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politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Given the appalling weather let’s be thankful that yesterday w

SystemSystem Posts: 11,002
edited March 2018 in General

imagepoliticalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Given the appalling weather let’s be thankful that yesterday wasn’t a general election or a referendum

There were 4 by-election taking place local councils yesterday and the results should make interesting reading because these happened on the worst Thursday for the weather across the country in decades.

Read the full story here


«13

Comments

  • Pro_RataPro_Rata Posts: 4,784
    edited March 2018
    First
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 61,560
    Those hoping for a quick trade deal with the US might wish to ponder on this:
    https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/01/trump-steel-tariffs-432143
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,733
    I'm still waiting to find out if my school is open today. The problem here isn't so much the snow as the wind, which is blowing it everywhere and causing drifts in unexpected places and ice sheets in others. A car drove easily up a hill and then got stuck on a flat, level stretch of road outside my house last night - it took some shifting.
  • BromptonautBromptonaut Posts: 1,113
    5 tests - remind you of anyone?

    The last time we had that was designed to prevent a deal with the EU, not to achieve one.

    Road to Brexit? More like an arse-of-bag,(eschewing the French there, naturellement).
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 75,841
    Nigelb said:

    Those hoping for a quick trade deal with the US might wish to ponder on this:
    https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/01/trump-steel-tariffs-432143

    Isn't he tariff just for the raw product, or are cars going to get tarrif, they have a lot of steel and aluminium.
    Is trump applying this to all grades, if he wanted to clobber China a 50% tariff on mild would have done the trick..
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,614
    edited March 2018
    Good luck and stay safe to all PBers dealing with the winter weather.

    Everyone’s favourite cartoonist nails it as usual
    https://twitter.com/Telegraph/status/969274764916396033/photo/1
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,733
    'Who would have thought, for instance, that one of the biggest Premier League matches of the season, Arsenal vs Manchester City, would take place in what appeared to be a half empty Stadium. [sic]'

    Anyone who has been following Arsenal's results for the season?
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,733
    Scott_P said:
    The name calling on both sides is really frustrating. Just as I am sill puzzled that my fellow Remainers call Leavers bigots, retards, xenophobes, fascists, thieves, liars and swindlers and then wonder why the victors are not showing any magnanimity or willingness to listen to our concerns about the disasters we foresee.
  • FF43FF43 Posts: 15,543
    Mrs May, those are five platitudes, not five tests.
  • JonathanJonathan Posts: 20,901
    Scott_P said:
    Maybe she will apologise. She really should. The citizens of nowhere comment was one of the most damaging .
  • JackWJackW Posts: 14,787
    Mrs May's speech to set out her BREXIT vision .... Hhhmm

    Me thinks "should have gone to Specsavers" comes to mind ....

  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,052
    ydoethur said:

    Scott_P said:
    The name calling on both sides is really frustrating. Just as I am sill puzzled that my fellow Remainers call Leavers bigots, retards, xenophobes, fascists, thieves, liars and swindlers and then wonder why the victors are not showing any magnanimity or willingness to listen to our concerns about the disasters we foresee.
    I don't see any of those insults featuring in that article.

    It is hard to see anyone uniting behind the flatfooted Theresa.

    Here was her on the NI border in June 2016:

    https://twitter.com/Open_Britain/status/969191104187953152?ref_src=twcamp^copy|twsrc^android|twgr^copy|twcon^7090|twterm^3
  • AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    ydoethur said:

    Scott_P said:
    The name calling on both sides is really frustrating. Just as I am sill puzzled that my fellow Remainers call Leavers bigots, retards, xenophobes, fascists, thieves, liars and swindlers and then wonder why the victors are not showing any magnanimity or willingness to listen to our concerns about the disasters we foresee.
    Leavers supposedly want Brexit to be a success. It is therefore pretty extraordinary that they are unwilling to take any practical steps to enhance its chances.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,614
    Jonathan said:

    Scott_P said:
    Maybe she will apologise. She really should. The citizens of nowhere comment was one of the most damaging .
    That comment referred specifically to multinational companies such as Google and Facebook, who have extensive business in the UK yet use aggressive tax avoidance to contribute almost nothing.

    Lots of hardcore Remainers are determined to think she was talking about them. She wasn’t.
  • AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    Sandpit said:

    Jonathan said:

    Scott_P said:
    Maybe she will apologise. She really should. The citizens of nowhere comment was one of the most damaging .
    That comment referred specifically to multinational companies such as Google and Facebook, who have extensive business in the UK yet use aggressive tax avoidance to contribute almost nothing.

    Lots of hardcore Remainers are determined to think she was talking about them. She wasn’t.
    Of course it was about Remain supporters who think of themselves as citizens of the world. It wasn’t a dog whistle to the inward-looking Leavers, it was a wolf whistle, heard loud and clear by all.
  • JonathanJonathan Posts: 20,901
    Sandpit said:

    Jonathan said:

    Scott_P said:
    Maybe she will apologise. She really should. The citizens of nowhere comment was one of the most damaging .
    That comment referred specifically to multinational companies such as Google and Facebook, who have extensive business in the UK yet use aggressive tax avoidance to contribute almost nothing.

    Lots of hardcore Remainers are determined to think she was talking about them. She wasn’t.
    She hurt a lot of people . It was stupid and careless.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 47,080

    ydoethur said:

    Scott_P said:
    The name calling on both sides is really frustrating. Just as I am sill puzzled that my fellow Remainers call Leavers bigots, retards, xenophobes, fascists, thieves, liars and swindlers and then wonder why the victors are not showing any magnanimity or willingness to listen to our concerns about the disasters we foresee.
    Leavers supposedly want Brexit to be a success. It is therefore pretty extraordinary that they are unwilling to take any practical steps to enhance its chances.
    True believers are impelled to argue for 'more' Brexit than actually comes to pass so that, in their own minds at least, they do not feel responsible for its shortcomings, having an emotional alibi already in place...
  • AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    There’s nothing too much wrong with Theresa May’s five tests. Except they’re 18 months late. Sometimes it’s better to be wrong quickly than right slowly. Theresa May is only ever right slowly, and not right often enough.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 50,761
    ydoethur said:

    I'm still waiting to find out if my school is open today. The problem here isn't so much the snow as the wind, which is blowing it everywhere and causing drifts in unexpected places and ice sheets in others. A car drove easily up a hill and then got stuck on a flat, level stretch of road outside my house last night - it took some shifting.

    My son's school is closed for a third consecutive day today. We have had kids at that school for around 16 years and I don't ever recall that happening before. Like you the total quantity of snow is not horrendous, maybe 6-8 inches but it is light, being blown around in a very strong wind and dangerously unpredictable.

    I am off to the local Sheriff Court today. am allowing an hour for getting out of the village.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,733

    ydoethur said:

    Scott_P said:
    The name calling on both sides is really frustrating. Just as I am sill puzzled that my fellow Remainers call Leavers bigots, retards, xenophobes, fascists, thieves, liars and swindlers and then wonder why the victors are not showing any magnanimity or willingness to listen to our concerns about the disasters we foresee.
    Leavers supposedly want Brexit to be a success. It is therefore pretty extraordinary that they are unwilling to take any practical steps to enhance its chances.
    I think that's a misunderstanding. They believe it will be a success by default because the aim of Brexiteers is not to enhance economic prosperity but to leave the EU. Of course as they blame it for many disasters (cf. bans on beef exports, silly talk about bananas, the collapse of industry, massive pressure on housing through immigration) they also believe things will improve, but that's a secondary consideration. They are of course wrong about some of these - only some, not all, as the EU is a deeply flawed and mind-bendingly corrupt institution - but that is what they believe.

