Our Patch AUTUMN 2017
PICTURE : GETTY IMAGES
Losing it
A year on , fallout from the EU referendum still divides families and fractures friendships . Two west Londoners have produced a detailed , coolly argued book explaining why Britain voted Leave . They talked to Tim Harrison
You can thank Peppa Pig for the fact that we now have the definitive book on why Britain voted the way it did in last year ’ s referendum . West London neighbours Paul Goldsmith and Jason Farrell were taking their daughters to the porcine character ’ s theme park in the wake of the result .
Paul , 43 , a political blogger and Latymer Upper politics teacher , argued that a cocktail of historical factors had made a Leave vote inevitable . Jason , 46 , a Sky political correspondent , disagreed and said that it was the way the Leave
16 / 17 and Remain campaigns had been run which had determined the outcome .
As their daughters rolled their eyes in the back seat , Paul and Jason continued the heated debate for 70 miles .
By the time they were careering down the log flume at the Hampshire adventure park they had decided to collaborate on a book to try to make sense of a vote which has split the country , turning generations against each other and fracturing lifelong friendships . The result , How To Lose A Referendum , was published a year to the day after the fateful ballot .
In the space of eight months , while holding down their day jobs , the pair researched and wrote a 180,000-word manuscript , complete with detailed footnotes . “ I think the next book we ’ ll write is How To Lose A Family ,” joked Paul , who lives near Ealing Common .
“ We were sometimes writing for 14 hours a day ; in coffee shops , in different rooms in my house … sometimes Jason actually lived here !”
He acknowledges that it was not a task he could have completed on his own , even though he ’ s a prolific political blogger ( pjgoldsmith . com ). “ He has skills I don ’ t have ,” said Paul . “ Jason did some amazing interviews ,