In Scotland the most interesting fight will be between Labour and the SNP in Glasgow. 7 day evangalists have promised fewer second comings than Scottish Labour but if they are going to try and crawl back into significance in Scottish politics or, for that matter, SKS is going to get close to having a majority in the next Parliament, they need to start somewhere and Glasgow is the obvious place.
I wish them well but hae ma doots.
Glasgow is iconic for Scottish Labour. And is the home-town of Nicola and Anas. So stakes are high.
On the plus side for Labour. The SNP administration seems, if social media is to believed, to have presided over the descent of the city into a rat-infested midden. And the SNP leader is, perhaps, less than touchsure with some of her pronouncements.
However I think, as usual, Labour will flatter to deceive. SNP just too strong. Glasgow voted Yes. The Nicola effect. Teflon.
This discussion is forgetting the Scottish Greens - direct competitors with Labour especially as Labour are now so right wing in Scotland. But also with the SNP, so it'll be interesting to see what happens. An electoral alliance between the SGs and SNP, while slightly unlikely, is far more plausible than a Labour-Tory one in Glasgow if one goes by the historical electorate. I can only imagine the rump Unionist element in Glasgow Labour voters would stick with a Tory replacing their Labour candidate, so not much point in it for the Tories.
The absence of Alba from folk's calculations is rather telling.
We're talking about cooncils, mind. Not much of a presence there.
Another issue of course is how many "Labour" candidates will suddenly turn out to be Tories once elected, ditto "independent" candidates. Either de facto or de jure. It gets quite complicaterd sometimes.
Has the Aberdeen midden been sorted out, btw? No, on checking it's only getting worse.
And of course Mr Sarwar doesn't think a small matter like joining the Tories in coalition disqualifies them, oh no siree.
I think Alba have a (small) bit of a council presence from councillors who've changed parties, I assume their first task will be to hold on to them. They've even signed a Libdem!
I suspect Alba will be wiped out, insofar as there is anything much to wipe out. They have a few councillors in Aberdeenshire but doubt they'll survive if they stand again.
If there's a drift from SNP it will be to Greens, as flagged by @Carnyx
Don't think there will be all that much change in Scotland TBH. We are in a holding pattern, as per SP elections last May.
FPT: Leon said: » show previous quotes "If we had the Brexit vote again, I would vote much more emphatically to LEAVE, and with none of the havering and 50/50 quavering of last time. I might even do it with "delight"
I'm afraid we exist. The Leavers who feel vindicated."
Except you haven't been (vindicated) and that is why you bang on about it ad nauseum. You know it is shit and pointless, and you keep coming on here in the hope you might convince yourself. You are suffering from sub conscious "repetition compulsion" in a desire to gain "illusory truth effect".
Leon, it doesn't matter how many times you repeat it, you still know in your heart of hearts it was fucking pointless.
Sigh
There's not much more I can do than be honest. I would vote LEAVE again, and with much greater enthusiasm
Why?
Because last time I was genuinely very doubtful; I was worried about the impact on the UK economy; I was personally worried about the impact on London property prices (my main asset)
Any economic impact has been utterly dwarfed by the pandemic, making me much more relaxed about the comparatively trivial GDP hit of Brexit; London property has since had to weather a much fiercer storm - again, the pandemic - but seems to be doing fine now. Indeed London has a buzz at the moment (of course war and inflationary armageddon might ruin that, but that ain't Brexit)
Meanwhile the grotesque behaviour of the EU, the Commission etc over our exit and then other stuff like the vaccines, literally trying to smear UK vaccines out of spite because Brexit, and the general behaviour of Remoaners in the UK (trying to cancel democracy) and the eurocrats in Brussels (trying to thwart our departure) tells me that Leave is on the side of the angels, and that no sane country able to fend for itself would want to be in the non-democratic EU
And the war shows me that democracy really is the best bulwark against autocracy
So that's why I would vote Leave with a confident smile, rather than a nervous gulp
The one big thing I regret is loss of Freedom of Movement. I hope one day we can find a new accommodation which restores it in some qualified form, for the benefit of all Brits AND Europeans
There. Now you can believe me or not, but that is what I think
It is a good essay, but I still sense you are trying to convince yourself, and maybe you are almost there. When I see you no longer post on the subject I will accept that the strategy of repetition compulsion (it is a somewhat disputed psychological phenomena) does work. The majority of the British public will still be a majority believing we were conned, but knowing we have to get on with it anyway, but perhaps they might consider a way of ensuring some sort of retribution on those that perpetrated the con.
I don't feel any need to go on about it. But when Remainers make the implication that Leavers would not now vote Leave, I do occasionally feel the need to pipe up that yes, I would still vote Leave knowing now what I knew then, for the reasons Leon sets out - not least the vaccines debacle. And yes, I'd like Brexit to work better. But let's not kid ourselves that membership worked perfectly either.
People forget that the relevant question now is “would you vote to join in order to achieve slightly freer movement and a trivial increase in GDP, at the expense of vast amounts of policy autonomy and our own currency”?
And Schengen...
One way we could have stayed would be to become more European: contributory benefits rather than universal, and moving the NHS to a more insurance based model (like France or Germany say). That would have reduced the sense that people were coming here because of our welfare system (which I doubt actually happed, but lots of people thought it did).
I’m not sure how easy that would have been to sell to the public.
Impossible. The NHS is sacred, you'd have been accused of trying to bring in an American-style system.
“ Ali Harbi Ali, 26, denies murdering the MP for Southend West”.
What’s his defence???!
Well his own defence team have ruled out using insanity as one.
I heard someone a bit ago complaining about dweebs who shout for specific songs at concerts when the song is probably coming up anyway, saying "Ralph McTell probably does not need a sticky note on his guitar saying Don't forget to do Streets of London." Same with this guy; if I were going to murder Michael Gove while he was out jogging I wouldn't put a memo to self on my phone about it.
Leave is on the side of the angels, and that no sane country able to fend for itself would want to be in the non-democratic EU
You think Ukraine, literally fighting for it's life, is not a sane country.
Brexiteers, wrong then, wronger now...
If I was Ukraine I would definitely want to be in the EU. I think leaving only makes sense for countries that have better democratic cultures than the EU Commission. That is mainly the British Isles, the low countries and Scandinavia.
You forgot Switzerland and Iceland but yes.
I have always found it interesting that the three European countries with the most ancient, unbroken traditions of democracy are all outside the EU (us, the Swiss and the Icelanders)
Brexit has already significantly dented the underlying GDP growth rate, and foreign direct investment.
Although this has been masked, first by Covid, and now by supply shocks relating to the Ukraine war, it’s still there - like rust underneath the surface.
This won’t be apparent in everyday life, unless you’re an economist or involved in import/export. But after several years - say by the late 2020s - you will feel noticeably poorer when going overseas compared with other western countries.
Various committees and departments in government have not managed to identify any real countervailing economic opportunities.
That leaves “sovereignty” which is much less clear-cut. Not measurable in statistics for a start! I tend to think that the sovereignty “dividend” such as it is, is being squandered by this government who are busy accruing power unto No.10.
A question for historians will be whether Brexit might have been less shit if the man charged with "getting it done" wasn't such a buffoon.
Without BoZo there might be no Brexit.
Without BoZo it might have been better.
BoZo would not have got within a day's walk of having that responsibility if opponents of Brexit had acted like adults operating within a mature democracy, 2016-2019. Discuss.
Brexit has already significantly dented the underlying GDP growth rate, and foreign direct investment.
Although this has been masked, first by Covid, and now by supply shocks relating to the Ukraine war, it’s still there - like rust underneath the surface.
When Britain is once again the sick man of Europe, the "winners" of the referendum will be whining that the EU are making use of free trade and free movement to gain a competitive advantage against us...
A question for historians will be whether Brexit might have been less shit if the man charged with "getting it done" wasn't such a buffoon.
Without BoZo there might be no Brexit.
Without BoZo it might have been better.
BoZo would not have got within a day's walk of having that responsibility if opponents of Brexit had acted like adults operating within a mature democracy, 2016-2019. Discuss.
Just really for the second half of 2016. Once May gave her Lancaster House speech, the die was cast.
A question for historians will be whether Brexit might have been less shit if the man charged with "getting it done" wasn't such a buffoon.
Without BoZo there might be no Brexit.
Without BoZo it might have been better.
BoZo would not have got within a day's walk of having that responsibility if opponents of Brexit had acted like adults operating within a mature democracy, 2016-2019. Discuss.
He'd just have proclaimed himself a Remainer and maintained his lust for power.
Leave is on the side of the angels, and that no sane country able to fend for itself would want to be in the non-democratic EU
You think Ukraine, literally fighting for it's life, is not a sane country.
Brexiteers, wrong then, wronger now...
Head::desk
I said "able to fend for itself". Ukraine is pretty bloody obviously NOT in that position. It is a poor country being attacked by a massive ugly fascist neighbour
If I were Ukrainian I'd vote tomorrow to join the EU (if the EU agreed: very doubtful). It's the best way to get protection (other than joining NATO, but that's not happening), and EU funds might help to rebuild my shattered country, and rid it of corruption
The UK is a big strong economy, being menaced by no one, we have nukes, so no one will invade us, we are not Ukraine
I notice that Switzerland and Norway are not clamouring to join the EU either. Indeed polls show seriously high levels of opposition to the idea
You're wasting your time. There are a handful of people on either side of the debate who are just obsessed with the UK's position in the EU and fighting the battles all over again.
Trades Union Congress @The_TUC BREAKING 🚨: P&O ferry crews at Dover have been replaced by seafarers paid just £1.80 an hour.
Terrible - of course.
A central question not asked SFAICS is this. The unions have made lots of noise quite rightly about illegality and all that. Why are they not already in court getting interlocutory injunctions and taking legal action to put this into reverse?
Because I believe (though of course IANAL) - sadly and to our shame - that P&O have the law on their side.
