UK/EU conference and its consequences
Today the EU and UK are in talks. Farage and the right have already come out either the usual guff about the Brexit vote. Those who trade with the EU already follow their standards, so matching them officially is not a hard thing to do. The biggest rumour for everyday folk is that they will be discussing UK citizens being able to use EU passport gates.
Comments
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/may/17/essex-thurrock-grays-views-brexit-eu-referendum
“It feels like we never left the EU to be honest"
What did you expect to feel different, Nigel Guest? Did you unicorn not arrive? Are you disappointed to discover that after eating your cake you no longer have it?
Although further down that article:
"His partner, Sarah, went further, accusing successive governments of a “betrayal”. Money that she believed had been saved by exiting the EU should have been channelled into improving it and other public services, she said."
This is in fact what was promised repeatedly but not challenged, wasn't it ? It's not entirely wrong then that they feel they were taken for a ride by politicians who spouted bullshit about sunlit uplands and levelling up:
"“I just feel that it was a missed opportunity. Yes, people were sometimes fed bullshit. But they were asked if we wanted to come out and people around here literally voted in their droves for it. We’ve never really seen the investment we were promised.”"
Exactly: their promised unicorn didn't arrive. It's 9 years on. How dumb do you have to be not to realise you got conned and then vote for the same lying con artists who conned you in the first place?
They are literally telling us what would be needed to secure their vote:
"His partner, Sarah, went further, accusing successive governments of a “betrayal”. Money that she believed had been saved by exiting the EU should have been channelled into improving it and other public services, she said."
How about we bang on about the boats, and foreigners instead?
The media in the UK is in the business of putting out propaganda to protect the Thatcherite consensus by proffering fake solutions. There's limited mileage in blaming people for believing it.
https://www.lbc.co.uk/opinion/views/starmers-euro-vision-new-uk-eu-trade-deal-gets-douze-points-for-diplomacy-but-le
It's the first step. Not big but necessary and probably the best that is possible at this point in time. Most importantly it makes more moves towards Europe possible. And for once, they didn't cock-up the Comms on it.
This is the government I voted for.
I resigned my membership last week in protest at the rhetoric on immigration, even more than the policies, but this is good.
Those screaming about Brexit betrayal are liars or idiots or both. Although sadly, the BBC gave Tice a prime slot with no reciprocal LibDem spokesperson. Will they ever learn? Those who think it doesn't go far enough are correct in a theoretical sense but pragmatically, this is really good, right now.
Onwards...
AFZ
Reality is real - they are a nightmare.
The overall point is this. Reality points one way. These people - the smiling-faced fascists - point in the opposite direction. Reality will go on happening. They will only go on happening for as long as they are humoured, plus a short time while their heads explode.
Only if they go on being humoured will everyone else explode with them.
Yeah, I'm somewhat sceptical about the analysis on offer and the company they keep (Smith tweets out her appearances, but that one was omitted).
To a point; but just remember that at the time there had been several years of all parties (as well as many here) - bar the Brexiters - agreeing that the only way forward was austerity with services being cut for the foreseeable future.
The austerity ghouls have their part, which they too must own.
Reality will win, including the reality that only mutual support can ever work in getting humanity collectively out of the holes it has dug for itself. The only question is how many of us are dead first.
Right, but the answer isn't that suddenly one day everyone went mad. There are obviously people with prejudices, but there were a fair number of people who were just persuaded by what they were exposed to - by the very media that was supposed to keep them informed about places they never go to and people they never meet, and which lied and distorted the truth over a number of years.
Future historians will marvel at how Alexander Johnson built his journalistic career on creating Euro-myths and then years later rode those myths to Number 10.
AFZ
Yeah, though focusing narrowly on the figure of Johnson would be a mistake. He's a product of a media ecosystem which is happy to nurture and indulge people with extreme views - in his case via The Times, Telegraph and Spectator. The latter in particular is the source of all kinds of bile, but a variety MPs will attend their annual garden party, happy to lend respectability while rubbing shoulders with figures from the alt right.
Some years ago I listened to an interview with Anne Applebaum, where she talked about the right wing turn in the country of her husband (Poland) and her dismay that those charming young men she met at the Spectator with their witty Enoch Powell impersonations turned out to be on the side of her political enemies. A very good illustration of the naivety that believes extremist views can be indulged without affecting wider society (or at least people who 'matter').
No change in fishing quotas but lasts until 2038 I believe. That is the same as Boris negotiated and was hailed by the press as great.
Less import red tape as long as we align our standards. As I said companies are doing this anyway.
Overall a good start.
Correct. We tend to prefer Cod or Haddock which cannot be caught in high enough numbers in our waters. It reminds me of apples. The UK is perfect for apple growing we have several native varieties. Even when in season we only sell a couple of our own varieties. We can often find other countries apples on our shelves all year round. Most of the crop goes to juicing.