Britain and Brexit business

[Ozlsn]

Plymouth Brexiteer protest more no show than go slow.

Spoiler

 While the A30 and M5 had 'go slow' protests during today's rush hour, Brexiteers in Plymouth staged a 'no show' at the Millbay Docks tonight - to express their frustration at the way Government and Parliament are handling the UK's withdrawal from the EU. Spokesperson Karen Gadd, 62, had previously said protesters aimed to disrupt the 8.30pm arrival of the Brittany Ferry.  However, a "disappointing" turn out, which swelled from a crowd of eight to a throng of around a dozen, stood and waved a placard and a Union Flag  as vehicles disembarked from the ferry - occasionally shouting 'Leave Means Leave', when passions really boiled over. One man and his dog also joined the group, but only so the protesters could pause their protest to stroke his pet - before he left.  Police were in attendance, but the seven officers - most of whom remained in their van - threatened to outnumber the protesters. Lin Taylor-Greep said: "So many people so full of it online - Plymouth is a  damp, limp lettuce. "I was the first here and nearly went home. This is laughable." "I'm very disappointed - I haven't been out in the evening for three years." Things did get a little heated at one point  - a string of mini EU flags was set alight, after a few a failed attempts. But spokesperson Mrs Gadd swiftly swept up the remains of the charred bunting. Brexit protesters burn a string of EU flags at Millbay Docks (Image: max Channon) (Image: Max Channon) "We're very considerate. We're taking away our rubbish," said Mrs Gadd. "We're peaceful and we're not going to stop the traffic," said Mrs Gadd, before the protest began in earnest.  "They said we'd be down here on our mobility scooters," interjected fellow protester Ann Roberts, who later said a few disembarking ferry passengers  yelled 'eff off' at her as they drove past. "There's no need for abuse," she said. Ann Roberts with her placard (Image: Max Channon) However, the protesters also received encouragement, with a number of drivers beeping their horns - with one yelling "geddon, Nigel Farage" as he passed the protesters.

Despite the support from ferry passengers, Mrs Gadd admitted she was disappointed with the turn out. "People on Facebook were saying they're coming - they but haven't turned up.

"I feel sorry for people having to to grow up in this country. I'm advising my kids to leave the country - to go to Greece or somewhere."

Seriously I am dying laughing here. 

Edited March 24, 2019 by laPapessaGiovanna
Fixed repeat content in quote

[samurai_sarah]

4 hours ago, Ozlsn said:

Plymouth Brexiteer protest more no show than go slow.

  Hide contents

 While the A30 and M5 had 'go slow' protests during today's rush hour, Brexiteers in Plymouth staged a 'no show' at the Millbay Docks tonight - to express their frustration at the way Government and Parliament are handling the UK's withdrawal from the EU. Spokesperson Karen Gadd, 62, had previously said protesters aimed to disrupt the 8.30pm arrival of the Brittany Ferry.  However, a "disappointing" turn out, which swelled from a crowd of eight to a throng of around a dozen, stood and waved a placard and a Union Flag  as vehicles disembarked from the ferry - occasionally shouting 'Leave Means Leave', when passions really boiled over. One man and his dog also joined the group, but only so the protesters could pause their protest to stroke his pet - before he left.  Police were in attendance, but the seven officers - most of whom remained in their van - threatened to outnumber the protesters. Lin Taylor-Greep said: "So many people so full of it online - Plymouth is a  damp, limp lettuce. "I was the first here and nearly went home. This is laughable." "I'm very disappointed - I haven't been out in the evening for three years." Things did get a little heated at one point  - a string of mini EU flags was set alight, after a few a failed attempts. But spokesperson Mrs Gadd swiftly swept up the remains of the charred bunting. Brexit protesters burn a string of EU flags at Millbay Docks (Image: max Channon) (Image: Max Channon) "We're very considerate. We're taking away our rubbish," said Mrs Gadd. "We're peaceful and we're not going to stop the traffic," said Mrs Gadd, before the protest began in earnest.  "They said we'd be down here on our mobility scooters," interjected fellow protester Ann Roberts, who later said a few disembarking ferry passengers  yelled 'eff off' at her as they drove past. "There's no need for abuse," she said. Ann Roberts with her placard (Image: Max Channon) However, the protesters also received encouragement, with a number of drivers beeping their horns - with one yelling "geddon, Nigel Farage" as he passed the protesters.