    What I want, if we have to leave the EU which we do, is to minimise the economic disruption. But unfortunately to do so we would have to concede some ongoing sovereignty to the EU. It is therefore doubly frustrating the EU are going out of their way to confirm the views of Leavers that the EU is run by tenth-rate crooks whom we need for national survival to break away from entirely, while we are not making our case effectively that even if attainable their dream is not worth the pain it will cause.
  • AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Scott_P said:
    The name calling on both sides is really frustrating. Just as I am sill puzzled that my fellow Remainers call Leavers bigots, retards, xenophobes, fascists, thieves, liars and swindlers and then wonder why the victors are not showing any magnanimity or willingness to listen to our concerns about the disasters we foresee.
    Leavers supposedly want Brexit to be a success. It is therefore pretty extraordinary that they are unwilling to take any practical steps to enhance its chances.
    I think that's a misunderstanding. They believe it will be a success by default because the aim of Brexiteers is not to enhance economic prosperity but to leave the EU.
    If so, and I don’t believe that all Leave cheerleaders are quite as unhinged as you suggest, there is nothing Remain supporters can do to reach them. So any name-calling is harmless.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,733
    DavidL said:

    ydoethur said:

    I'm still waiting to find out if my school is open today. The problem here isn't so much the snow as the wind, which is blowing it everywhere and causing drifts in unexpected places and ice sheets in others. A car drove easily up a hill and then got stuck on a flat, level stretch of road outside my house last night - it took some shifting.

    My son's school is closed for a third consecutive day today. We have had kids at that school for around 16 years and I don't ever recall that happening before. Like you the total quantity of snow is not horrendous, maybe 6-8 inches but it is light, being blown around in a very strong wind and dangerously unpredictable.

    I am off to the local Sheriff Court today. am allowing an hour for getting out of the village.
    School is shut.

    In the entire history of my school, this is the second time it has closed because of snow.

    The other was in December!
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 49,957
    Scott_P said:
    Nice. Scott_P retweeting someone being offensive.

    The only thing Remainers will accept as a "compromise" on Brexit is for Brexit not to happen. There is no common ground to be had with such people.
  • AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340

    Scott_P said:
    Nice. Scott_P retweeting someone being offensive.

    The only thing Remainers will accept as a "compromise" on Brexit is for Brexit not to happen. There is no common ground to be had with such people.
    What do you find offensive in that tweet?
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,733

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Scott_P said:
    The name calling on both sides is really frustrating. Just as I am sill puzzled that my fellow Remainers call Leavers bigots, retards, xenophobes, fascists, thieves, liars and swindlers and then wonder why the victors are not showing any magnanimity or willingness to listen to our concerns about the disasters we foresee.
    Leavers supposedly want Brexit to be a success. It is therefore pretty extraordinary that they are unwilling to take any practical steps to enhance its chances.
    I think that's a misunderstanding. They believe it will be a success by default because the aim of Brexiteers is not to enhance economic prosperity but to leave the EU.
    If so, and I don’t believe that all Leave cheerleaders are quite as unhinged as you suggest, there is nothing Remain supporters can do to reach them. So any name-calling is harmless.
    I think most of them would have accepted a return to EFTA, at any rate to start with while we worked out a permanent solution. But attitudes on both sides have hardened and that is now off the table.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 50,761
    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Scott_P said:
    The name calling on both sides is really frustrating. Just as I am sill puzzled that my fellow Remainers call Leavers bigots, retards, xenophobes, fascists, thieves, liars and swindlers and then wonder why the victors are not showing any magnanimity or willingness to listen to our concerns about the disasters we foresee.
    Leavers supposedly want Brexit to be a success. It is therefore pretty extraordinary that they are unwilling to take any practical steps to enhance its chances.
    I think that's a misunderstanding. They believe it will be a success by default because the aim of Brexiteers is not to enhance economic prosperity but to leave the EU. Of course as they blame it for many disasters (cf. bans on beef exports, silly talk about bananas, the collapse of industry, massive pressure on housing through immigration) they also believe things will improve, but that's a secondary consideration. They are of course wrong about some of these - only some, not all, as the EU is a deeply flawed and mind-bendingly corrupt institution - but that is what they believe.

    What I want, if we have to leave the EU which we do, is to minimise the economic disruption. But unfortunately to do so we would have to concede some ongoing sovereignty to the EU. It is therefore doubly frustrating the EU are going out of their way to confirm the views of Leavers that the EU is run by tenth-rate crooks whom we need for national survival to break away from entirely, while we are not making our case effectively that even if attainable their dream is not worth the pain it will cause.
    Pretty much sums it up. A significant part of the problem has been that the EU thought that if they made it difficult enough then we would change our minds. Every time they seem to be getting past that there is another effort by remainers to disrupt the process and we take a step back again. Over most of February there were good signs that progress was being made but we now seem to be back to the start with the EU draft.

    The absurd refusal to discuss the future relationship for over a year is now coming back to bite both sides who would both gain substantially from a close, free trade relationship where the UK continues to contribute to a series of EU based institutions in exchange for associate membership. The time to achieve this is becoming increasingly short.
  • Ishmael_ZIshmael_Z Posts: 8,981

    5 tests - remind you of anyone?

    The last time we had that was designed to prevent a deal with the EU, not to achieve one.

    Road to Brexit? More like an arse-of-bag,(eschewing the French there, naturellement).

    The French have no word for cul de sac; or rather they do, and it's voie sans issue. Top trolling by whoever misinformed 19th century English town planners.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 31,715
    Surely Leavers believe that the very act of Leaving is the success; when we no longer participate in any European political organisations, or any pan-European organisations which set rules about pretty miuch anything.
    I'm not sure what they feel about UEFA, incidentally, or the European Cup!

    Those two aside, however, as a Remainer I'm not sure that 'Ourselves alone" to misquote Sinn Fein, works in the world today. We are no longer an island standing on coal and surrounded by fish, nor is the Royal Navy's world-wide reach enough to protect our trade.
    The world has moved on, and ver the past 50 years many or our main manufacturers have developed links with partners, or indeed are themselves international organisation.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,052
    IanB2 said:

    ydoethur said:

    Scott_P said:
    The name calling on both sides is really frustrating. Just as I am sill puzzled that my fellow Remainers call Leavers bigots, retards, xenophobes, fascists, thieves, liars and swindlers and then wonder why the victors are not showing any magnanimity or willingness to listen to our concerns about the disasters we foresee.
    Leavers supposedly want Brexit to be a success. It is therefore pretty extraordinary that they are unwilling to take any practical steps to enhance its chances.
    True believers are impelled to argue for 'more' Brexit than actually comes to pass so that, in their own minds at least, they do not feel responsible for its shortcomings, having an emotional alibi already in place...
    Yes, which is why I support hard Brexit and have been advocating it for 18 months. The Brexiteers must not be let off the hook.

    last nights #BBCQT was quite depressing. Blackpool keen to get Brexit but completely unable to explain how it would break their town's spiral of decline.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 40,950
    So let’s suppose we find the outcome makes the UK less open and tolerant.

