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The public have been infected with a virulent hatred of the EU over 30 years of vitriol from the tabloids, it is almost impossible to have a rational discussion about the EU because to do so we'd first have to scrape away 30 years of deliberately mis-informed prejudice, much of which began with Boris Johnston's 3 years of propaganda in Brussels.
The publi don't hate the EU, they don't know anything about it. But they hate a cartoon version of the EU that has accumulated over the years.
And politicians are terrified of this electorate. A majority know that voting for brexit will destroy the economy, but they also know they'll be voted out of office if they do so.
That's why Corbyn cannot really oppose May over this. He can't stop it and knows that Labour will suffer at the polls if it tries. keep to the Fen Causeway
Or is it all some weird form of self pity? Schengen is toast!
I have no doubt they will have some successes, but no more and probably less than they could have had within the EU. I also think that Brexit will exacerbate class divisions within England to the point where they won't even end up being a United England. I don't wish them misery, but I think Brexit will be an epic fail and get worse with time. I also can't think of a way in which they could reverse that decline. All in all, a pretty sad demise. Index of Frank's Diaries
Once the supposed financial wizardry of the City is fully revealed as the racket that it is, (as if rigging Libor weren't enough of a red flag) then the game is pretty much up for the vaunted prowess of overpaid spivs shovelling dirty money into places where it shouldn't belong.
Teresa May is like some old actress pretending the world hasn't moved on from her halcyon youth, delusionally foisting herself on the world stage.
A sad bluff that fools few, I suspect.
(Confirming the British propensity for futile tenacity to the wrong cause even when everyone else has seen the writing on the wall for years.)
If it rubs out the Tories, maybe Brexit will be worth it.
It's their bed, even if we all have to lie in it. 'The history of public debt is full of irony. It rarely follows our ideas of order and justice.' Thomas Piketty
In any case, I do not think Corbyn lacks the courage, I think he is just happy for leaving too. You might find me At The Edge Of Time.
He could have said he supported the referendum outcome, which was to remain in the Single Market. That way his hands are clean when the Tories screw up the negotiations and he can legitimately claim it is all their fault for not having a proper plan and negotiating strategy. This way, it is Labour Lose Lose. Index of Frank's Diaries
Labour will amend Article 50 Bill to prevent the Tories using Brexit to turn Britain into a bargain basement tax haven off coast of Europe.— Jeremy Corbyn MP (@jeremycorbyn) 26. Januar 2017
Labour will amend Article 50 Bill to prevent the Tories using Brexit to turn Britain into a bargain basement tax haven off coast of Europe.
So suppose May tells them they can save on toilet paper if they use soft paper for their amendments? Will he whip for A50 or not?
From the leader of the Labour Party. Be nice to America. Or we'll bring democracy to your country.
Labour may yet oppose the Article 50 Bill if its amendments are thrown out, the party said today. Diane Abbott, the Shadow Home Secretary, created further confusion about Labour's stance when she said it would "review our position" if it failed to change the legislation.
Diane Abbott, the Shadow Home Secretary, created further confusion about Labour's stance when she said it would "review our position" if it failed to change the legislation.
So why not say that in the first place?
As I've argued previously, corbyn is the problem. He's a nice guy, a solid MP but he's a terrible leader. Secretive, passive-aggressive and reluctant to explain himself.
I welcomed his election in 2015 because he offered more hope for an alternative than the Blairites and that, even if he himslef were not the leader to win, he would at least set things in place to take Labour forward. Sadly, to use a Churchillian phrase, "I had hoped we were hurling a wildcat onto the shores, but it seems we have merely beached a whale". He has done nothing to advance the cause, there is no policy, no strategy, no tactics, not even a coherent messaging scheme to build an idea of where Labour is hoping to go. keep to the Fen Causeway
Though I'm still not sure if that really is the official position and I follow Corbyn's Twitter account. Now if clearly argued that would be an OK position though an opposition party has rarely suffered for voting no on a bill. And it also risk alienating core supporters since they are probably the ones most opposed to racist immigration policies and cutting ties with Europe. Clumsiness by the leadership wouldn't add up to doom without the unresolved conflict with the PLP of course. Despite press coverage that was basically libellous labour was gaining on the Tories before the chicken coup. Yet now there is no way to pretend to know what you would get for a labour vote. 70s socialism? UKIP light? Poor hating neoliberalism? One way or another this has to be resolved before the parties prospects can improve.
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