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politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » The Brexit day party

SystemSystem Posts: 11,018
edited July 2018 in General

imagepoliticalbetting.com » Blog Archive » The Brexit day party

Looming over the back of all the sound and fury of our day to day politics is the inexorable approach of Brexit day. The 29th of March 2019 will be the day when something happens, maybe. We will start an orderly transition to somewhere, or an abrupt and disorderly crunch into somewhere else. There will be some kind of Brexit that might happen, whether it’s hard or soft (my personal bet is on squidgy). Unless we get an extension, which we won’t, probably. We might keep going with a Mexican stand-off on a falling nuclear bomb waving cowboy hats as we go, MAD all the way down.

Read the full story here


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Comments

  • Options
    JohnLoonyJohnLoony Posts: 1,790
    Treacle Pudding!
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    TheJezziahTheJezziah Posts: 3,840
    I very much approve of making my birthday a national holiday!

    I think Charles is on board with the idea as well.
  • Options
    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,960

    I very much approve of making my birthday a national holiday!

    I think Charles is on board with the idea as well.

    Let's see how it all works out first. A triumphant bank holiday followed by a nasty recession would not be clever.
  • Options
    CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 59,623
    Given the nation remains as divided as ever over BREXIT I think “business as usual” should be the order of the day in 2019 (especially as “as usual” may be problematic from “a little bit” to “quite a lot”.). In the years to come we can reflect on whether this was one of our better ideas - and that will largely come down to the wisdom with which the U.K. is governed, rather than which trade deals we strike.
  • Options
    CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    rcs1000 said:

    I very much approve of making my birthday a national holiday!

    I think Charles is on board with the idea as well.

    Let's see how it all works out first. A triumphant bank holiday followed by a nasty recession would not be clever.
    Surely we need a bank holiday to avoid a run on the banks when it all goes tits up/to celebrate our day of Freedom! *

    * [delete as appropriate]
  • Options
    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,960

    Given the nation remains as divided as ever over BREXIT I think “business as usual” should be the order of the day in 2019 (especially as “as usual” may be problematic from “a little bit” to “quite a lot”.). In the years to come we can reflect on whether this was one of our better ideas - and that will largely come down to the wisdom with which the U.K. is governed, rather than which trade deals we strike.

    +1
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    TheJezziahTheJezziah Posts: 3,840
    My reasons for it are completely selfish of course.

    It would go down very badly with some remainers if it was declared as some kind of independance day with lots of rhetoric about being free of the big bad EU and now we can celebrate finally being free.

    I think very few would grumble about if it was done in a low key way. Although I don't think I would actually risk it if I was the conservatives, done well it could be okay maybe even slightly beneficial. Some leavers might get a kick out it.

    Although if it was a recurring thing and Brexit did go badly then that could become the day to remember the Conservatives messing up.
  • Options
    FenmanFenman Posts: 1,047
    Mike, this pathetic load of rubbish is not up to PB standards
  • Options
    CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    Fenman said:

    Mike, this pathetic load of rubbish is not up to PB standards

    You’re right of course. PB usually peddles a much higher grade of rubbish
  • Options
    TheJezziahTheJezziah Posts: 3,840
    Fenman said:

    Mike, this pathetic load of rubbish is not up to PB standards

    I think we should demand our money refunded and the authors salary halved...
  • Options
    MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 50,106
    I thought it was going to be an invite to a pb.com Brexit Day drinks do......
  • Options
    SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,887
    Morning. Where is the party?
  • Options
    TomsToms Posts: 2,478
    edited July 2018
    Fenman said:

    Mike, this pathetic load of rubbish is not up to PB standards

    I have heard a phrase to describe the gawkers who stand around watching a construction---men operating cranes, etc---making insightful comments. The phrase was
    "sidewalk engineer".
  • Options
    FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,599
    According to Newsnight it will be a party without sandwiches...

    https://twitter.com/BBCNewsnight/status/1024048687998107648?s=19

    Though a Bank holiday would be convenient for a mass demonstration for the Rejoin movement, seeing as the second anniversary of the referendum was marked by one of the biggest demonstrations of recent years. One of the more interesting outcomes of the Brexit vote was to activate a significant percentage of the population to evangelical Europhilia in a way we have not seen for decades. Of course, it would have been better if that had happened a couple of years earlier!

    There are big repeat demonstrations planned for Lab and Tory ConferencesConferences, as well as for October 20th.


  • Options
    SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,887
    Peter Mandelson doing his bit to help hinder the second referendum campaign.

    Brexiteers are "nationalists" who "hate foreigners" and are not "patriots" like those campaigning for a second referendum, Lord Mandelson has said
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2018/07/30/lord-mandelson-says-brexiteers-nationalists-hate-foreigners/
  • Options
    FF43FF43 Posts: 15,710
    edited July 2018
    I predict a damp squib for Brexit Day.
  • Options
    FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,599
    FF43 said:

    I predict a damp squib for Brexit Day.

    As one of the likely outcomes is permanent Transition Limbo Brexit, that is a distinct possibility.

    As someone famously said "Nothing has changed, Nothing has changed!"
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    IanB2IanB2 Posts: 47,265

    Given the nation remains as divided as ever over BREXIT I think “business as usual” should be the order of the day in 2019 (especially as “as usual” may be problematic from “a little bit” to “quite a lot”.). In the years to come we can reflect on whether this was one of our better ideas - and that will largely come down to the wisdom with which the U.K. is governed, rather than which trade deals we strike.

    Oh dear.
  • Options
    DavidLDavidL Posts: 51,240
    Perhaps we could celebrate with a leadership contest as an ungrateful and unimpressed nation says cheerio to Mrs May.
  • Options
    FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,599
    DavidL said:

    Perhaps we could celebrate with a leadership contest as an ungrateful and unimpressed nation says cheerio to Mrs May.

    https://twitter.com/ChrisGiles_/status/1016336349039923200?s=19
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    AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    Given how it has gone so far, we’ll be lucky if it isn’t like the finale to the countdown in Independence Day.
  • Options
    JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 38,986
    Off-topic:

    The following was linked to int he previous thread:
    https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/labours-democracy-review-backs-online-voting-plan-to-give-jeremy-corbyn-supporters-new-power-over-policy-full-leak_uk_5b5f7a19e4b0de86f49a0174?6jt

    Labour is going for internal e-voting.

    I read the linked document, and 'security' or 'secure' was only mentioned once.: "The Labour Party should develop secure online voting systems to make it easy and cheap to hold online ballots"

    That'll end well ...
  • Options
    AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    Anyway, since the main Leave demographic was pensioners, they don’t need a bank holiday.
  • Options
    DavidLDavidL Posts: 51,240
    I think @Corporeal raises an important issue in his amusing piece. How do we celebrate or even note an event which has been and remains so divisive? I don't think we do. It is important that we come together as a nation again after this is over and any triumphalism should be restricted to the eccentrics whom we can hopefully go back to ignoring again.
  • Options
    Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 55,327
    Fenman said:

    Mike, this pathetic load of rubbish is not up to PB standards

    Think you can do better?

