Brexit

[aardgoose]

I was referring to the public perception of the countries in the minds of the little englanders that are the Government's key audience, as indeed I made clear.

I am ashamed of this country. I see the UK flag as a symbol of hate, brandished by thugs. The government is intent on destroying anything left in the UK that is worthwhile, and no one is able to stop it.  I have never known such an evil and dishonest government in the UK, and find it terrifying that so many people support it. I don't feel happy or safe in the UK anymore.

 

[Brains]

They say a picture is worth a 1000 words?
Some other peoples thoughts / comments...

In particular note the date on the third image

 

[Fjell]

At the end of 2024 the NI Assembly gets to vote on cancelling the Protocol. So someone had better come up with a fantastic reason for the DUP not to do exactly that.

My suggestion would be to allow NI to grow fat on arbitrage between the UK and EU Single Market. But the current numpties in Brussels will probably wield Article 16 to stop that happening because it is ?unfair competition?. Because lets be honest, the current reason was trivial in comparison.

 

[mikem]

The DUP don't have total control:
"the Northern Ireland Assembly has 90 Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) (currently 40 unionists, 40 nationalists, 10 others [constitutionally neutral]), which had its powers restored on 8 May 2007.
18 seats in the United Kingdom House of Commons (currently 8 unionist MPs, 9 nationalist MPs and 1 neutral MP)"

The 7 sinn Fein MPs don't sit in the House though, as they wouldn't swear an oath to the Queen.

 

[Fjell]

As has now been belatedly realised in Ireland, it?s a dog. And neither the UK nor the EU cares over much.

Obviously all could be instantly solved by the EU accepting it doesn?t need pointless border restrictions for a rich country in the middle of Europe. It?s a choice they can make, the UK doesn?t want it. The UK is not rejoining the EU, so what happens for decades to come? The more this goes on, the further the UK drifts away, steadily losing interest. This obsession with punishing the UK harms the EU in the end, and there are plenty of countries who already find it tiresome. Being demonstrably incompetent doesn?t help.

This by the way is why some cannier French commentators think the UK will get what it wants in the end some years down the road. They are annoyed.

 

[Brains]

What is left of the UK is now a third country, like any other, and subject to the rules that we helped write while still a member. Why do you complain about what leavers wanted, voted for and won? Or didnt you know what you voted for, or didnt read the small print, or believed the myriad of lies... This situation is what was predicted but rose tinted leavers refused to see it. 

 

[Fjell]

Things will be in state of constant flux. A decade from now will be very different. What the saner end of the Tory party wants is to go back to the EEC, pre-Maastricht. It?s not unlikely. And for info, it?s what the left of the Labour party wants too.

I voted to remain because I believed our role was to thoroughly screw up any attempt to form a single state in Europe, which would inevitably lead to discord and conflict.

What do you think of this behaviour? Pretty ugly, eh?

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/jan/31/france-germany-threaten-covid-astrazeneca-vaccine-shortageeu-uk

 

[aardgoose]

not without precedent https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/medicines-that-cannot-be-parallel-exported-from-the-uk

 

[PeteHall]

I don't feel happy or safe in the UK anymore.

Have you ever lived anywhere else?

Pretty sure you'll find that the UK is one of the safest, freest and least racist countries in the world.

Sure, there is always room for improvement, but let's keep things in perspective.

 

[Fjell]

I have lived in several of the countries and I can assure you they are full of [racist comments redacted] in the main. So no need to worry.

The Germans are still saying today they are going to send tanks for their British vaccine. Ironically, under von der Leyen as defence minister, the tanks were not maintained and are largely now ornaments.

I have high hopes for several million HK Chinese freshening up the UK gene pool. It def needs it.



Perhaps its time to remind all users of the Forum's Acceptable Usage Policy.

What is a bannable offence? (From https://ukcaving.com/board/index.php?topic=1872.0)



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Sure. It?s called satire. I wasn?t the one saying we were joining a trade group because some of the countries had white people in them. You didn?t mod that, so that's OK is it? You note that these are countries I went to live in of of my own accord, right? Think it through.

 

[Wolfo]

Well I'm German, no problem with that.
We have a great tradition of beeing guity for everything, so why nor including the climate change or Brexit.  :

 

[paul]

I have lived in several of the countries and I can assure you they are full of [racist comments redacted] in the main. So no need to worry.

