Sephiroth

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We can all agree now surely? "NO - he isn't, and never was, fit to lead"

Dunno about no-one reading it - pop into any newsagent in some of the more down at heel coast Sussex towns and I see plenty of copies sold I suspect it sells far more than Graun nationally

? PS: I particularly like the line mocking my 'self-congratulation'...this coming from Mr 'I've been warning about X, Y and Z for years'....? I?m just me. And like many others I?ve been warning about stuff that has actually happened. Farming. Screwed Fishing. Screwed Haulage. Screwed Employers. Screwed Northern Ireland peace? Precarious Uk international reputation. Screwed Eu nationals (not that you care) : precarious These things have happened. And it?s about to get worse as even uk starts to apply border rules from January So it?s not self congratulation. It?s just regret at all the damage done But you? A never ending supply of ?nothing to see here! ? backslapping shite Never once a hint of ?ok this isn?t working like I hoped it would ? You hint that Johnson isn?t doing enough and point out crap like GDPR. as if the world is going to adopt GDPR and wherever uk comes up with alone. I know no one else on here cares right now. Doesn?t make it any less important

Enjoy 2022

Now, I know you are going to say ?what a facile argument? But it isn?t Expending that much energy and time just to achieve same goal is inefficiency. And it doesn?t in any way counter the actual genuine losses from the act of self harm And the self congratulation doesn?t help either. It?s all net loss

I haven?t had to bandage myself or find a way of sterilising a wound in my 53 years on this planet But then a few years ago I took a knife to my right arm and sliced it clean through Now it wasn?t easy. And I?m not quite back to where I was But I learned a lot about medical procedure. Would I have done that if I hadn?t sliced my arm like that? No!! So who?s winning now, eh?

But how DESPERATE does anyone, anyone have to be, to even try and claim this as a Brexit win. It?s not just media PR

How is this a ?Brexit win? ???? https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1531141/brexit-news-uk-gritter-driver-shortage-british-engineering/amp

Very sad news this evening. Emma was just wonderful and will be sorely missed https://beyondthejoke.co.uk/content/11392/emma-emslie-died

This is decentish on the nub of the problems - uk knows it has to play nice, but that doesn't play well with hardcore base or media so around and around we go https://www.ft.com/content/b0db89a2-edf1-47ef-b853-b315ab183756

"s many loopy people in Scotland as in England." speaking of - no surprise to see the MPS who voted against tiniest Covid measures last night were Brexiteers to a molecule. It's all about tilting at windmills for these people

I don't think independence from England is a direct corollary with the kind of sovereignty espoused by Brexiteers (Not that I doubt the existence of the kind of nationalist you mention) I don't know many Scottish people who want BOTH independence from England AND don't want to join the EU. And they would look at Ireland as a example of a small nation trading, existing and functioning with out English rule Not sure I get last point - "as mad as forcing Northern Ireland to swap a single Irish Market for trade with GB". Cross border trade in Ireland has increased massively but it's not a single Irish Market - it's a Market of 27 countries no? Or if you meant the opposite, Tories did want that - it's what they voted for - until they said they didn't want that Could be me misunderstanding what you mean tho so I don't want to labour the point

? hardly think its 'extreme' to think that the world is constantly changing/evolving....? Oh that?s not extreme. Of course not. It?s what decisions you make based on that knowledge that leads to extremes

one difference about Scottish Indy ref is it will be deliberately putting a border with England BUT to gain access to the wider market and freedom of movement of the EU - it wouldn't be to "be a sovrin nation!" So I don't see them as quite the same thing

"Yep, but in the current circumstances I suspect a majority of people would accept that" I mean, I suspect the majority of people wish we had never had the referendum and voted to leave. (But I also think there is some weird blockage, unique to this country, which prevents many of those people from admitting it or even worse taking any action to reverse it. But there we are)