    What is our recourse?

    = meaningless guff. I preferred the owl promise.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,733

    Scott_P said:
    Nice. Scott_P retweeting someone being offensive.

    The only thing Remainers will accept as a "compromise" on Brexit is for Brexit not to happen. There is no common ground to be had with such people.
    What do you find offensive in that tweet?
    The words 'national suicide' are unhelpful.

    The other problem the pro-EU lobby (in which I don't include myself even as a Remain voter) has is one of credibility. We were told staying out of the Euro was economic suicide. It turned out the opposite was true - going in would have crashed it entirely in 2008. We were told that we had to give up part of our rebate to get reforms. We did, but we got no reforms. We were told that if we voted to leave the economy would shrink rapidly and immediately. It didn't. We were told planes would have to be grounded. They weren't and even the EU have quietly dropped that claim.

    We're now told that leaving will cause the break-up of the UK, the withdrawal of all banks and car manufacturers and the destruction of the NHS (or as the tweeter puts it, 'national suicide'). And yet, with that track record, it just looks like silly hysteria. Even if it is true, it just doesn't cut through any more and turns people further off the EU with the simple attitude that they are a bunch of sore losers.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 49,957

    Scott_P said:
    Nice. Scott_P retweeting someone being offensive.

    The only thing Remainers will accept as a "compromise" on Brexit is for Brexit not to happen. There is no common ground to be had with such people.
    What do you find offensive in that tweet?
    When you have had to deal with a family member slitting their wrists, you tend to object to casual and hyperbolic use of "suicide".
  • AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    ydoethur said:

    Scott_P said:
    Nice. Scott_P retweeting someone being offensive.

    The only thing Remainers will accept as a "compromise" on Brexit is for Brexit not to happen. There is no common ground to be had with such people.
    What do you find offensive in that tweet?
    The words 'national suicide' are unhelpful.

    The other problem the pro-EU lobby (in which I don't include myself even as a Remain voter) has is one of credibility. We were told staying out of the Euro was economic suicide. It turned out the opposite was true - going in would have crashed it entirely in 2008. We were told that we had to give up part of our rebate to get reforms. We did, but we got no reforms. We were told that if we voted to leave the economy would shrink rapidly and immediately. It didn't. We were told planes would have to be grounded. They weren't and even the EU have quietly dropped that claim.

    We're now told that leaving will cause the break-up of the UK, the withdrawal of all banks and car manufacturers and the destruction of the NHS (or as the tweeter puts it, 'national suicide'). And yet, with that track record, it just looks like silly hysteria. Even if it is true, it just doesn't cut through any more and turns people further off the EU with the simple attitude that they are a bunch of sore losers.
    The man is entitled to his view.

    Leavers have reached the point where a conflicting view firmly expressed is offensive. But one of their own can label someone with a conflicting view a traitor and it passes without comment.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,733
    edited March 2018

    ydoethur said:

    Scott_P said:
    Nice. Scott_P retweeting someone being offensive.

    The only thing Remainers will accept as a "compromise" on Brexit is for Brexit not to happen. There is no common ground to be had with such people.
    What do you find offensive in that tweet?
    The words 'national suicide' are unhelpful.

    The other problem the pro-EU lobby (in which I don't include myself even as a Remain voter) has is one of credibility. We were told staying out of the Euro was economic suicide. It turned out the opposite was true - going in would have crashed it entirely in 2008. We were told that we had to give up part of our rebate to get reforms. We did, but we got no reforms. We were told that if we voted to leave the economy would shrink rapidly and immediately. It didn't. We were told planes would have to be grounded. They weren't and even the EU have quietly dropped that claim.

    We're now told that leaving will cause the break-up of the UK, the withdrawal of all banks and car manufacturers and the destruction of the NHS (or as the tweeter puts it, 'national suicide'). And yet, with that track record, it just looks like silly hysteria. Even if it is true, it just doesn't cut through any more and turns people further off the EU with the simple attitude that they are a bunch of sore losers.
    The man is entitled to his view.

    Leavers have reached the point where a conflicting view firmly expressed is offensive. But one of their own can label someone with a conflicting view a traitor and it passes without comment.
    Which was actually my original point. We now have a dialogue of the deaf going on. (As a deaf person myself, entitled to hearing aids that those gits in the NHS won't pay for that metaphor is carefully chosen!)

    Edit - and of course the poster who uses the word 'traitor' most often is an ardent Remainer, and I must say I think TSE's choice of language is Reckless.
  • AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340

    Scott_P said:
    Nice. Scott_P retweeting someone being offensive.

    The only thing Remainers will accept as a "compromise" on Brexit is for Brexit not to happen. There is no common ground to be had with such people.
    What do you find offensive in that tweet?
    When you have had to deal with a family member slitting their wrists, you tend to object to casual and hyperbolic use of "suicide".
    If only your sensitivity about language extended to the nonstop barrage of abuse that comes out of the mouths of your unhinged fellow travellers.

    I realise this may be hard to compute, but there are plenty of people who see Brexit as an unmitigated national catastrophe. They are entitled to express those views and they are not going to choose gentle metaphors.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 49,957
    Currently feels about 20 degrees warmer here in south Devon. Quite a thaw going on. Although, if it freezes again, it is going to be worse than anything yet endured.

  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,052
    edited March 2018
    ydoethur said:

    Scott_P said:
    Nice. Scott_P retweeting someone being offensive.

    The only thing Remainers will accept as a "compromise" on Brexit is for Brexit not to happen. There is no common ground to be had with such people.
    What do you find offensive in that tweet?
    The words 'national suicide' are unhelpful.

    The other problem the pro-EU lobby (in which I don't include myself even as a Remain voter) has is one of credibility. We were told staying out of the Euro was economic suicide. It turned out the opposite was true - going in would have crashed it entirely in 2008. We were told that we had to give up part of our rebate to get reforms. We did, but we got no reforms. We were told that if we voted to leave the economy would shrink rapidly and immediately. It didn't. We were told planes would have to be grounded. They weren't and even the EU have quietly dropped that claim.

    We're now told that leaving will cause the break-up of the UK, the withdrawal of all banks and car manufacturers and the destruction of the NHS (or as the tweeter puts it, 'national suicide'). And yet, with that track record, it just looks like silly hysteria. Even if it is true, it just doesn't cut through any more and turns people further off the EU with the simple attitude that they are a bunch of sore losers.
    Were we told that not joining the Euro was "national suicide"? I dont recall even advocates being that hyperbolic.

    Brexit will be shite, and will waste a decade or two without tackling the real issues facing the country and indeed will make many of them worse. It will not be fatal though.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 75,841
    Everyone on this board is being a touch parochial...
    Trump's tarriffs and Putin's missiles are larger issues than Brexit geopolitically !
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,733
    Foxy said:

    ydoethur said:

    Scott_P said:
    Nice. Scott_P retweeting someone being offensive.

