EU referendum, brexit and the aftermath

Yes I know that, I know people in that corner of the political spectrum, but that far left is also pro immigration and refugee.

So what is she doing in a party with the gammons? The people I know would not join a party like the brexit party as it has no real positive policies on other issues.

Attention, political convenience, cynical one issue politics...I suppose.

EU elections results represent proportionally so vote for who you least dislike please ... to >at-least counter the UKIP votes.

Unfortunately that's not entirely true. The EU elections in mainland UK use the D'Hondt method which penalises smaller parties, so it can still be advantageous to vote tactically. (In NI they get STV, which is much better). Still, in London, Green party have a current MEP and Lib Dems have previously and were very close in 2014, so either of those are good for getting clear pro-EU votes in (assuming the appearance of TIG/ChUK doesn't split the remain vote too much).

Right, thanks for the correction.

.

So? The left critique and the right critique of the EU differ, and have different goals. Just because both agree on a simple basic idea - we should leave the EU - doesn’t make them natural allies.

For instance, me - longtime left eurosceptic, voted remain. Not because I believe in the EU, but because it was obvious that brexit was a project owned by the extreme right and I don’t want to live in a country where they are setting the agenda, and I don’t want to leave the EU in a manner where they are in the driving seat.

The RCP / Spiked lot are weird - good background on them here:

https://www.lrb.co.uk/v32/n13/jenny-turner/who-are-they

and here:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/dec/07/us-billionaires-hard-right-britain-spiked-magazine-charles-david-koch-foundation

An interesting article on the changes at the Express following the sale to Reach Media (christened 'Retch' by Private Eye):

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/apr/28/gary-jones-on-taking-over-daily-express-it-was-anti-immigrant-i-couldnt-sleep

^ That's really good that he turned that around :)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-48024400

So the fishing teams in the UK have been complaining about the EU making them throw away bycatch so that they don't go over their quota. That has now been repealed.

But now the HoL says that is bad law that can harm UK fishing. I honestly don't know what to think now...

A fine stomping on Ian Duncan Smith deployed by the ex-head of the WTO, Pascal Lamy. From 23:50 onwards:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0004gw0/politics-live-29042019

PL: I’m sorry, this is a total confusion .... between the internal market and the customs union. The customs union is about tariffs, goods. The internal market is about regulation. If you want to diverge ... you have to accept that there will be a border because we, the EU, have to control things which abide by different regulatory requirements.
IDS: Of course, but you would work on the principle of two things. First is equivalence ...
PL: Equivalence is not a magic wand.
IDS: No, it’s not, but take what New Zealand does with the EU. New Zealand is not a member of the EU. It is not a member of the single market. Its food stuffs are not inspected here because, why? They trust and agree that in New Zealand the inspections that bring their standards right are at the same level or better than that of the EU. And they agree that that is done at the point of departure. They are not done at the border. So the idea of this being a border point is completely incorrect.
PL: No, no, no, it is not completely incorrect, I’m sorry. I agree, if you want trade to flow as nicely as possible, many customs procedures have to be moved upstream. But you still need a border to check that this is the case.
IDS: The border is not the point.
PL: Of course it is.
IDS: The border is a notional process that is about equivalence and agreement, not specific border checks.
PL: Equivalence is not a magic wand. You only accept equivalence if you trust, and if your collective preferences are harmonised. I agree, for instance, on beer, there is nothing that really says how you produce beer in the European Union. There is beer in Belgium and in Bavaria and in Scotland, and if beer is good for Scotland, it is good for Bavaria. Now, that is okay. It is not going to be okay about general food, or about chlorinated poultry. I’m sorry about that. We will not accept GMO food. If - I don’t know whether or not - if you want to accept chlorinated poultry or GMO food, there will be a border, and costs at the border.

With any luck the CV-boosting and expenses swindling blowhard will lose his seat at the next GE.

https://twitter.com/IanDunt/status/1122803174698618880?s=19

Proud Dad moment: mespilus jr. just received his first Electoral Card in the Post.