FPT: Leon said: » show previous quotes "If we had the Brexit vote again, I would vote much more emphatically to LEAVE, and with none of the havering and 50/50 quavering of last time. I might even do it with "delight"
I'm afraid we exist. The Leavers who feel vindicated."
Except you haven't been (vindicated) and that is why you bang on about it ad nauseum. You know it is shit and pointless, and you keep coming on here in the hope you might convince yourself. You are suffering from sub conscious "repetition compulsion" in a desire to gain "illusory truth effect".
Leon, it doesn't matter how many times you repeat it, you still know in your heart of hearts it was fucking pointless.
Sigh
There's not much more I can do than be honest. I would vote LEAVE again, and with much greater enthusiasm
Why?
Because last time I was genuinely very doubtful; I was worried about the impact on the UK economy; I was personally worried about the impact on London property prices (my main asset)
Any economic impact has been utterly dwarfed by the pandemic, making me much more relaxed about the comparatively trivial GDP hit of Brexit; London property has since had to weather a much fiercer storm - again, the pandemic - but seems to be doing fine now. Indeed London has a buzz at the moment (of course war and inflationary armageddon might ruin that, but that ain't Brexit)
Meanwhile the grotesque behaviour of the EU, the Commission etc over our exit and then other stuff like the vaccines, literally trying to smear UK vaccines out of spite because Brexit, and the general behaviour of Remoaners in the UK (trying to cancel democracy) and the eurocrats in Brussels (trying to thwart our departure) tells me that Leave is on the side of the angels, and that no sane country able to fend for itself would want to be in the non-democratic EU
And the war shows me that democracy really is the best bulwark against autocracy
So that's why I would vote Leave with a confident smile, rather than a nervous gulp
The one big thing I regret is loss of Freedom of Movement. I hope one day we can find a new accommodation which restores it in some qualified form, for the benefit of all Brits AND Europeans
There. Now you can believe me or not, but that is what I think
It is a good essay, but I still sense you are trying to convince yourself, and maybe you are almost there. When I see you no longer post on the subject I will accept that the strategy of repetition compulsion (it is a somewhat disputed psychological phenomena) does work. The majority of the British public will still be a majority believing we were conned, but knowing we have to get on with it anyway, but perhaps they might consider a way of ensuring some sort of retribution on those that perpetrated the con.
I don't feel any need to go on about it. But when Remainers make the implication that Leavers would not now vote Leave, I do occasionally feel the need to pipe up that yes, I would still vote Leave knowing now what I knew then, for the reasons Leon sets out - not least the vaccines debacle. And yes, I'd like Brexit to work better. But let's not kid ourselves that membership worked perfectly either.
I voted remain because I thought it would all be a shambles. I’d vote leave if asked again because it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.
Fckn hell, how bad did you think it would be, global pandemic and brink of nuclear armageddon bad?
To be a bit more serious, if someone told you that Scottish independence would have the same level of disruption as Brexit has had that wouldn’t change your mind on it would it?
If the same shambolic, duplicitous, petty, self serving rsoles who constituted one side of the Brexit debate were in charge of the process I might have to reconsider. Otoh I believe their leader is now in favour of countries wanting to be free to do things differently and to be able to run themselves, so there is that.
FPT: Leon said: » show previous quotes "If we had the Brexit vote again, I would vote much more emphatically to LEAVE, and with none of the havering and 50/50 quavering of last time. I might even do it with "delight"
I'm afraid we exist. The Leavers who feel vindicated."
Except you haven't been (vindicated) and that is why you bang on about it ad nauseum. You know it is shit and pointless, and you keep coming on here in the hope you might convince yourself. You are suffering from sub conscious "repetition compulsion" in a desire to gain "illusory truth effect".
Leon, it doesn't matter how many times you repeat it, you still know in your heart of hearts it was fucking pointless.
Sigh
There's not much more I can do than be honest. I would vote LEAVE again, and with much greater enthusiasm
Why?
Because last time I was genuinely very doubtful; I was worried about the impact on the UK economy; I was personally worried about the impact on London property prices (my main asset)
Any economic impact has been utterly dwarfed by the pandemic, making me much more relaxed about the comparatively trivial GDP hit of Brexit; London property has since had to weather a much fiercer storm - again, the pandemic - but seems to be doing fine now. Indeed London has a buzz at the moment (of course war and inflationary armageddon might ruin that, but that ain't Brexit)
Meanwhile the grotesque behaviour of the EU, the Commission etc over our exit and then other stuff like the vaccines, literally trying to smear UK vaccines out of spite because Brexit, and the general behaviour of Remoaners in the UK (trying to cancel democracy) and the eurocrats in Brussels (trying to thwart our departure) tells me that Leave is on the side of the angels, and that no sane country able to fend for itself would want to be in the non-democratic EU
And the war shows me that democracy really is the best bulwark against autocracy
So that's why I would vote Leave with a confident smile, rather than a nervous gulp
The one big thing I regret is loss of Freedom of Movement. I hope one day we can find a new accommodation which restores it in some qualified form, for the benefit of all Brits AND Europeans
There. Now you can believe me or not, but that is what I think
The only people still talking about Brexit with any regularity on here are you and Scott. You go on and on about it. A travel writer who voted to restrict people’s ability to travel is, after all, a difficult place to be. Your pointless posturing over vaccines and fish, suggesting that the EU was a hostile entity in both cases, have been shown to be risible when this country has now been now shown to be a irrelevant little facilitator of Western division. You protest at every juncture that you were right, crowing about “Remoaners”, when you are the biggest moaner about everything on here. Your world is full of enemies and mortal threats, Remoaners, the “Satan Bug”, obscure American academic theories, UFOs. But mostly Brexit, the victory you can’t get over, like a Newcastle supporter waxing lyrical about the glories of the 2006 Intertoto Cup.
Go get laid or something FFS. You write attractive prose but your serial monomanias are a disturbing vista into a troubled mind.
Brexit has already significantly dented the underlying GDP growth rate, and foreign direct investment.
Although this has been masked, first by Covid, and now by supply shocks relating to the Ukraine war, it’s still there - like rust underneath the surface.
When Britain is once again the sick man of Europe, the "winners" of the referendum will be whining that the EU are making use of free trade and free movement to gain a competitive advantage against us...
Britain is already the sick man of Europe. Again, it’s hidden because the day to day news is about the latest thing rather than long-term trends.
The other thing is that old people - the bedrock of the Brexit vote - are less likely to notice the impact because they don’t work and house prices have continued to rise.
A question for historians will be whether Brexit might have been less shit if the man charged with "getting it done" wasn't such a buffoon.
Without BoZo there might be no Brexit.
Without BoZo it might have been better.
BoZo would not have got within a day's walk of having that responsibility if opponents of Brexit had acted like adults operating within a mature democracy, 2016-2019. Discuss.
A question for historians will be whether Brexit might have been less shit if the man charged with "getting it done" wasn't such a buffoon.
Without BoZo there might be no Brexit.
Without BoZo it might have been better.
This is not all down to Boris, many from all sides were complicit in where we are today and it is up to the moderates to steer a path towards a friendly and cooperative future relationship
A question for historians will be whether Brexit might have been less shit if the man charged with "getting it done" wasn't such a buffoon.
Without BoZo there might be no Brexit.
Without BoZo it might have been better.
Without Bozo there would still have been Brexit. His part is far overplayed by his acolytes and his opponents.
Correct. It was Nigel Farage who really delivered Brexit. He brought his xenophobes along to join up with the perfectly reasonable we want to be able to raise VAT on home energy supplies thoughtful, considered Brexiters and together they all marched victoriously over the winning line.
A question for historians will be whether Brexit might have been less shit if the man charged with "getting it done" wasn't such a buffoon.
Without BoZo there might be no Brexit.
Without BoZo it might have been better.
Without Bozo there would still have been Brexit. His part is far overplayed by his acolytes and his opponents.
Correct. It was Nigel Farage who really delivered Brexit. He brought his xenophobes along to join up with the perfectly reasonable we want to be able to raise VAT on home energy supplies thoughtful, considered Brexiters and together they all marched victoriously over the winning line.
Are you suggesting that without Farage, the xenophobes would have been for Remain?
Brexit has already significantly dented the underlying GDP growth rate, and foreign direct investment.
Although this has been masked, first by Covid, and now by supply shocks relating to the Ukraine war, it’s still there - like rust underneath the surface.
When Britain is once again the sick man of Europe, the "winners" of the referendum will be whining that the EU are making use of free trade and free movement to gain a competitive advantage against us...
FPT: Leon said: » show previous quotes "If we had the Brexit vote again, I would vote much more emphatically to LEAVE, and with none of the havering and 50/50 quavering of last time. I might even do it with "delight"
I'm afraid we exist. The Leavers who feel vindicated."
Except you haven't been (vindicated) and that is why you bang on about it ad nauseum. You know it is shit and pointless, and you keep coming on here in the hope you might convince yourself. You are suffering from sub conscious "repetition compulsion" in a desire to gain "illusory truth effect".
Leon, it doesn't matter how many times you repeat it, you still know in your heart of hearts it was fucking pointless.
Sigh
There's not much more I can do than be honest. I would vote LEAVE again, and with much greater enthusiasm
Why?
Because last time I was genuinely very doubtful; I was worried about the impact on the UK economy; I was personally worried about the impact on London property prices (my main asset)
Any economic impact has been utterly dwarfed by the pandemic, making me much more relaxed about the comparatively trivial GDP hit of Brexit; London property has since had to weather a much fiercer storm - again, the pandemic - but seems to be doing fine now. Indeed London has a buzz at the moment (of course war and inflationary armageddon might ruin that, but that ain't Brexit)
Meanwhile the grotesque behaviour of the EU, the Commission etc over our exit and then other stuff like the vaccines, literally trying to smear UK vaccines out of spite because Brexit, and the general behaviour of Remoaners in the UK (trying to cancel democracy) and the eurocrats in Brussels (trying to thwart our departure) tells me that Leave is on the side of the angels, and that no sane country able to fend for itself would want to be in the non-democratic EU
And the war shows me that democracy really is the best bulwark against autocracy
So that's why I would vote Leave with a confident smile, rather than a nervous gulp
The one big thing I regret is loss of Freedom of Movement. I hope one day we can find a new accommodation which restores it in some qualified form, for the benefit of all Brits AND Europeans
There. Now you can believe me or not, but that is what I think
...serial monomanias are a disturbing vista into a troubled mind.