    How about you submit a thread header?
  • Options
    JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 38,986
    DavidL said:

    I think @Corporeal raises an important issue in his amusing piece. How do we celebrate or even note an event which has been and remains so divisive? I don't think we do. It is important that we come together as a nation again after this is over and any triumphalism should be restricted to the eccentrics whom we can hopefully go back to ignoring again.

    If only we could have ignored the 'eccentric' Conservative Brexiteers who helped destroy several Conservative PMs and leaders over the last few decades ...
  • Options
    OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 31,975

    Anyway, since the main Leave demographic was pensioners, they don’t need a bank holiday.

    I enjoy a bank holiday and the opportunity to socialise with my (working) children and their children, some of whom are also working.
  • Options
    AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    edited July 2018

    Anyway, since the main Leave demographic was pensioners, they don’t need a bank holiday.

    I enjoy a bank holiday and the opportunity to socialise with my (working) children and their children, some of whom are also working.
    Given the untold number of reports of fraught Brexit Christmasses, this is not going to be a family occasion.
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    JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 38,986
    I'd like to say I enjoyed this threader. Thanks, Corporeal.

    Sometimes we need to see humour in a situation. For instance, I wouldn't normally find the topic of anti-Semitism amusing, but Jezziah's ludicrous attempts to excuse and deflect criticism about Labour's issues on the previous thread were hilarious.
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    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 60,980
    Good morning, everyone.

    Mr. Jessop, given how feeble the grasp of the internet and other technology politicians have, it's little wonder they're besotted with the unnecessary daftness of electronic voting.

    Mr. L, I think if we ended up remaining there would be both a much bigger party and more bitterness on the other side. We may find out how that goes.

    A party with banners declaring May is rubbish could be a way of uniting the nation.
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    AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    On the other hand, Jews mark a day of atonement as a holiday. Brexit is going to be the cause of a generational decline and perhaps Britain needs a more sombre day set aside for reflection of the past.
  • Options
    OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 31,975

    Anyway, since the main Leave demographic was pensioners, they don’t need a bank holiday.

    I enjoy a bank holiday and the opportunity to socialise with my (working) children and their children, some of whom are also working.
    Given the untold number of reports of fraught Brexit Christmasses, this is not going to be a family occasion.
    Well, this one wouldn’t be a fun occasion for sure, given we’re all Remainers.
  • Options
    SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,887

    Off-topic:

    The following was linked to int he previous thread:
    https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/labours-democracy-review-backs-online-voting-plan-to-give-jeremy-corbyn-supporters-new-power-over-policy-full-leak_uk_5b5f7a19e4b0de86f49a0174?6jt

    Labour is going for internal e-voting.

    I read the linked document, and 'security' or 'secure' was only mentioned once.: "The Labour Party should develop secure online voting systems to make it easy and cheap to hold online ballots"

    That'll end well ...

    Remember that in their eyes the £3 voting system went really well!

    [Actually, technically it was okay. They emailed you a unique link and sent an SMS with a one-time code to be input. For an organisation voting on policy (as opposed to a country electing MPs via a secret ballot) it’s probably alright - providing the leadership don’t then get a report of who voted which way].
  • Options
    rkrkrkrkrkrk Posts: 7,908
    Uber halts development of self-driving trucks:
    https://www.bbc.com/news/business-45015893

    Not quite the future yet then...
  • Options
    RogerRoger Posts: 18,891
    A recreation of the the final scene of the Wicker Man starring Johnson Gove Farage Banks Hoey Davis IDS Leadsom and Cameron
  • Options
    OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 31,975
    Sandpit said:

    Off-topic:

    The following was linked to int he previous thread:
    https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/labours-democracy-review-backs-online-voting-plan-to-give-jeremy-corbyn-supporters-new-power-over-policy-full-leak_uk_5b5f7a19e4b0de86f49a0174?6jt

    Labour is going for internal e-voting.

    I read the linked document, and 'security' or 'secure' was only mentioned once.: "The Labour Party should develop secure online voting systems to make it easy and cheap to hold online ballots"

    That'll end well ...

    Remember that in their eyes the £3 voting system went really well!

    [Actually, technically it was okay. They emailed you a unique link and sent an SMS with a one-time code to be input. For an organisation voting on policy (as opposed to a country electing MPs via a secret ballot) it’s probably alright - providing the leadership don’t then get a report of who voted which way].
    My professional body has a system like that. And I’ve just confirmed our place on the local Electoral Register using a similar system.
  • Options
    JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 38,986
    rkrkrk said:

    Uber halts development of self-driving trucks:
    https://www.bbc.com/news/business-45015893

    Not quite the future yet then...

    SeanT will be disappointed.

    And in other AI news:
    "IBM Watson Recommends Unsafe Cancer Treatments"
    https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/274453-ibm-watson-recommends-unsafe-cancer-treatments
  • Options
    DecrepitJohnLDecrepitJohnL Posts: 13,300
    edited July 2018
    Sandpit said:

    Off-topic:

    The following was linked to int he previous thread:
    https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/labours-democracy-review-backs-online-voting-plan-to-give-jeremy-corbyn-supporters-new-power-over-policy-full-leak_uk_5b5f7a19e4b0de86f49a0174?6jt

    Labour is going for internal e-voting.

    I read the linked document, and 'security' or 'secure' was only mentioned once.: "The Labour Party should develop secure online voting systems to make it easy and cheap to hold online ballots"

    That'll end well ...

    Remember that in their eyes the £3 voting system went really well!

    [Actually, technically it was okay. They emailed you a unique link and sent an SMS with a one-time code to be input. For an organisation voting on policy (as opposed to a country electing MPs via a secret ballot) it’s probably alright - providing the leadership don’t then get a report of who voted which way].
    And provided those voting are not mischievous Conservatives or Russians.

    Come to think of it, with the number of online polls there are now, voodoo or not, has anything been reported of Russian respondents, or has no-one even checked? Given the importance of opinion poll results in our democracy -- they drive news coverage; might lead to a new referendum; and even mislead Oxford-educated prime ministers into calling snap general elections -- you'd surely expect them to be a prime target for the KGB. Or CIA. Or whatever the Chinese equivalent is. Just don't mention Mossad!
  • Options
    FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,599

    I'd like to say I enjoyed this threader. Thanks, Corporeal.

    Sometimes we need to see humour in a situation. For instance, I wouldn't normally find the topic of anti-Semitism amusing, but Jezziah's ludicrous attempts to excuse and deflect criticism about Labour's issues on the previous thread were hilarious.

    While tongue in cheek, the question of what happens to Britain's view of itself is an interesting one. There has been discussion over the trade and economic effects ad nauseum, but the Brexit phenomenon is really just opening the door to much wider questions of identity and culture. We haven't even started on those yet.
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    CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 59,623
    ‘No change in party support!’ and ‘Public remain evenly divided on Brexit!’ do not make good headlines...

    http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/brexit/2018/07/31/new-poll-suggests-how-to-tell-when-public-opinion-has-really-changed/
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    DavidLDavidL Posts: 51,240

    ‘No change in party support!’ and ‘Public remain evenly divided on Brexit!’ do not make good headlines...

    http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/brexit/2018/07/31/new-poll-suggests-how-to-tell-when-public-opinion-has-really-changed/

    If we took that kind of pedantry seriously where on earth would we find the majority of PB thread headers? Bunch of killjoys, so they are.
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    IanB2IanB2 Posts: 47,265
    edited July 2018
    Foxy said:

    I'd like to say I enjoyed this threader. Thanks, Corporeal.