    The only thing Remainers will accept as a "compromise" on Brexit is for Brexit not to happen. There is no common ground to be had with such people.
    What do you find offensive in that tweet?
    The words 'national suicide' are unhelpful.

    The other problem the pro-EU lobby (in which I don't include myself even as a Remain voter) has is one of credibility. We were told staying out of the Euro was economic suicide. It turned out the opposite was true - going in would have crashed it entirely in 2008. We were told that we had to give up part of our rebate to get reforms. We did, but we got no reforms. We were told that if we voted to leave the economy would shrink rapidly and immediately. It didn't. We were told planes would have to be grounded. They weren't and even the EU have quietly dropped that claim.

    We're now told that leaving will cause the break-up of the UK, the withdrawal of all banks and car manufacturers and the destruction of the NHS (or as the tweeter puts it, 'national suicide'). And yet, with that track record, it just looks like silly hysteria. Even if it is true, it just doesn't cut through any more and turns people further off the EU with the simple attitude that they are a bunch of sore losers.
    Were we told that not joining the Euro was "national suicide". I dont recall even advocates being that hyperbolic.

    Brexit will be shite, and will waste a decade or two without tackling the real issues facing the country and indeed will make many of them worse. It will not be fatal though.
    Ken Livingstone used that sort of language in his first mayoral campaign, and Heseltine used it a couple of times as well.

    The point is if it isn't fatal, it's not suicide. The irony of the Euro predictions of course is that if we had joined it might have proved literally fatal (as in - led to a war over the economic collapse of Europe).
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,052
    Pulpstar said:

    Everyone on this board is being a touch parochial...
    Trump's tarriffs and Putin's missiles are larger issues than Brexit geopolitically !

    On the subject of parochial:

    https://twitter.com/britainelects/status/969467088426250240?ref_src=twcamp^copy|twsrc^android|twgr^copy|twcon^7090|twterm^3
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 20,812
    edited March 2018
    ydoethur said:

    Scott_P said:
    Nice. Scott_P retweeting someone being offensive.

    The only thing Remainers will accept as a "compromise" on Brexit is for Brexit not to happen. There is no common ground to be had with such people.
    What do you find offensive in that tweet?
    The words 'national suicide' are unhelpful.

    The other problem the pro-EU lobby (in which I don't include myself even as a Remain voter) has is one of credibility. We were told staying out of the Euro was economic suicide. It turned out the opposite was true - going in would have crashed it entirely in 2008. We were told that we had to give up part of our rebate to get reforms. We did, but we got no reforms. We were told that if we voted to leave the economy would shrink rapidly and immediately. It didn't. We were told planes would have to be grounded. They weren't and even the EU have quietly dropped that claim.

    We're now told that leaving will cause the break-up of the UK, the withdrawal of all banks and car manufacturers and the destruction of the NHS (or as the tweeter puts it, 'national suicide'). And yet, with that track record, it just looks like silly hysteria. Even if it is true, it just doesn't cut through any more and turns people further off the EU with the simple attitude that they are a bunch of sore losers.
    These are very valid points.
    Not to mention how wrong elite opinion was on the Euro.

    Any sensible Remainer needs to take these on board.

    I will be listening charitably to May today, though I expect to be disappointed.
  • JonathanJonathan Posts: 20,901
    Pulpstar said:

    Everyone on this board is being a touch parochial...
    Trump's tarriffs and Putin's missiles are larger issues than Brexit geopolitically !

    The opportunity cost of Brexit is one of the least talked about aspects. Potentially vast. The Putin stuff was worrying.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,733
    Pulpstar said:

    Everyone on this board is being a touch parochial...
    Trump's tarriffs and Putin's missiles are larger

    That sounds like the start of a good joke...at least it isn't about Trump and his famous big red button!
  • CD13CD13 Posts: 6,349
    edited March 2018
    I suspect that for some on the Remain side, the few Remainiacs, it's no longer an economic argument, or even a democratic one. It's one of pride.

    Their superior wisdom has been ignored and the opinion of lesser beings has won the day. This is intolerable. Clearly there is something wrong with democracy if this can happen. That's why they would prefer Brexit to be a total failure. Even if it isn't, they will pretend it is. Admitting they were wrong will never happen. Their subjective judgement must be correct.

    You'd have to have a heart of stone not to smile at their discomfort. I do my best not to, but it's difficult.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 49,957

    Scott_P said:
    Nice. Scott_P retweeting someone being offensive.

    The only thing Remainers will accept as a "compromise" on Brexit is for Brexit not to happen. There is no common ground to be had with such people.
    What do you find offensive in that tweet?
    When you have had to deal with a family member slitting their wrists, you tend to object to casual and hyperbolic use of "suicide".
    If only your sensitivity about language extended to the nonstop barrage of abuse that comes out of the mouths of your unhinged fellow travellers.

    I realise this may be hard to compute, but there are plenty of people who see Brexit as an unmitigated national catastrophe. They are entitled to express those views and they are not going to choose gentle metaphors.
    Unhinged, eh?

    Enjoy.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVDH0nsJ0jA
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 31,715
    I note that one of Mrs May's'tests, according to the BBC is 'that any deal must not break down.'

    There's always a risk of a deal breaking down, up to and including marriage. Who on earth thought that was something sensible to include?
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 59,540
    DavidL said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Scott_P said:
    The name calling on both sides is really frustrating. Just as I am sill puzzled that my fellow Remainers call Leavers bigots, retards, xenophobes, fascists, thieves, liars and swindlers and then wonder why the victors are not showing any magnanimity or willingness to listen to our concerns about the disasters we foresee.
    Leavers supposedly want Brexit to be a success. It is therefore pretty extraordinary that they are unwilling to take any practical steps to enhance its chances.
    I think that's a misunderstanding. They believe it will be a success by default because the aim of Brexiteers is not to enhance economic prosperity but to leave the EU. Of course as they blame it for many disasters (cf. bans on beef exports, silly talk about bananas, the collapse of industry, massive pressure on housing through immigration) they also believe things will improve, but that's a secondary consideration. They are of course wrong about some of these - only some, not all, as the EU is a deeply flawed and mind-bendingly corrupt institution - but that is what they believe.

    What I want, if we have to leave the EU which we do, is to minimise the economic disruption. But unfortunately to do so we would have to concede some ongoing sovereignty to the EU. It is therefore doubly frustrating the EU are going out of their way to confirm the views of Leavers that the EU is run by tenth-rate crooks whom we need for national survival to break away from entirely, while we are not making our case effectively that even if attainable their dream is not worth the pain it will cause.
    The absurd refusal to discuss the future relationship for over a year is now coming back to bite both sides who would both gain substantially from a close, free trade relationship where the UK continues to contribute to a series of EU based institutions in exchange for associate membership. The time to achieve this is becoming increasingly short.
    How often do Remainers criticise the EU for that? Or are they happier name calling and condescending to their fellow countrymen and women?
  • AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340

    DavidL said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Scott_P said:
    The name calling on both sides is really frustrating. Just as I am sill puzzled that my fellow Remainers call Leavers bigots, retards, xenophobes, fascists, thieves, liars and swindlers and then wonder why the victors are not showing any magnanimity or willingness to listen to our concerns about the disasters we foresee.
    Leavers supposedly want Brexit to be a success. It is therefore pretty extraordinary that they are unwilling to take any practical steps to enhance its chances.
    I think that's a misunderstanding. They believe it will be a success by default because the aim of Brexiteers is not to enhance economic prosperity but to leave the EU. Of course as they blame it for many disasters (cf. bans on beef exports, silly talk about bananas, the collapse of industry, massive pressure on housing through immigration) they also believe things will improve, but that's a secondary consideration. They are of course wrong about some of these - only some, not all, as the EU is a deeply flawed and mind-bendingly corrupt institution - but that is what they believe.