Which latter is a feature not a bug, of course, creatively speaking.
A question for historians will be whether Brexit might have been less shit if the man charged with "getting it done" wasn't such a buffoon.
Without BoZo there might be no Brexit.
Without BoZo it might have been better.
Without Bozo there would still have been Brexit. His part is far overplayed by his acolytes and his opponents.
Correct. It was Nigel Farage who really delivered Brexit. He brought his xenophobes along to join up with the perfectly reasonable we want to be able to raise VAT on home energy supplies thoughtful, considered Brexiters and together they all marched victoriously over the winning line.
Are you suggesting that without Farage, the xenophobes would have been for Remain?
He gave them a problem and then told them how to solve it.
New Witcher game! Hopefully CDPR will have a Putin like baddie in the game we can kill.
If its anything like Cyberpunk, you will go to kill him and it will keep glitching out. It appears they are ditching their own game engine and moving to UE5.
BREAKING: The Met Police have issued an update on their partygate investigation, saying they have now begun interviewing people on top of the 100 questionnaires sent out.
I have been rather saddened by the fact that I turned out to be right about this ("Boris is going nowhere") and you wrong. I hope you didn't lose too much money betting on his departure.
Brexit has already significantly dented the underlying GDP growth rate, and foreign direct investment.
Although this has been masked, first by Covid, and now by supply shocks relating to the Ukraine war, it’s still there - like rust underneath the surface.
When Britain is once again the sick man of Europe, the "winners" of the referendum will be whining that the EU are making use of free trade and free movement to gain a competitive advantage against us...
Britain is already the sick man of Europe. Again, it’s hidden because the day to day news is about the latest thing rather than long-term trends.
How do you expect the return of geopolitical competition to Europe to affect those long-term trends?
New Witcher game! Hopefully CDPR will have a Putin like baddie in the game we can kill.
If its anything like Cyberpunk, you will go to kill him and it will keep glitching out. It appears they are ditching their own game engine and moving to UE5.
UE5 ftw, I also think moving back to third person action will help.
FPT: Leon said: » show previous quotes "If we had the Brexit vote again, I would vote much more emphatically to LEAVE, and with none of the havering and 50/50 quavering of last time. I might even do it with "delight"
I'm afraid we exist. The Leavers who feel vindicated."
Except you haven't been (vindicated) and that is why you bang on about it ad nauseum. You know it is shit and pointless, and you keep coming on here in the hope you might convince yourself. You are suffering from sub conscious "repetition compulsion" in a desire to gain "illusory truth effect".
Leon, it doesn't matter how many times you repeat it, you still know in your heart of hearts it was fucking pointless.
Sigh
There's not much more I can do than be honest. I would vote LEAVE again, and with much greater enthusiasm
Why?
Because last time I was genuinely very doubtful; I was worried about the impact on the UK economy; I was personally worried about the impact on London property prices (my main asset)
Any economic impact has been utterly dwarfed by the pandemic, making me much more relaxed about the comparatively trivial GDP hit of Brexit; London property has since had to weather a much fiercer storm - again, the pandemic - but seems to be doing fine now. Indeed London has a buzz at the moment (of course war and inflationary armageddon might ruin that, but that ain't Brexit)
Meanwhile the grotesque behaviour of the EU, the Commission etc over our exit and then other stuff like the vaccines, literally trying to smear UK vaccines out of spite because Brexit, and the general behaviour of Remoaners in the UK (trying to cancel democracy) and the eurocrats in Brussels (trying to thwart our departure) tells me that Leave is on the side of the angels, and that no sane country able to fend for itself would want to be in the non-democratic EU
And the war shows me that democracy really is the best bulwark against autocracy
So that's why I would vote Leave with a confident smile, rather than a nervous gulp
The one big thing I regret is loss of Freedom of Movement. I hope one day we can find a new accommodation which restores it in some qualified form, for the benefit of all Brits AND Europeans
There. Now you can believe me or not, but that is what I think
It is a good essay, but I still sense you are trying to convince yourself, and maybe you are almost there. When I see you no longer post on the subject I will accept that the strategy of repetition compulsion (it is a somewhat disputed psychological phenomena) does work. The majority of the British public will still be a majority believing we were conned, but knowing we have to get on with it anyway, but perhaps they might consider a way of ensuring some sort of retribution on those that perpetrated the con.
I don't feel any need to go on about it. But when Remainers make the implication that Leavers would not now vote Leave, I do occasionally feel the need to pipe up that yes, I would still vote Leave knowing now what I knew then, for the reasons Leon sets out - not least the vaccines debacle. And yes, I'd like Brexit to work better. But let's not kid ourselves that membership worked perfectly either.
I voted remain because I thought it would all be a shambles. I’d vote leave if asked again because it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.
It hasn't been as bad as I thought, either, but how bad do you need it to be?
I once said I would clean with my tongue the shoes of every Leaver on the site if it were a success and as a benchmark I referred to the Euro/£ exchange rate and our international credit rating. Both dropped, as predicted, although the exchange rate has made a small recovery in the past few months. Neither amounts to the end of civilised life in the UK but they are not exactly success stories either.
The precise terms of our departure are of course still being worked out so you'd have to accept that it will be some time before a definitive view of Brexit can be sensibly taken. My guess is that at the end of the day we'll have made it work, although it was a pretty dumb idea to start of with.
Only if your sole criteria was economic. And even then, as you say, it has not been the disaster we were promised. The only downside for me at the moment is Johnson and his party of self serving political non-entities. But thankfully we will be able to vote them out. Not a luxury we had with the EU officials.
@Telegraph 🇷🇺Russia has said it is abandoning peace talks with Japan, which were aimed at signing a formal World War II peace treaty, due to Tokyo's tough response on Ukraine
New Witcher game! Hopefully CDPR will have a Putin like baddie in the game we can kill.
If its anything like Cyberpunk, you will go to kill him and it will keep glitching out. It appears they are ditching their own game engine and moving to UE5.
UE5 ftw, I also think moving back to third person action will help.
UE5 looks on the face of it as a real step change in game engine graphics.
FPT: Leon said: » show previous quotes "If we had the Brexit vote again, I would vote much more emphatically to LEAVE, and with none of the havering and 50/50 quavering of last time. I might even do it with "delight"
I'm afraid we exist. The Leavers who feel vindicated."
Except you haven't been (vindicated) and that is why you bang on about it ad nauseum. You know it is shit and pointless, and you keep coming on here in the hope you might convince yourself. You are suffering from sub conscious "repetition compulsion" in a desire to gain "illusory truth effect".
Leon, it doesn't matter how many times you repeat it, you still know in your heart of hearts it was fucking pointless.
Sigh
There's not much more I can do than be honest. I would vote LEAVE again, and with much greater enthusiasm
Why?
Because last time I was genuinely very doubtful; I was worried about the impact on the UK economy; I was personally worried about the impact on London property prices (my main asset)
Any economic impact has been utterly dwarfed by the pandemic, making me much more relaxed about the comparatively trivial GDP hit of Brexit; London property has since had to weather a much fiercer storm - again, the pandemic - but seems to be doing fine now. Indeed London has a buzz at the moment (of course war and inflationary armageddon might ruin that, but that ain't Brexit)
Meanwhile the grotesque behaviour of the EU, the Commission etc over our exit and then other stuff like the vaccines, literally trying to smear UK vaccines out of spite because Brexit, and the general behaviour of Remoaners in the UK (trying to cancel democracy) and the eurocrats in Brussels (trying to thwart our departure) tells me that Leave is on the side of the angels, and that no sane country able to fend for itself would want to be in the non-democratic EU
And the war shows me that democracy really is the best bulwark against autocracy
So that's why I would vote Leave with a confident smile, rather than a nervous gulp
The one big thing I regret is loss of Freedom of Movement. I hope one day we can find a new accommodation which restores it in some qualified form, for the benefit of all Brits AND Europeans
There. Now you can believe me or not, but that is what I think
It is a good essay, but I still sense you are trying to convince yourself, and maybe you are almost there. When I see you no longer post on the subject I will accept that the strategy of repetition compulsion (it is a somewhat disputed psychological phenomena) does work. The majority of the British public will still be a majority believing we were conned, but knowing we have to get on with it anyway, but perhaps they might consider a way of ensuring some sort of retribution on those that perpetrated the con.
I don't feel any need to go on about it. But when Remainers make the implication that Leavers would not now vote Leave, I do occasionally feel the need to pipe up that yes, I would still vote Leave knowing now what I knew then, for the reasons Leon sets out - not least the vaccines debacle. And yes, I'd like Brexit to work better. But let's not kid ourselves that membership worked perfectly either.
I voted remain because I thought it would all be a shambles. I’d vote leave if asked again because it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.
It hasn't been as bad as I thought, either, but how bad do you need it to be?
I once said I would clean with my tongue the shoes of every Leaver on the site if it were a success and as a benchmark I referred to the Euro/£ exchange rate and our international credit rating. Both dropped, as predicted, although the exchange rate has made a small recovery in the past few months. Neither amounts to the end of civilised life in the UK but they are not exactly success stories either.
The precise terms of our departure are of course still being worked out so you'd have to accept that it will be some time before a definitive view of Brexit can be sensibly taken. My guess is that at the end of the day we'll have made it work, although it was a pretty dumb idea to start of with.
