Brexit Thread Seven: More of this shit

[Sebastian Cobb]

Anyone reading that fake Chukka article either didn't bother finishing it it, or is as thick as mince.

[Ambient Sheep]

So Boris Johnson is calling the backstop "anti-democratic" now?

He seems to have forgotten that Northern Ireland voted Remain, by 56% to 44%.  Ignoring that seems to be the anti-democratic thing to me.

It continues to stagger me that, to my knowledge, not one politician or interviewer has ever brought this up in the last two years or more.  It seems to me it was pointed out the day after the referendum, then pretty much forgotten forever more after that.

[Huxleys Babkins]

UK officials to stop attending most EU meetings from 1st September: https://twitter.com/RobDotHutton/status/1163810842644582406

Any other third country would love to sit in and vote on EU policymaking decisions. We're entitled to do it for another two months and we simply choose to walk away to get a chest beating headline that everyone will have forgotten about within 48 hours.

[Darles Chickens]

So Boris Johnson is calling the backstop "anti-democratic" now?

He seems to have forgotten that Northern Ireland voted Remain, by 56% to 44%.  Ignoring that seems to be the anti-democratic thing to me.

Yes, it would make total sense for NI to remain in the EU, although then Scotland would also want to remain, resulting in a hard border.  The whole thing is intractable, unless you go for a EFTA type arrangement, in which case you lose your seat at the table for very little gain.

Anyway, never fear.  Johnson's got a bright new idea for getting rid of the backstop: just get Ireland to temporarily leave the Single Market and align themselves with UK regulations instead (warning: article from The S*n).  Why would they possibly say no to that?

[Cuellar]

Apparently Ian Holloway (don't know who he is) is blaming the handball rule in football on the EU

[Paul Calf]

Sky has been disconcertingly sane about Brexit recently. It does make me wonder what the fuck's going on over at Osterley.

[Darles Chickens]

Edit: moved to the Yellowhammer thread

[Fambo Number Mive]

Telegraph had a cartooon by "Blower" with Johnson sitting across the table from Macron and Merkel. Marcon says "BOnjour Prime Minister I asked our friends to join us. Sitting next to Marcon and Mercel are Corbyn and Hammond with Swinson and Starmer nearer the edge.

Absolute bullshit, claiming Corbyn, Hammond, Swinson and Starmer are helping the other EU 27 countries against the UK, and dangerous in this current climate.

[Paul Calf]

Yeah, especially when you consider that Corbyn is a hard Brexiter.

[idunnosomename]

i dont know where to put this because the lib dems arent important enough to have their own CaB thread, but they are apparently important enough to announce a Shadow Shadow Shadow Shadow Cabinet.

https://twitter.com/LibDems/status/1164132713605095424

get in grave

[imitationleather]

Does every single Lib Dem MP get to be in that?

[kalowski]

i dont know where to put this because the lib dems arent important enough to have their own CaB thread, but they are apparently important enough to announce a Shadow Shadow Shadow Shadow Cabinet.

https://twitter.com/LibDems/status/1164132713605095424

get in grave

The reply "more clowns than Billy Smart's circus" made me smile. What a great reference.

[BlodwynPig]

Who gave them access to the dressing up box?

[Fambo Number Mive]

One of the strangest features of the June 2016 EU Referendum was that the most pro-European political party in Britain was nowhere to be seen. Only 13 months before the then party leader, Nick Clegg, was Deputy Prime Minister and the party was embedded into every level of cabinet and senior coalition government. Yet come the Referendum campaign the Liberal Democrats and new leader Tim Farron were conspicuous by their absence.

Structural problems caused the Liberal Democrats to go AWOL in the Referendum campaign. A party with a reputation for grassroots campaign strength might have been the backbone of the Remain cause, instead the evisceration of the party's Westminster base had a profound effect of its ability to break through to the electorate.

The Liberals and Liberal Democrats have consistently been the most sympathetic to the European ideal. The British Election Study repeatedly demonstrated that the voting public identified the Liberal Democrats as the most Euro-friendly political party. This is not to say there hadn't been contradictions in sources of Liberal support. From the 1970s the party built a bridgehead in some of the most Eurosceptic regions, especially in the South West where agricultural and fisheries industries often sat uncomfortably with European community policy. Nevertheless, it is remarkable that the party took such a backseat during the 2016 campaign.

Much of this was outside the party's control. Coverage in the mainstream media has frequently been a problem for the party and the collapse of the LibDem vote in 2015 General Election had unanticipated consequences. The reduction of Liberal Democrats to a miserly eight seats, and the triumphant rise of the SNP in Scotland meant that the party lost their third party status in the Commons. Consequently, Farron does not automatically get to ask a question in PMQs, further reducing the party's visibility. Meanwhile current affairs programmes looking for an alternative voice increasingly turn to the Scottish Nationalists, the Greens or UKIP to provide non-Conservative/Labour political viewpoints.