    What I want, if we have to leave the EU which we do, is to minimise the economic disruption. But unfortunately to do so we would have to concede some ongoing sovereignty to the EU. It is therefore doubly frustrating the EU are going out of their way to confirm the views of Leavers that the EU is run by tenth-rate crooks whom we need for national survival to break away from entirely, while we are not making our case effectively that even if attainable their dream is not worth the pain it will cause.
    The absurd refusal to discuss the future relationship for over a year is now coming back to bite both sides who would both gain substantially from a close, free trade relationship where the UK continues to contribute to a series of EU based institutions in exchange for associate membership. The time to achieve this is becoming increasingly short.
    How often do Remainers criticise the EU for that? Or are they happier name calling and condescending to their fellow countrymen and women?
    British citizens obviously will focus on where they can most easily express influence. As it happens, I have devoted more than one thread header to the inadequacies of the EU in this process.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 38,517
    Pulpstar said:

    Everyone on this board is being a touch parochial...
    Trump's tarriffs and Putin's missiles are larger issues than Brexit geopolitically !

    China's descent down to one-person rule is more important, IMO. Trump's tariffs won't lead to war, and Putin appears to be rather over-selling his missiles' capabilities.

    But Xi Jinping's rise to power unprecedented since Mao's time comes at a point where China is increasingly flexing its economic muscles.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 50,761
    As Denis Healey nearly said, "when you are in a blizzard, start digging". I may be some time....
  • Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 60,933
    Good morning, everyone.

    The wind is up here. It was rather chilly.

    Mr. Jessop, I agree. Xi's taken a number of significant steps. He immediately began by increasing military spending, then had sabre-rattling over the disputed islands with Japan as well as the South China Sea land grab. He ended the decades-long informal truce amongst the Communist Party's upper echelons when it comes to internal bloodletting/corruption investigations. Then he got Xi Jinping thought (or similar) put in the same bracket as Mao's own views. And now he's getting rid, seemingly, of term limits so he can continue in power.

    Closer to home, a significant week. On the 4th we have both the Italian election and the German coalition result.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,614
    CD13 said:

    I suspect that for some on the Remain side, the few Remainiacs, it's no longer an economic argument, or even a democratic one. It's one of pride.

    Their superior wisdom has been ignored and the opinion of lesser beings has won the day. This is intolerable. Clearly there is something wrong with democracy if this can happen. That's why they would prefer Brexit to be a total failure. Even if it isn't, they will pretend it is. Admitting they were wrong will never happen. Their subjective judgement must be correct.

    You'd have to have a heart of stone not to smile at their discomfort. I do my best not to, but it's difficult.

    What is really galling, is that the considerable number of intelligent people who are currently putting all their efforts into overturning democracy, could instead be putting those efforts towards making Brexit a success. Former prime ministers and business leaders could be out there with those banging the drum for a new, globally looking outward Britain - rather than taking a leaf out of Ted Heath’s book and going on a massive public sulk because they lost.
  • Beverley_CBeverley_C Posts: 6,256
    Pulpstar said:

    Everyone on this board is being a touch parochial...
    Trump's tarriffs and Putin's missiles are larger issues than Brexit geopolitically !

    We are getting ready for Life After Brexit - the ultimate exercise in parochiality ;)
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 55,008
    I see pb's cohort of ultra-Remainers is on duty early this morning.

    I wonder why.
  • Reading this thread is so depressing. Such anger is burning up some remainers to the point they seem to be having a collective breakdown.

    The last fews days have not been good for remain with Barnier's so called threat to the UK constitution, Major talking to remainers, and Blair lecturing the EU over their collective blame for Brexit.

    Unsurprisingly the remain argument is not shifting opinion and Barnier has allowed TM to be seen to stand up for the UK against the EU which is always popular for a British PM.

    Their are some fair minded remainers who want to listen to TM today with an open mind but the extreme remainers would only be satisfied if she called Brexit off and that is not on the table
  • Scott_PScott_P Posts: 51,453
    Sadly, test four

    4. Consistent with open outward-looking European democracy

    is directly contradicted by test one

    1. Respect the referendum

    which was vote for a more closed, inward-looking anti-European Brexitocracy
  • AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    Sandpit said:

    CD13 said:

    I suspect that for some on the Remain side, the few Remainiacs, it's no longer an economic argument, or even a democratic one. It's one of pride.

    Their superior wisdom has been ignored and the opinion of lesser beings has won the day. This is intolerable. Clearly there is something wrong with democracy if this can happen. That's why they would prefer Brexit to be a total failure. Even if it isn't, they will pretend it is. Admitting they were wrong will never happen. Their subjective judgement must be correct.

    You'd have to have a heart of stone not to smile at their discomfort. I do my best not to, but it's difficult.

    What is really galling, is that the considerable number of intelligent people who are currently putting all their efforts into overturning democracy, could instead be putting those efforts towards making Brexit a success. Former prime ministers and business leaders could be out there with those banging the drum for a new, globally looking outward Britain - rather than taking a leaf out of Ted Heath’s book and going on a massive public sulk because they lost.
    Those intelligent people might have concluded that it's a fool's errand. Or that they don't want to tar themselves with an enterprise born out of xenophobic lies.

    Perhaps you should consider why the great and the good still don't want to have anything to do with it. Your explanation might be emotionally satisfying for committed Leavers but it lacks plausibility as an explanation for a group decision.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,733
    Scott_P said:

    Sadly, test four

    4. Consistent with open outward-looking European democracy

    is directly contradicted by test one

    1. Respect the referendum

    which was vote for a more closed, inward-looking anti-European Brexitocracy

    Britain will still be European. Just not part of the EU. That is something different although there is sometimes conflation of the two.

    Just as Canada is an American country, but is not part of the United States, sometimes wrongly called 'America'.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 38,517

    I see pb's cohort of ultra-Remainers is on duty early this morning.

    I wonder why.

    Because PB's cohorts of ultra-leavers is increasingly incoherent, and someone needs to step up to the plate? ;)

    Brexit is consuming PB, just as it is consuming good government in this country.
  • Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 60,933
    Mr. Meeks, is there a term akin to xenophobia, but applying to one's fellow countrymen? I must admit my knowledge of Greek is minimal. Demophobia?
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 49,957
    Scott_P said:

    Sadly, test four

    4. Consistent with open outward-looking European democracy

    is directly contradicted by test one

    1. Respect the referendum

    which was vote for a more closed, inward-looking anti-European Brexitocracy

    You might have a point if the EU represented anything close to "outward-looking European democracy".

    It didn't. It wasn't fit for purpose. The British people took the very brave and very principled position to tell these unelected determinants of European direction to stick their shitty little Project back up their arses.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,733


    Brexit is consuming PB, just as it is consuming good government in this country.