Only if your sole criteria was economic. And even then, as you say, it has not been the disaster we were promised. The only downside for me at the moment is Johnson and his party of self serving political non-entities. But thankfully we will be able to vote them out. Not a luxury we had with the EU officials.
It is in all of our interests for Labour to win the next election. We can get a sane Tory Party back and go back to boring, competent politics again.
Boris Johnson’s (38%, down 1%) lead over Keir Starmer (36%, no change) has narrowed slightly in terms of who Britons think would be the better Prime Minister for the UK at this moment.
Brexit has already significantly dented the underlying GDP growth rate, and foreign direct investment.
Although this has been masked, first by Covid, and now by supply shocks relating to the Ukraine war, it’s still there - like rust underneath the surface.
When Britain is once again the sick man of Europe, the "winners" of the referendum will be whining that the EU are making use of free trade and free movement to gain a competitive advantage against us...
Britain is already the sick man of Europe. Again, it’s hidden because the day to day news is about the latest thing rather than long-term trends.
How do you expect the return of geopolitical competition to Europe to affect those long-term trends?
I’m not sure I get the question. Do you mean energy prices? Increased defence expenditure? Effect of persistent sanctions on Russia?
A question for historians will be whether Brexit might have been less shit if the man charged with "getting it done" wasn't such a buffoon.
Without BoZo there might be no Brexit.
Without BoZo it might have been better.
Without Bozo there would still have been Brexit. His part is far overplayed by his acolytes and his opponents.
Correct. It was Nigel Farage who really delivered Brexit. He brought his xenophobes along to join up with the perfectly reasonable we want to be able to raise VAT on home energy supplies thoughtful, considered Brexiters and together they all marched victoriously over the winning line.
Are you suggesting that without Farage, the xenophobes would have been for Remain?
They may well have not voted. Much like the Trumpets a percentage seem to have a low propensity to vote unless triggered by v-emotive issues.
BREAKING: The Met Police have issued an update on their partygate investigation, saying they have now begun interviewing people on top of the 100 questionnaires sent out.
I have been rather saddened by the fact that I turned out to be right about this ("Boris is going nowhere") and you wrong. I hope you didn't lose too much money betting on his departure.
I would have to say that I believe that was more luck than judgement. Very few people could have predicted we would be faced with a war within a few months and I do believe that without it the pressure on Johnson would have become overwhelming.
A question for historians will be whether Brexit might have been less shit if the man charged with "getting it done" wasn't such a buffoon.
Without BoZo there might be no Brexit.
Without BoZo it might have been better.
Without Bozo there would still have been Brexit. His part is far overplayed by his acolytes and his opponents.
Correct. It was Nigel Farage who really delivered Brexit. He brought his xenophobes along to join up with the perfectly reasonable we want to be able to raise VAT on home energy supplies thoughtful, considered Brexiters and together they all marched victoriously over the winning line.
Are you suggesting that without Farage, the xenophobes would have been for Remain?
He gave them a problem and then told them how to solve it.
With or without Farage, EU expansion (particularly without making use of the transition period) meant that control of immigration would have come to be linked with EU membership.
New Witcher game! Hopefully CDPR will have a Putin like baddie in the game we can kill.
If its anything like Cyberpunk, you will go to kill him and it will keep glitching out. It appears they are ditching their own game engine and moving to UE5.
UE5 ftw, I also think moving back to third person action will help.
UE5 looks on the face of it as a real step change in game engine graphics.
I've been told by some of my ex-colleagues still in development that it has basically got rid of a whole load of grind because the mesh size and complexity is so huge now due to Nanite. They can literally take a texture and stick it into Nanite and it will create a 3D world for them which only needs some modification.
Boris Johnson’s (38%, down 1%) lead over Keir Starmer (36%, no change) has narrowed slightly in terms of who Britons think would be the better Prime Minister for the UK at this moment.
Brexit has already significantly dented the underlying GDP growth rate, and foreign direct investment.
Although this has been masked, first by Covid, and now by supply shocks relating to the Ukraine war, it’s still there - like rust underneath the surface.
When Britain is once again the sick man of Europe, the "winners" of the referendum will be whining that the EU are making use of free trade and free movement to gain a competitive advantage against us...
Britain is already the sick man of Europe. Again, it’s hidden because the day to day news is about the latest thing rather than long-term trends.
The other thing is that old people - the bedrock of the Brexit vote - are less likely to notice the impact because they don’t work and house prices have continued to rise.
We were told by Remainers - quite gleefully - that the City of London would wither on the vine, eclipsed by Paris and Frankfurt.
New Witcher game! Hopefully CDPR will have a Putin like baddie in the game we can kill.
If its anything like Cyberpunk, you will go to kill him and it will keep glitching out. It appears they are ditching their own game engine and moving to UE5.
UE5 ftw, I also think moving back to third person action will help.
UE5 looks on the face of it as a real step change in game engine graphics.
I've been told by some of my ex-colleagues still in development that it has basically got rid of a whole load of grind because the mesh size and complexity is so huge now due to Nanite. They can literally take a texture and stick it into Nanite and it will create a 3D world for them which only needs some modification.
Yeah Nanite technology looks a total game changer.
BREAKING: The Met Police have issued an update on their partygate investigation, saying they have now begun interviewing people on top of the 100 questionnaires sent out.
I have been rather saddened by the fact that I turned out to be right about this ("Boris is going nowhere") and you wrong. I hope you didn't lose too much money betting on his departure.
I would have to say that I believe that was more luck than judgement. Very few people could have predicted we would be faced with a war within a few months and I do believe that without it the pressure on Johnson would have become overwhelming.
I have no doubt the letters would have been in by now but the war has changed everything
FPT: Leon said: » show previous quotes "If we had the Brexit vote again, I would vote much more emphatically to LEAVE, and with none of the havering and 50/50 quavering of last time. I might even do it with "delight"
I'm afraid we exist. The Leavers who feel vindicated."
Except you haven't been (vindicated) and that is why you bang on about it ad nauseum. You know it is shit and pointless, and you keep coming on here in the hope you might convince yourself. You are suffering from sub conscious "repetition compulsion" in a desire to gain "illusory truth effect".
Leon, it doesn't matter how many times you repeat it, you still know in your heart of hearts it was fucking pointless.
Sigh
There's not much more I can do than be honest. I would vote LEAVE again, and with much greater enthusiasm
Why?
Because last time I was genuinely very doubtful; I was worried about the impact on the UK economy; I was personally worried about the impact on London property prices (my main asset)
Any economic impact has been utterly dwarfed by the pandemic, making me much more relaxed about the comparatively trivial GDP hit of Brexit; London property has since had to weather a much fiercer storm - again, the pandemic - but seems to be doing fine now. Indeed London has a buzz at the moment (of course war and inflationary armageddon might ruin that, but that ain't Brexit)
Meanwhile the grotesque behaviour of the EU, the Commission etc over our exit and then other stuff like the vaccines, literally trying to smear UK vaccines out of spite because Brexit, and the general behaviour of Remoaners in the UK (trying to cancel democracy) and the eurocrats in Brussels (trying to thwart our departure) tells me that Leave is on the side of the angels, and that no sane country able to fend for itself would want to be in the non-democratic EU
And the war shows me that democracy really is the best bulwark against autocracy
So that's why I would vote Leave with a confident smile, rather than a nervous gulp
The one big thing I regret is loss of Freedom of Movement. I hope one day we can find a new accommodation which restores it in some qualified form, for the benefit of all Brits AND Europeans
There. Now you can believe me or not, but that is what I think
It is a good essay, but I still sense you are trying to convince yourself, and maybe you are almost there. When I see you no longer post on the subject I will accept that the strategy of repetition compulsion (it is a somewhat disputed psychological phenomena) does work. The majority of the British public will still be a majority believing we were conned, but knowing we have to get on with it anyway, but perhaps they might consider a way of ensuring some sort of retribution on those that perpetrated the con.
I don't feel any need to go on about it. But when Remainers make the implication that Leavers would not now vote Leave, I do occasionally feel the need to pipe up that yes, I would still vote Leave knowing now what I knew then, for the reasons Leon sets out - not least the vaccines debacle. And yes, I'd like Brexit to work better. But let's not kid ourselves that membership worked perfectly either.
I voted remain because I thought it would all be a shambles. I’d vote leave if asked again because it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.
It hasn't been as bad as I thought, either, but how bad do you need it to be?
I once said I would clean with my tongue the shoes of every Leaver on the site if it were a success and as a benchmark I referred to the Euro/£ exchange rate and our international credit rating. Both dropped, as predicted, although the exchange rate has made a small recovery in the past few months. Neither amounts to the end of civilised life in the UK but they are not exactly success stories either.
The precise terms of our departure are of course still being worked out so you'd have to accept that it will be some time before a definitive view of Brexit can be sensibly taken. My guess is that at the end of the day we'll have made it work, although it was a pretty dumb idea to start of with.
Only if your sole criteria was economic. And even then, as you say, it has not been the disaster we were promised. The only downside for me at the moment is Johnson and his party of self serving political non-entities. But thankfully we will be able to vote them out. Not a luxury we had with the EU officials.
The economic impact is marginal in either direction.
A question for historians will be whether Brexit might have been less shit if the man charged with "getting it done" wasn't such a buffoon.
Without BoZo there might be no Brexit.
Without BoZo it might have been better.
Without Bozo there would still have been Brexit. His part is far overplayed by his acolytes and his opponents.
Correct. It was Nigel Farage who really delivered Brexit. He brought his xenophobes along to join up with the perfectly reasonable we want to be able to raise VAT on home energy supplies thoughtful, considered Brexiters and together they all marched victoriously over the winning line.
Are you suggesting that without Farage, the xenophobes would have been for Remain?
He gave them a problem and then told them how to solve it.
With or without Farage, EU expansion (particularly without making use of the transition period) meant that control of immigration would have come to be linked with EU membership.
