Not IMHO, it's more like the skunks getting their club back, only they've no idea how the new owners operate Nailed it
Are they official figures you're quoting there Sid Seriously t he reality is that Brexit will be revisited for the rest of our lives. The only difference is that we've moved away from blaming Europe for everything .... .... to a point where we're blaming Europe for everything
As Vic Reeves famously said: 72% of all statistics are made up on the spot! Irrespective of predictions, l voted leave and nothing has changed my mind thus far. Any reasonable person knows it's going to take 3 or 4 years for the situation to settle down and then we'll see how the land lies. But I'm with the president of lceland. If EU membership is such a good thing, the EU should bend over backwards to be nice to us. That way, when we realise our mistake, they can take us back on their terms, i.e. higher contributions, no rebate and we have to join the Euro. They come out of it smelling of roses and we're stuck with towing the line. However, the fact that they're being twatty about everything suggests to me that they're worried people will see that membership is not all it's cracked up to be...
Ah, right. I see what's being said (although there are some significant examples that could be used to counter it). I think its a huge stretch to say that lower income people are less likely to be xenophobic on the back of that though. People from other spheres of society will interact with people from other countries or from other backgrounds in different settings. Anyone who has attended a UK university in the last 25 years (and probably longer) will have interacted with a variety of nationalities and backgrounds. As well as economic migrants, you have professional migrants, if you see the distinction I'm making. In my line of work, I have colleagues, friends, and acquaintances from pretty much every European country I can think of. People from higher income backgrounds are also more likely to travel and, while doing so, interact with people from the country they're visiting. On the flip side, I think you have to consider the social background of people who join organisations like the EDL. All of the above examples are generalisations though and you can't assess the likelihood of someone being xenophobic on the basis of their socioeconomic background. I'd agree that a lack of familiarity doesn't help though.
Yeah you’re right the report ( can’t find it) was largely about living among but also touched on objections when there is internal migration into the suburbs from minority communities. There is evidence that the higher intensity of mixing - ie bigger mixes not smaller numbers- helps. I do think our current policy makers are xenophobic. The twice weekly conflict with the french, Patel making remarks about ‘them’ taking our benefits and housing. It’s encouraged rather than discouraged to gain a few popularity points and it’s just not ethical.
Personally, I think the main cause of xenophobia is a lack of interest in the world around you. Nationalism (which was a big part of my post-grad research) is a different thing and is more a reaction to outside events than an internal lack of understanding. There has been a big rise in nationalism in a lot of places since the 2008 financial crisis (which was cited as a contributory factor in voting Brexit in the article I posted the other day) and obviously made it possible for UKIP to gain a foothold. Johnson, Patel, and much of the rest of the cabinet, are just populists. If there was a strong undercurrent in the national mood towards being more like the French, they'd be dishing out grants for 2CV maintenance. They are just playing up to this increased nationalism. I don't see it as being either ethical or unethical, just a bit unpleasant.
Sorry for slow reply. I’ve got a new 14 week puppy. Collie. Cutest thing ever but what a handful !! I’d be interested in hearing about your postgrad article. What did you study ? Surprised there haven’t been a few posts about the last two days events. Seems to be very divisive for a change ! Sounds like the MP has suffered some real tragedy but by the same score he had been disregarding the rules. Sounds to me like he should have accepted his fate a long time ago or he should have been pushed a long time ago, but equally some humanity would be nice to see.
Also interesting to note that a far right activist has been charged with terror offences just up the road in Washington and supposedly not just for downloading papers, for planning things. It’s a growing issue in the north east for whatever reason.
Nice, I like collies! My research was on the way in which the changing politics of 20th century Germany affected the study of archaeology in that country. I wasn't really very happy with it and would have preferred to expanded it a bit but never got the chance. Yeah, the Owen Patterson thing was a bit odd. I listened to a lot of stuff on the radio about it. I could understand the argument that the current process doesn't work very well (not allowing the defendant to present evidence doesn't seem right) but he'd been found to be in the wrong by the existing process so he should have served his suspension.
