The Political Thread

[Modern Panther]

Brexit this, Brexit there, Brexit everywhere...

Never mind Brexit...

http://m.imgur.com/a/DzXUd

Phhhwwaaaarrrr!

Alternative headlines include:

"we are unable to defend our position"

"why can't it be the 1970s again?"

"take a look at this pair!"

"Something, something Jocks"

[IndigoPrime]

Natch, the Daily Mail simultaneously suggested anyone who had a problem with that misogynistic bollocks was a humourless feminist, while sneakily updating it in later editions to add something about a light-hearted look at what was going on. Meanwhile, The Telegraph outlined six horror stories about the EU that will be fixed post-Brexit. One was about it becoming easier to kill newts. Another was about ensuring we could have lower quality bananas. Glad we're throwing millions of people under the bus and knackering our economy for that.

[Tjm86]

Brexit well beyond satire now.

Can I just check that I'm understanding the current situation regarding Brexit please?

• the UK may possibly have to pay a significant sum of money for outstanding commitments.
• the UK may end up with higher tariffs / poorer market access compared to its current arrangements.
• the UK may still end up with similar immigration levels from the EU.
• the UK will have less say over EU policy.
• the UK will still have to comply with ECJ rulings but will have no say regarding them.
• the UK may lose airlines and financial services companies to mainland Europe as companies are required to relocate.
• there will be no additional money for the NHS as implied during the referendum campaign.
• UK workers may lose employment protections they enjoy under EU law
• UK farmers may lose financial support currently enjoyed under the Common Agricultural Policy.

On the plus side we will ....

• no longer have Nigel Farage

Have I missed much?

[CrazyFoxMachine]

Fascinating the narratives that present themselves.



A small clutch of well-off blokes genuinely think they single-handedly brought about this:



Why, here they all are in that gold lift with Trump:



(Chap at the end is former F'rage advisor and editor of Breitbart UK)

It's a pot of cream to conspiracy theorists the money club that "rule the world" - but oddly enough not many seem willing to take the bait. Tis a bit of a cliche after all. Plus the whole applecart will be upset when reality comes crashing in as it tends to. Ho hum.

[IndigoPrime]

I'm trying very hard to not spiral back into depression with this, but it's hard. Rumours continue to swirl about the ultimate fates of EEA nationals, and while it's unlikely deportations will happen, what about other rights? NHS? Being able to work? Being able to travel? My wife won't want to stay if she's basically a prisoner here – and neither will I.

But I'm also increasingly angry with this notion we should all now pull together and make this work. The PM keeps banging on about this, despite not giving the remotest shit about anyone who doesn't favour the most extreme version of leaving the EU. There's no interest in conciliatory action or consensus. And it's nuts that people are being branded 'unpatriotic' for not gleefully following a path that is now likely to see the break-up of the very country itself. English nationalism truly is the worst type on these isles.

[Rately]

Brexit well beyond satire now.

Can I just check that I'm understanding the current situation regarding Brexit please?

• the UK may possibly have to pay a significant sum of money for outstanding commitments.
• the UK may end up with higher tariffs / poorer market access compared to its current arrangements.
• the UK may still end up with similar immigration levels from the EU.
• the UK will have less say over EU policy.
• the UK will still have to comply with ECJ rulings but will have no say regarding them.
• the UK may lose airlines and financial services companies to mainland Europe as companies are required to relocate.
• there will be no additional money for the NHS as implied during the referendum campaign.
• UK workers may lose employment protections they enjoy under EU law
• UK farmers may lose financial support currently enjoyed under the Common Agricultural Policy.

On the plus side we will ....

• no longer have Nigel Farage

Have I missed much?

Someone said this morning that the whole thing reminded him of people who "put in comically high bids on Ebay for random items for a lark, win, then have to pay £507 for a broken toaster."

I would bloody well hope, in the course of time, when the devastation of Brexit is measurable and completely transparent, that those responsible, the people who lied and misled, will take full responsibility. Shame on them.

God only knows what will happen with Northern Ireland now.

Sold a pup.

[Jim_Campbell]

But I'm also increasingly angry with this notion we should all now pull together and make this work.

To hell with that. I wash my hands of the whole thing. My work/income is portable and largely insulated from the fallout of Brexit, which puts me in a fortunate and very tiny minority, but if people want to brand me unpatriotic for not supporting the most catastrophic act of economic and social self-harm this country has seen in anyone's lifetime, they can take a running jump.

This is their stupid idea. They promised us it would be OK, they promised us they had a plan. To turn round now and say that we have to work hard to make their idiocy less awful than the worst of all possible worlds is ludicrous.

They're breaking it. They can fix it.

[Goaty]

Looks like they did it to please the right wing media?

[IndigoPrime]

God only knows what will happen with Northern Ireland now.

Hard to know precisely when, but if we stay the current course, it'll unite with Ireland and be back in the EU that way. The way things are going, it wouldn't surprise me if this happens very quickly. Scotland will also break away as soon as it can and join the EU or EFTA, leaving England and Wales alone. While Wales has generally had less enthusiasm about independence – and has less of a mandate on the basis of Brexit, given the vote there – you can bet that will change as well.

Looks like they did it to please the right wing media?

To some extent. Thing is, watch this subtly shift over time. You can bet the media will not want the blame, and so they will shift it to the EU or Remainers. When that doesn't work, it'll be the fault of the government for doing Brexit wrong. The broadsheets are already testing that particular water, as has The Sun very occasionally. My hope is the civil service get what they want – a ten-year transition – and during that we come to our senses, and scrap the entire thing (or at least go for an EEA deal). Plenty of damage will have been done and trust will take another decade to win back, but at least the situation will be salvageable. Otherwise, this country (as in England – and possibly Wales) has a bleak future, unless you're stinking rich already.

[Theblazeuk]

I enjoyed being part of Europe. I'm glad I got to grow up in the EU. I'm sorry people took that away from the next generation.

[Steve Green]

The 'get behind/pull together' thing is bollocks.

At a day-to-day level, what do they expect Remainers to actually do which will have any bearing on the effects of it?

As with the media, it just seems to be looking for a scapegoat for if/when it goes badly tits-up.

"Aaaah, it would have gone brilliantly if it wasn't for you"

[Goaty]

I notice Daily Mail label the Remainers as "Remoaners"

[NapalmKev]

I notice Daily Mail label the Remainers as "Remoaners"

The big story in the 'Daily Crap' the other day was a comparison of Theresa May and Nicola Sturgeon's legs! How anyone can read this Horseshit rag is beyond me!

Cheers

[JamesC]

I notice Daily Mail label the Remainers as "Remoaners"

I find that hilariously witty. What mastery of the English language.

[Professor Bear]

A mastery all the more surprising in that it comes from a paper that still openly regrets we aren't all speaking German.

Come to Northern Ireland if you fancy getting off the sinking trash barge that is the UK.  Move here, get an Irish passport, stay in the EU, then if you get homesick for the UK you can volunteer for one of the aid convoys we'll be sending in a couple of years.
LOL - "come to Northern Ireland if you want stability."  What a time to be alive.