"Bollocks to Brexit" is a

meme A meme ( ) is an idea, behavior, or style that spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme. A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural i ...

and grassroots campaign slogan used by people opposing Brexit, following the result of a 2016 referendum. The slogan received media coverage and legal attention, as well as being used by the Liberal Democrats.

Merchandise

The phrase was printed on yellow fluorescent stickers (reading "Bollocks to Brexit – It's not a done deal"), which were prominently circulated and displayed on anti-Brexit marches, including the

People's Vote People's Vote was a United Kingdom campaign group that unsuccessfully campaigned for a second referendum following the UK's Brexit vote to leave the European Union (EU) in 2016. The group was launched in April 2018 at which four Members of Pa ...

march in London on 23 March 2019. The stickers were also handed out at major political party conferences in the UK. ''

The New European ''The New European'' is a British pan-European weekly political and cultural newspaper and website. Launched in July 2016 as a response to the United Kingdom's 2016 EU referendum, its readership is aimed at those who voted to remain within t ...

'', a newspaper supporting Britain remaining in the EU, offered a free "Bollocks to Brexit" mug with a subscription. A "Bollocks to Brexit" bus, parodying the

Vote Leave Vote Leave was a campaigning organisation that supported a "Leave" vote in the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum. On 13 April 2016 it was designated by the Electoral Commission as the official campaign in favour of leavi ...

campaign bus that appeared during the 2016 referendum, toured the UK and Ireland in 2018. The bus made stops in

Maidenhead Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England, on the southwestern bank of the River Thames. It had an estimated population of 70,374 and forms part of the border with southern Bu ...

Uxbridge Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon. Situated west-northwest of Charing Cross, it is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Uxbrid ...

and

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...

, constituencies of Prime Ministers

Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cab ...

and

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...

, as well as leader of the opposition

Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the political left of the Labour Party, Corbyn describes himself as a socialist ...

. It was inadvertently shown on television after it appeared in the background of an ''

ITV News ITV News is the branding of news programmes on the British television network ITV. ITV has a long tradition of television news. Independent Television News (ITN) was founded to provide news bulletins for the network in 1955, and has since conti ...

'' broadcast. Subsequently, three

mini The Mini is a small, two-door, four-seat car, developed as ADO15, and produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors, from 1959 through 2000. Minus a brief hiatus, original Minis were built for four decades and sold during ...

s were decorated with the slogan "Bollocks to Brexit", and prior to the

2019 United Kingdom general election The 2019 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 12 December 2019. It resulted in the Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party receiving a Landslide victory, landslide majority of 80 seats. The Conservatives made a net gain of 4 ...

were driven around the UK with the aim of promoting

tactical voting Strategic voting, also called tactical voting, sophisticated voting or insincere voting, occurs in voting systems when a voter votes for another candidate or party than their ''sincere preference'' to prevent an undesirable outcome. For example, ...

. In the run-up to the 2019 EU elections, the

Liberal Democrat Several political party, political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democracy, liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties ...

leader

Vince Cable Sir John Vincent Cable (born 9 May 1943) is a British politician who was Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2017 to 2019. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Twickenham from 1997 to 2015 and from 2017 to 2019. He also served in the Cabinet a ...

adopted the phrase as the title of their party manifesto. The party's newly elected MEPs wore the slogan on the back of T-shirts at the opening of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

Controversy

The phrase, and merchandise featuring it, attracted legal attention. In March 2018, the

Speaker of the House of Commons Speaker of the House of Commons is a political leadership position found in countries that have a House of Commons, where the membership of the body elects a speaker to lead its proceedings. Systems that have such a position include: * Speaker of ...

John Bercow John Simon Bercow (; born 19 January 1963) is a British former politician who was Speaker of the House of Commons from 2009 to 2019, and Member of Parliament (MP) for Buckingham between 1997 and 2019. A member of the Conservative Party prior to ...

was criticised by the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

MP and

Leave Means Leave Leave Means Leave was a pro-Brexit, Eurosceptic political pressure group organisation that campaigned and lobbied for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union following the 'Leave' result of the EU referendum on 23 June 2016. The campai ...

advocate

Andrew Bridgen Andrew James Bridgen (born 28 October 1964) is a British politician and businessman who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for North West Leicestershire since 2010. A member of the Conservative Party and prominent figure on its right wi ...

for appearing to display a "Bollocks to Brexit" sign in his car. Bercow said that the car belonged to his wife

Sally Sally may refer to: People *Sally (name), a list of notable people with the name Military *Sortie (siege warfare), Sally (military), an attack by the defenders of a town or fortress under siege against a besieging force; see sally port *Sally, ...

and he could not be held directly responsible for her thoughts and opinions. In October 2018,

Charlie Mullins Sidney Charles Mullins (born 28 October 1952) is a British businessman. He is the founder of Pimlico Plumbers, London's largest independent plumbing company, which he sold in 2021. Early life Mullins is the son of a factory worker father and ...

, founder of

Pimlico Plumbers Pimlico Plumbers is a London-based plumbing firm established in 1979. With revenues of £20m as of 2015, it is London's largest independent plumbing company. Establishment Pimlico Plumbers was established in 1979 by its current managing direct ...

and former Conservative Party donor, was ordered by the local council to take down a large "Bollocks to Brexit" sign on top of a company building in

Waterloo, London Waterloo () is a district in Central London, and part of the Bishops ward of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is situated east of Charing Cross. The area is part of a business improvement district known as Waterloo Quarter, which includes The ...

. Commuters complained that the sign was distracting and irrelevant to the business, but Mullins defended his right to free speech and the sign remained in place. In March 2019, a man was detained at

Gatwick Airport Gatwick Airport (), also known as London Gatwick , is a major international airport near Crawley, West Sussex, England, south of Central London. In 2021, Gatwick was the third-busiest airport by total passenger traffic in the UK, after H ...

after he refused to remove a "Bollocks to Brexit" badge upon attempting to board a flight. The same month, a protester on the People's Vote march attached a "Bollocks to Brexit" sticker to the front nameplate of the

Department for International Trade The Department for International Trade (DIT) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of Government of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's Government responsible for striking and extending trade agreements between the U ...

office in

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A roads in Zone 3 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea, London, Chelsea. It is the main ...

in protest at the

department secretary In Australia, a departmental secretary is the most senior public servant of an Australian Government or state government department. They are typically responsible for the day-to-day actions of a department. Role A departmental secretary ...

Liam Fox Liam Fox (born 22 September 1961) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for International Trade from 2016 to 2019 and Secretary of State for Defence from 2010 to 2011. A member of the Conservative Party, Fox has served as th ...

. Having commenced on the 'mini tour' to promote tactical voting in the 2019 UK General Election, the driver of one of three minis was stopped by an

Essex Police Essex Police is a territorial police force responsible for policing the county of Essex, in the East of England. Essex Police is responsible for a population of over 1.8 million people and an area of . The chief constable is Ben-Julian Harri ...

officer in November 2019. The officer insisted that the slogan must be removed from the vehicle.

References

External links

*
EU Flag Mafia
- marketer of "Bollocks to Brexit" stickers {{Brexit topics Brexit Obscenity controversies Political controversies Pro-Europeanism in the United Kingdom 2010s neologisms