Not so long ago, it had been different. The Liberal Democrats were the focal point of the 2011 AV Referendum and prior to the 2014 European elections, Clegg took part in televised debates against the UKIP leader Nigel Farage. These didn't go well for Clegg or his party but the LibDems had been the face of pro-European narrative in British politics providing positive images about free European travel, work mobility and the benefits of migration – an agenda not addressed elsewhere.

The party could have stepped into the void left by Conservatives and Labour, fearful of alienating their core vote, and appealed to those voters in England and Wales who might have been receptive to a more positive European story. Nevertheless the LibDems didn't play – or were not asked to play – a significant role in the Remain campaign.

The EU referendum campaign included TV debates and set piece interviews with a vast array of supporting characters; David Cameron and Ruth Davidson, Alec Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon; Alan Johnson and Sadiq Khan, Michael Gove and Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and Diane James, Gisela Stuart and Andrea Leadsom, even Jeremy Corbyn played a part. Tim Farron didn't feature in any of them...

https://www.referendumanalysis.eu/eu-referendum-analysis-2016/section-6-parties/the-liberal-democrats-the-eu-referendums-invisible-party/

[Fambo Number Mive]

This man is an MP: https://twitter.com/bbradleymp/status/1162623129895809024

[Darles Chickens]

Anyone see Johnson and Macron just now?  Johnson made a point of saying, twice, that the UK wouldn't impose a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland, setting up the blame shifting for when a border inevitably arrives.  And he also wilfully misinterpreted Merkel's statement about finding a solution in 30 days, by inserting "If..." ("...we could do it in 2 years, we could do it in 30 days").

What a cunt.

Yeah good luck with Brexit mate.

This man is an MP: https://twitter.com/bbradleymp/status/1162623129895809024

Jesus, this guy looks even more of a cunt.  He has a cunt's face, and a cunt's brain.  The bar is low for entry into politics these days.

[garbed_attic]

I mean, such anti-Eastern European bullying/abuse is so widespread and commonplace, the study really only confirms what was already obvious, but I don't find it any the less galling for it:
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/aug/22/xenophobic-bullying-souring-lives-of-east-european-pupils-in-uk?CMP=fb_gu&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR31ptF4gTlra6YtqUzG323IH7kvVIGRaHZcqa9jaCauGvbi7M6C7e2pAhc#Echobox=1566455438

The failure by teachers to intervene and stop abuse was particularly troubling. "Teachers do it – my teacher would say 'give it up for Poliski boy' and they'll all laugh. I'm used to it now," said one student.

"The teachers hear the racist, sexist, comments made by students, but choose to ignore them. Or they laugh along. Trust me, as unrealistic as it sounds, it happens more often than you think," said another.

[Cuellar]

One of my teachers called a kid in my class who is half Mauritian a 'half black bastard'. This was in....2004? Still teaching there.

[Fambo Number Mive]

More ableism from the Leave.EU twitter account: https://twitter.com/LeaveEUOfficial/status/1164520683277340674

People need to stop making up fake mental health conditions to attack those they disagree with. And disagreeing with someone's opinions has nothing to do with their mental health. It increases stigma around mental health and is offensive to those with mental ill health.

Interesting how they want to attack people who criticise the PM. How very anti-elitist.

[jobotic]

Brexit Derangement Syndrome. Now where have I seen that before...

[Johnny Yesno]

This man is an MP: https://twitter.com/bbradleymp/status/1162623129895809024

What an absolute valve.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Al Murray didn't even need to stand for parliament, there is his Pub Landlord already there.

[Johnny Yesno]

Aye, they were separated at birth, weren't they?

[Darles Chickens]

What an absolute valve.

This is the new battle: the stupids versus the enlightened.  Dunning-Kruger versus experts.  And the problem is that the former is always able to sell their position better to the populace (because, being based in fantasy, they can make it as appealing as they want).

[Johnny Yesno]

This is the new battle: the stupids versus the enlightened.  Dunning-Kruger versus experts.  And the problem is that the former is always able to sell their position better to the populace (because, being based in fantasy, they can make it as appealing as they want).

It also has the benefit of leaving you not knowing where to begin with respect to a counterargument. It's 'Of course I know what a parking meters are' for real.

[Replies From View]

We just need a trapdoor underneath all of them and a lever to pull on.

[Mrs Wogans lemon drizzle]

Telegraph had a cartooon by "Blower" with Johnson sitting across the table from Macron and Merkel. Marcon says "BOnjour Prime Minister I asked our friends to join us. Sitting next to Marcon and Mercel are Corbyn and Hammond with Swinson and Starmer nearer the edge.

Absolute bullshit, claiming Corbyn, Hammond, Swinson and Starmer are helping the other EU 27 countries against the UK, and dangerous in this current climate.

It's a cartoon mate.

[Paul Calf]

It's a disingenuous brainfart, mate.

[Fambo Number Mive]

It's a cartoon mate.

Doesn't make it any less influential

[Mrs Wogans lemon drizzle]

Unless you're influenced by cartoons made with 61 year old tories in mind, it kind of does.