JWestland is going to love this one:

Labour’s national executive committee has agreed what the party will say about a second referendum in its manifesto for the European elections. A party spokesperson said:

Labour’s European elections manifesto was agreed at the NEC today and it will be published soon.

"Labour is the only party which represents both people who supported leave and remain. We are working to bring the country together after the chaos and crisis created by the Tories."

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2019/apr/30/brexit-latest-news-labour-nec-tory-mps-wont-accept-cross-party-compromise-involving-customs-union-says-hunt-live-news?page=with:block-5cc86cbb8f08c89bd906b51c#block-5cc86cbb8f08c89bd906b51c

:)

So they're committed to Brexit. They're gonna be annihilated in the European elections

I'm am done with following Labour, the bullshit from Labour on jobs /CU is enough for NI fried my remaining patience. But if we get a vote I'll be ready!

I will pay my £1330 for UK citizenship and volunteer for a people's vote door to door campaign if there is one.

Can't wait to hit Tigers Bay, the area with the mad mural linking brexit to the Bible and reformation 😂

I've just written to (emailed) my local Labour MP. Explaining how I don't feel I can vote for them on Thurs or in European elections.

More on Claire Fox

https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/uk-news/2019/04/30/nigel-farages-brexit-party-candidate-questioned-over-past-ira-views/

As abhorrent as her views were in the past, I don't see why she doesn't just apologise for them herself... the only conclusion I can draw is that she still believes that the IRA were right to carry out the bombing.

it was obvious that brexit was a project owned by the extreme right and I don’t want to live in a country where they are setting the agenda, and I don’t want to leave the EU in a manner where they are in the driving seat.

Although I'm less sceptical towards the EU than you, this resonates very much with me.

The referendum was a bad idea, say a majority of those polled here:

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/apr/27/public-thinks-eu-referendum-was-a-bad-idea-says-poll

Interesting article from Owen Jones. Quite a lot I agree with.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/may/01/remainers-own-goal-brexit-nigel-farage-brexit-party-second-referendum-labour

He seems to be making the assumption that if you are choosing not to vote Labour due to their refusal to back a referendum then you'd vote for Farage, which I have to say I'm struggling with somewhat.

Or possibly LibDem, which would also enable Farage to win.

I suspect the reality is that no one who would consider voting Farage would currently vote Labour, given the Labour commitment to a customs union as this, we are told repeatedly "isn't really Brexit".

The voters that Labour is going to lose to the LibDems, Greens and CHUK are those who won't vote for a Brexit party, he gets this right. But then why has Labour twice voted for a referendum and then refused to back it in their manifesto for the EU elections? Given that to do so would lose them zero votes, and would potentially gain them many.

Makes no sense, from a strategic perspective.

Makes no sense

In general, politically, right now, little does for me; either strategically or tactically.

Have been trying to decide how to vote at the local elections tomorrow but there's so scant commitment here (locally, on issues other than vague hand waving / 'we're committed to..' platitudes as likely you could nail to a wall as jelly) online (and there's been zero canvassing and not a single leaflet drop) that it's almost impossible to see what candidates are standing for. And I've tried to find out.
I suspect that apathy here (S. Oxfordshire, majority Tory, unlikely to change but with a kicking) will result in a super-low turnout and stasis.
Tory / Labour not wanting to engage ('If we don't mention 'B...' until afterwards and hope a deal gets agreed before we need the Euro elections debacle) will open the door to hopefully a Green swing. Hopefully not more right-wingers. Actually not all that hopeful here. Depressing times.

If Brexit eventually goes through the best option is to vote Tory to make sure the regions that
voted for it never recover.

If Brexit eventually goes through the best option is to vote Tory to make sure the regions that

voted for it never recover.

Or Labour, their policy is indistinguishable from the Tories.