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Brexit
May 30, 2017 22:16:14 GMT
Post by ignorantianescia on May 30, 2017 22:16:14 GMT
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Brexit
Jun 9, 2017 14:57:41 GMT
Post by ignorantianescia on Jun 9, 2017 14:57:41 GMT
So... Stuff happened. The Conservatives and Labour together have received over 80% of the votes, the highest for the main parties since 1970. Still, the outcome is a hung parliament. This is sure to scramble the Brexit negotiations, even if May manages to secure a far from stable coalition with the DUP. She should also be on the look-out for coup plotters.
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Brexit
Jun 9, 2017 17:32:10 GMT
Post by sandwiches on Jun 9, 2017 17:32:10 GMT
ignorantianescia You got there before me. www.independent.co.uk/voices/theresa-may-hard-brexit-dream-denied-jeremy-corbyn-lib-dems-european-union-denied-a7780386.htmlIn one fell swoop, Theresa May's hard Brexit mandate has been destroyed
Britain voted to leave the EU in June 2016 by the slimmest of majorities, and those on the winning side voted for a variety of reasons. Theresa May and her team took it upon themselves to interpret the referendum result as a mandate for an extreme Brexit – and now they've seen the consequences
We must now demand a Brexit deal that preserves a close, cooperative and positive relationship with Europe, and ensures that Britain remains open, tolerant and fairThere may be chaos ahead but perhaps today we may hope to emerge from this Conservative-made nightmare with some hope, if little dignity.
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Brexit
Jun 9, 2017 23:56:45 GMT
Post by unkleE on Jun 9, 2017 23:56:45 GMT
From the other wide of the world, I don't have strong opinions on Brexit, though I tend to think it is silly. But these events certainly (in my mind at least) confirm a few feelings I have had about politics for a while. There used to be a graffiti in Sydney that said "Don't vote. It only encourages them." That tends to sum up the average Aussie attitude to politicians. They think they are important and we all take them seriously, but we voters tend to think they are either buffoons (plenty of examples of those around unfortunately) or self serving. They take themselves too seriously and think that the world they inhabit is the real world, whereas the rest of us think their world is a bit of a fantasy. So they make decisions like to call snap elections, thinking that we will assess the issues as they see them and present them, whereas most of us either see things through a very personal lens that is very different to theirs, or else we see them as self serving and party-serving rather than nation-serving and vote very differently than they expect. Australia's Malcolm Turnbull fell into the same trap as Theresa May and his majority was cut to just a single seat. unkleE's rule of thumb, if I don't know who to vote for, is to vote for the opposition. Like my compost, turning government over regularly keeps things less smelly!
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Brexit
Jun 10, 2017 2:26:16 GMT
Post by evangelion on Jun 10, 2017 2:26:16 GMT
This is a nightmare for Brexiteers. May has been backed into a corner, and will now be forced to deliver a soft Brexit on the EU's terms.
Personally I don't believe Labour deserved their massive surge in the polls; they have supported Brexit enthusiastically, and should have been severely punished for that.
But it takes a very special kind of stupid to call an unnecessary election, and come close to losing it after starting 20 points ahead. What on earth was May thinking?
On a related note: the total destruction of UKIP is a joy to behold.
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Brexit
Jun 10, 2017 8:46:20 GMT
Post by ignorantianescia on Jun 10, 2017 8:46:20 GMT
Here's the view of an expert in Northern Irish politics (who has published on Ulster Protestantism) on the DUP's likely demands for support: theconversation.com/five-things-the-dup-will-want-in-return-for-rescuing-a-conservative-government-79222I'm also of the opinion that recent Conservative prime ministers have demonstrated that they suffer from a bit of a gambling problem. Personally I don't believe Labour deserved their massive surge in the polls; they have supported Brexit enthusiastically, and should have been severely punished for that. The problem for Remainers is that a large share of the electorate accepts leaving on some level and there's simply not much appetite among the electorate for punishing parties... yet. Labour's plans on the EU (which can probably be summed up as aiming for EEA-minus) probably haven't done them much damage. www.newstatesman.com/politics/june2017/2017/05/remain-delusion-48-cent-do-not-existRemainers based in the UK would have to do a much better job at communicating the likely harm of leaving without overstatement. The current economic downturn is helpful in that regard. On a related note: the total destruction of UKIP is a joy to behold. Agree, but it's also unfortunate a lot of that comes from the Conservatives and Labour pitching to and capturing large parts of their base.
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Brexit
Jun 10, 2017 22:46:52 GMT
Post by sandwiches on Jun 10, 2017 22:46:52 GMT
Amen. Yes and The Labour party has been little better than the Conservatives in its lacklustre oppostion to Brexit. Even in the Conservative press, though, there seems to be an acceptance that 'Hard Brexit' is dead. Columnists in the Times have been scathing about the behaviour of the The Conservative party in calling the referendum and the latest election. Even the Conservative magazine, The Spectator, mostly recognises reality e.g. Nick Cohen: blogs.spectator.co.uk/2017/06/end-brexit-britain/ The end of Brexit BritainFinally, and I accept this is asking too much, the best thing we can do now that Theresa May has brought her coalition of chaos to British politics, is withdraw our Article 50 notification and not send it back in again until we have the faintest idea of what we are doing and where we are going.
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Brexit
Jun 11, 2017 17:48:30 GMT
Post by ignorantianescia on Jun 11, 2017 17:48:30 GMT
Here is an intriguing image from the FT on the composition of voters in 2017 compared to voters from 2015. (Although all gains being shown as transfers between parties doesn't make much sense to me, especially in light of the increased turnout.) And if you need a laugh or meditative reading for the Sunday evening, the New Yorker has a spoof of the general election in the style of the KJV, mostly after the Synoptics: www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-book-of-jeremy-corbynAnd it came to pass, in the land of Britain, that the High Priestess went unto the people and said, Behold, I bring ye tidings of great joy. For on the eighth day of the sixth month there shall be a general election.
And the people said, Not another one.
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Post by sandwiches on Jun 12, 2017 22:42:35 GMT
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Brexit
Jun 12, 2017 22:47:53 GMT
Post by sandwiches on Jun 12, 2017 22:47:53 GMT
Actually he's not Australian (though some people on here are) and he seems to like cartoons of Australian football.
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Brexit
Jun 15, 2017 14:44:07 GMT
Post by James Hannam on Jun 15, 2017 14:44:07 GMT
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Brexit
Jul 25, 2017 17:30:03 GMT
Post by sandwiches on Jul 25, 2017 17:30:03 GMT
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Brexit
Jul 26, 2017 0:06:49 GMT
Post by evangelion on Jul 26, 2017 0:06:49 GMT
Remember when everyone said we should stop trusting experts because something something reasons? Welp, turns out that was a bad idea after all.
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Brexit
Jul 30, 2017 18:55:28 GMT
Post by ignorantianescia on Jul 30, 2017 18:55:28 GMT
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Brexit
Aug 1, 2017 22:05:13 GMT
Post by ignorantianescia on Aug 1, 2017 22:05:13 GMT
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