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Re: Bollocks to Brexit
Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2020 12:48 pm
by Iris
"The best formula that I can come up with is that we should want Britain to do well after Brexit – and the EU to do even better."
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... -eu-brexit
Re: Bollocks to Brexit
Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2020 2:10 pm
by JohnToo
ransos wrote: ↑4 years ago
Whilst many voted Leave for the reasons you cite, I see little chance of becoming better as a country as long as we collectively shake our heads and refill our wine glasses. Those of us with an education, decent job and secure housing - mostly voting Remain - may as well live on a different planet to the other half: imagine that you rely on benefits and have no job security. Your area has seen an influx of immigrants, your local facilities have closed, you can't get a doctor's appointment or your child into the local school. Someone keeps telling you that you can vote to stop that happening.
Ultimately, Populist leaders are telling a better, simpler story, and it's up to us to be more appealing rather than dismiss those we disagree with. That, I think, starts with addressing some of the very real concerns I outlined above.
I don't dispute much of what you say, but I think there's also more to it. The smugness, the complacency, the English exceptionalism, the thinly veiled racism, the nasty narrow-mindedness suppressed for so long but now emboldened - I see that most obviously in the well-off, middle-class community around me in commuter-belt Surrey. And it's not just a Brexit issue (although everything clearly inter-relates); the horror of the Harry/Meghan treatment, for example, is part of it too.
Your stricture that we will not get progress while we criticise is noble and I don't dispute that much either. But calling out evil where we see it is surely valid, nay vital, too.
Re: Bollocks to Brexit
Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2020 2:40 pm
by ransos
JohnToo wrote: ↑4 years ago
I don't dispute much of what you say, but I think there's also more to it. The smugness, the complacency, the English exceptionalism, the thinly veiled racism, the nasty narrow-mindedness suppressed for so long but now emboldened - I see that most obviously in the well-off, middle-class community around me in commuter-belt Surrey. And it's not just a Brexit issue (although everything clearly inter-relates); the horror of the Harry/Meghan treatment, for example, is part of it too.
Your stricture that we will not get progress while we criticise is noble and I don't dispute that much either. But calling out evil where we see it is surely valid, nay vital, too.
I didn't say that we should stop criticising! Rather, I think that there has been an unfortunate tendency, ironically from those complaining of narrow-mindedness, to dismiss some very real concerns.
Re: Bollocks to Brexit
Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2020 7:41 pm
by Lullabelle
When the leave vote was called one of the engineers at our place 'D' came into work crowing about the outcome-his vote swung it because he is that important-today he has made a really big thing about retaking control of our borders and keeping terrorists out of this country, keep his family safe, he claims he is going to celebrate this evening etc...
Every year he takes his family to Turkey for their holiday it's ok because the terrorists don't go to that part.
He is an ignorant arrogant racist *#####** .
Re: Bollocks to Brexit
Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2020 11:06 pm
by Joan
I'm walking back from coop with wine. It's February in Brussels and oz. There are a disturbing amount sirens, also to many fireworks.
Re: Bollocks to Brexit
Posted: Sat Feb 01, 2020 8:26 am
by Iris
Someone at Radio 3 is making a point. Here's the front page...
And here's the end of yesterday's In Tune mixtape...
Listening live it really did sound like an elegiac farewell to something precious.
Re: Bollocks to Brexit
Posted: Sat Feb 01, 2020 11:46 pm
by Lullabelle
Re: Bollocks to Brexit
Posted: Sun Feb 02, 2020 1:06 pm
by Joan
Lullabelle wrote: ↑4 years ago
I bet the government are secretly happy about the Coronavirus, it is taking the heat off leaving brexit.
Not as happy as Scott Morrison, though.
Re: Bollocks to Brexit
Posted: Sun Feb 02, 2020 2:38 pm
by Lullabelle
Joan wrote: ↑4 years ago
Not as happy as Scott Morrison, though.
Sorry, have I missed something?
Re: Bollocks to Brexit
Posted: Sun Feb 02, 2020 2:51 pm
by LowlifeDes
Lullabelle wrote: ↑4 years ago
Sorry, have I missed something?
Australian PM, who has had the heat taken off the heat generated by bush fires.
Re: Bollocks to Brexit
Posted: Sun Feb 02, 2020 5:24 pm
by JohnToo
Pre-Brexit: England reach the Rugby World Cup final, losing only to one of their ex-colonies.
Second day post-Brexit: England comprehensively stuffed by the French.
Re: Bollocks to Brexit
Posted: Sun Feb 02, 2020 7:11 pm
by Joan
Besides the obvious racism, if English is so important to you, shouldn't you have paid more attention to your English teachers?
Re: Bollocks to Brexit
Posted: Sun Feb 02, 2020 7:41 pm
by Mister Paul
Our town has a few community FB pages. Yesterday someone posted to comment on three "non-local" people begging in the town. Someone else said that we can all tell that they're part of an organised scam. She didn't reply to questioning about how we can all tell. She couldn't bring herself to say "brown" and "headscarf" before the post was deleted.
Re: Bollocks to Brexit
Posted: Fri Feb 14, 2020 4:03 pm
by LowlifeDes
Poor Colin. He clearly finally got through Schiphol, headed into town and got sufficiently bladdered to still be sleeping it off now, thus missing his 15 minutes.
Re: Bollocks to Brexit
Posted: Mon May 11, 2020 6:17 am
by JohnToo
https://www.bundespraesident.de/SharedD ... ar-II.html
Reading this, and as seems to happen quite often these days, I feel ashamed to be British.
"In 1945 we were liberated. Today, we must liberate ourselves.
From the temptations of a new brand of nationalism. From a fascination with authoritarianism. From distrust, isolationism and hostility between nations. From hatred and hate speech, from xenophobia and contempt for democracy – for they are but the old evil in a new guise. "