    Brexit gave us Boris Johnson as Foreign Secretary almost two years ago.

    Why the present tense?
  • O/T re UK/Irish border. It's clear that there needs to be some seriously "creative" thinking on this and I had a mad idea which might not work for all sorts of technical and/or practical reasons but it seems that too many people are focussed on the border as being a totally set "thing".....

    Would it be possible to put in effect a situation where, for example, a Free Trade Zone is created one mile either side of the border so that it is up to the individual or company to act before leaving that zone to declare anything that needs declaring.

    What it does allow by way of a fudge is that it's up to either side how hard they enforce this, removes the need for obvious and physical border posts which psychologically keeps those who object appeased, it allows those whose jobs and lives depend on the close business across the border to carry on as before, could open up opportunities for manufacturers or other industries to set up new businesses in that free trade zone where they need UK or EU components to be part of their product to do so with less red tape and could also allow entrepreneurs to set up businesses in that free trade zone to handle, log and report declarations to the customs authorities on either side on behalf of the state thus removing the involvement of the state and its antagonism to certain parties?

    Could be completely unworkable on WTO grounds etc but I wish people would batter away with more wild theories rather than just accept that there is only a certain way it can be solved which will not work for one side or another.

    Having lived in Geneva for six years basically on the swiss French border I loved that there was effectively no border in main parts but manned crossings for those who used main routes and where declarations could be made but appreciate the relationship between Switzerland and France is different from a non-EU UK and the EU.....
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 59,540
    ydoethur said:

    Scott_P said:

    Sadly, test four

    4. Consistent with open outward-looking European democracy

    is directly contradicted by test one

    1. Respect the referendum

    which was vote for a more closed, inward-looking anti-European Brexitocracy

    Britain will still be European. Just not part of the EU. That is something different although there is sometimes conflation of the two.

    Just as Canada is an American country, but is not part of the United States, sometimes wrongly called 'America'.
    And still a democracy. Something of a blind spot with the EU.

    Thinking back to Major:

    What he did: 3 line whip, no referendum.
    What he advocates: free vote, second referendum.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 61,560
    ydoethur said:

    Scott_P said:
    The name calling on both sides is really frustrating. Just as I am still puzzled that my fellow Remainers call Leavers bigots, retards, xenophobes, fascists, thieves, liars and swindlers....
    I agree wholeheartedly.
    But then I look at Brexit ministers, and can't entirely blame the rhetoric...
  • FF43FF43 Posts: 15,543
    Pulpstar said:

    Everyone on this board is being a touch parochial...
    Trump's tarriffs and Putin's missiles are larger issues than Brexit geopolitically !

    Trump's tariffs are arguably linked to Brexit. They seriously undermine the WTO, meaning WTO "rules" might not be what they are cracked up to be. Far better to be in a powerful trading bloc with its own rules.
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 12,880

    Mr. Meeks, is there a term akin to xenophobia, but applying to one's fellow countrymen?

    "visitor to Hartlepool"

  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,709
    There is a reason we tend to hold local elections and general elections and referendums in May or June. However kudos to the 12% who voted in the Devon by election yesterday, true democrats who will always exercise their franchise regardless of the weather.

    Let us also not forget that in the United States the New Hampshire Republican and Democratic presidential primaries are always held in February often amidst sub zero temperatures and heavy snow yet always get a good turnout as the result attracts global attention and can make or break a candidate
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,052
    Could I just say that Mrs Foxy has Blue Tits, but also Great Tits.

    Its never too early for smutty innuendo, but rather chilly replenishing her bird feeders this morning. While they are her birds, refilling is a "boy job" it seems on a day like today...
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 61,560
    Sandpit said:

    Jonathan said:

    Scott_P said:
    Maybe she will apologise. She really should. The citizens of nowhere comment was one of the most damaging .
    That comment referred specifically to multinational companies such as Google and Facebook, who have extensive business in the UK yet use aggressive tax avoidance to contribute almost nothing.

    Lots of hardcore Remainers are determined to think she was talking about them. She wasn’t.
    Which she has entirely failed to make clear subsequently.
    This is a meme that has been allowed to grow; a less maladroit politician would have dealt with the matter months ago.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 49,957
    Foxy said:

    Could I just say that Mrs Foxy has Blue Tits, but also Great Tits.

    Its never too early for smutty innuendo, but rather chilly replenishing her bird feeders this morning. While they are her birds, refilling is a "boy job" it seems on a day like today...

    The time to worry is when she has Penduline Tits.

    Because you'll be living in a swamp.....
  • MikeSmithsonMikeSmithson Posts: 7,382
    edited March 2018
    I was thinking overnight that maybe we ought have Brexit-free days on PB when we find something else to talk about with anybody's edging in to leave or remain territory finding that their comments get deleted
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,709
    edited March 2018
    ydoethur said:

    Scott_P said:

    Sadly, test four

    4. Consistent with open outward-looking European democracy

    is directly contradicted by test one

    1. Respect the referendum

    which was vote for a more closed, inward-looking anti-European Brexitocracy

    Britain will still be European. Just not part of the EU. That is something different although there is sometimes conflation of the two.

    Just as Canada is an American country, but is not part of the United States, sometimes wrongly called 'America'.
    Same as Russia, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Belarus, the Ukraine and for now Serbia, Bosnia and Macedonia and Albania are also part of Europe and not part of the EU
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,733

    ydoethur said:

    Scott_P said:

    Sadly, test four

    4. Consistent with open outward-looking European democracy

    is directly contradicted by test one

    1. Respect the referendum

    which was vote for a more closed, inward-looking anti-European Brexitocracy

    Britain will still be European. Just not part of the EU. That is something different although there is sometimes conflation of the two.

    Just as Canada is an American country, but is not part of the United States, sometimes wrongly called 'America'.
    And still a democracy. Something of a blind spot with the EU.

    Thinking back to Major:

    What he did: 3 line whip, no referendum.
    What he advocates: free vote, second referendum.
    Again, Major always acted in what he believed to be the best economic interests of this country. For him national sovereignty was a secondary consideration. That's why he was so keen on the ERM, and then abruptly changed his mind. That's why he drove through Maastricht.

    On that front he succeeded brilliantly and under his stewardship and Clarke's the economic foundations were laid for a truly unprecedented era of prosperity. The political damage he caused by doing it is another matter, and we are now seeing this played out.

    However, as he (correctly, in my view) believes leaving the EU will cause economic damage his position is consistent.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 38,517
    Off-topic:

    In my teens and twenties, I suffered around 12 years of fairly debilitating pain that meant, at times, I could not even walk. There were many times I seriously considered doing what this brave young lady has done:

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-devon-43228951/i-had-my-leg-cut-off-to-get-my-life-back
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 61,560
    Pulpstar said:

    Nigelb said:

    Those hoping for a quick trade deal with the US might wish to ponder on this:
    https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/01/trump-steel-tariffs-432143

    Isn't he tariff just for the raw product, or are cars going to get tarrif, they have a lot of steel and aluminium.
    Is trump applying this to all grades, if he wanted to clobber China a 50% tariff on mild would have done the trick..
    Who knows ?
    That this is going to apply to Mexico and Canada in the middle of the NAFTA renegotiation is not encouraging.
    In any event, the details don't really matter if this end up sparking off a round of retaliatory tariffs, or worse a full blown trade war. Britain has put itself in a remarkably vulnerable position.
    It might all blow over, but relying on that just as we cut ourselves out of a massive free trade block is taking a very large risk.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,733
    HYUFD said:

    ydoethur said:

    Scott_P said:

    Sadly, test four

    4. Consistent with open outward-looking European democracy

    is directly contradicted by test one

    1. Respect the referendum

    which was vote for a more closed, inward-looking anti-European Brexitocracy

    Britain will still be European. Just not part of the EU. That is something different although there is sometimes conflation of the two.

