BEAR on 24/6/2016 at 17:55
Sorry guys :(
I guess we're up next in the will-fear-and-xenophobia-win contest. Unfortunately it looks like fear and anger is having a fantastic year.
Manwe on 24/6/2016 at 18:35
I'm pretty sure fear and xenophobia is what Europe stands for. I'd say this was a win for democracy. I mean 52%? With the ridiculous amount of propaganda for the "remain" side? Most of if from the government itself? It's a wonder they didn't win with a crushing majority.
Now the fact that some rotten piece of shit politicians are trying to pollute the debate by monopolizing certain opinions doesn't mean those opinions are bad. It just means you're a complete tool who can't think for himself.
@SD Yup there's certainly nothing wrong with Greece, or Italy, or Spain. Just dumb, lazy people who just can't see the wonderful benefits brought about by the EU. Just like we're not in a state of emergency in France where all pretence of democracy has been thrown out the window, with millions of people out in the streets protesting (all day, everyday), and the country on the verge of explosion. Nope, none of that is happening. And of course you'd know if something was up cause you've been there on holiday once... Talk of living in a bubble...
DaBeast on 24/6/2016 at 18:51
Quote Posted by dj_ivocha
Why? Aren't they the same kind of partners in the UK as Scotland, as in being able to do referendums and decide to just leave? Or are they in a different boat, which is probably the case or there wouldn't have been an IRA all these years?
Northern Ireland is majority unionist by population so, in the highly unlikely event that a referendum took place, they would never vote to leave the UK. Everyone knows this, so there wouldn't actually be a reason to hold a referendum.
More reasonable concerns are with the border crossing between Northern Ireland and the Republic. Even before the EU open borders/right to travel policy, NI and Rep.I had some kind of free travel thing which goes back to the nature of identity politics in the region. There have been checkpoints ofc, but IIRC they were more about smuggling and paramilitary security checks and most people weren't bothered.
Now though the NI/Rep.I border could be the new access point to the UK for illegal immigrants and border checks might be stepped up to counter it.
Scotland on the other hand now has a much stronger argument to leave the UK and the SNP are already drawing up plans to hold another referendum.
Nicker on 24/6/2016 at 19:33
Strangely prescient and insightful.
[video=youtube;37iHSwA1SwE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37iHSwA1SwE[/video]
More importantly, does anyone know how the Brexit will affect the availability of Marmite in Canada? Kindly stop whatever else you are doing and find out! Thank you.
No. SERIOUSLY!
dj_ivocha on 24/6/2016 at 19:39
And how is the, um, "relationship" between the UK as a whole and Scotland anyway? That is, how would the latter leaving affect the former and vice versa (apart from the obvious difference of the one being in the EU and the other not)? Would the current "leave" voters have voted differently if they had known Scotland would leave (which they probably should have known anyway, but that's beside the point) or would they be like "eh, who needs Scotland anyway, good riddance!"? Basically, what is their real and perceived role in the union?
DaBeast on 24/6/2016 at 20:08
I suppose the arguments from Brexit are the same as the Scottish independence camp. Trade rights would be renegotiated with the rest of the UK, while Brexit has argued that the EU trade rights will undergo the same process.
The Brexit camp either don't care if Scotland leaves or assume that a new Scottish referendum wouldn't happen, or if it did it would end the same way with a slight majority in favour of the Union. I suppose in short it wasn't a concern. I think some arguments were made that the whole of the UK should be allowed to vote on a Scottish independence referendum.
If Scotland do hold their own referendum and vote to leave the UK, they could either just rejoin the EU or join that Nordic pact thing. They also had proposals for an oil fund similar to Norway, so they'd likely be fine, if a little too reliant on Oil tax revenue which is somewhat unstable, while the UK would take a minor hit to it's economy, iirc Scotland produces around £100 billion in GVA while the UK total is around £1300 billion.
Most of the "damage" to the UK would have been the weakening of their position in the EU and globally, but since Britbongs are leaving anyway that isn't as much of a concern. It would affect the UK military quite a bit, but they'd get over it. So, hardly a catastrophe, some uncertainty sure, but it'll settle eventually.
Oh yea, if Scotland left, then their parliament seats would go, leaving a fairly strong majority for the conservatives. Not sure how it would affect new elections, Scotland is typically needed for Labour wins.
MoroseTroll on 24/6/2016 at 20:56
Well, I must admit I didn't expect that Britain would vote to leave the EU. Nevertheless, I'm sure its economy is strong enough to survive the upcoming divorce. The only thing that worries me a lot is a potential breakdown of the UK. I've been through this in the nineties in my country, and I hope that UK won't repeat that scenario, because that was just horrible.
Nicker on 24/6/2016 at 23:46
Brexit At Tiffany's?SD on 24/6/2016 at 23:48
Quote Posted by Manwe
@SD Yup there's certainly nothing wrong with Greece, or Italy, or Spain. Just dumb, lazy people who just can't see the wonderful benefits brought about by the EU. Just like we're not in a state of emergency in France where all pretence of democracy has been thrown out the window, with millions of people out in the streets protesting (all day, everyday), and the country on the verge of explosion. Nope, none of that is happening. And of course you'd know if something was up cause you've been there on holiday once... Talk of living in a bubble...
I don't know what the French term for "drama queen" is, unfortunately.
I mean, when are the French
not protesting about something?
Oh, and I go to southern Europe on holiday every year. And the only bubbles are from cava that is as cheap as fruit juice.
