They came bearing messages of love, tolerance, inclusiveness and mutual respect - ah, the idealism of youth...
Apparently, the lovely, idealistic young people marching through London tonight were alternating chants of "No more hate!" with "Fuck you, Boris!" Yes, all of us old, scared, white, racist bastards have a lot to learn from them about the dangers of giving way to blind rage, mindless bigotry and truly monumental stupidity. Humbled - that's how they make me feel. Of course, if more of them could have been bothered to vote, it might all have been so different. As one of the Tweeters put it: "I guess Brexit proves old, racist folks always get what they want. Old people vote." Yeah, we're sneaky that way!
Not time you went back to Norway? Leave won. No more migrants.
ReplyDeleteFunnily enough, my wife said the same thing to me over lunch. I demand a second referendum!
ReplyDeleteI'm watching the Beeb at the moment talking about "the rise in hate crimes." For the love of God what the heck are these vile messages? Of course unpleasant graffiti is despicable. Racist remarks certainly can't be defended. But what about these? Some of the people here are certifiable. Others are clearly extremely dangerous. "If someone doesn't shoot Farage's brains out I fucking will..."
ReplyDeleteNothing about this on the Beeb.
Can't think why...
They're only driven to these extremes by the unbearable levels of compassion they feel for suffering humanity, and the intensity of their desire for social justice. Their hatred and desire to rape, maim or murder anyone who doesn't agree with them is a sign of how morally superior they are to those of us who don't actually want to rape, maim or murder anyone - and that's why the BBC grants them a free pass to rage, threaten and incite others to violence.
DeleteAnyway, the Metropolitan Police yesterday said that, while there had been an increase in the number of hate crimes being reported, there was no evidence that more hate crimes were actually being committed. But a drunken lout spewing racist venom on a Mancunian tram, some graffiti spray-painted on the walls of a Polish Centre, and a handful of illiterate poison pen letters sent to immigrants is proof that everyone who voted Leave has blood on their hands.
There is much talk these days of "a Norwegian model" for our country's future relationship with the EU. Every time I hear the phrase, a picture of our beloved Blogmeister lodges in my head. This is rather unsettling.
ReplyDeleteI am no expert but, notwithstanding Mrs Gronmark's preferences, I suspect that it would be difficult for a future Government to remove her husband from the UK, due to his acquired rights under Article 8 of the ECHR, as well as an entitlement under British law to a right to remain by virtue of length of residence.
Having said all that, I am not entirely sure what the Leave policy is towards Norwegians, or any one else for that matter. On Friday, I thought the British people had voted for an end to uncontrolled EU (and other) migration. That seemed to be the issue that dominated the campaign. But reading Boris's Telegraph article on Monday, he seems to envisage access to the single market as a priority, which if we follow the Norwegian model (oh dear, it's happened again), involves accepting full free movement of goods, workers and people, pretty much as now. I wonder whether that is what the electorate realised they were voting for.
Pausing only to note that when we were young it was Swedish models we all dreamed of, I must say that I agree, B Johnson's article read like treachery.
DeleteAnd who is he to assert that "the economy is in good hands"? Or that "most sensible people can see that Bank of England governor Mark Carney has done a superb job"?
Crispin Blunt was interviewed by Evan Davis on Newsnight tonight. He started to say something interesting – about (a) the EU being incapable of devising an agreed negotiating position on Brexit and (b) the UK being in a win-win situation if we fall back on WTO rules – at which point Evan Davis went mad and shouted at him and wouldn't let him speak and accused him of being incapable of answering the question.
If C Blunt is right, then B Johnson had no need to row back.
Also if Ambrose Evans-Pritchard is right, which I always assume he always is. In Was Brexit fear a giant hoax or is this the calm before the next storm? he argues as always that the Eurozone is stuffed, this time because China is exporting 13% deflation which will do for those economies with 50% youth unemployment and teetering banks long before it does for the UK.
Next time, maybe B Johnson would like to stick to his brief.
What's more, Australia and New Zealand have already broached the subject of bi-lateral trade agreements with the UK and New Zealand are prepared to lend us some successful trade negotiators to help us deal with the EU.
A committed campaigner with good press contacts and a prominent platform could have used furthered his cause with that information. That opportunity is not available to an uncommitted campaigner who has already written an article claiming that defeat is victory.
I am now in the odd position of hoping that history will repeat itself, the frontrunner in the Tory leadership campaign will be derailed, all the other well-known candidates will fail and someone unlikely will come through and win the contest ...
... in connection with which I would just point out that Priti Patel is a woman, went to grammar school and is a Hindu. She is one of Idi Amin's ex-Ugandan Asians and has done PR for both the tobacco industry and the alcohol industry. She supports the death penalty and believes that British workers are inherently lazy. She has had a good Brexit campaign, Private Eye say that you mess with her in argument at your own peril and her name rhymes with "pretty".
I don't see how she could lose a general election against Corbyn or Eagle. She would give N Sturgeon a run for her money and she wouldn't take any lip from President JunckerTuskSchulz, nor A Merkel, nor F Hollande.
Meanwhile B Johnson has gone from bad to worse and let it be known that he doesn't want a general election. A general election would return lots of Tories, lots of SNP persons, lots of Leave-supporting UKIPpers, some dependable Irish unionists, a few Labourites, a teasponful of Lib Dems and that Green lady with the extraordinary eyes. It is politically right to hold a general election as well as the right thing to do full stop.
And another thing ...
I am so (comparatively) slim these days, I could easily be a Norwegian model (for weight loss programmes or High & Mighty). Anyway, it looks like we're not going to be allowed to enjoy the spectacle of B. Johnson squaring the "access to the Single Market + points-based immigration system" circle, because M. Gove appears to have spotted the problem with the Telegraph article/suicide note, along with the rest of us. It will presumably now be Theresa May's job to come up with a plan (given that the government didn't seem to think it was worth devising one before the vote, which one might have been forgiven for thinking was their job, as they actually called the referendum).
DeleteYes, I'm sure it'll all be jolly difficult - especially with the FTSE reaching its highest level for 10 months and the pound climbing once more - but as D. Moss points out, it's also going to be a bit difficult for the EU (something the BBC keeps failing to mention) and there's no shortage of countries (11 at the last count) who have expressed themselves either willing or absolutely gagging to sign trade deals with the UK. After days of treating the vote as if it were a natural disaster, perhaps a balancing period of quiet optimism might be appropriate? It would certainly be welcome.
Funnily enough, I had been intending to write something today about suspecting that Theresa May (class prize for careerism, treachery and cowardice) is actually keener on leaving the EU than Johnson B. (who is in hospital after being knocked unconscious by a rugby ball emerging like a bullet from the back of the scrum). Funny old world, as a politician once remarked. Just think - we could end up with two really dreary, uncharismatic women leading our two main political parties (if Labour still counts as one).
It's one of those rare times when I really wish I was back at BBC Westminster working on live political programmes - we seem to have had five years' worth of political news in seven days.