Hopefully Scotland does leave the rest of the UK so the constant financial subsidies from England to north of the border can cease. Unfortunately there will not be enough daydreamers or economic illiterates to carry the vote.
This morning I spent a half hour watching David Davis taking questions from the Brexit committee. He was asked what financial assessment had been made of leaving the EU and relying on WTO trading terms. His answer was none. He went on to say that sometimes you just have a feeling about such things. Now I am sure that anyone who has been involved in running a business would not go along to their bank, say they were planning to change the direction that they would be taking their company, would get any support without producing a proper forecast. To go along and say you just had a feeling, and you would be told to stop wasting the banks and your time, and come back when you had thought things through.
I think this question from PMQs says it all - and received the usual 'answer that's not an answer' from May.
He did say he would know the answer in about a year, well within the negotiating period. David Davis's candour is refreshing amongst politicians.
And also if he were to disclose such information it would weaken the Brexit negotiating position. I am sure the government has done a forecast and just doesn't want to disclose it.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...-leave-no-deal-select-committee-a7630626.html Well he certainly said there hasn't been one done - not one that can be quantified for another year. We simply need to take his assurances that everything will be rosy - as though that's likely to happen. And, as the Scots already know, he doesn't do bits of paper. Probably because they leave an easy-to-follow trail of lies and incompetence for anyone to follow.
Theo, I agree that Britain is not, officially, a one party state, but it functions as one - the party changes every 12 years or so, but, once in power it has the type of influence which no party in Europe does. This is a direct result of the 'first past the post' system - with a system of pr. Thatcherism would not have torn out the fabrik of British society, Britain would not have gone to war in Iraq, and there would have been no referendum. All of these were done by parties which did not have a 'majority' based on votes. The other consequence of this voting system is that at any given point in time the majority are always against the government - over the long term this leads to political inertia. This is what I meant by 'democratic deficit' - I agree it sounds like an academic term - but it was less controversial than my original vocabulary. One of the problems with the word democracy is that it is not a finished product - it shouldn't even be a noun. The minute a country stops 'democratizing' it is over - and Britain stopped developing its political system well over a hundred years ago. You just use the word often enough and people will start to think we are a democracy - and the best way to stop people fighting for something is to convince them that they have it already.
Just to make things interesting, the CPS have received files from twelve police forces regarding Tory Election Fraud - Avon and Somerset, Cumbria, Derbyshire, Devon and Cornwall, Gloucestershire, Greater Manchester, Lincolnshire, Metropolitan, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, West Yorkshire and Staffordshire. And another twelve are nearing completion for hand over.
I have a Dutch neighbour who doesn't believe that their voting system is that democratic, as they spend months trying to get parties to put aside what people voted for so that a coalition government can be formed. It looks as if the voters, who turned out in higher than normal numbers, have firmly rejected the anti EU, anti foreigner, anti Muslim views of Geert Wilders. Most commentators over here suggest that results are in part due to voters not wanting to go down the same route as the UK.
I see what you're driving at and you've often said you're not a fan of our first past the post system. I think it's far from perfect but I don't share your belief that some form of PR in reality gives more people precisely what they want. It produces coalition governments and decisions which have to be compromises. Those compromises frequently are some way removed from what anyone voted for. Insofar as it's possible to define a democracy - and I agree the term is hardly an absolute - we are one. We can vote, we have freedom of speech, we have legal protections. It's reasonable to suggest we are not a perfect one, but I can't think of any comparably sized country that is.
The actual facts tell a different story. The pro EU ruling party lost support and seats with Wilder's anti Muslim / anti EU party increasing it's number of seats and will now be the second largest party in Holland. Quite an achievement for a right wing party with such extreme views.
The facts actually show that what were smaller parties, such as the Greens and D66, have dramatically increased their share of the vote. As they are all pro EU the total votes for them have increased, while Wilder failed by a wide margin to get the number of seats he forecast.
The facts show strong and growing support for extreme right wing anti Brussels parties in many EU countries.
Maybe you should be getting your facts right SH. Wilders party appears set for 19 seats - joint second with the CDA and the D66 parties, which will both have 19 seats - so, not the 'second largest party' - sorry to disappoint you. The biggest winners of the day were the Groen Links, who quadrupled their number of seats. I appreciate that you appear to have such a vindictive streak that you rejoice in the successes of every party which appears hell bent on Europe's destruction - but, rest assured, the EU. is not in any imminent danger of collapse, much as you would like it to be. The hopes of many Brexiters ie. that their actions would create a domino effect in Europe, strengthening EU sceptic parties, has not come to pass - exactly the reverse is happening.
According to most news outlets my facts are correct. PVV are in second place on 20 seats with two other parties on 19. The socialists took a hammering. Anti EU parties are gaining ground throughout Europe, there has never been so much dissatisfaction with the EU so there is obviously a growing problem for the 'project'.
Yes, my figures were a bit pre emptive. However, 20 or 19 doesn't really make a great deal of difference - the fact is that 130 seats went to pro European parties (and 87% of the vote). Even if his vote had been higher (he predicted well over 30) nobody would have gone into coalition with him. You can keep on hoping - Le Pen may do a little better (she does have more appeal through different stratas of French society) - she may even scrape over 20% - but then we have the second round and then she also is finished. Don't pin any hopes on Germany either - there we have a very significant rebirth in the fortunes of the SPD (equivalent of Labour in the UK) and any move away from Merkel can only benefit the left there. So you can keep on hoping........would you take it as indicative of the imminent collapse of the British political system if a critical party won 10-20% of the vote ?
Yes, your facts were wrong. I am simply pointing out the growing dissatisfaction in Europe regarding the 'project' Many of the long standing problems of unemployment and debt still exist. Thankfully the UK is well on its way out of this failed political experiment.
What about all the growing dissatisfaction with the 'British' project ? Which includes 2 of its nations, its capital, 48% + of its population, most of its youth and all of its biggest cities - all being dragged along over the abyss ! If ever there was a failed political experiment then it is the British political system.
The vast majority of Brits accept the democratic system in the UK and are keen for the UK government to get on with exiting the EU. The current Tory government is one of the most popular ever with a resounding lead over the squabbling socialists.
I don't want to get involved in this but UKIP got only 12.5% of the vote in 2015 and arguably have caused the most seismic shift in UK politics for centuries haven't they? Without them there would have been no referendum and we would still be in the EU. It is important not to underestimate the power of a determined minority.