Control of immigration was absolutely always linked with EU membership although we could of course have introduced a throttle and chose (sovereignly) not to.
The issue was how much people cared about immigration. As this news article pointed out some time ago:
Boris Johnson’s (38%, down 1%) lead over Keir Starmer (36%, no change) has narrowed slightly in terms of who Britons think would be the better Prime Minister for the UK at this moment.
Let me guess, polls are irrelevant again?
You should be pleased labour has increased it lead
BREAKING: The Met Police have issued an update on their partygate investigation, saying they have now begun interviewing people on top of the 100 questionnaires sent out.
I have been rather saddened by the fact that I turned out to be right about this ("Boris is going nowhere") and you wrong. I hope you didn't lose too much money betting on his departure.
Naah, provided he has gone by the Thursday after next I'm golden. If not this was a big bet *for me* meaning just into 3 figs. I'll live.
I don't think we'll ever know the answer though, i.e. what would have happened but for Vlad, any more than we'll know about Tiger Roll's 3rd grand national. I think it was a value bet when I made it, but who knows?
FPT: Leon said: » show previous quotes "If we had the Brexit vote again, I would vote much more emphatically to LEAVE, and with none of the havering and 50/50 quavering of last time. I might even do it with "delight"
I'm afraid we exist. The Leavers who feel vindicated."
Except you haven't been (vindicated) and that is why you bang on about it ad nauseum. You know it is shit and pointless, and you keep coming on here in the hope you might convince yourself. You are suffering from sub conscious "repetition compulsion" in a desire to gain "illusory truth effect".
Leon, it doesn't matter how many times you repeat it, you still know in your heart of hearts it was fucking pointless.
Sigh
There's not much more I can do than be honest. I would vote LEAVE again, and with much greater enthusiasm
Why?
Because last time I was genuinely very doubtful; I was worried about the impact on the UK economy; I was personally worried about the impact on London property prices (my main asset)
Any economic impact has been utterly dwarfed by the pandemic, making me much more relaxed about the comparatively trivial GDP hit of Brexit; London property has since had to weather a much fiercer storm - again, the pandemic - but seems to be doing fine now. Indeed London has a buzz at the moment (of course war and inflationary armageddon might ruin that, but that ain't Brexit)
Meanwhile the grotesque behaviour of the EU, the Commission etc over our exit and then other stuff like the vaccines, literally trying to smear UK vaccines out of spite because Brexit, and the general behaviour of Remoaners in the UK (trying to cancel democracy) and the eurocrats in Brussels (trying to thwart our departure) tells me that Leave is on the side of the angels, and that no sane country able to fend for itself would want to be in the non-democratic EU
And the war shows me that democracy really is the best bulwark against autocracy
So that's why I would vote Leave with a confident smile, rather than a nervous gulp
The one big thing I regret is loss of Freedom of Movement. I hope one day we can find a new accommodation which restores it in some qualified form, for the benefit of all Brits AND Europeans
There. Now you can believe me or not, but that is what I think
It is a good essay, but I still sense you are trying to convince yourself, and maybe you are almost there. When I see you no longer post on the subject I will accept that the strategy of repetition compulsion (it is a somewhat disputed psychological phenomena) does work. The majority of the British public will still be a majority believing we were conned, but knowing we have to get on with it anyway, but perhaps they might consider a way of ensuring some sort of retribution on those that perpetrated the con.
I don't feel any need to go on about it. But when Remainers make the implication that Leavers would not now vote Leave, I do occasionally feel the need to pipe up that yes, I would still vote Leave knowing now what I knew then, for the reasons Leon sets out - not least the vaccines debacle. And yes, I'd like Brexit to work better. But let's not kid ourselves that membership worked perfectly either.
I voted remain because I thought it would all be a shambles. I’d vote leave if asked again because it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.
It hasn't been as bad as I thought, either, but how bad do you need it to be?
I once said I would clean with my tongue the shoes of every Leaver on the site if it were a success and as a benchmark I referred to the Euro/£ exchange rate and our international credit rating. Both dropped, as predicted, although the exchange rate has made a small recovery in the past few months. Neither amounts to the end of civilised life in the UK but they are not exactly success stories either.
The precise terms of our departure are of course still being worked out so you'd have to accept that it will be some time before a definitive view of Brexit can be sensibly taken. My guess is that at the end of the day we'll have made it work, although it was a pretty dumb idea to start of with.
Only if your sole criteria was economic. And even then, as you say, it has not been the disaster we were promised. The only downside for me at the moment is Johnson and his party of self serving political non-entities. But thankfully we will be able to vote them out. Not a luxury we had with the EU officials.
The economic impact is marginal in either direction.
Depends what you mean by marginal. Like compound interest, ongoing GDP suppression really “adds up” after a while.
A question for historians will be whether Brexit might have been less shit if the man charged with "getting it done" wasn't such a buffoon.
Without BoZo there might be no Brexit.
Without BoZo it might have been better.
Without Bozo there would still have been Brexit. His part is far overplayed by his acolytes and his opponents.
Correct. It was Nigel Farage who really delivered Brexit. He brought his xenophobes along to join up with the perfectly reasonable we want to be able to raise VAT on home energy supplies thoughtful, considered Brexiters and together they all marched victoriously over the winning line.
We were always going to win when faced with the 'we don't care about democracy , just let Brussels tell us what to do' mob.
You see making sweeping statements which bear only the faintest of relationships to reality is quite easy when you get the hang of it. But then you already knew that as it is your style of argument on most matters.
Brexit has already significantly dented the underlying GDP growth rate, and foreign direct investment.
Although this has been masked, first by Covid, and now by supply shocks relating to the Ukraine war, it’s still there - like rust underneath the surface.
When Britain is once again the sick man of Europe, the "winners" of the referendum will be whining that the EU are making use of free trade and free movement to gain a competitive advantage against us...
Britain is already the sick man of Europe. Again, it’s hidden because the day to day news is about the latest thing rather than long-term trends.
The other thing is that old people - the bedrock of the Brexit vote - are less likely to notice the impact because they don’t work and house prices have continued to rise.
We were told by Remainers - quite gleefully - that the City of London would wither on the vine, eclipsed by Paris and Frankfurt.
Hur hur hur.....
I notice your posts often take a strange gloating style. It is quite odd and says more about you than anything else.
I think most analysts expected some loss of business from London, with the business going to various places - New York as well as some European cities.
I don’t remember anyone predicting - let alone “gleefully” - that London would be eclipsed.
Not that any city has a monopoly on such things, look at what the Chinese are doing to HK’s status as an entrepôt.
Brexiters also I believe underrate the effect of Brexit on the political culture.
Again, hard to quantify, but the UK is a more polarised country than before the Brexit vote, and the quality of governance has also declined.
(This is genie-out-of-the-bottle stuff. Rejoining the EU doesn’t fix this, and could even make it worse).
The inevitable conclusion of your argument is that no-one should ever argue for any form of change because of the fear that those who don't like it will get upset and retaliate.
Everything in politics is polarising. And the EU was only ever about politics in the end.
Boris Johnson’s (38%, down 1%) lead over Keir Starmer (36%, no change) has narrowed slightly in terms of who Britons think would be the better Prime Minister for the UK at this moment.
This is dismal stuff for Boris. Unless Ukraine spontaneously appoints him President for life, this is as good as his war gets for him. What a shame.
BREAKING: The Met Police have issued an update on their partygate investigation, saying they have now begun interviewing people on top of the 100 questionnaires sent out.
Brexiters also I believe underrate the effect of Brexit on the political culture.
Again, hard to quantify, but the UK is a more polarised country than before the Brexit vote, and the quality of governance has also declined.
(This is genie-out-of-the-bottle stuff. Rejoining the EU doesn’t fix this, and could even make it worse).
The inevitable conclusion of your argument is that no-one should ever argue for any form of change because of the fear that those who don't like it will get upset and retaliate.
Everything in politics is polarising. And the EU was only ever about politics in the end.
No, your taking what is an observation to an absurd end. You’re also missing the point about governance quality.
The lead has definitely widened to around 6 points.
I'd say it's around 5% but all MoE stuff as I've said before. Starmer really needs to do convincingly in real elections - a 5% lead for Labour in the NEV vote share in May's council elections would be a reasonable benchmark.
A question for historians will be whether Brexit might have been less shit if the man charged with "getting it done" wasn't such a buffoon.
Without BoZo there might be no Brexit.
Without BoZo it might have been better.
Without Bozo there would still have been Brexit. His part is far overplayed by his acolytes and his opponents.
Correct. It was Nigel Farage who really delivered Brexit. He brought his xenophobes along to join up with the perfectly reasonable we want to be able to raise VAT on home energy supplies thoughtful, considered Brexiters and together they all marched victoriously over the winning line.
We were always going to win when faced with the 'we don't care about democracy , just let Brussels tell us what to do' mob.
You see making sweeping statements which bear only the faintest of relationships to reality is quite easy when you get the hang of it. But then you already knew that as it is your style of argument on most matters.
Now Richard let's see if you can hold it together in a discussion with me; not always possible I have noted.
I don't think anyone can query Nigel Farage's pivotal role, over the course of several decades, in bringing about Brexit. I have often said that for this reason he must rank amongst the most successful politicians of our generation.
I know you don't like it because you are a come all ye kind of guy wrt immigration (as evidenced by your fantastic gesture in offering to house Ukranian refugees) but it was Farage who convinced or stoked up many people about immigration and then explained that by voting Brexit they would solve the problem.
That decent I want to zero rate VAT on home energy supplies Brexiters like yourself were on the same side as him is of course an embarrassment but I'm sure you will agree that the end result justified the means. Like sausages, the making of which being not something one should examine too closely.
Boris Johnson’s (38%, down 1%) lead over Keir Starmer (36%, no change) has narrowed slightly in terms of who Britons think would be the better Prime Minister for the UK at this moment.
