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“I’ve been called a fascist and a Nazi, shouted down at work and have childhood friends who no longer speak to me.”

These are just some of the experiences that Bristolians who voted to leave the EU have endured since the referendum result more than three years ago.

It was an election and a result which bitterly divided this country - nationally 52 percent of people voted to leave and 48 per cent remain.

In Bristol, the vote did not reflect the national picture - 61.73 per cent voted to remain.

For many this is enough to herald Bristol as a ‘Remain City’ along with the likes of London, Glasgow and Manchester. Places which bucked the national trend and voted no when asked whether we should end our relationship with the European Union.

Unfortunately, this idea doesn’t fully represent all the people who live and work here.

What about the tens of thousands of Bristolians who voted Leave on that fateful summer night three years ago?

For them, living and working in a ‘Remain City’ has in some cases left them feeling socially ostracised because of their pro-Brexit views.

Forced to justify their reasons for voting, they have been blamed for ruining the lives of younger generations. And that’s when they feel comfortable discussing the referendum result, some say they just avoid the ‘B’ word altogether.

(Image: Leavers of Bristol)

But now Bristol’s Brexit supporters have formed their own social club to escape the hostile atmosphere they say they can experience out on the streets or at work.

Leavers of Bristol is one of dozens of splinter groups of the national social networking campaign Leavers of Britain.

It was initially conceived as Leavers of London back in 2016 by Lucy Harris who said she felt at odds with her peers over her pro-Brexit views and sought the company of other like-minded people in the capital.

Within the last year the group, which claims to have thousands of members, has now launched nationwide rebranding as the Leavers of Britain.

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Meanwhile Ms Harris officially entered the world of politics when she was elected as the Brexit Party Member of the European Parliament for Yorkshire and the Humber in May.

But members of the Bristol branch are keen to emphasise they are a non-party political organisation who discuss politics with a small ‘p’.

For them the group - and the almost monthly meetings either at a restaurant or pub - provide them with a “safe place” to discuss their thoughts on the still unsolved question of Brexit and how Britain will officially leave the European Union.

'Party politics doesn't come into it'

“It’s just so refreshing to come to a meeting,” says Teresa, 70, from Bristol.

“There is a freedom to know you are able to express yourself, and your thoughts on Brexit, without the fear of being abused.

“Party politics doesn’t come into it - we all just share the belief that we need to leave the EU in order for our country to have a future.

“The meetings are a chance to exchange ideas with people without any kind of fear that someone is going to suddenly turn round and insult you and that’s really important in a city like Bristol.”

Because outside of these meetings members say they have faced accusations of racism, fascism and stupidity.

Vote Leave campaigner Nicky, 52, says she notices the difference in attitude when she crosses the border from her home in North Somerset to work in Bristol.

“On the day David Cameron resigned one girl just started screaming at me at work blaming me for his resignation. Another woman started crying.

“While out campaigning with my Vote Leave banner in Bristol I’ve had people hurl abuse at me from their cars.”

The day after the vote, 62-year-old Jeremy was asked by his partner’s son if he was pleased with himself for “ruining his life”.

Margaret, from Bristol, has been shouted at during a family get together and Teresa lost a 50-year friendship when a group of childhood friends decided they no longer wanted to go on holiday with her after they discovered how she had voted.

And they've all experienced accusations of being racist or anti-immigration.

“I’ve been called a Nazi and a fascist because I voted to leave the EU,” said Jeremy.

“Being a Brexiteer has become conflated and bracketed as far-right, but essentially it’s just blanketing 17.4million people as being fascist and racist or stupid.”

What hasn’t helped with the stigma are stunts by Nigel Farage that included him unveiling an anti-migrant poster during the referendum campaign which showed a queue of mostly non-white migrants and refugees with the slogan “Breaking point: the EU has failed us all.”

Or that controversial figures such as Tommy Robinson have attached themselves to the Vote Leave movement as a way of furthering his own closed-borders agenda.

“For Tommy Robinson to associate himself with the Leave Means Leave campaign is an attempt to give his anti-Islamic agenda an air of respectability,” says Paul, 42, who launched the Leavers of Bristol group back in January.

“He is just hijacking a popular feeling to further his own aims which do not represent us or our beliefs.”

Why they voted Leave

And while immigration and freedom of movement have become the issues most associated with Leave voters - not a single Leavers of Bristol member interviewed mentioned it as their reason for voting for Brexit.

Instead they rattled off a list of reasons relating to sovereignty and democracy.

The fears of a United States of Europe where member states continue to lose control of their own institutions to Brussels.

The fact that the elected branch of the EU, MEPs, do not have the power to initiate legislation.

Concerns over defence and nuclear capabilities under EU law as well as the perceived power of lobbyists and big businesses to influence decisions.

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The desire for independence as well as the costly price of EU bureaucracy.

“A lot of people who voted remain equated a vote to leave with racism and with good reason felt appalled by that,” adds Paul.

“It prevents a lot of people who voted leave from being able to talk about it, because rightly they don’t want to be associated with something that has extremely negative connotations.

“But actually most ordinary, sensible people have a whole host of reasons for voting leave, just as I’m sure people who voted remain did so for different reasons.

“Unfortunately, there seems to be an acceptable prejudice from Remain voters that means they can accuse Leave voters of either being racist, uneducated, old and irrelevant or 'chavs', and then question whether these people should be given the right to vote in the first place.

“If I’m honest, it's just frightening and in many cases they are allowed to get away with it because they see themselves as being on the right side of history.”

'It gives people the chance to talk'

And despite the fact the Brexiteers won three years ago - the group say they still feel the need to defend their reasons for voting.

Paul said: “That’s what is great about Leavers of Bristol - it gives people the chance to talk about Brexit in an environment where they feel they are not going to be shouted down for it."

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