    Just as Canada is an American country, but is not part of the United States, sometimes wrongly called 'America'.
    Same as Russia, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Belarus and for now Serbia, Bosnia and Macedonia and Albania are also part of Europe and not part of the EU
    Yes - I thought of some of those but I decided that perhaps Russia, Belorussia, Serbia, Bosnia and Albania were not perhaps dazzling examples of European democracy we would wish to aspire to...
  • El_CapitanoEl_Capitano Posts: 3,870
    Sandpit said:

    Jonathan said:

    Scott_P said:
    Maybe she will apologise. She really should. The citizens of nowhere comment was one of the most damaging .
    That comment referred specifically to multinational companies such as Google and Facebook, who have extensive business in the UK yet use aggressive tax avoidance to contribute almost nothing.

    Lots of hardcore Remainers are determined to think she was talking about them. She wasn’t.
    Even as a Remain voter, I do agree that the slur was unintentional.

    The reason is that the alternative is unthinkable. “Citizen of nowhere” - or “heimatlos” - was a slur used by fascists in the 1920s and 30s to justify racist and eugenicist policies. “Pure Germans” had a home, whereas the “heimatlos” had a trans-national loyalty that (in this reading) was actively against Germany’s interests. Thus the heimatlos must be subjugated or, eventually, eliminated. It’s pretty obvious who the slur referred to. Philipp Blom’s ‘Fracture’ is very good on this (and a superb book in general).

    May should have had advisors who knew this context and excised the phrase. Evidently she didn’t. So I believe it’s not evidence of malice, more of the inept tin-earedness that has characterised her tenure.

    The time for a message of reconciliation was the first day of her premiership. That was her opportunity to say: the country is split 50/50; we need a solution that both Remain and Leave voters can live with. She chose not to, and instead to indulge the Leave ultras for months. It’s too late now to go back on that. The country is divided and her speech will be scorned by both camps.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,733

    I was thinking overnight that maybe we ought have Brexit-free days on PB when we find something else to talk about with anybody's edging in to leave or remain territory finding that their comments get deleted

    We could have a day entirely spent discussing AV...
  • RoyalBlueRoyalBlue Posts: 3,223
    This is far more disturbing than any flavour of Brexit:

    http://app.ft.com/mcdonnell?sectionid=home

    We actually have a shadow chancellor who says he won’t take money from ‘bourgeois organisations’.

    Corbyn and (especially) McDonnell in power will be an absolute catastrophe for this country.
  • SquareRootSquareRoot Posts: 7,095
    edited March 2018
    Foxy said:

    Could I just say that Mrs Foxy has Blue Tits, but also Great Tits.

    Its never too early for smutty innuendo, but rather chilly replenishing her bird feeders this morning. While they are her birds, refilling is a "boy job" it seems on a day like today...

    Ditto, but we have red headed woodpeckers too. In this weather, the fat "suet" log from "Wilkinson's" @£2 lasts about 36 hrs max. Its a joy to see them all tucking in and the robins underneath picking up the scraps that fall below.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,052

    I was thinking overnight that maybe we ought have Brexit-free days on PB when we find something else to talk about with anybody's edging in to leave or remain territory finding that their comments get deleted

    Has roger got an oscar thread for the weekend? that would be a good one for a brexit free day.
  • FF43FF43 Posts: 15,543
    edited March 2018
    I was ill for a few days this week, so staggered out of the house to get some food yesterday. Managed find one Sainsbury's store open, looking like a supermarket in Cuba after the fall of the Berlin Wall. I bought the last packet of apples and a cheesecake. No vegetables, meat, milk or bread. I guess it will be a couple of days before the stores are restocked, so I will need to bake my own bread and do without milk for a while.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 38,517

    I was thinking overnight that maybe we ought have Brexit-free days on PB when we find something else to talk about with anybody's edging in to leave or remain territory finding that their comments get deleted

    We can talk about the merits of Bedford instead. ;)
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 49,957

    I was thinking overnight that maybe we ought have Brexit-free days on PB when we find something else to talk about with anybody's edging in to leave or remain territory finding that their comments get deleted

    All well and good to propose this, to step in and close down debate when your boys are getting a hammering on the subject. Your site, your rules. But maybe not on the day when the PM is giving a major speech on the subject?
  • SquareRootSquareRoot Posts: 7,095

    I was thinking overnight that maybe we ought have Brexit-free days on PB when we find something else to talk about with anybody's edging in to leave or remain territory finding that their comments get deleted

    If you stopped Mr Meeks winding up the hard brexiters, it would help a lot ;)
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,709
    Foxy said:

    I was thinking overnight that maybe we ought have Brexit-free days on PB when we find something else to talk about with anybody's edging in to leave or remain territory finding that their comments get deleted

    Has roger got an oscar thread for the weekend? that would be a good one for a brexit free day.
    We have the Oscars and the Italian general election on Sunday, neither directly Brexit related
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 49,957
    Sod it, not again!

    "Flooding and Debris is blocking the rail line at Dawlish, Network Rail has said.

    All Great Western Railway and CrossCountry services have been suspended due to "significant damage".

    Network Rail added that there will be a flood assessment at 10:00 but it is unlikely any trains will be running before lunch "at the least"."
  • EssexitEssexit Posts: 1,956
    Nigelb said:

    Sandpit said:

    Jonathan said:

    Scott_P said:
    Maybe she will apologise. She really should. The citizens of nowhere comment was one of the most damaging .
    That comment referred specifically to multinational companies such as Google and Facebook, who have extensive business in the UK yet use aggressive tax avoidance to contribute almost nothing.

    Lots of hardcore Remainers are determined to think she was talking about them. She wasn’t.
    Which she has entirely failed to make clear subsequently.
    This is a meme that has been allowed to grow; a less maladroit politician would have dealt with the matter months ago.
    The longevity of the 'had enough of experts' meme suggests that trying to set these things straight is futile. People will hear what they want to, edit out the bits that don't fit their narrative, then repeat as fact ad nauseam.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,052

    Foxy said:

    Could I just say that Mrs Foxy has Blue Tits, but also Great Tits.

    Its never too early for smutty innuendo, but rather chilly replenishing her bird feeders this morning. While they are her birds, refilling is a "boy job" it seems on a day like today...

    The time to worry is when she has Penduline Tits.

    Because you'll be living in a swamp.....
    Brexit hasn't happened yet...

