UK In/Out referendum

[Casscat]

Leadsom was never a serious candidate - just making up the weight - and if you cannot cope with being manipulated and bullied by the press, the opposition and even members of your own party you should not be an MP in the first place. It's not as if BoJo, Gove & May had an easy ride is it? Politics is an ugly game.

[lorca]

She was pushed

[Marks]

I would prefer Andrea Leadsom. She seems far more personable and genuine, and seems to want to serve the best interests of the public.

Or maybe not.........

[Jimbo]

It's not as if BoJo, Gove & May had an easy ride is it?

Err? Johnson and Gove told a lot of whimsical lies to win the vote and then simply walked away, accepting no responsibility for the huge mess they'd created. May barely had a whiff of the leadership contest before Leadsom pulled out and May was promptly anointed PM.

Seemed a pretty easy ride for these politicians - or am I missing something?

Politics is an ugly game.

Game for the politicians. Ugly for the rest of us.

[Casscat]

It's not as if BoJo, Gove & May had an easy ride is it?

Seemed a pretty easy ride for these politicians - or am I missing something?

I meant in terms of being held up for ridicule and lambasted in the press, mocked by the opposition and in many cases stabbed in the back by their own colleagues. I'm not offering them any sympathy at all, but I am just saying that I do not think that Andrea Leadsom was singled out for particularly ruthless treatment.

[CSE]

Whist reading this
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... m-policies
It links to an article from 2010 about limiting immigration.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/jan ... mmigration
That policy spectacularly failed. So is it any wonder why the leave used immigration as part of their campaign?

One day in politics is a long time. The knives are already out for May. Her husband is works for a firm which helps to avoid taxes. Just so happens that some of those are pension schemes, but that will not matter.


This thread is going to morph into a political thread as time progresses.

[AndrewH]

The knives are already out for May. Her husband is works for a firm which helps to avoid taxes. Just so happens that some of those are pension schemes, but that will not matter.

Then it is time for husband to find a new job and quick. Like Caesar's wife, the prime minister must be above suspicion.

[gozokerry]

I believe BJ will live to fight another day, there was an article maybe in the Sunday Times about the 'poisoned chalice' and as Casscat says what a golden opportunity for him to get out and be a 'martyr' , remember he is a classics guy!

Sooner than we expected.

[Jimbo]

If you sent a synopsis of the events surrounding the referendum in the past couple of months to a TV company or book editor with a view to broadcasting or publication, it would come back with the comment "too fanciful and unbelievable - no grown-up country would imperil its prosperity and vital relationships with future trading partners in such a foolish and reckless fashion".

The appointment of serial liar and professional idiot Boris Johnson to the key ambassadorial post of foreign secretary continues this folly - the triumph (yet again!) of narrow-minded and blinkered party politics over common sense and a vision of what might be good for the UK in the difficult times ahead.

It's Bastille Day in France today. What do you Brexiters suggest that I say to a couple of hundred of baffled French people at our village lunchtime celebration when they question me about this latest twist in the never-ending saga of exiting the EU?

I don't have a clue.

[Nemo]

What do you Brexiters suggest that I say to a couple of hundred of baffled French people at our village lunchtime celebration when they question me about this latest twist in the never-ending saga of exiting the EU?

I don't have a clue.

I wasn't going to comment further in this thread, but this comment infuriated me, sorry Jim. Why continue the blame game on the Brexiteers? Why does any of us, regardless of which way we voted have any say or control in this matter? The people of the country are the pawns whether remain or leave voters. We don't get a say in the government of the day, that vote was cast at the general election. We don't get a say in the PM resigning and the new PM being elected. We have no say in the current choice of cabinet members. It's absolute madness here and yes the world has gone mad. None of us have any explanations for any of it, either to each other or our friends overseas. It's a rollercoaster Jim and the sooner people stop blaming each other and looking towards the future for all of us, globally, wherever that is headed, the better.

[gozokerry]

Did someone here mention 'crystal balls'

An article from February this year;-
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politic ... hnson.html

[CSE]

It's Bastille Day in France today. What do you Brexiters suggest that I say to a couple of hundred of baffled French people at our village lunchtime celebration when they question me about this latest twist in the never-ending saga of exiting the EU?

Just reply CoiffeurGate or Shampoo Socialism anyone?

[Martha]

My French friends have been very understanding and sympathetic about the total chaos and our own bewilderment, so I'm sure yours will be too, Jimbo.


I guess the short answer to "Why continue to blame the Brexiteers?" would be "Because you voted for Brexit"

and as far as "None of us have any explanations for any of it"...

I have an explanation for my friends - which is "I didn't vote for this, because this chaos is exactly what I expected"

So I think to ask for a point of view from those who voted for this, is a fair question.

I don't want to make this a personal go at you...but you did ask!

[Jimbo]

Why does any of us, regardless of which way we voted have any say or control in this matter? The people of the country are the pawns whether remain or leave voters. We don't get a say in the government of the day, that vote was cast at the general election. We don't get a say in the PM resigning and the new PM being elected. We have no say in the current choice of cabinet members. It's absolute madness here and yes the world has gone mad.

Apologies for infuriating you with my comment - wasn't my intention. In my defence, I'm equally infuriated and exasperated by being compelled to repeatedly try to defend the UK (where I haven't lived since 2005) to my French neighbours and friends for the UK government's corruption, idiocy and recklessness of the past few weeks.

Nemo, respect to you for stepping up to the plate and saying what you think - makes a welcome change from all those weedy soundbites in earlier posts from other Brexit posters. What's all that "oh, you're being critical of me, so I'm withdrawing from this thread" about? You Brexiters voted for this appalling mess - at least you could try and make sense of it for those of us who didn't.

I tried a precis of Nemo's comments today with my Bastille celebration neighbours and friends. The concensus was that the British are viewed from this side of the Channel as too feeble and too scared to oppose their elected government - voting once every five years and letting the politicians run riot in the interim was seen as utterly foolish. Politicians are not your friends, the French say, they have their own agenda. Get on the streets and protest. Blockade ports, roads and refineries, cause mayhem everywhere to force politicians to understand that there is a limit to their powers. If the Brits are not prepared to protest, then they must roll over and accept everything that is done to them.

At the end of the afternoon, with much wine and cognac under our belts, this advice was very seductive. But I have no doubts that the French people are serious in their comments.

[Nemo]

Interestingly, I have been identified as a Brexiteer. I don't state which way I voted because quite frankly it's nobodies business but my own. I'm a pragmatist, but no good saying I believe in democracy because you'd turn on me like packs of wolves, howling how undemocratic it was.

I'm not defending what's happened, I'm defending the underdog as that's what the Brexiteers have become. It doesn't matter that there were 17.5 million of them, they are all racist buffoons, ill educated lemmings throwing themselves off a cliff. Surely, by now we have realised that can't be the case?

No, I simply defend their right to express themselves, the same as we do every general election and whether we vote in a govt of Labour, Conservative or mixed hue, I simply accept what will be will be; it's what has happened, so I move on.

I get how upset everyone is, the far reaching implications and so on, the repercussions on my own family are immense and cannot yet be measured, but I can only take so much negativity like everyone can. Too much negative talk becomes self fulfilling prophesy.

I hope everyone settles soon and we get on with the job in hand, such as has been dealt.