Despite the support from ferry passengers, Mrs Gadd admitted she was disappointed with the turn out. "People on Facebook were saying they're coming - they but haven't turned up.

"I feel sorry for people having to to grow up in this country. I'm advising my kids to leave the country - to go to Greece or somewhere."

Seriously I am dying laughing here. 

I'm crying with laughter too! The organiser of the protest doesn't seem to understand what Brexit actually means.

 

[Ozlsn]

5 hours ago, samurai_sarah said:

I'm crying with laughter too! The organiser of the protest doesn't seem to understand what Brexit actually means.

I know!!  On the one hand it's hilarious, but on the other it's kind of terrifying. I'm laughing, but also kind of cringing because this group are not going to actually understand the implications until after it happens - and I suspect that is when they will get angry. They seem to think it's going to be just like now, only with no EU reps... and it isn't.

[AmazonGrace]

20 hours ago, Ozlsn said:

Plymouth Brexiteer protest more no show than go slow.

  Hide contents

 While the A30 and M5 had 'go slow' protests during today's rush hour, Brexiteers in Plymouth staged a 'no show' at the Millbay Docks tonight - to express their frustration at the way Government and Parliament are handling the UK's withdrawal from the EU. Spokesperson Karen Gadd, 62, had previously said protesters aimed to disrupt the 8.30pm arrival of the Brittany Ferry.  However, a "disappointing" turn out, which swelled from a crowd of eight to a throng of around a dozen, stood and waved a placard and a Union Flag  as vehicles disembarked from the ferry - occasionally shouting 'Leave Means Leave', when passions really boiled over. One man and his dog also joined the group, but only so the protesters could pause their protest to stroke his pet - before he left.  Police were in attendance, but the seven officers - most of whom remained in their van - threatened to outnumber the protesters. Lin Taylor-Greep said: "So many people so full of it online - Plymouth is a  damp, limp lettuce. "I was the first here and nearly went home. This is laughable." "I'm very disappointed - I haven't been out in the evening for three years." Things did get a little heated at one point  - a string of mini EU flags was set alight, after a few a failed attempts. But spokesperson Mrs Gadd swiftly swept up the remains of the charred bunting. Brexit protesters burn a string of EU flags at Millbay Docks (Image: max Channon) (Image: Max Channon) "We're very considerate. We're taking away our rubbish," said Mrs Gadd. "We're peaceful and we're not going to stop the traffic," said Mrs Gadd, before the protest began in earnest.  "They said we'd be down here on our mobility scooters," interjected fellow protester Ann Roberts, who later said a few disembarking ferry passengers  yelled 'eff off' at her as they drove past. "There's no need for abuse," she said. Ann Roberts with her placard (Image: Max Channon) However, the protesters also received encouragement, with a number of drivers beeping their horns - with one yelling "geddon, Nigel Farage" as he passed the protesters.

Despite the support from ferry passengers, Mrs Gadd admitted she was disappointed with the turn out. "People on Facebook were saying they're coming - they but haven't turned up.

"I feel sorry for people having to to grow up in this country. I'm advising my kids to leave the country - to go to Greece or somewhere."

Seriously I am dying laughing here. 

Those aren't even EU flags they're burning

[laPapessaGiovanna]

2 hours ago, AmazonGrace said:

Those aren't even EU flags they're burning

For real! Lol! It was a blue too light, no discernible stars and a strange dark blue bar. And now the question is wtf were they burning?

[Howl]

Quote

Things did get a little heated at one point  - a string of mini EU flags was set alight, after a few a failed attempts.

There was a much earlier incident of attempted flag burning that failed, because EU guidelines require that flags be made of non-flammable materials. 

Brexiteer fails to burn EU flag because of EU rules on flammable material

 

[AmazonGrace]

I'm thinking their grandkids probably watercolored these flags in daycare.