    Sometimes we need to see humour in a situation. For instance, I wouldn't normally find the topic of anti-Semitism amusing, but Jezziah's ludicrous attempts to excuse and deflect criticism about Labour's issues on the previous thread were hilarious.

    While tongue in cheek, the question of what happens to Britain's view of itself is an interesting one. There has been discussion over the trade and economic effects ad nauseum, but the Brexit phenomenon is really just opening the door to much wider questions of identity and culture. We haven't even started on those yet.
    A slow burn; Suez: the sequel.
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    AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    Foxy said:

    I'd like to say I enjoyed this threader. Thanks, Corporeal.

    Sometimes we need to see humour in a situation. For instance, I wouldn't normally find the topic of anti-Semitism amusing, but Jezziah's ludicrous attempts to excuse and deflect criticism about Labour's issues on the previous thread were hilarious.

    While tongue in cheek, the question of what happens to Britain's view of itself is an interesting one. There has been discussion over the trade and economic effects ad nauseum, but the Brexit phenomenon is really just opening the door to much wider questions of identity and culture. We haven't even started on those yet.
    John Bull returns: an insular and aggressive English nationalism with an absurd hostility to anything that smacks of Abroad.
  • Options
    FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,599

    Foxy said:

    I'd like to say I enjoyed this threader. Thanks, Corporeal.

    Sometimes we need to see humour in a situation. For instance, I wouldn't normally find the topic of anti-Semitism amusing, but Jezziah's ludicrous attempts to excuse and deflect criticism about Labour's issues on the previous thread were hilarious.

    While tongue in cheek, the question of what happens to Britain's view of itself is an interesting one. There has been discussion over the trade and economic effects ad nauseum, but the Brexit phenomenon is really just opening the door to much wider questions of identity and culture. We haven't even started on those yet.
    John Bull returns: an insular and aggressive English nationalism with an absurd hostility to anything that smacks of Abroad.
    Certainly that would be the vision of Tommy Robinson's supporters, but there is also the Hannanite "Singapore in the Atlantic" as well as the Corbynite "Peoples Republic" and I am sure a few more.

    A bit like the portfolio of fantasy Brexit options discussed, I suspect none would have support of more than 10-15% of the public. The nostalic British desire for the recent past is likely to lead to Euro-nostalgia, and more than a little Brexit boredom. We've let the genie out of the bottle, and putting the blighter back in is not going to be easy.
  • Options
    FF43FF43 Posts: 15,710
    Foxy said:

    I'd like to say I enjoyed this threader. Thanks, Corporeal.

    Sometimes we need to see humour in a situation. For instance, I wouldn't normally find the topic of anti-Semitism amusing, but Jezziah's ludicrous attempts to excuse and deflect criticism about Labour's issues on the previous thread were hilarious.

    While tongue in cheek, the question of what happens to Britain's view of itself is an interesting one. There has been discussion over the trade and economic effects ad nauseum, but the Brexit phenomenon is really just opening the door to much wider questions of identity and culture. We haven't even started on those yet.
    Indeed, interesting. What will people really think of the Vassal State ? It gets us through a (entirely self made) problem but we will be stuck doing what we are told, implementing decisions that we have no say in and which increasingly run against our interests.
  • Options
    NigelbNigelb Posts: 62,552
    FF43 said:

    Foxy said:

    I'd like to say I enjoyed this threader. Thanks, Corporeal.

    Sometimes we need to see humour in a situation. For instance, I wouldn't normally find the topic of anti-Semitism amusing, but Jezziah's ludicrous attempts to excuse and deflect criticism about Labour's issues on the previous thread were hilarious.

    While tongue in cheek, the question of what happens to Britain's view of itself is an interesting one. There has been discussion over the trade and economic effects ad nauseum, but the Brexit phenomenon is really just opening the door to much wider questions of identity and culture. We haven't even started on those yet.
    Indeed, interesting. What will people really think of the Vassal State ? It gets us through a (entirely self made) problem but we will be stuck doing what we are told, implementing decisions that we have no say in and which increasingly run against our interests.
    Perhaps the least worst option ?

    Still, if we no deal Brexit, we could always turn (say) Portsmouth into a Chinese tax-free economic zone ...
    https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/jul/31/no-cambodia-left-chinese-money-changing-sihanoukville
  • Options
    JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 38,986
    Talking of Tommy Robinson, I saw something the other day that was supposed to be a tattoo of the great man himself.

    Unfortunately, I cannot unsee it.
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    mattmatt Posts: 3,789
    DavidL said:

    I think @Corporeal raises an important issue in his amusing piece. How do we celebrate or even note an event which has been and remains so divisive? I don't think we do. It is important that we come together as a nation again after this is over and any triumphalism should be restricted to the eccentrics whom we can hopefully go back to ignoring again.

    Why do you think we will “come together”? I am apparantly, depending on the intellectual starting point of the speaker, a bigoted Conservative, someone who hates Britain, a traitor, someone who would be better in the Liberal Democrats, someone who wishes to stamp on the faces of the poor, someone who wishes Arabs exterminated and so on. Hate is the defining feature of conversation.
  • Options
    AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    I'd like to say I enjoyed this threader. Thanks, Corporeal.

    Sometimes we need to see humour in a situation. For instance, I wouldn't normally find the topic of anti-Semitism amusing, but Jezziah's ludicrous attempts to excuse and deflect criticism about Labour's issues on the previous thread were hilarious.

    While tongue in cheek, the question of what happens to Britain's view of itself is an interesting one. There has been discussion over the trade and economic effects ad nauseum, but the Brexit phenomenon is really just opening the door to much wider questions of identity and culture. We haven't even started on those yet.
    John Bull returns: an insular and aggressive English nationalism with an absurd hostility to anything that smacks of Abroad.
    Certainly that would be the vision of Tommy Robinson's supporters, but there is also the Hannanite "Singapore in the Atlantic" as well as the Corbynite "Peoples Republic" and I am sure a few more.

    A bit like the portfolio of fantasy Brexit options discussed, I suspect none would have support of more than 10-15% of the public. The nostalic British desire for the recent past is likely to lead to Euro-nostalgia, and more than a little Brexit boredom. We've let the genie out of the bottle, and putting the blighter back in is not going to be easy.
    It will be the insular English nationalism that wins out. The absence of a unifying positive vision will mean that the most potent negative vision will win out. Already you can see Jeremy Corbyn pandering to the “British jobs for British workers” group.
  • Options
    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,191

    John Bull returns: an insular and aggressive English nationalism with an absurd hostility to anything that smacks of Abroad.

    If I were feeling malicious I could make a comment about SeanT here...
  • Options
    SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,887
    edited July 2018
    FF43 said:

    Foxy said:

    I'd like to say I enjoyed this threader. Thanks, Corporeal.