I think realigning slowly overtime will be the path chosen - but I don't expect all of the usual suspects to be happy about it and given the problems they caused before brexit and since - I don't know how stable a path this will be domestically I would favour poltiical leaders talking about the cost of the barriers/lack of control in decision making and commission regular polling on possibility of a second referendum Any way forward is fraught - but not sure we can sustain current situation for long (3 prime ministers in as many years with possibly another one on his way? This is madness)

"At least outside of the EU, the UK's volatility is its own, not inexcroably liniked to the ups and downs of 27 other nations." but because of geography, trade, politics and yes culture, that isn't true "he UK as one of the stronger, richer nations within the EU was invariably not the benficiary of this pooled approach to volatility." it entered, begging to join, because it was on it's knees. It prospered in and because of eu membership. If I wouldn't describe the UK as prospering in 2016 it would be because of 6 years of austerity programme. But it was still in a better place than it is now (or will be in 10, 20 or 50 years). Even lost it's credit rating If Labour had been elected in 2015 and overseen the level of financial hit this country has actually taken, people would be absolutely livid

Sorry Cat - that is just a word salad without any real meaning. And exposes you as a little more extreme than even I had figured

"In other words, a form of Brexit that could've happened before the evangelical cranks took over..." Doesn't that leave the UK as a rule taker rather than a rule-maker as part of the EU tho? Isn't that one of the big no-nos (and not just for extreme leavers?) It's why I don't think this gentleman's brexit can ever exist - the contradictions never survive contact with reality and the diametrically opposed multi-headed factions of leave Whereas everyone who voted remain knew 100% what it was they were voting for - by definition. It was already A Thing

"Did all remainers have the exact same view of what the country and EU relationship would look like in 5 years, had we of remained? " We had been members for decades and were prospering - remaining was a known quantity. 27 countries continue to do it. It's a facile argument No other country in the word is putting up barriers with it's closest neighbours and inflicting financial damage on itself

General elections not same as referendums Referendums should be about deliverables available to and within the power of those holding referendums The 2016 referendum as presented and argued was not deliverable by uk govt We have left the eu. That much is true. But with none of the promised benefits. With many many many downsides glibly dismissed by cat in his longer post above. And with no seeming mechanism to rethink (unlike referendums in other countries or general elections in this country) Oh and also with us not even implementing all of the rules - ie goods are not yet checked coming into GB. more barriers to come If the country isn?t on fire, it?s because we signed a deal and postponed for several years most of the mechanisms of leaving. So yay. Not on fire. Whoop Just years of continued decline (and ridicule)

One part of the UK has outperformed the rest Can you guess which one? Clue: it?s the part that brexiteers are trying to drag down with rest of them whilst claiming simultaneously that the outperforming part is suffering and needs to be renegotiated https://www.ft.com/content/3b5059c4-4ef1-44d1-ae1f-43a875efb7ca

Obviously these things exist for further flung countries - but that's the crucial point People don't visit those countries as regularly in as many numbers - it's baked in and has effectively always been thus What's happening with countries on our doorstep is that a previously frictionless and free process is now neither of those things. And as well as forms and money, there will be longer queues at passport control. People who go to Europe regularly will both chafe at this and wonder what the quid pro quo is. so "But actually it won't be all that different from how UK citizens have always travelled to countries in the non-EU world for decades.." is true and yet meaningless. People travel to the EU very differently to how they travel to non EU countries Why is it govt responsibility to prepare people? On a high minded level, it's because the govt members promised "Exact same benefits" in referendum and as recently as 2019 election promised Brexit would be done - which it has been and many people think it is. New barriers to travel from next year won't be welcome From a less high minded/govt self preservation perspective - when people get unhappy about something they don't expect they tend to blame the govt, wether it's fair or not

travel to EU looks fun from next year key point in the article is how unprepared UK travellers/govt are - so expect much kvetching https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/world/post-brexit-travel-systems-uk-not-prepared-checks-channel-tunnel