[Ozlsn]

The humbling of Britain

Spoiler

Wre reduced to this. A humiliated, supplicant British prime minister sitting alone in a Brussels side room for six hours while the rest of the European Union discusses our fate. A government no longer capable of governing. A country that has become a byword for chaos and dysfunction. A sundered “United Kingdom”. Hundreds of thousands of Britons seeking citizenship in other EU states. Industry howling in rage and frustration. MPs needing police protection. People stockpiling food and medicines. The public discourse poisoned. Families split. Friends riven. The military on standby in case of civil unrest. This is not “taking back control”. This is not the proud, independent, liberated Britain that the Brexiteers promised. It is grotesque, calamitous, an epic act of self-harm brought about not by some war or disaster but by our own stupidity. And the true “enemies of the people” are not those opposing this catastrophic Brexit. They are not the million decent people from every background who marched in London last Saturday, or the five million who have petitioned to revoke Article 50, but those whose lies, zealotry, and political recklessness have all but broken Britain. For posterity’s sake, those self-styled “patriots” who have so grievously betrayed their country should be named and shamed. The original sin was that of David Cameron, now blithely writing his memoirs in his shepherd’s hut, enjoying exotic holidays and enriching himself on the speakers’ circuit.

The public was not clamouring for a referendum on EU membership. Cameron called it for the narrow purpose of uniting his party and fending off Ukip. He offered an ill-informed electorate a binary choice on an extraordinarily complex issue of profound constitutional importance without even the safeguard of a 60 per cent threshold for approval. It was one of the most foolish gambles ever taken by a British prime minister, and one that unleashed the charlatans, rogues and demagogues of the Leave campaign. They proceeded to seduce voters with fake facts and bogus promises. They stoked fears, fuelled grievances and inflamed prejudices. They appealed to the lowest human impulses, and unlocked the ugliest features of the British character – xenophobia, jingoism, aggression, insularity, arrogance and a perverse, pig-headed pride in our own ignorance.

The insurgent Leave.EU camp of Nigel Farage and Arron Banks broke electoral laws, and had links with Donald Trump’s campaign advisers and the Russian ambassador. The official Vote Leave campaign, with Boris Johnson and Michael Gove as its figureheads, spread blatant lies – the £350m weekly NHS dividend, the 80 million Turks heading our way. Johnson shamelessly promised we could “have our cake and eat it”. Gove shamelessly trashed experts. They and other leading Leavers offered a fantasy Brexit – all gain, no pain. The trade negotiations would be “the easiest in human history”, said Liam Fox. “The UK will retake her seat at the top tables of the world where the EU has replaced us,” said John Redwood. “Absolutely nobody is talking about threatening our place in the single market,” said Daniel Hannan. “EU politicians will be banging down the door for a trade deal,” said Johnson. “The day after we vote to leave we hold all the cards and we can choose the path we want,” said Gove. Worst of all, having defeated Cameron’s hapless Remain campaign, the luminaries of Leave turned out to have no plan whatever for implementing their fairy-tale Brexit.

People feel sorry for Theresa May. She certainly faced a formidable task after replacing Cameron. The Leave campaign’s promise of a painless Brexit was impossible to fulfil, and she was surrounded by cabinet ministers who coveted her job (has Johnson ever knowingly put anybody else’s interests ahead of his own?). That said, May sought the premiership, and having secured it she proceeded to play a weak hand dreadfully. Stubborn, unimaginative, secretive and charmless, she pursued the hardest possible Brexit, claiming with no shred of evidence that that was what “the people” wanted. She completely ignored the 48 per cent who voted Remain, contemptuously dismissing them as “citizens of nowhere”. She triggered Article 50 without any agreed negotiating strategy. She squandered her parliamentary majority with a needless general election, surviving in office only with a £1bn bung to the singularly unlovely Democratic Unionist Party. She antagonised the EU by appointing the spectacularly ill-qualified Johnson as her foreign secretary. She frittered away two valuable years seeking in vain to secure a consensus within her cabinet on the way forward. May never levelled with the British public about the conundrum at the heart of Brexit: namely, that to enjoy the benefits of EU membership you must abide by its rules. She never put the interests of the country first. Instead she pandered endlessly to the extreme right of her party, even after it sought to oust her. She constantly sought to frustrate or bypass parliament, though the whole point of Brexit was to restore its powers. In order to hold her government and party together she delayed and delayed until time finally ran out. She then sought to bully, blackmail and browbeat parliament into approving a deal manifestly inferior to the status quo.