    Sometimes we need to see humour in a situation. For instance, I wouldn't normally find the topic of anti-Semitism amusing, but Jezziah's ludicrous attempts to excuse and deflect criticism about Labour's issues on the previous thread were hilarious.

    While tongue in cheek, the question of what happens to Britain's view of itself is an interesting one. There has been discussion over the trade and economic effects ad nauseum, but the Brexit phenomenon is really just opening the door to much wider questions of identity and culture. We haven't even started on those yet.
    Indeed, interesting. What will people really think of the Vassal State ? It gets us through a (entirely self made) problem but we will be stuck doing what we are told, implementing decisions that we have no say in and which increasingly run against our interests.
    Even worse, it’s highly likely that our formally leaving will be followed by deliberately provocative EU legislation, such as a Financial Transaction Tax that’s been mooted for a few years and would disproportionately affect the UK.

    BINO / Vassal State solves nothing, it takes away all the positives of Brexit while leaving all the negatives.
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    Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 55,327

    Anyway, since the main Leave demographic was pensioners, they don’t need a bank holiday.

    I enjoy a bank holiday and the opportunity to socialise with my (working) children and their children, some of whom are also working.
    Given the untold number of reports of fraught Brexit Christmasses, this is not going to be a family occasion.
    Something you continue to mention but never happens in real life.
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    SunnyJimSunnyJim Posts: 1,106
    I'll be celebrating the cessation of Remainers incessant whining.
  • Options
    Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 55,327

    DavidL said:

    I think @Corporeal raises an important issue in his amusing piece. How do we celebrate or even note an event which has been and remains so divisive? I don't think we do. It is important that we come together as a nation again after this is over and any triumphalism should be restricted to the eccentrics whom we can hopefully go back to ignoring again.

    If only we could have ignored the 'eccentric' Conservative Brexiteers who helped destroy several Conservative PMs and leaders over the last few decades ...
    We’d probably be in the euro now with no opt-outs.
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    NickPalmerNickPalmer Posts: 21,331

    Fenman said:

    Mike, this pathetic load of rubbish is not up to PB standards

    Think you can do better?

    How about you submit a thread header?
    +1. It's a bit of fun.
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    NigelbNigelb Posts: 62,552

    rkrkrk said:

    Uber halts development of self-driving trucks:
    https://www.bbc.com/news/business-45015893

    Not quite the future yet then...

    SeanT will be disappointed.

    And in other AI news:
    "IBM Watson Recommends Unsafe Cancer Treatments"
    https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/274453-ibm-watson-recommends-unsafe-cancer-treatments
    Except that AIs tend to learn from their mistakes, and those that don’t get defunded sooner or later.
    Radiographers will be put out of business long before cancer specialists, though.

    As for Uber, I don’t think it’s really in the self-driving race; its expertise is rather on the customer and fleet management side.
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    AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    SunnyJim said:

    I'll be celebrating the cessation of Remainers incessant whining.

    Which year are you expecting that? I’d say somewhere around 2027, when British rejoins the EU.
  • Options
    mattmatt Posts: 3,789

    DavidL said:

    I think @Corporeal raises an important issue in his amusing piece. How do we celebrate or even note an event which has been and remains so divisive? I don't think we do. It is important that we come together as a nation again after this is over and any triumphalism should be restricted to the eccentrics whom we can hopefully go back to ignoring again.

    If only we could have ignored the 'eccentric' Conservative Brexiteers who helped destroy several Conservative PMs and leaders over the last few decades ...
    We’d probably be in the euro now with no opt-outs.
    I thought the story was that if we’d been in the Euro in 2008 we’d have pulled it down. So better we were not. Still whatever fiction makes you happy.
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    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 60,980
    Mr. Sandpit, indeed.

    If May gets a terrible deal she may well want a second referendum, and it'd fit the playbook rather well. "Do you want the status quo[ish] or to have all the downsides of memberships with none of the advantages?"
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    NigelbNigelb Posts: 62,552
    ydoethur said:

    John Bull returns: an insular and aggressive English nationalism with an absurd hostility to anything that smacks of Abroad.

    If I were feeling malicious I could make a comment about SeanT here...
    As a travel writer, Sean obviously has no problems with abroad - so long as it stays there.

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    PolruanPolruan Posts: 2,083
    Sandpit said:

    FF43 said:

    Foxy said:

    I'd like to say I enjoyed this threader. Thanks, Corporeal.

    Sometimes we need to see humour in a situation. For instance, I wouldn't normally find the topic of anti-Semitism amusing, but Jezziah's ludicrous attempts to excuse and deflect criticism about Labour's issues on the previous thread were hilarious.

    While tongue in cheek, the question of what happens to Britain's view of itself is an interesting one. There has been discussion over the trade and economic effects ad nauseum, but the Brexit phenomenon is really just opening the door to much wider questions of identity and culture. We haven't even started on those yet.
    Indeed, interesting. What will people really think of the Vassal State ? It gets us through a (entirely self made) problem but we will be stuck doing what we are told, implementing decisions that we have no say in and which increasingly run against our interests.
    Even worse, it’s highly likely that our formally leaving will be followed by deliberately provocative EU legislation, such as a Financial Transaction Tax that’s been mooted for a few years and would disproportionately affect the UK.

    BINO / Vassal State solves nothing, it takes away all the positives of Brexit while leaving all the negatives.
    I’m not sure the EU are interested in provocation for its own sake... but it’s easy to see our voluntary surrender of influence being seen as a green light for all those projects that we previously opposed as a disproportionate disadvantage fell on the UK. FTT probably falls in that category in principle but there was enough opposition from other states (particularly Netherlands I think) that it looks unlikely still.
  • Options
    NickPalmerNickPalmer Posts: 21,331
    IanB2 said:
    I'd like a referendum, but that's a really thin article. A lot of CLPs might, or might not, submit a resolution. Some unions might be sympathetic. A senior unnamed figure says it'd be a good thing. Etc.
  • Options
    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,191
    Sandpit said:

    FF43 said:

    Foxy said:

    I'd like to say I enjoyed this threader. Thanks, Corporeal.

    Sometimes we need to see humour in a situation. For instance, I wouldn't normally find the topic of anti-Semitism amusing, but Jezziah's ludicrous attempts to excuse and deflect criticism about Labour's issues on the previous thread were hilarious.

    While tongue in cheek, the question of what happens to Britain's view of itself is an interesting one. There has been discussion over the trade and economic effects ad nauseum, but the Brexit phenomenon is really just opening the door to much wider questions of identity and culture. We haven't even started on those yet.
    Indeed, interesting. What will people really think of the Vassal State ? It gets us through a (entirely self made) problem but we will be stuck doing what we are told, implementing decisions that we have no say in and which increasingly run against our interests.
    Even worse, it’s highly likely that our formally leaving will be followed by deliberately provocative EU legislation, such as a Financial Transaction Tax that’s been mooted for a few years and would disproportionately affect the UK.
    Possible, but most unlikely. They are trying at the moment to get financial institutions to relocate. Would that be achieved by increasing taxes, which the UK might accidentally forget to implement?

    One of the more puzzling aspects about the heat and light over the ECJ is that we shouldn't allow the EU to be judge and jury in its own case, or make British residents subject to the whims of a foreign (and less than trusted) court. This is a fair point.