    :)
  • FF43FF43 Posts: 15,543

    I was thinking overnight that maybe we ought have Brexit-free days on PB when we find something else to talk about with anybody's edging in to leave or remain territory finding that their comments get deleted

    We can talk about the merits of Bedford instead. ;)
    I thought Bedford was ALL about Brexit? It gets lumped in with Hartlepool for some reason.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,709
    edited March 2018

    Sandpit said:

    Jonathan said:

    Scott_P said:
    Maybe she will apologise. She really should. The citizens of nowhere comment was one of the most damaging .
    That comment referred specifically to multinational companies such as Google and Facebook, who have extensive business in the UK yet use aggressive tax avoidance to contribute almost nothing.

    Lots of hardcore Remainers are determined to think she was talking about them. She wasn’t.
    Even as a Remain voter, I do agree that the slur was unintentional.

    The reason is that the alternative is unthinkable. “Citizen of nowhere” - or “heimatlos” - was a slur used by fascists in the 1920s and 30s to justify racist and eugenicist policies. “Pure Germans” had a home, whereas the “heimatlos” had a trans-national loyalty that (in this reading) was actively against Germany’s interests. Thus the heimatlos must be subjugated or, eventually, eliminated. It’s pretty obvious who the slur referred to. Philipp Blom’s ‘Fracture’ is very good on this (and a superb book in general).

    May should have had advisors who knew this context and excised the phrase. Evidently she didn’t. So I believe it’s not evidence of malice, more of the inept tin-earedness that has characterised her tenure.

    The time for a message of reconciliation was the first day of her premiership. That was her opportunity to say: the country is split 50/50; we need a solution that both Remain and Leave voters can live with. She chose not to, and instead to indulge the Leave ultras for months. It’s too late now to go back on that. The country is divided and her speech will be scorned by both camps.
    Do you think Corbyn will provide a government that both Tory and Labour voters can live with if he wins a majority, even a very narrow one? Of course not, democracy means the majority wins that does not mean the minority cannot try for a majority next time or another go
  • Beverley_CBeverley_C Posts: 6,256

    I was thinking overnight that maybe we ought have Brexit-free days on PB when we find something else to talk about with anybody's edging in to leave or remain territory finding that their comments get deleted

    I think that you may need to recruit some extra moderators to cope with the load if you go down that route :)

    The character of PB has changed thanks to Brexit. There have been some fantastic debates on here over the years, but not any more.

    Go for it Mike. Purge Brexit posts and perhaps you will get PB back again :+1:
  • RecidivistRecidivist Posts: 4,679
    Sandpit said:

    CD13 said:

    I suspect that for some on the Remain side, the few Remainiacs, it's no longer an economic argument, or even a democratic one. It's one of pride.

    Their superior wisdom has been ignored and the opinion of lesser beings has won the day. This is intolerable. Clearly there is something wrong with democracy if this can happen. That's why they would prefer Brexit to be a total failure. Even if it isn't, they will pretend it is. Admitting they were wrong will never happen. Their subjective judgement must be correct.

    You'd have to have a heart of stone not to smile at their discomfort. I do my best not to, but it's difficult.

    What is really galling, is that the considerable number of intelligent people who are currently putting all their efforts into overturning democracy, could instead be putting those efforts towards making Brexit a success. Former prime ministers and business leaders could be out there with those banging the drum for a new, globally looking outward Britain - rather than taking a leaf out of Ted Heath’s book and going on a massive public sulk because they lost.
    Why do think they aren't doing those things?
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,709
    ydoethur said:

    HYUFD said:

    ydoethur said:

    Scott_P said:

    Sadly, test four

    4. Consistent with open outward-looking European democracy

    is directly contradicted by test one

    1. Respect the referendum

    which was vote for a more closed, inward-looking anti-European Brexitocracy

    Britain will still be European. Just not part of the EU. That is something different although there is sometimes conflation of the two.

    Just as Canada is an American country, but is not part of the United States, sometimes wrongly called 'America'.
    Same as Russia, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Belarus and for now Serbia, Bosnia and Macedonia and Albania are also part of Europe and not part of the EU
    Yes - I thought of some of those but I decided that perhaps Russia, Belorussia, Serbia, Bosnia and Albania were not perhaps dazzling examples of European democracy we would wish to aspire to...
    Neither are Poland and Hungary and they are both in the EU
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 49,957
    Essexit said:

    Nigelb said:

    Sandpit said:

    Jonathan said:

    Scott_P said:
    Maybe she will apologise. She really should. The citizens of nowhere comment was one of the most damaging .
    That comment referred specifically to multinational companies such as Google and Facebook, who have extensive business in the UK yet use aggressive tax avoidance to contribute almost nothing.

    Lots of hardcore Remainers are determined to think she was talking about them. She wasn’t.
    Which she has entirely failed to make clear subsequently.
    This is a meme that has been allowed to grow; a less maladroit politician would have dealt with the matter months ago.
    The longevity of the 'had enough of experts' meme suggests that trying to set these things straight is futile. People will hear what they want to, edit out the bits that don't fit their narrative, then repeat as fact ad nauseam.
    In this case, those who heard "citizens of nowhere" and took offence were those looking to take offence. Best to ignore them. When you are out canvassing, and you get someone who is seeking to engage in a time-wasting argument, you are advised to make your excuses and leave, whilst marking them as "Against". Move on to someone whose views you might change.
  • El_CapitanoEl_Capitano Posts: 3,870
    HYUFD said:

    Sandpit said:

    Jonathan said:

    Scott_P said:
    Maybe she will apologise. She really should. The citizens of nowhere comment was one of the most damaging .
    That comment referred specifically to multinational companies such as Google and Facebook, who have extensive business in the UK yet use aggressive tax avoidance to contribute almost nothing.

    Lots of hardcore Remainers are determined to think she was talking about them. She wasn’t.
    Even as a Remain voter, I do agree that the slur was unintentional.

    The reason is that the alternative is unthinkable. “Citizen of nowhere” - or “heimatlos” - was a slur used by fascists in the 1920s and 30s to justify racist and eugenicist policies. “Pure Germans” had a home, whereas the “heimatlos” had a trans-national loyalty that (in this reading) was actively against Germany’s interests. Thus the heimatlos must be subjugated or, eventually, eliminated. It’s pretty obvious who the slur referred to. Philipp Blom’s ‘Fracture’ is very good on this (and a superb book in general).

    May should have had advisors who knew this context and excised the phrase. Evidently she didn’t. So I believe it’s not evidence of malice, more of the inept tin-earedness that has characterised her tenure.

    The time for a message of reconciliation was the first day of her premiership. That was her opportunity to say: the country is split 50/50; we need a solution that both Remain and Leave voters can live with. She chose not to, and instead to indulge the Leave ultras for months. It’s too late now to go back on that. The country is divided and her speech will be scorned by both camps.
    Do you think Corbyn will provide a government that both Tory and Labour voters can live with if he wins a majority, even a very narrow one? Of course not, democracy means the majority wins that does not mean the minority cannot try for a majority next time or another go
    “Next time”? I am delighted by your conversion to the cause of a second referendum.

    Mrs May evidently believes in holding elections every two years, so by your analogy, we must be due that second referendum about now.
  • Here in Rural Heart of England, we've had a light dusting. The temperatures have been well below freezing, so whatever snow we have had has hung around and the roads are a bit icy. As long as you don't drive like a numpty, there really shouldn't be a problem. Schools were still shut early and closed today "just in case" though.
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