Cameron may be the worst prime minister of modern times, but May runs him close. She is certainly the only one to pursue a goal that she knows to be immensely damaging to her country. The roll of ignominy does not end there. Next up is May’s de facto accomplice, Jeremy Corbyn. He is a covert Leaver masquerading as a Remainer, the opposition leader who refuses to lead, the head not so much of a government-in-waiting than of an “opposition in hiding” as one commentator put it. With even a halfway decent opposition leader, Britain would never have voted for Brexit. Though Corbyn and his coterie of far-left aides profess to believe in people power, they have since done their best to frustrate the overwhelming majority of Labour members who abhor Brexit. The grass roots feel betrayed. Chants of “Where’s Jeremy Corbyn?” punctuated last Saturday’s march.

And then, of course, there is the deceptively innocuous-sounding European Research Group (ERG), a party within a party, the Tories’ very own Militant Tendency. Led by Jacob Rees-Mogg, with a snarl behind his smile, these right-wing zealots have zero interest in the “people” they profess to champion. They seek to turn Britain into the low-wage, low-regulation Singapore of Europe, which is certainly not what disgruntled blue-collar workers in Stoke or Sunderland voted for.

Though relatively few in number, parliamentary arithmetic has given these ideological extremists a disproportionate power over May’s minority government.

They cosy up to Trump while rubbishing our European friends and partners. They trash the institutions of the country they profess to love – the judiciary, the civil service, the BBC, the Bank of England and any other body they suspect of resisting Brexit. They fail to condemn the racist attacks, intimidation of pro-European MPs and threats of extra-parliamentary action that Brexit has engendered. They treat Northern Ireland and its fragile peace process with disdain. They have made May’s life hell, but at no point have they produced any plausible Brexit plan of their own.

The “will of the people” is the mantra they use to close down any argument or dissent. The “will of the people” must prevail, they cry like so many Bolsheviks or 18th-century French revolutionaries. But whether a majority of the “people” still back Brexit three years on is doubtful. May failed to secure the mandate she sought for a hard Brexit in the 2017 election. Almost every poll for the past two years has put Remain ahead. It is extremely unlikely that the Brexiteers could coax a million demonstrators on to the streets – or that a pro-Brexit demonstration would be as good-humoured or peaceful.

Secure in their MPs’ salaries, gold-plated pensions and personal wealth, these ultras blithely dismiss the increasingly irrefutable evidence that Brexit is a social, political, economic and diplomatic catastrophe for Britain. Indeed they are willing to inflict even the incalculable damage of no deal on their less privileged compatriots to achieve their ends. As Johnson said at an event for EU diplomats in 2018: “Fuck business.” 

The ERG has been shamefully aided and abetted by much of the British press – most notably the Telegraph, the Sun, the Express and the Daily Mail under its former editor, Paul Dacre.

First those papers brainwashed the British people with three decades of relentlessly negative and mendacious coverage of EU matters of the sort that Johnson pioneered as the Telegraph’s correspondent in Brussels from 1989 to 1994.

You would never have known from their coverage that Britain was actually a big, powerful player with plenty of allies in Brussels – not a lone member state fighting a valiant rearguard action against scheming continentals bent on destroying our way of life. Or that that EU membership greatly amplified – rather than diminished – Britain’s global influence. Or that Britain, more than any other member state, created the EU’s single market of 500 million people.

During and since the referendum campaign those papers have abandoned any pretence of impartiality, of seeking to enlighten their readers or of holding our government to account. They pump out propaganda worthy of a second-rate banana republic. They downplay Brexit’s rapidly escalating costs, savage its opponents, and accuse the EU of negotiating in bad faith.

The Mail’s front page denunciation in November 2016 of three High Court judges who upheld parliament’s right to approve the triggering of Article 50 as “Enemies of the People” was one of the most chilling headlines ever to appear in a British newspaper. A typical Sun front page headline described the EU’s leaders as “dirty rats” and declared: “We can’t wait to shake ourselves free from the two-bit mobsters who run the European Union”. In November 2017 an infamous Telegraph front page denounced, with names and photographs, 15 pro-European Tory MPs as “Brexit Mutineers”; their crime was to support what had been, before the referendum, official party policy for more than 40 years.

The Telegraph is now so debased that its main front page “news” story on Mondays is frequently a report on whatever pseudo-Churchillian nonsense Boris Johnson has just produced in the weekly column that it pays him £275,000 a year to write.