The Germans are still saying today they are going to send tanks for their British vaccine. Ironically, under von der Leyen as defence minister, the tanks were not maintained and are largely now ornaments.

I have high hopes for several million HK Chinese freshening up the UK gene pool. It def needs it.



Perhaps its time to remind all users of the Forum's Acceptable Usage Policy.

What is a bannable offence? (From https://ukcaving.com/board/index.php?topic=1872.0)



* Trolling and malicious hijacking of topics.


* Personal insults/attacks/threats - we're all adults, keep it civil.


* Hatred: Sexism/Racism/etc - most of us know what is and isn't acceptable and what is and isn't real hatred.

Sure. It?s called satire. I wasn?t the one saying we were joining a trade group because some of the countries had white people in them. You didn?t mod that, so that's OK is it? You note that these are countries I went to live in of of my own accord, right? Think it through.

[gmod]The moderation was as a result of a complaint from another Form user.

Did you read the Forum Acceptable Usage Policy in the link given? It also includes:

Arguing with moderator's decisions on the public forum. Feel free to contact the mod team if you disagree with a decision but do it privately. If you're banned then use the email contact form

[/gmod]

 

[mikem]

Not a lot of point putting a reminder on a post that's 2 hours old & already on a previous page though.

 

[Fjell]

Well I'm German, no problem with that.
We have a great tradition of beeing guity for everything, so why nor including the climate change or Brexit.  :

I have had several misty-eyed German bosses in various countries, and my partner in crime for about a decade was from Hanover. There was significant banter on English and German memes. Maybe this isn't the right place for tank jokes. Needs context.

Although it is funny watching a German manager suddenly realise he has the wrong contract. Although you probably have to be Dutch to fully appreciate it.

 

[Fishes]

Pretty sure you'll find that the UK is one of the safest, freest and least racist countries in the world.

As a member of a long marginalised minority, I have experienced plenty of violence, abuse and discrimination in the UK. Things seemed to be steadily improving since the 1990's but I'm starting to see thing moving in the opposite direction.

I've worked extensively in Asia and Central Europe without experiencing those issues but I have to admit that the rise of right wing populist governments in Hungary and Poland makes me feel a lot less comfortable about working there in the future.

 

[mikem]

If you have money you're often insulated from those prejudices.

 

[Fjell]

Not the case. I have to intervene in multiple countries where staff were being blatantly discriminated against by various parties. Trying being black in SE Asia, it?s grim. You have a black woman earning north of ?100k being repeatedly refused service locally, and they knew she was well off. All black staff experienced similar problems.

For me the most eye-opening was in Norway. The behaviour of local shops and business towards Arab staff was appalling. I had to send senior Norwegians with them just to get a mobile phone. They literally refused to sell one to them, and were unrepentant. This is barely a decade ago.

It is better in the UK than anywhere I have been. It?s not perfect.

 

[mikem]

That's why I included "often".

 

[JoshW]

Not the case. I have to intervene in multiple countries where staff were being blatantly discriminated against by various parties. Trying being black in SE Asia, it?s grim. You have a black woman earning north of ?100k being repeatedly refused service locally, and they knew she was well off. All black staff experienced similar problems.

Whilst living in South East Asia I knew of English teachers of colour being looked over for jobs because they weren't white. Job adverts wouldn't even hide it, advertising for whites or slightly more discretely 'western appearance'. Personally never witnessed (or heard of) discrimination in SE Asia outside of the job market though.

 

[PeteHall]

In plenty of countries, simply being a citizen isn't enough. If you aren't from the native ethnic group, the law treats you differently.

We're not talking about individuals with a bad attitude, we're talking about the actual law.

Like everywhere in the world, there are racist individuals in this country, some of them in positions of influence or power,  but we're a lot better off here than anywhere else I can think of.

Personally never witnessed (or heard of) discrimination in SE Asia outside of the job market though.

Having spent a reasonable amount of time in SE Asia (my wife is from Malaysia) I can assure you that racism at both state and individual level is incredibly prevalent. They don't even try to hide it, it's written boldly into law. I can't speak for other SE Asian countries, but so far as I know, it's a very similar situation. Try being a 6th generation immigrant and getting told you have less rights (in law) because your skin is the wrong colour, so you don't belong there...