This is dismal stuff for Boris. Unless Ukraine spontaneously appoints him President for life, this is as good as his war gets for him. What a shame.
Brexit has already significantly dented the underlying GDP growth rate, and foreign direct investment.
Although this has been masked, first by Covid, and now by supply shocks relating to the Ukraine war, it’s still there - like rust underneath the surface.
When Britain is once again the sick man of Europe, the "winners" of the referendum will be whining that the EU are making use of free trade and free movement to gain a competitive advantage against us...
Britain is already the sick man of Europe. Again, it’s hidden because the day to day news is about the latest thing rather than long-term trends.
The other thing is that old people - the bedrock of the Brexit vote - are less likely to notice the impact because they don’t work and house prices have continued to rise.
We were told by Remainers - quite gleefully - that the City of London would wither on the vine, eclipsed by Paris and Frankfurt.
Hur hur hur.....
I notice your posts often take a strange gloating style. It is quite odd and says more about you than anything else.
I think most analysts expected some loss of business from London, with the business going to various places - New York as well as some European cities.
I don’t remember anyone predicting - let alone “gleefully” - that London would be eclipsed.
Not that any city has a monopoly on such things, look at what the Chinese are doing to HK’s status as an entrepôt.
If you don't remember it then you do have a very selective memory. These pages were filled with claims that it would be the end of the City and that would be a disaster for the country - often by people who had spent years previously claiming that the City was some terrible evil that needed to be brought to heel as it was a disaster for the country.
I don't know what poll this is referring to but it gives;
SF 25% DUP 17% UUP 14% Alliance 14% SDLP 11%
This would be a calamitous result for the DUP and a pretty decent result for the UUP although I still expect Alliance to come third in seats.
Can you elaborate on that last bit Gary? Why would the Alliance beat out the UUP on the same number of votes? I assume that is a question of where the votes are...
Since we're back on the EU again, I'd vote for stay out if asked.
It is a question that you won't be asked for a while, and a question I doubt I will ever be asked. I would rejoin in a heartbeat for the free movement alone.
There is much to condemn the EU, but much to commend it too, certainly from our side of the political divide.
Still, Brexit gave you PM Johnson. What more do you want?
Brexit has already significantly dented the underlying GDP growth rate, and foreign direct investment.
Although this has been masked, first by Covid, and now by supply shocks relating to the Ukraine war, it’s still there - like rust underneath the surface.
When Britain is once again the sick man of Europe, the "winners" of the referendum will be whining that the EU are making use of free trade and free movement to gain a competitive advantage against us...
Britain is already the sick man of Europe. Again, it’s hidden because the day to day news is about the latest thing rather than long-term trends.
The other thing is that old people - the bedrock of the Brexit vote - are less likely to notice the impact because they don’t work and house prices have continued to rise.
We were told by Remainers - quite gleefully - that the City of London would wither on the vine, eclipsed by Paris and Frankfurt.
Hur hur hur.....
I notice your posts often take a strange gloating style. It is quite odd and says more about you than anything else.
I think most analysts expected some loss of business from London, with the business going to various places - New York as well as some European cities.
I don’t remember anyone predicting - let alone “gleefully” - that London would be eclipsed.
Not that any city has a monopoly on such things, look at what the Chinese are doing to HK’s status as an entrepôt.
If you don't remember it then you do have a very selective memory. These pages were filled with claims that it would be the end of the City and that would be a disaster for the country - often by people who had spent years previously claiming that the City was some terrible evil that needed to be brought to heel as it was a disaster for the country.
This doesn’t stand any kind of test. Show me a serious analyst who predicted it, not your mates down the pub.
“ Ali Harbi Ali, 26, denies murdering the MP for Southend West”.
What’s his defence???!
Well his own defence team have ruled out using insanity as one.
I heard someone a bit ago complaining about dweebs who shout for specific songs at concerts when the song is probably coming up anyway, saying "Ralph McTell probably does not need a sticky note on his guitar saying Don't forget to do Streets of London." Same with this guy; if I were going to murder Michael Gove while he was out jogging I wouldn't put a memo to self on my phone about it.
I went to see Martha Wainwright a few years back and some drunken twat in the crowd kept bellowing ‘Bloody Mother Fucking Asshole’ (a song about her dear papa for anyone wondering); the whole audience were ready to murder him by the end. She didn’t do the song btw.
I'll wait a bit longer for the game of the year edition...
Well if Cyberpunk is anything to go by it might need to wait for game of the decade edition in order for them to iron out all the bugs.
The problem with cyberpunk wasn't the bugs (which are forgivable), it was the lousy writing and repetitive missions (unforgivable).
Though I refuse to pay the mad prices for a new graphics card and the neon shortage as a result of the war in Ukraine means the chip shortage is likely to start getting worse again, so it's probably a moot point. If it requires anything more modern than five year old hardware most people won't be able to play it.
Boris Johnson’s (38%, down 1%) lead over Keir Starmer (36%, no change) has narrowed slightly in terms of who Britons think would be the better Prime Minister for the UK at this moment.
This is dismal stuff for Boris. Unless Ukraine spontaneously appoints him President for life, this is as good as his war gets for him. What a shame.
He is the next Jeremy Corbyn.
I think there are more parallels with Brown TBH even though Johnson did win an election i.e. a lot of strong residual core support but not necessarily in the marginal seats that decide the election. Brown also got close in a few polls in late 2008, early 2010 but still did badly in the end.
Brexit has already significantly dented the underlying GDP growth rate, and foreign direct investment.
Although this has been masked, first by Covid, and now by supply shocks relating to the Ukraine war, it’s still there - like rust underneath the surface.
When Britain is once again the sick man of Europe, the "winners" of the referendum will be whining that the EU are making use of free trade and free movement to gain a competitive advantage against us...
Britain is already the sick man of Europe. Again, it’s hidden because the day to day news is about the latest thing rather than long-term trends.
The other thing is that old people - the bedrock of the Brexit vote - are less likely to notice the impact because they don’t work and house prices have continued to rise.
We were told by Remainers - quite gleefully - that the City of London would wither on the vine, eclipsed by Paris and Frankfurt.
Hur hur hur.....
I notice your posts often take a strange gloating style. It is quite odd and says more about you than anything else.
I think most analysts expected some loss of business from London, with the business going to various places - New York as well as some European cities.
I don’t remember anyone predicting - let alone “gleefully” - that London would be eclipsed.
Not that any city has a monopoly on such things, look at what the Chinese are doing to HK’s status as an entrepôt.
If you don't remember it then you do have a very selective memory. These pages were filled with claims that it would be the end of the City and that would be a disaster for the country - often by people who had spent years previously claiming that the City was some terrible evil that needed to be brought to heel as it was a disaster for the country.
I genuinely don't remember that - save perhaps there might have been some such hyperbolic posts from @williamglenn, oh the irony.
Most remainers thought that there would be a near imperceptible diminution in our living standards and national wealth. I used to phrase it the "2p on beer and fags" effect which no one really notices but they are poorer as a result.
Boris Johnson’s (38%, down 1%) lead over Keir Starmer (36%, no change) has narrowed slightly in terms of who Britons think would be the better Prime Minister for the UK at this moment.
This is dismal stuff for Boris. Unless Ukraine spontaneously appoints him President for life, this is as good as his war gets for him. What a shame.
Actually not a bad poll for Boris, he still leads Starmer as preferred PM 38% to 36%.
Sunak however can only tie Starmer as preferred PM 37% each.
A 5% lead for the opposition is par for the course midterm, especially after 10 years in power
A question for historians will be whether Brexit might have been less shit if the man charged with "getting it done" wasn't such a buffoon.
Without BoZo there might be no Brexit.
Without BoZo it might have been better.
Without Bozo there would still have been Brexit. His part is far overplayed by his acolytes and his opponents.
Correct. It was Nigel Farage who really delivered Brexit. He brought his xenophobes along to join up with the perfectly reasonable we want to be able to raise VAT on home energy supplies thoughtful, considered Brexiters and together they all marched victoriously over the winning line.
We were always going to win when faced with the 'we don't care about democracy , just let Brussels tell us what to do' mob.
You see making sweeping statements which bear only the faintest of relationships to reality is quite easy when you get the hang of it. But then you already knew that as it is your style of argument on most matters.
Now Richard let's see if you can hold it together in a discussion with me; not always possible I have noted.
I don't think anyone can query Nigel Farage's pivotal role, over the course of several decades, in bringing about Brexit. I have often said that for this reason he must rank amongst the most successful politicians of our generation.
I know you don't like it because you are a come all ye kind of guy wrt immigration (as evidenced by your fantastic gesture in offering to house Ukranian refugees) but it was Farage who convinced or stoked up many people about immigration and then explained that by voting Brexit they would solve the problem.
That decent I want to zero rate VAT on home energy supplies Brexiters like yourself were on the same side as him is of course an embarrassment but I'm sure you will agree that the end result justified the means. Like sausages, the making of which being not something one should examine too closely.
Another one with a very selective memory. I spent many happy hours on here both before and after the referendum arguing that whilst Farage had been pivotal in getting the referendum, once it had been secured he was nothing but a liability to the campaign to actually win it. Indeed I included such an argument in at least one of the headers I wrote prior to the vote. Of course that doesn't sit well with your rather selective narrative.
I was in no way embarrassed to be on the same side as him any more than Churchill was embarrassed to be on the same side as Stalin or you were embarrassed to be on the same side as Neil Kinnock and Sinn Féin. The difference is that I saw him as a liability rather than an asset in the campaign and he could very easily have lost it for us.
Boris Johnson’s (38%, down 1%) lead over Keir Starmer (36%, no change) has narrowed slightly in terms of who Britons think would be the better Prime Minister for the UK at this moment.
This is dismal stuff for Boris. Unless Ukraine spontaneously appoints him President for life, this is as good as his war gets for him. What a shame.