Last but not least, a sizeable number of MPs should be included in this hall of shame. At least two-thirds voted Remain in 2016. Most privately consider Brexit an act of folly. Some have since shown great courage in fighting for their convictions, but too many have chosen to take the path of least resistance, to put their careers and party before the interests of the country, to follow and not to lead.

Events are now moving so rapidly that it is impossible to predict what the situation will be even by the time this article is printed. Just conceivably, enough MPs will have discovered their spines to avert a complete disaster. Just conceivably they will have paused to ask themselves what was so awful about EU membership that leaving is worth such turmoil. Just conceivably they will have realised that there is no deal nearly as good as the one we already have.

Otherwise Britain will slink shamefully away – impoverished, marginalised and vastly diminished – from the greatest experiment in multinational co-operation the world has ever known. There will be no sense of joy, no national celebrations. As we live with the consequences the Brexiteers will inevitably blame anyone but themselves, but they will assuredly deserve what Donald Tusk, the European Council president, called their special place in hell. 

So where is Jeremy Corbyn (who I keep thinking Jeremy Clarkson, not really the same)?

And 275,000 pounds per year for a weekly column, wtf? Call me! I can spin the same bullshit, and I'll do it for only £270K!!

[laPapessaGiovanna]

A commenter on The Guardian perfectly summed up today's vote (lack of) meaning 

But the true pearl is this one

 

[AmazonGrace]

Idiots, idiots everywhere

[laPapessaGiovanna]

4 hours ago, AmazonGrace said:

Idiots, idiots everywhere

I facepalmed so hard it hurts.

For real, it seems like Brexiteers saw the Presiduncy and said hold my beer, we can do exponentially worse. And fuckin did it!!

[fraurosena]

3 hours ago, laPapessaGiovanna said:

I facepalmed so hard it hurts.

For real, it seems like Brexiteers saw the Presiduncy and said hold my beer, we can do exponentially worse. And fuckin did it!!

Poor @laPapessaGiovanna, that facepalming must have hurt your head real bad. You see, chronologically it was the other way around. Brits voted in June 2016 to leave the EU. Trump was voted repug candidate in July of that year. 

Since then it does seem they are continuously holding each other's beers and vying with each other for the position of most brainless buffoons. 

[laPapessaGiovanna]

16 minutes ago, fraurosena said:

Poor @laPapessaGiovanna, that facepalming must have hurt your head real bad. You see, chronologically it was the other way around. Brits voted in June 2016 to leave the EU. Trump was voted repug candidate in July of that year.

I was referring more to the last weeks/months shenanigans in the House and Government. It beggars belief the level of unpreparedness they showed. They had two fuckin years to come up with a viable plan FFS!

The optimist in me hopes that this will end in a longer extension that will eventually trigger a new referendum with a very different outcome. And also new general elections where the people will give the deserved retribution to that bunch of incompetents. I know I know I am being too optimistic, but it's the only scenario that will avoid excessive suffering to the British people.

Also to the morons who say that you can't have a second referendum I'd like to remind that it would be the third, cos the first one was in '74. If that one could be overridden that this one can too, after three years the circumstances are completely different.

[fraurosena]

2 hours ago, laPapessaGiovanna said:

I was referring more to the last weeks/months shenanigans in the House and Government. It beggars belief the level of unpreparedness they showed. They had two fuckin years to come up with a viable plan FFS!

The optimist in me hopes that this will end in a longer extension that will eventually trigger a new referendum with a very different outcome. And also new general elections where the people will give the deserved retribution to that bunch of incompetents. I know I know I am being too optimistic, but it's the only scenario that will avoid excessive suffering to the British people.

Also to the morons who say that you can't have a second referendum I'd like to remind that it would be the third, cos the first one was in '74. If that one could be overridden that this one can too, after three years the circumstances are completely different.

Ah, yes. Referendums. What I find especially galling about the Brexit referendum is that it was a non-binding referendum. Meaning the government had absolutely no obligation whatsoever to do anything with the results at all. May and the brexiteers are acting as if the referendum must be adhered to at all costs, because 'the people have spoken', but thats just bullshit. I have no idea what the real reason is why they are so gung-ho to leave the EU, when it so obviously is the absolute worst thing Britain could do. It's mind-boggling. 

