British children are crying “Brexit is Brexit” before launching into foul play in football games to make a mockery of “toxic politics”, a parent has said.
Some football-playing youngsters have started shouting Theresa May’s famous quote before carrying out particularly devastating tackles.
But their intention is anything but supportive of the former Prime Minister or the Brexit vote.
In fact, it is quite the opposite, Brit mum Lola Okolosie said in a piece for The Guardian.
After asking her son about the peculiar custom, he told her the “Brexit tackle” is one that deliberately pokes fun at the controversial vote.
Ms Okolosie said she first observed the tradition when her son’s friend cried the slogan before slide-tackling him.
After asking him why he shouted this, she said her son told her the tackle is one that “doesn’t get the ball, only takes out the player”.
The English teacher explained that the slogan is becoming increasingly popular among football-playing children and teenagers.
Urban Dictionary even has an entry explaining it as a “massive slide tackle” that usually sends victims “flying” and left “hurt severely”.
Mrs May first said Brexit means Brexit back in 2016 after taking over from David Cameron.
She said the phrase during a speech as she discussed the possibility of a second referendum.
She said the phrase meant there was “no second referendum; no attempts to sort of stay in the EU by the back door” and “that we’re actually going to deliver on this”.
Ms Okolosie said that, in 2024, “Brexit means Brexit” has become a “symbol of almost dangerously rough play”.
She interpreted its usage as children “holding up a mirror to the adult world” about how the UK’s youth is seeing the effects of the 2016 vote.
She concluded: “They’re using it as a joke, to be sure, but it’s a timely reminder that politicians’ words and political stances extend far beyond the immediate context, seeping into the fabric of our children’s lives.”