He is the next Jeremy Corbyn.
Appreciate the sentiment, but no. Whether he loses or not fact is he won, and won big, once already, which puts him in a different category.
BREAKING: The Met Police have issued an update on their partygate investigation, saying they have now begun interviewing people on top of the 100 questionnaires sent out.
I have been rather saddened by the fact that I turned out to be right about this ("Boris is going nowhere") and you wrong. I hope you didn't lose too much money betting on his departure.
I would have to say that I believe that was more luck than judgement. Very few people could have predicted we would be faced with a war within a few months and I do believe that without it the pressure on Johnson would have become overwhelming.
Nah. Disagree. It was obvious from the very beginning to me that the no-marks and cowards in the PCP didn't have the requisite cojones to do what was necessary.
Boris Johnson’s (38%, down 1%) lead over Keir Starmer (36%, no change) has narrowed slightly in terms of who Britons think would be the better Prime Minister for the UK at this moment.
This is dismal stuff for Boris. Unless Ukraine spontaneously appoints him President for life, this is as good as his war gets for him. What a shame.
He is the next Jeremy Corbyn.
Appreciate the sentiment, but no. Whether he loses or not fact is he won, and won big, once already, which puts him in a different category.
I think Corbyn would have won a second election in 2017 to be honest.
I have been waiting for a “return to DUP” effect as Unionists realise they are about to see a Nationalist First Minister.
Hasn’t happened.
Given Stormont is entirely STV PR not FPTP a vote by Unionist hardliners for TUV not DUP makes little difference to the number of Unionist MLAs elected.
The DUP has already withdrawn from the NI Executive anyway so would refuse to appoint the FM even if they won most seats.
Brexiters also I believe underrate the effect of Brexit on the political culture.
Again, hard to quantify, but the UK is a more polarised country than before the Brexit vote, and the quality of governance has also declined.
(This is genie-out-of-the-bottle stuff. Rejoining the EU doesn’t fix this, and could even make it worse).
The inevitable conclusion of your argument is that no-one should ever argue for any form of change because of the fear that those who don't like it will get upset and retaliate.
Everything in politics is polarising. And the EU was only ever about politics in the end.
No, your taking what is an observation to an absurd end. You’re also missing the point about governance quality.
But your observation to which I was replying is, in itself, absurd.
Brexit has already significantly dented the underlying GDP growth rate, and foreign direct investment.
Although this has been masked, first by Covid, and now by supply shocks relating to the Ukraine war, it’s still there - like rust underneath the surface.
When Britain is once again the sick man of Europe, the "winners" of the referendum will be whining that the EU are making use of free trade and free movement to gain a competitive advantage against us...
Britain is already the sick man of Europe. Again, it’s hidden because the day to day news is about the latest thing rather than long-term trends.
The other thing is that old people - the bedrock of the Brexit vote - are less likely to notice the impact because they don’t work and house prices have continued to rise.
We were told by Remainers - quite gleefully - that the City of London would wither on the vine, eclipsed by Paris and Frankfurt.
Hur hur hur.....
I notice your posts often take a strange gloating style. It is quite odd and says more about you than anything else.
I think most analysts expected some loss of business from London, with the business going to various places - New York as well as some European cities.
I don’t remember anyone predicting - let alone “gleefully” - that London would be eclipsed.
Not that any city has a monopoly on such things, look at what the Chinese are doing to HK’s status as an entrepôt.
If you don't remember it then you do have a very selective memory. These pages were filled with claims that it would be the end of the City and that would be a disaster for the country - often by people who had spent years previously claiming that the City was some terrible evil that needed to be brought to heel as it was a disaster for the country.
Personally, I was hoping for the City to decamp somewhere else, and have been very disappointed by its failure to do so. The UK is far too dependent on financial services, and too many of the best mathematical, engineering and scientific brains end up there. Much better if they were to find themselves in industry instead.
Brexiters also I believe underrate the effect of Brexit on the political culture.
Again, hard to quantify, but the UK is a more polarised country than before the Brexit vote, and the quality of governance has also declined.
(This is genie-out-of-the-bottle stuff. Rejoining the EU doesn’t fix this, and could even make it worse).
I'm not so sure. It seems just as likely to me, if not more so, that the referendum result reflected the divisions that existed rather than creating them.
As for the decline in quality of governance, that's merely the continuation of a long-existing trend.
BREAKING: The Met Police have issued an update on their partygate investigation, saying they have now begun interviewing people on top of the 100 questionnaires sent out.
I have been rather saddened by the fact that I turned out to be right about this ("Boris is going nowhere") and you wrong. I hope you didn't lose too much money betting on his departure.
I would have to say that I believe that was more luck than judgement. Very few people could have predicted we would be faced with a war within a few months and I do believe that without it the pressure on Johnson would have become overwhelming.
Nah. Disagree. It was obvious from the very beginning to me that the no-marks and cowards in the PCP didn't have the requisite cojones to do what was necessary.
There simply wasn't enough spontaneous reaction. It resorted to a few here and there and trying to present it as a coordinated approach, itself transparent interpretation to encourage more to come forward.
A question for historians will be whether Brexit might have been less shit if the man charged with "getting it done" wasn't such a buffoon.
Without BoZo there might be no Brexit.
Without BoZo it might have been better.
Without Bozo there would still have been Brexit. His part is far overplayed by his acolytes and his opponents.
Correct. It was Nigel Farage who really delivered Brexit. He brought his xenophobes along to join up with the perfectly reasonable we want to be able to raise VAT on home energy supplies thoughtful, considered Brexiters and together they all marched victoriously over the winning line.
We were always going to win when faced with the 'we don't care about democracy , just let Brussels tell us what to do' mob.
You see making sweeping statements which bear only the faintest of relationships to reality is quite easy when you get the hang of it. But then you already knew that as it is your style of argument on most matters.
Now Richard let's see if you can hold it together in a discussion with me; not always possible I have noted.
I don't think anyone can query Nigel Farage's pivotal role, over the course of several decades, in bringing about Brexit. I have often said that for this reason he must rank amongst the most successful politicians of our generation.
I know you don't like it because you are a come all ye kind of guy wrt immigration (as evidenced by your fantastic gesture in offering to house Ukranian refugees) but it was Farage who convinced or stoked up many people about immigration and then explained that by voting Brexit they would solve the problem.
That decent I want to zero rate VAT on home energy supplies Brexiters like yourself were on the same side as him is of course an embarrassment but I'm sure you will agree that the end result justified the means. Like sausages, the making of which being not something one should examine too closely.
Another one with a very selective memory. I spent many happy hours on here both before and after the referendum arguing that whilst Farage had been pivotal in getting the referendum, once it had been secured he was nothing but a liability to the campaign to actually win it. Indeed I included such an argument in at least one of the headers I wrote prior to the vote. Of course that doesn't sit well with your rather selective narrative.
I was in no way embarrassed to be on the same side as him any more than Churchill was embarrassed to be on the same side as Stalin or you were embarrassed to be on the same side as Neil Kinnock and Sinn Féin. The difference is that I saw him as a liability rather than an asset in the campaign and he could very easily have lost it for us.
Maybe maybe not. He certainly rallied the (xenophobic, foreigner-hating) troops who might not even have known there was a vote taking place otherwise with all the complicated talk of sovereignty. With such people he got out the vote. Whereas of course perhaps many Remainers might have been complacent enough not to vote thinking that no one in their right mind would vote Leave and of course they were wrong.
Nothing wrong with being on the side of Neil Kinnock and Sinn Féin why would there be? You I thought were a fan of nationalist self-determination.
Boris Johnson’s (38%, down 1%) lead over Keir Starmer (36%, no change) has narrowed slightly in terms of who Britons think would be the better Prime Minister for the UK at this moment.
This is dismal stuff for Boris. Unless Ukraine spontaneously appoints him President for life, this is as good as his war gets for him. What a shame.
Most interestingly for me, this gives LLG combined 58% of the vote. That's the highest for sometime and outside the 54-57% range it's been in recently, though not as high as one or two got at the peak of partygate (I think the max was a ridiculous 63%). The 7% for the Greens is very handy for Labour as that vote is pretty fungible. The Lib Dem 11% is perhaps 2 or 3% off what would be the ideal mix for success in the blue wall without threatening Labour votes elsewhere, but it's enough to do some damage.
Brexiters also I believe underrate the effect of Brexit on the political culture.
Again, hard to quantify, but the UK is a more polarised country than before the Brexit vote, and the quality of governance has also declined.
(This is genie-out-of-the-bottle stuff. Rejoining the EU doesn’t fix this, and could even make it worse).
The inevitable conclusion of your argument is that no-one should ever argue for any form of change because of the fear that those who don't like it will get upset and retaliate.
Everything in politics is polarising. And the EU was only ever about politics in the end.
No, your taking what is an observation to an absurd end. You’re also missing the point about governance quality.
But your observation to which I was replying is, in itself, absurd.
I merely pointed out that the UK is more polarised.
All great projects, as you point out, are polarising. Anti-slavery, women’s suffrage etc. The problem is, Brexit doesn’t quite have the moral quality of those struggles.
I sense that you are troubled by that, and seek to obfuscate it with rhetorical games.
Brexit has already significantly dented the underlying GDP growth rate, and foreign direct investment.
Although this has been masked, first by Covid, and now by supply shocks relating to the Ukraine war, it’s still there - like rust underneath the surface.
When Britain is once again the sick man of Europe, the "winners" of the referendum will be whining that the EU are making use of free trade and free movement to gain a competitive advantage against us...
Britain is already the sick man of Europe. Again, it’s hidden because the day to day news is about the latest thing rather than long-term trends.
The other thing is that old people - the bedrock of the Brexit vote - are less likely to notice the impact because they don’t work and house prices have continued to rise.
We were told by Remainers - quite gleefully - that the City of London would wither on the vine, eclipsed by Paris and Frankfurt.