    However, against this in the real world (not the one Commission members see through their rum bottle) we're talking about the ECJ whom nobody pays the slightest attention to. We're ignoring it over votes for prisoners. The French ignored it over our beef ban. The ECB is ignoring it over the Stability Pact.

    So all we would have to do in that case is stall for a couple of years, or set up a system of taxation designed to be easy to avoid (maybe hire Juncker as a consultant) and bingo! No financial institutions left in the EU at all.

    It would be the most imposing act of national self-destruction since the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and missed all the aircraft carriers.

    But it would also be quite funny.
  • Options
    SunnyJimSunnyJim Posts: 1,106

    SunnyJim said:

    I'll be celebrating the cessation of Remainers incessant whining.

    Which year are you expecting that? I’d say somewhere around 2027, when British rejoins the EU.
    It's the hope that kills you.

    Let it go Meeks...the rotting pustulating corpse of the EU will be no more than a malodorous waft over the Channel in 2027.
  • Options
    DavidLDavidL Posts: 51,240
    matt said:

    DavidL said:

    I think @Corporeal raises an important issue in his amusing piece. How do we celebrate or even note an event which has been and remains so divisive? I don't think we do. It is important that we come together as a nation again after this is over and any triumphalism should be restricted to the eccentrics whom we can hopefully go back to ignoring again.

    Why do you think we will “come together”? I am apparantly, depending on the intellectual starting point of the speaker, a bigoted Conservative, someone who hates Britain, a traitor, someone who would be better in the Liberal Democrats, someone who wishes to stamp on the faces of the poor, someone who wishes Arabs exterminated and so on. Hate is the defining feature of conversation.
    There is no question that Brexit has been divisive. Nearly half the population feel that a serious mistake has been made. They think people were conned into voting to Leave by "xenophobic lies" and other such rubbish. Conversely, some on the leave side are of the view that those who seem to delight in supporting the EU, criticising every step our own government takes and forecasting gloom and despondency at every turn are not much short of traitors.

    This creates a lot of sound and fury but I think in the middle there will remain a substantial majority who just want to get on with their lives. As we stumble into a softish Brexit there will be irritations and issues. I for one don't believe that the relationship with the EU will be static. We will move closer and further away in different areas and this will form a significant part of our ongoing debate in this country. The wailing on both sides will no doubt continue. But I am hopeful that the noises off will gradually diminish in significance and we will just get on with it. A lot will depend on the quality of leadership we get and that is obviously a concern.
  • Options
    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,191
    Nigelb said:

    ydoethur said:

    John Bull returns: an insular and aggressive English nationalism with an absurd hostility to anything that smacks of Abroad.

    If I were feeling malicious I could make a comment about SeanT here...
    As a travel writer, Sean obviously has no problems with abroad - so long as it stays there.

    I congratulate you, Nigel. You have a clean mind sir. You assumed I was talking about SeanT's notably ummm, pro-English rants and casting him as John Bull.

    I saw a comment about smacking broads...
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    JonathanJonathan Posts: 20,901
    Nice post. Suspect the thing to do is to switch off the news, watch a movie and forget about it.
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    AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    SunnyJim said:

    SunnyJim said:

    I'll be celebrating the cessation of Remainers incessant whining.

    Which year are you expecting that? I’d say somewhere around 2027, when British rejoins the EU.
    It's the hope that kills you.

    Let it go Meeks...the rotting pustulating corpse of the EU will be no more than a malodorous waft over the Channel in 2027.
    I’m happy to bet a sporting fiver at evens that the EU still exists in 2027.
  • Options
    SunnyJimSunnyJim Posts: 1,106

    SunnyJim said:

    SunnyJim said:

    I'll be celebrating the cessation of Remainers incessant whining.

    Which year are you expecting that? I’d say somewhere around 2027, when British rejoins the EU.
    It's the hope that kills you.

    Let it go Meeks...the rotting pustulating corpse of the EU will be no more than a malodorous waft over the Channel in 2027.
    I’m happy to bet a sporting fiver at evens that the EU still exists in 2027.

    You give it a 50/50 chance eh?

    A ringing endorsement from the biggest EU-fanboy on the site!

  • Options
    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,191
    edited July 2018
    Jonathan said:

    Nice post. Suspect the thing to do is to switch off the news, watch a movie and forget about it.

    For ardent Brexiteers, Independence Day. Or the Great Escape. Or Dunkirk...

    For ardent Remainers, Calamity Jane, The Night My Number Came Up or Carry on Screaming. (EDIT - The Hunger Games would be even better.)

    For sensible people, anything but the Last Jedi.
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    AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    SunnyJim said:

    SunnyJim said:

    SunnyJim said:

    I'll be celebrating the cessation of Remainers incessant whining.

    Which year are you expecting that? I’d say somewhere around 2027, when British rejoins the EU.
    It's the hope that kills you.

    Let it go Meeks...the rotting pustulating corpse of the EU will be no more than a malodorous waft over the Channel in 2027.
    I’m happy to bet a sporting fiver at evens that the EU still exists in 2027.

    You give it a 50/50 chance eh?

    A ringing endorsement from the biggest EU-fanboy on the site!

    You profess to be certain. But it seems in reality it’s your hope that’s going to kill you.
  • Options
    MattWMattW Posts: 18,501
    PB get-together celebrating the French wine which is going to completely vanish from the country at midnight because it has all turned into pumpkins?
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    SquareRootSquareRoot Posts: 7,095
    Jonathan said:

    Nice post. Suspect the thing to do is to switch off the news, watch a movie and forget about it.

    that's what most of us are doing, irrespective of Brexit.
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    NigelbNigelb Posts: 62,552
    ydoethur said:

    Nigelb said:

    ydoethur said:

    John Bull returns: an insular and aggressive English nationalism with an absurd hostility to anything that smacks of Abroad.

    If I were feeling malicious I could make a comment about SeanT here...
    As a travel writer, Sean obviously has no problems with abroad - so long as it stays there.

    I congratulate you, Nigel. You have a clean mind sir. You assumed I was talking about SeanT's notably ummm, pro-English rants and casting him as John Bull.

    I saw a comment about smacking broads...
    I clearly need to be more aware of your punning traps in the future.

    Still, as this seems to be a humorous thread, I can offer this,.,
    https://www.politico.eu/article/jeremy-corbyn-labour-left-left-look-to-corbyn/
    Traditional left-wing parties across Europe are searching for a savior.

    Some believe his name is Jeremy Corbyn.
  • Options
    SunnyJimSunnyJim Posts: 1,106

    SunnyJim said:

    SunnyJim said:

    SunnyJim said:

    I'll be celebrating the cessation of Remainers incessant whining.

    Which year are you expecting that? I’d say somewhere around 2027, when British rejoins the EU.
    It's the hope that kills you.

    Let it go Meeks...the rotting pustulating corpse of the EU will be no more than a malodorous waft over the Channel in 2027.
    I’m happy to bet a sporting fiver at evens that the EU still exists in 2027.

    You give it a 50/50 chance eh?

    A ringing endorsement from the biggest EU-fanboy on the site!