There have been many rumors that Russian disinformation has played a yuge role in driving brexit, but that only explains what 'the people' think. It doesn't explain the idiotic behavior of politicians. 

For example, why is May holding so many votes on a bill that she knows won't pass? What's the point of that? And I hear she's planning to hold yet another vote on it next week. I mean, seriously, what the fuck? Does she actually enjoy this serial political masochism? Probably not. I think she's working on the assumption that if she just keeps trying and trying, and trying again, that when it finally turns out there will be no brexit (or worst case, no deal brexit), she can truthfully claim that she tried. 

As for the Americans.... well, they (meaning the repugliklans) are ramping up to be an autocracy, plain and simple. Sadly, there's nothing stupid about it. Evil, yes. Stupid? Nope. 

[Ozlsn]

6 hours ago, fraurosena said:

There have been many rumors that Russian disinformation has played a yuge role in driving brexit, but that only explains what 'the people' think. It doesn't explain the idiotic behavior of politicians. 

My personal and probably highly inaccurate take is that there are some very wealthy people who think they will be better off under Brexit and who are applying pressure to several politicans. I would really like to see tax rates go back to the 1970s if they are successful - there was a reason the Stones were non-resident for tax purposes, and leaving Brexit could make that option significantly more difficult.

More seriously there are some politicans that I seriously wonder what the hell is going on with them and how they got pre-selected, let alone elected.

[47of74]

Someone is trying to make sense of Brexit through flowcharts

Quote

By day, Jon Worth works as a communications consultant for European politicians. By rest-of-his-day he makes Brexit flowcharts — 27 versions since January, to be exact.

Brexit has become a tangled, confusing web of decisions and possible outcomes that change almost daily. It is both the perfect candidate for diagraming what happens next and a Sisyphean task of trying to outline every possibility.

Here's the link to Worth's site.

My brain hurts.

[laPapessaGiovanna]

7 hours ago, 47of74 said:

Someone is trying to make sense of Brexit through flowcharts

Here's the link to Worth's site.

My brain hurts.

Thank you for the link, very useful! This is the latest flow chart after the last indicative votes.

[prayawaythefundie]

I‘m gonna say it: Please. Just. Leave.

I never wanted the UK to leave the EU and I was shocked and saddened by their vote. Then I was hoping for a good deal, a soft brexit that wouldn‘t hurt the people of the UK or the EU too much. 

Now I‘m just so tired of it all. The whole union has been taken hostage by British politicians (note: Not by the British people. They are certainly just as fed up with it as the rest of Europe.) The heads of 27 countries and their people are being forced to talk and think nonstop about the consequences of a stupid decision they had no part in.

We weren‘t asked. We didn‘t vote for the UK to leave the union. This mess was created unilaterally. Yet all of Europe is busy trying to clean it up while there a so many important tasks the EU should focus on now. The union needs to reform itself, unify again. We cannot do this when everyone is busy talking to the one guest who said they want to leave the party but just don‘t do it. 

[fraurosena]

Teresa May is out. Boris Johnson is in. Sadly, it will make no difference to the shitshow that is Brexit.

 

[LittleOwl]

Can we just have the sound engineer instead as PM (or even Larry the cat) 

[samurai_sarah]

Just to ruin every non-Brexiteer's day in the UK:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-48384000

 

[mango_fandango]

Boris Johnson is not officially in. There has to be a leadership contest first. But he is apparently front runner.

Him as PM would be a fucking disaster. 

[LittleOwl]

I would rather have an inanimate carbon rod as my PM than any of this lot.  

[Ozlsn]

15 minutes ago, LittleOwl said:

I would rather have an inanimate carbon rod as my PM than any of this lot.  

I honestly didn't think anything would make me nostalgic for Thatcher, Major, Blair or Brown. This fiasco though... is doing it. (Well OK that and some 80s/90s playlists).

[laPapessaGiovanna]

10 hours ago, Ozlsn said:

I honestly didn't think anything would make me nostalgic for Thatcher, Major, Blair or Brown. This fiasco though... is doing it. (Well OK that and some 80s/90s playlists).

Wait for BJ to make you nostalgic for May.

Btw I don't understand what triggered May's resignation. Why now? What's different from yesterday or from last month?