If you wanted an example of the callous selfishness of hardline Brexiteers, the BBC sure dug one up on the streets of Birmingham.

It was another series of vox pops, canvassing the views of “ordinary people”. (They never seem to take place in Remain areas, but there you go.)

“I’m a diabetic. I rely on insulin but I still want to leave,” said one of the people who was interviewed.

The reporter, appearing shocked, followed up by asking the man if he would think it a price worth paying if his insulin didn’t arrive. That is a real risk if Boris Johnson and his fundamentalist Tory pals get the no deal outcome they crave.

The response: “Yeah I do, because we voted to leave.”

Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Show all 30 1 /30 Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Pro-Brexit leave the European Union supporters attend a rally in Parliament Square after the final leg of the "March to Leave" in London AP Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit The protest march which started on March 16 in Sunderland, north east England, finished on what was the original date for Brexit to happen before the recent extension Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter holds up a poster during a rally after the final leg of the "March to Leave" in London, Friday, March 29, 2019. Pro-Brexit demonstrators were gathering in central London on the day that Britain was originally scheduled to leave the European Union. (AP Photo/ Kirsty Wigglesworth) Kirsty Wigglesworth AP Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A pro-Brexit protester holds a sign next to a statue of Winston Churchill at the March to Leave demonstration in London, Britain March 29, 2019. REUTERS/Toby Melville TOBY MELVILLE Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit demonstrators in Parliament Square in Westminster, London. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Friday March 29, 2019. See PA story POLITICS Brexit. Photo credit should read: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire Jonathan Brady PA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Pro-Brexit protesters hold signs and wave flags at the March to Leave demonstration in London, Britain March 29, 2019. REUTERS/Toby Melville TOBY MELVILLE Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit epa07471421 Pro-Brexit protesters gather outside of the Parliament for Nigel Farage's 'March to Leave' in London, Britain, 29 March 2019. MPs rejected Prime Minister's May EU withdrawal agreement earlier in the day. EPA/NEIL HALL NEIL HALL EPA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter sips a can of Stella in protests outside of the Houses of Parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Dedicated anti-Brexit campaigner Steve Bray and likewise pro-Brexit campaigner Joseph Afrane go head to head near the Houses of Parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A pro-Brexit marching band in Parliament Square Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Remain supporters wave EU flags from a bus in Parliament Square PA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter shouts slogans outside parliament EPA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter protests outside parliament Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter protests outside of the Houses of Parliament Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters protest outside of the Houses of Parliament REUTERS Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A pro-Brexit flag is waved in Parliament Square AP Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit The March to Leave nears the Houses of Parliament Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit protester holds a sign outside parliament EPA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters carry the coffin of democracy AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters march outside parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters take part in the March to Leave protest in London PA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters protest outside parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter holds a sign outside the Houses of Parliament Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A man holds satirical paintings of politicians Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit An pro-Brexit float on the March to Leave march in London Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Far-right activist Tommy Robinson addresses protesters outside the Houses of Parliament Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter outside the Houses of Parliament Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Tommy Robinson supporter arrives at the Houses of Parliament Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A jogger gestures rudely at a Brexit supporter outside of the Houses of Parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter outside the Houses of Parliament PA

Now, I usually prefer to kick upwards in these columns, and we’ll get to that, but for this person who is willing to drag me, along with hundreds of thousands of other diabetics and their loved ones, down into a pit with them, I’m going to make an exception.

That man is a first class arse. Not the sort of thing you’d expect to see in a family newspaper? Tell me how you’d feel about someone happy for you to die for you in pursuit of their twisted cause.

It has been pointed out to me that this was someone who’d just had a camera poked in their face, something they were probably unused to. They might have come up with a different response had they had the time to think their words through.

Then again, perhaps not. Perhaps it would take their blood turning into a sticky syrup, their mouth feeling like the bottom of a hamster’s cage, their experiencing a thirst that’s impossible to slake, which are the typical symptoms an insulin dependent diabetic like me will experience if we don’t get our insulin prior to death by organ failure.

It’s often said that Brexit is more like a religious faith than a political movement because the rational arguments have all been demolished and reality has debunked the claims made by the Leave campaign during the EU referendum. You know, the ones that held that leaving the EU would be easy, and we could have our cake and eat it (per the BoZo in Number 10 Downing Street) and we’d get rich quick if only the dead hand of Brussels were removed from the mighty Britannia.

Ask people like that man in Birmingham how they think their lives will be improved by Brexit, and what the EU has done to inspire such a venomous hate that they’re willing to die and kill other people along with them, and they probably couldn’t answer. The high priests of the church of Brexit struggle with that, so they turn instead to myth.

What the Beeb’s man shows us is that at its fringes, and increasingly at its core, their Brexit religion is turning into a cult and a death cult at that. We’re talking al-Qaeda, perhaps, the Branch Davidians under cult leader David Koresh, or one of those other unhinged sects with a penchant for murder/suicides that crop up every now and again.

Buckle up, and let’s mow down them diabetics, and cancer patients, and epileptics, and people with heart conditions and, well you name it.

Thoughtful people often like to argue that the cult’s followers should be listened to and that the grievances they have are legitimate, if misdirected. I confess that I grow weary of this view.

There are millions of people with similarly legitimate grievances who haven’t chosen to buy into a destructive and potentially lethal ideology dreamed up in the debating societies of posh boys who speak of “ordinary people” with contempt when they’re dining in their clubs.

There is also a substantial number of people who have united under the Remainer Now banner because they have thought through the implications of what’s been happening and realised that they were sold a pup.

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That man talked to the BBC about “democracy”. It’s not democracy if you don’t allow for the fact that people can change their minds.

However, as much as I was angered by his callous lack of regard for the lives of other people with his condition, it is ultimately those posh boys who are to blame. They cooked this dish. Into the hot water of grievance bubbling on a hob that they created, they stirred lies, and hatred, and then added a sprinkling of racism.