    You profess to be certain. But it seems in reality it’s your hope that’s going to kill you.
    I think you, me and everybody else who reads this site knows the UK leaving is eating you up 24/7.

    I'm trying to help you because you seem to be stuck somewhere between Stage 1 and 2 when the vast majority of rational Remainers are well in to Stage 4/5.
  • Options
    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,191
    Nigelb said:

    ydoethur said:

    Nigelb said:

    ydoethur said:

    John Bull returns: an insular and aggressive English nationalism with an absurd hostility to anything that smacks of Abroad.

    If I were feeling malicious I could make a comment about SeanT here...
    As a travel writer, Sean obviously has no problems with abroad - so long as it stays there.

    I congratulate you, Nigel. You have a clean mind sir. You assumed I was talking about SeanT's notably ummm, pro-English rants and casting him as John Bull.

    I saw a comment about smacking broads...
    I clearly need to be more aware of your punning traps in the future.

    Still, as this seems to be a humorous thread, I can offer this,.,
    https://www.politico.eu/article/jeremy-corbyn-labour-left-left-look-to-corbyn/
    Traditional left-wing parties across Europe are searching for a savior.

    Some believe his name is Jeremy Corbyn.
    As I am always saying:

    He's not the Jezziah, he's a very naughty boy.
  • Options
    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,191
    MattW said:

    PB get-together celebrating the French wine which is going to completely vanish from the country at midnight because it has all turned into pumpkins?

    We'll be drinking pumpkin juice?

    I can live with the thought of us all being wizards...
  • Options
    AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    SunnyJim said:

    SunnyJim said:

    SunnyJim said:

    SunnyJim said:

    I'll be celebrating the cessation of Remainers incessant whining.

    Which year are you expecting that? I’d say somewhere around 2027, when British rejoins the EU.
    It's the hope that kills you.

    Let it go Meeks...the rotting pustulating corpse of the EU will be no more than a malodorous waft over the Channel in 2027.
    I’m happy to bet a sporting fiver at evens that the EU still exists in 2027.

    You give it a 50/50 chance eh?

    A ringing endorsement from the biggest EU-fanboy on the site!

    You profess to be certain. But it seems in reality it’s your hope that’s going to kill you.
    I think you, me and everybody else who reads this site knows the UK leaving is eating you up 24/7.

    I'm trying to help you because you seem to be stuck somewhere between Stage 1 and 2 when the vast majority of rational Remainers are well in to Stage 4/5.
    I’m sorry you can’t read polls. The most recent one, yesterday, showed that the public backs a fresh referendum and would vote to remain. You shouldn’t extrapolate from your own hopes.
  • Options
    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 60,980
    edited July 2018
    Thinking a bit more about what I said: if May does negotiate an utter capitulation deal, she may well see that as a way of getting a second referendum, which even many who voted to leave may support (as it's miles worse than the status quo).

    However, in such circumstances the EU itself may not want the UK to remain, and revocation of Article 50, I think, requires the EU to consent.

    If May wants us to remain, she needs a deal so bad even many leavers won't want it, but not so wonderful for the EU they won't prefer it to the status quo.

    If we ended up leaving with the worst deal since Jovian's capitulation to the Persians, that would have profoundly negative consequences for the UK's immediate future.

    Edited extra bit: on a lighter note, I see Newsnight was wibbling about sandwiches last night. Just as well we won't have any, given we'll run out of butter too.
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    Philip_ThompsonPhilip_Thompson Posts: 65,826
    I'm amused that nobody has yet pointed out that the 30th is a Saturday so a national holiday is not just rather redundant but under the principles of a holiday that falls on a weekend actually observed the following Monday a theoretical Brexit Day Holiday would actually fall on Monday 1 April.

    April Fools Day.
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    TheJezziahTheJezziah Posts: 3,840
    edited July 2018
    Nigelb said:

    ydoethur said:

    Nigelb said:

    ydoethur said:

    John Bull returns: an insular and aggressive English nationalism with an absurd hostility to anything that smacks of Abroad.

    If I were feeling malicious I could make a comment about SeanT here...
    As a travel writer, Sean obviously has no problems with abroad - so long as it stays there.

    I congratulate you, Nigel. You have a clean mind sir. You assumed I was talking about SeanT's notably ummm, pro-English rants and casting him as John Bull.

    I saw a comment about smacking broads...
    I clearly need to be more aware of your punning traps in the future.

    Still, as this seems to be a humorous thread, I can offer this,.,
    https://www.politico.eu/article/jeremy-corbyn-labour-left-left-look-to-corbyn/
    Traditional left-wing parties across Europe are searching for a savior.

    Some believe his name is Jeremy Corbyn.
    Actually read that earlier, thought about copying it here but thought better of it. The problem with copying it is the lack of FPTP and the fact their left rivals have already gained strength (depending which country we are talking about) with PR systems you could imagine they won't have a left wing rebel type within the party. Also as the article mentions the route ahead is to replace themselves within the party, which isn't attractive...

    Aside from that though there are things to be learned from his approach, for some of them they may already be doomed anyway, give it a shot and go out with a bang.

    I'm amused that nobody has yet pointed out that the 30th is a Saturday so a national holiday is not just rather redundant but under the principles of a holiday that falls on a weekend actually observed the following Monday a theoretical Brexit Day Holiday would actually fall on Monday 1 April.

    April Fools Day.

    That's too perfect, we must have this holiday!
  • Options
    JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 38,986

    DavidL said:

    I think @Corporeal raises an important issue in his amusing piece. How do we celebrate or even note an event which has been and remains so divisive? I don't think we do. It is important that we come together as a nation again after this is over and any triumphalism should be restricted to the eccentrics whom we can hopefully go back to ignoring again.

    If only we could have ignored the 'eccentric' Conservative Brexiteers who helped destroy several Conservative PMs and leaders over the last few decades ...
    We’d probably be in the euro now with no opt-outs.
    That's an interesting conjecture, what's your thinking?

    IMV it's likely to be the opposite: the behaviour of the 'bastards' in the Conservative Party made joining the Euro more likely.

    Here's my thinking:
    *) The Euro did not exist when Major was in power.
    *) The bastards helped give Tony Blair a stonking majority.
    *) Tony Blair was sympathetic to joining the Euro, and had a large majority to make it happen.
    *) Brown acted as an anchor against joining.

    If the bastards hadn't helped so thoroughly destroy the Conservative Party's electoral chances in the mid-1990s, then Blair would have had a much smaller majority, and made the chance of joining the Euro much less (i.e. Major would still have lost in 1997, but not by as much).

    Fortunately, whilst Blair was generally sympathetic to joining the Euro, he probably felt it wasn't a battle worth fighting, even with a large majority.
  • Options
    Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 55,327
    matt said:

    DavidL said:

    I think @Corporeal raises an important issue in his amusing piece. How do we celebrate or even note an event which has been and remains so divisive? I don't think we do. It is important that we come together as a nation again after this is over and any triumphalism should be restricted to the eccentrics whom we can hopefully go back to ignoring again.