Hur hur hur.....
I notice your posts often take a strange gloating style. It is quite odd and says more about you than anything else.
I think most analysts expected some loss of business from London, with the business going to various places - New York as well as some European cities.
I don’t remember anyone predicting - let alone “gleefully” - that London would be eclipsed.
Not that any city has a monopoly on such things, look at what the Chinese are doing to HK’s status as an entrepôt.
If you don't remember it then you do have a very selective memory. These pages were filled with claims that it would be the end of the City and that would be a disaster for the country - often by people who had spent years previously claiming that the City was some terrible evil that needed to be brought to heel as it was a disaster for the country.
This doesn’t stand any kind of test. Show me a serious analyst who predicted it, not your mates down the pub.
Funny I thought we were talking about PB. Surely the absolute pinnacle of high quality political and economic analysis.
Boris Johnson’s (38%, down 1%) lead over Keir Starmer (36%, no change) has narrowed slightly in terms of who Britons think would be the better Prime Minister for the UK at this moment.
This is dismal stuff for Boris. Unless Ukraine spontaneously appoints him President for life, this is as good as his war gets for him. What a shame.
He is the next Jeremy Corbyn.
Appreciate the sentiment, but no. Whether he loses or not fact is he won, and won big, once already, which puts him in a different category.
Brexit has already significantly dented the underlying GDP growth rate, and foreign direct investment.
Although this has been masked, first by Covid, and now by supply shocks relating to the Ukraine war, it’s still there - like rust underneath the surface.
When Britain is once again the sick man of Europe, the "winners" of the referendum will be whining that the EU are making use of free trade and free movement to gain a competitive advantage against us...
Britain is already the sick man of Europe. Again, it’s hidden because the day to day news is about the latest thing rather than long-term trends.
The other thing is that old people - the bedrock of the Brexit vote - are less likely to notice the impact because they don’t work and house prices have continued to rise.
We were told by Remainers - quite gleefully - that the City of London would wither on the vine, eclipsed by Paris and Frankfurt.
Hur hur hur.....
I notice your posts often take a strange gloating style. It is quite odd and says more about you than anything else.
I think most analysts expected some loss of business from London, with the business going to various places - New York as well as some European cities.
I don’t remember anyone predicting - let alone “gleefully” - that London would be eclipsed.
Not that any city has a monopoly on such things, look at what the Chinese are doing to HK’s status as an entrepôt.
If you don't remember it then you do have a very selective memory. These pages were filled with claims that it would be the end of the City and that would be a disaster for the country - often by people who had spent years previously claiming that the City was some terrible evil that needed to be brought to heel as it was a disaster for the country.
Personally, I was hoping for the City to decamp somewhere else, and have been very disappointed by its failure to do so. The UK is far too dependent on financial services, and too many of the best mathematical, engineering and scientific brains end up there. Much better if they were to find themselves in industry instead.
Germany will always lead the way in European industry and manufacturing, all we can do is catch up a bit. If the UK no longer leads in European financial services it will no longer be the economic leader in Europe in anything
Comments
If there's a drift from SNP it will be to Greens, as flagged by @Carnyx
Don't think there will be all that much change in Scotland TBH. We are in a holding pattern, as per SP elections last May.
Without BoZo there might be no Brexit.
Without BoZo it might have been better.
I have always found it interesting that the three European countries with the most ancient, unbroken traditions of democracy are all outside the EU (us, the Swiss and the Icelanders)
Although this has been masked, first by Covid, and now by supply shocks relating to the Ukraine war, it’s still there - like rust underneath the surface.
This won’t be apparent in everyday life, unless you’re an economist or involved in import/export. But after several years - say by the late 2020s - you will feel noticeably poorer when going overseas compared with other western countries.
Various committees and departments in government have not managed to identify any real countervailing economic opportunities.
That leaves “sovereignty” which is much less clear-cut. Not measurable in statistics for a start! I tend to think that the sovereignty “dividend” such as it is, is being squandered by this government who are busy accruing power unto No.10.
Boris, the ex-mayor of London, gave a Brexit vote the respectability Farage never could.
"In what world is this 'taking back control'"?
https://twitter.com/PickardJE/status/1505949838252417032
https://twitter.com/witchergame/status/1505945110722326529?s=20&t=7zM_6ix3bD6F5O4Sh-XUqQ
Go get laid or something FFS. You write attractive prose but your serial monomanias are a disturbing vista into a troubled mind.
Again, it’s hidden because the day to day news is about the latest thing rather than long-term trends.
The other thing is that old people - the bedrock of the Brexit vote - are less likely to notice the impact because they don’t work and house prices have continued to rise.
The extremes on both sides are bad as each other
@Telegraph
🇷🇺Russia has said it is abandoning peace talks with Japan, which were aimed at signing a formal World War II peace treaty, due to Tokyo's tough response on Ukraine
https://twitter.com/Telegraph/status/1505947632820269059
Redfield Wilton
Labour 40% (+1)
Conservative 35% (-1)
Liberal Democrat 11% (+1)
Green 7% (+1)
Scottish National Party 4% (–)
Reform UK 2% (-2)
Plaid Cymru 0% (-1)
Other 1% (-1)
Boris Johnson’s (38%, down 1%) lead over Keir Starmer (36%, no change) has narrowed slightly in terms of who Britons think would be the better Prime Minister for the UK at this moment.
Do you mean energy prices? Increased defence expenditure? Effect of persistent sanctions on Russia?
Hur hur hur.....
Again, hard to quantify, but the UK is a more polarised country than before the Brexit vote, and the quality of governance has also declined.
(This is genie-out-of-the-bottle stuff. Rejoining the EU doesn’t fix this, and could even make it worse).
The issue was how much people cared about immigration. As this news article pointed out some time ago:
https://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/society/man-claims-hius-life-being-ruined-by-immigration-but-cant-explain-how-20170227122932
I don't think we'll ever know the answer though, i.e. what would have happened but for Vlad, any more than we'll know about Tiger Roll's 3rd grand national. I think it was a value bet when I made it, but who knows?
Like compound interest, ongoing GDP suppression really “adds up” after a while.
You see making sweeping statements which bear only the faintest of relationships to reality is quite easy when you get the hang of it. But then you already knew that as it is your style of argument on most matters.
I don't know what poll this is referring to but it gives;
SF 25%
DUP 17%
UUP 14%
Alliance 14%
SDLP 11%
This would be a calamitous result for the DUP and a pretty decent result for the UUP although I still expect Alliance to come third in seats.
I think most analysts expected some loss of business from London, with the business going to various places - New York as well as some European cities.
I don’t remember anyone predicting - let alone “gleefully” - that London would be eclipsed.
Not that any city has a monopoly on such things, look at what the Chinese are doing to HK’s status as an entrepôt.
Everything in politics is polarising. And the EU was only ever about politics in the end.
I don't think anyone can query Nigel Farage's pivotal role, over the course of several decades, in bringing about Brexit. I have often said that for this reason he must rank amongst the most successful politicians of our generation.
I know you don't like it because you are a come all ye kind of guy wrt immigration (as evidenced by your fantastic gesture in offering to house Ukranian refugees) but it was Farage who convinced or stoked up many people about immigration and then explained that by voting Brexit they would solve the problem.
That decent I want to zero rate VAT on home energy supplies Brexiters like yourself were on the same side as him is of course an embarrassment but I'm sure you will agree that the end result justified the means. Like sausages, the making of which being not something one should examine too closely.
There is much to condemn the EU, but much to commend it too, certainly from our side of the political divide.
Still, Brexit gave you PM Johnson. What more do you want?
Show me a serious analyst who predicted it, not your mates down the pub.
https://www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2022/02/14/news/new-opinion-poll-puts-sinn-fe-in-in-pole-position-2588053/
Though I refuse to pay the mad prices for a new graphics card and the neon shortage as a result of the war in Ukraine means the chip shortage is likely to start getting worse again, so it's probably a moot point. If it requires anything more modern than five year old hardware most people won't be able to play it.
Hasn’t happened.
Most remainers thought that there would be a near imperceptible diminution in our living standards and national wealth. I used to phrase it the "2p on beer and fags" effect which no one really notices but they are poorer as a result.
I think that is probably the case.
Sunak however can only tie Starmer as preferred PM 37% each.
A 5% lead for the opposition is par for the course midterm, especially after 10 years in power
https://redfieldandwiltonstrategies.com/latest-gb-voting-intention-20-march-2022/
Approve: 32% (-2)
Disapprove: 47% (+1)
Net: -15% (-3)
Changes +/- 13 Mar
Whomp whomp
It says that the DUPs stupidity has been so toxic that it has outweighed the sectarian instinct.
Changes in today's @RedfieldWilton approval ratings compared to before Partygate (6 Dec):
Sunak: +3 (down *14*)
Starmer: 0 (up 10).
Johnson: -15 (down 5)
Whomp whomp
I was in no way embarrassed to be on the same side as him any more than Churchill was embarrassed to be on the same side as Stalin or you were embarrassed to be on the same side as Neil Kinnock and Sinn Féin. The difference is that I saw him as a liability rather than an asset in the campaign and he could very easily have lost it for us.
The DUP has already withdrawn from the NI Executive anyway so would refuse to appoint the FM even if they won most seats.
As for the decline in quality of governance, that's merely the continuation of a long-existing trend.
Nothing wrong with being on the side of Neil Kinnock and Sinn Féin why would there be? You I thought were a fan of nationalist self-determination.
All great projects, as you point out, are polarising. Anti-slavery, women’s suffrage etc.
The problem is, Brexit doesn’t quite have the moral quality of those struggles.
I sense that you are troubled by that, and seek to obfuscate it with rhetorical games.
Thing is, Remainers set the bar very low:
So looks like my holiday to America is going to be cancelled.
My boss has just texted me a 40% fall in Sterling in the morning at this rate.