Oolite Bulletins

Yes, just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, I saw that.

UK_Eliter wrote: ↑Fri Feb 17, 2017 9:45 am

Join a political party and a campaign group and go to meetings...

I was a member of the the Ecology Party (the forerunner of the Green Party) many moons ago, but the other members were definitely a bit weird back then, even by my standards.
I am seriously considering doing the Unite for Europe rally on 25th March as this is something I feel passionately about. I think it's time to be a bit politically active again - the last march to Parliament I did was 42 years ago when I was a spotty 18 year old student!

Good for you, Smivs.

I'll look into that the rally; I had not heard of it. I did have a look at the page you linked, and it;s on Facebook and I am not (and I discover, further, that https://uniteforeurope.com/ is run by . . Brexiteers!).

On the day that tens of thousands are marching on Parliament against Brexit (or Wrexit as I've taken to calling it), this stat from YouGov is worth a mention.

In fact, the number of those expressing 'vote-leave regret' has increased 700% in the last 7 months.

Smivs: wow. So what has that figure reached, as a percentage? That is: what percentage of those who voted to leave now say that they regret it?

"Wow I thought this was like one of those votes, which like didn't matter and maybe just maybe I might be able to stick it to the man..... I didn't realise I was voting to cut my own c**k off and ram it up my a**.... I feel unsure about this now we've started dishing out the razor blades....."

Sorry mate; dicxit, means dicxit. I'll get the whetstone and the branding iron...... Ha Ha ha!

“It’s a matter of identity. Having the pink European passport has been a source of humiliation.”

Actual words, spoken out loud, in front of journalists, by an actual MP, Andrew Rosindell (Conservative chairman of the Flags and Heraldry Committee - an actual thing that actual government wastes actual time on).

Never mind the freedom to travel, to work, and to live across an entire continent - let's give all that up so we can take back control over the colour of the passport, which we can wave proudly from our position at the back of every bloody queue. And it's only going to cost us £500 million to redesign! The Great British Burning Clown Car trundles on …

A summary of the first three days since Article 50 was triggered:

—British government triggers Article 50, and requests that trade talks begin in parallel with exit negotiations.
—Europe says no.
—Britain has to do what Europe wants.

—British government makes thinly veiled threat to withdraw cooperation on terrorism and security if we don't get a good deal. Threat is trumpeted by British right-wing media, with the headline, YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIVES - apparently unaware that this is something that villains say.
—Europe politely says that Britain must have made a mistake - that no civilised nation would threaten the security of its friends and neighbours.
—Britain backtracks in a flutter of coughs and apologies.

—Spain inserts a clause into the negotiations, specifically mentioning Gibraltar.
—Britain - which had so far failed to mention Gibraltar at all - loses its collective shit. A former Conservative Party leader drops the "W" word (again, out loud, to journalists).

Three days in, and old men are talking about going to war with Spain … it's going to be a long, long, long two years.

The Gibraltar War - a future history

Day 1: Britain declares war on Spain.
Day 2: Spain annexes Gibraltar, and deports 100,000 pensioners to the UK.
Day 3: Britain looks sheepish.

Happy Sunday! <grins> Future history, eh - what's the feeling about IndyRef2 up there?

On Indyref2: complicated. There's not much appetite for another independence referendum right now - and of course nobody is suggesting that we have one right now. One thing that most people - according to opinion polls - are clear on, though, is that whether and when one is held should be a matter for Holyrood, not Westminster. As a parallel: imagine if Brussels had responded to May's Article 50 letter with "Now is not the time" …

Looks like the good old times are back. We can ressurect Napoleon and pacify you all. But my preference would go to William The Conqueror, to bring civilization back to the island.

<nods at Big D> I get the impression that another IndyRef (too) soon would return a similar result as the first.
Don't know what the opinion polls say about that, but I distrust them anyway.

I can't argue with the Holyrood say-so stuff.

Well, the thousands of English refugees who will soon be fleeing north across the border could swing any Indyref2 towards a yes vote
As for the Falklands Gibralter, what a complete mess. No way to predict how that will go.
Spain wants Gibralter - Gibraltese and UK don't want this. Possibly independent Scotland wants to join EU, but is blocked by Spain due to concerns over Catalonia and Basque region.
Who would have thought that Brexit would be defined by Spain?
It's a funny old World.

Spain has a problem with Catalunya, which goes way back. There's little love for Britain in Spain, which also goes way back.