    If only we could have ignored the 'eccentric' Conservative Brexiteers who helped destroy several Conservative PMs and leaders over the last few decades ...
    We’d probably be in the euro now with no opt-outs.
    I thought the story was that if we’d been in the Euro in 2008 we’d have pulled it down. So better we were not. Still whatever fiction makes you happy.
    Pressure from eurosceptics within the Conservative Party from the late 1980s onwards helped win opt-outs from monetary union in Maastricht, drove national opposition to the euro, pressured the Government on offering a referendum on the EU constitution and minor opt-outs on Lisbon and to Cameron’s renegotiation.

    It’s hard to see how the absence of any politically eurosceptic wing at a national level would have led to anything other than British membership of the euro.
  • Options
    SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,887

    DavidL said:

    I think @Corporeal raises an important issue in his amusing piece. How do we celebrate or even note an event which has been and remains so divisive? I don't think we do. It is important that we come together as a nation again after this is over and any triumphalism should be restricted to the eccentrics whom we can hopefully go back to ignoring again.

    If only we could have ignored the 'eccentric' Conservative Brexiteers who helped destroy several Conservative PMs and leaders over the last few decades ...
    We’d probably be in the euro now with no opt-outs.
    That's an interesting conjecture, what's your thinking?

    IMV it's likely to be the opposite: the behaviour of the 'bastards' in the Conservative Party made joining the Euro more likely.

    Here's my thinking:
    *) The Euro did not exist when Major was in power.
    *) The bastards helped give Tony Blair a stonking majority.
    *) Tony Blair was sympathetic to joining the Euro, and had a large majority to make it happen.
    *) Brown acted as an anchor against joining.

    If the bastards hadn't helped so thoroughly destroy the Conservative Party's electoral chances in the mid-1990s, then Blair would have had a much smaller majority, and made the chance of joining the Euro much less (i.e. Major would still have lost in 1997, but not by as much).

    Fortunately, whilst Blair was generally sympathetic to joining the Euro, he probably felt it wasn't a battle worth fighting, even with a large majority.
    And if the Conservatives had gone with Ken Clarke, rather than William Hague in 1997, Blair would have had the LotO egging him on to join the Euro from across the dispatch box.
  • Options
    JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 38,986

    matt said:

    DavidL said:

    I think @Corporeal raises an important issue in his amusing piece. How do we celebrate or even note an event which has been and remains so divisive? I don't think we do. It is important that we come together as a nation again after this is over and any triumphalism should be restricted to the eccentrics whom we can hopefully go back to ignoring again.

    If only we could have ignored the 'eccentric' Conservative Brexiteers who helped destroy several Conservative PMs and leaders over the last few decades ...
    We’d probably be in the euro now with no opt-outs.
    I thought the story was that if we’d been in the Euro in 2008 we’d have pulled it down. So better we were not. Still whatever fiction makes you happy.
    Pressure from eurosceptics within the Conservative Party from the late 1980s onwards helped win opt-outs from monetary union in Maastricht, drove national opposition to the euro, pressured the Government on offering a referendum on the EU constitution and minor opt-outs on Lisbon and to Cameron’s renegotiation.

    It’s hard to see how the absence of any politically eurosceptic wing at a national level would have led to anything other than British membership of the euro.
    And they helped thoroughly destroy the Conservative Party in parliament, and replaced it with a Labour Party who had a leader who quite liked the Euro ...
  • Options
    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,191

    Fortunately, whilst Blair was generally sympathetic to joining the Euro, he probably felt it wasn't a battle worth fighting, even with a large majority.

    In many ways, with the very unfortunate exception of Iraq, that could be the epitaph for Blair's premiership.
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    MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 50,106
    SunnyJim said:

    SunnyJim said:

    SunnyJim said:

    I'll be celebrating the cessation of Remainers incessant whining.

    Which year are you expecting that? I’d say somewhere around 2027, when British rejoins the EU.
    It's the hope that kills you.

    Let it go Meeks...the rotting pustulating corpse of the EU will be no more than a malodorous waft over the Channel in 2027.
    I’m happy to bet a sporting fiver at evens that the EU still exists in 2027.

    You give it a 50/50 chance eh?

    A ringing endorsement from the biggest EU-fanboy on the site!

    Oh, I think WilliamGlen would want to fight him for that title.....
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    rkrkrkrkrkrk Posts: 7,908
    Nigelb said:



    As for Uber, I don’t think it’s really in the self-driving race; its expertise is rather on the customer and fleet management side.

    Their expertise seems to be in convincing silicon valley investors to allow them to lose money.
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    MortimerMortimer Posts: 13,942
    edited July 2018
    DavidL said:

    matt said:

    DavidL said:

    I think @Corporeal raises an important issue in his amusing piece. How do we celebrate or even note an event which has been and remains so divisive? I don't think we do. It is important that we come together as a nation again after this is over and any triumphalism should be restricted to the eccentrics whom we can hopefully go back to ignoring again.

    Why do you think we will “come together”? I am apparantly, depending on the intellectual starting point of the speaker, a bigoted Conservative, someone who hates Britain, a traitor, someone who would be better in the Liberal Democrats, someone who wishes to stamp on the faces of the poor, someone who wishes Arabs exterminated and so on. Hate is the defining feature of conversation.
    There is no question that Brexit has been divisive. Nearly half the population feel that a serious mistake has been made. They think people were conned into voting to Leave by "xenophobic lies" and other such rubbish. Conversely, some on the leave side are of the view that those who seem to delight in supporting the EU, criticising every step our own government takes and forecasting gloom and despondency at every turn are not much short of traitors.

    This creates a lot of sound and fury but I think in the middle there will remain a substantial majority who just want to get on with their lives. As we stumble into a softish Brexit there will be irritations and issues. I for one don't believe that the relationship with the EU will be static. We will move closer and further away in different areas and this will form a significant part of our ongoing debate in this country. The wailing on both sides will no doubt continue. But I am hopeful that the noises off will gradually diminish in significance and we will just get on with it. A lot will depend on the quality of leadership we get and that is obviously a concern.
    Agreed.

    It will be fascinating to see who moves on and who continues to act as if the referendum campaign is still ongoing.

    The 90s/00s saw the Tories still reliving the Thatcher glories, and the late 00s/early 10s saw the Blairites, without a cause or a leader, pining for something else no longer extant. Who will still be pining for our past membership by 2025?

  • Options
    JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 38,986
    The current headlines make sombre reading for charities:

    "The aid sector is guilty of "complacency verging on complicity" over an "endemic" sex abuse scandal, a damning report from MPs has said."

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-45013078

    I can't help but think that the same sort of thinking that led this to happen will also be seen in other organisations, including political parties ...
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    SunnyJimSunnyJim Posts: 1,106

    SunnyJim said:

    SunnyJim said:

    SunnyJim said:

    SunnyJim said:

    I'll be celebrating the cessation of Remainers incessant whining.

    Which year are you expecting that? I’d say somewhere around 2027, when British rejoins the EU.
    It's the hope that kills you.

    Let it go Meeks...the rotting pustulating corpse of the EU will be no more than a malodorous waft over the Channel in 2027.
    I’m happy to bet a sporting fiver at evens that the EU still exists in 2027.

    You give it a 50/50 chance eh?

    A ringing endorsement from the biggest EU-fanboy on the site!

