Scotland is being unhappily dragged out of the EU by its neighbors to the South.

Scotland’s highest court, consisting of three judges, recently ruled it was unlawful and unconstitutional for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to shut down parliament in order to push through a no-deal Brexit, meaning the U.K would abruptly leave the EU on Oct. 31, with no agreement on the U.K.-EU relationship going forward.

The court’s ruling upset Brexiters, or those who voted in favor of leaving the EU, thus setting off the #FuckOffScotland hashtag. 

“It’s definitely time for a Scottish Independence vote, on which ALL British citizens should be able to vote on #fuckoffscotland,” one presumed British citizen wrote.

Though, it seems, Scots have taken the power back from the phrase. “I think most Scottish people would be quite delighted to,” Twitter user @chris_m_h wrote.

https://twitter.com/AGIJM1/status/1172298696672890881

https://twitter.com/shedgal1983/status/1172413293094268928

https://twitter.com/TorryQ/status/1172183612566986753

In 2014, Scotland held a referendum in which Scots voted on whether or not Scotland should become an independent country rather than being a country within the U.K.–and 55% of voters decided against Scottish independence. But, at the time, Scottish voters weren’t facing an imminent Brexit as they are today.

Many Scots pointed out that they actually did want to “f*ck off” in the form of another independence referendum in 2016, after the Brexit vote, but were shot down by the British government in 2017.

So, when you tell Scots to “f*ck off,” their answer is likely to be along the lines of, “We’re flippin trying mate,” as Twitter user @EilidhHannan put it.

https://twitter.com/StuartForbes1/status/1172280447600082949

https://twitter.com/EmTardigrade/status/1172204183728132098

READ MORE: 

Share this article
*First Published: Sep 14, 2019, 6:28 pm CDT