    You profess to be certain. But it seems in reality it’s your hope that’s going to kill you.
    I think you, me and everybody else who reads this site knows the UK leaving is eating you up 24/7.

    I'm trying to help you because you seem to be stuck somewhere between Stage 1 and 2 when the vast majority of rational Remainers are well in to Stage 4/5.
    I’m sorry you can’t read polls. The most recent one, yesterday, showed that the public backs a fresh referendum and would vote to remain. You shouldn’t extrapolate from your own hopes.
    'You shouldn't extrapolate from your own hopes'...whilst grabbing hold of a small sample poll.

    I couldn't have created a better example of 'irony'.
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    MortimerMortimer Posts: 13,942
    edited July 2018
    Incidentally, apologies to Nick P for not responding to his surprise at a cultural attachment to the Pound.

    I honestly didn’t expect that to be controversial.

    Would be interesting to see some polling. Not on a proxy, but on the actual cultural attachment to it.
  • Options
    SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,887
    rkrkrk said:

    Nigelb said:



    As for Uber, I don’t think it’s really in the self-driving race; its expertise is rather on the customer and fleet management side.

    Their expertise seems to be in convincing silicon valley investors to allow them to lose money.
    Their whole business model is predicated on getting self-driving cars working and accepted by the public before their money runs out.

    It’s not going to happen, as anyone who’s ever designed something complex will say 10% of the effort solves 90% of the problem, the other 90% of the effort is required to solve the final 10%. Their cars are still killing pedestrians, they’ve got an awful long way to go.

    Even if the technology gets working, the acceptance of it by all the lawmakers they’ve upset over the years with their taxi service business practices is even further away.
  • Options
    AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    Mortimer said:

    DavidL said:

    matt said:

    DavidL said:

    I think @Corporeal raises an important issue in his amusing piece. How do we celebrate or even note an event which has been and remains so divisive? I don't think we do. It is important that we come together as a nation again after this is over and any triumphalism should be restricted to the eccentrics whom we can hopefully go back to ignoring again.

    Why do you think we will “come together”? I am apparantly, depending on the intellectual starting point of the speaker, a bigoted Conservative, someone who hates Britain, a traitor, someone who would be better in the Liberal Democrats, someone who wishes to stamp on the faces of the poor, someone who wishes Arabs exterminated and so on. Hate is the defining feature of conversation.
    There is no question that Brexit has been divisive. Nearly half the population feel that a serious mistake has been made. They think people were conned into voting to Leave by "xenophobic lies" and other such rubbish. Conversely, some on the leave side are of the view that those who seem to delight in supporting the EU, criticising every step our own government takes and forecasting gloom and despondency at every turn are not much short of traitors.

    This creates a lot of sound and fury but I think in the middle there will remain a substantial majority who just want to get on with their lives. As we stumble into a softish Brexit there will be irritations and issues. I for one don't believe that the relationship with the EU will be static. We will move closer and further away in different areas and this will form a significant part of our ongoing debate in this country. The wailing on both sides will no doubt continue. But I am hopeful that the noises off will gradually diminish in significance and we will just get on with it. A lot will depend on the quality of leadership we get and that is obviously a concern.
    Agreed.

    It will be fascinating to see who moves on and who continues to act as if the referendum campaign is still ongoing.

    The 90s/00s saw the Tories still reliving the Thatcher glories, and the late 00s/early 10s saw the Blairites, without a cause or a leader, pining for something else no longer extant. Who will still be pining for our past membership by 2025?

    Right now I'm expecting two entirely separate stab-in-the-back myths to be very popular simultaneously, one Leave, one Remain. All that will unite them will be the illegitimacy of the Brexit settlement, which will be defended only by a minority.

    Brexit is going to be at the core of politics for years to come.
  • Options
    AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    Not Matthew Goodwin at his finest. What public trust? Social divides are hardened.

    Populism is already rampant in the UK, looking for its next outlet. It's not going to trickle away whatever happens with Brexit. The beast is going to be looking for new food.
  • Options
    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,960

    rkrkrk said:

    Uber halts development of self-driving trucks:
    https://www.bbc.com/news/business-45015893

    Not quite the future yet then...

    SeanT will be disappointed.

    And in other AI news:
    "IBM Watson Recommends Unsafe Cancer Treatments"
    https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/274453-ibm-watson-recommends-unsafe-cancer-treatments
    But only for Brexit voters
  • Options
    mattmatt Posts: 3,789
    Mortimer said:

    DavidL said:

    matt said:

    DavidL said:

    I think @Corporeal raises an important issue in his amusing piece. How do we celebrate or even note an event which has been and remains so divisive? I don't think we do. It is important that we come together as a nation again after this is over and any triumphalism should be restricted to the eccentrics whom we can hopefully go back to ignoring again.

    Why do you think we will “come together”? I am apparantly, depending on the intellectual starting point of the speaker, a bigoted Conservative, someone who hates Britain, a traitor, someone who would be better in the Liberal Democrats, someone who wishes to stamp on the faces of the poor, someone who wishes Arabs exterminated and so on. Hate is the defining feature of conversation.
    There is no question that Brexit has been divisive. Nearly half the population feel that a serious mistake has been made. They think people were conned into voting to Leave by "xenophobic lies" and other such rubbish. Conversely, some on the leave side are of the view that those who seem to delight in supporting the EU, criticising every step our own government takes and forecasting gloom and despondency at every turn are not much short of traitors.

    This creates a lot of sound and fury but I think in the middle there will remain a substantial majority who just want to get on with their lives. As we stumble into a softish Brexit there will be irritations and issues. I for one don't believe that the relationship with the EU will be static. We will move closer and further away in different areas and this will form a significant part of our ongoing debate in this country. The wailing on both sides will no doubt continue. But I am hopeful that the noises off will gradually diminish in significance and we will just get on with it. A lot will depend on the quality of leadership we get and that is obviously a concern.
    Agreed.

    It will be fascinating to see who moves on and who continues to act as if the referendum campaign is still ongoing.

    The 90s/00s saw the Tories still reliving the Thatcher glories, and the late 00s/early 10s saw the Blairites, without a cause or a leader, pining for something else no longer extant. Who will still be pining for our past membership by 2025?

    Actively hating ones opponents was pre-2016, a minority sport. The referendum and the fallout from it has made it central to political discourse. Pandora's box has been opened.
  • Options
    NickPalmerNickPalmer Posts: 21,331
    Mortimer said:

    Incidentally, apologies to Nick P for not responding to his surprise at a cultural attachment to the Pound.

    I honestly didn’t expect that to be controversial.

    Would be interesting to see some polling. Not on a proxy, but on the actual cultural attachment to it.

    I was being mildly contrarian, and it's nice of you to take it so affably. You're probably right that quite a few would take it as a somewhat disturbing loss of identity. Beyond that, I think in reality that as with decimalisation, most people are mildly, and in some cases strongly, attached to what they're used to, but would generally adjust, as people on the Continent have. Quite a lot of people travel in Europe every year and would be pleased not to be stung by the outrageous exchange fees that banks and especially airp[orts charge. Whether it would be economically beneficial is debatable, but we excluded that aspect.
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