Britain is free!!!

[Karl7]

I think there is a good chance some ersatz agreement will be struck that replicates many of the aspects of being in the EU so the change will be minimal.

But then, maybe not.

Europe is a scary place.  Falling native populations, hostile muslim fifth column populations, mass-immigration, economic stagnation, rising political instability…

European nations have been making mistake after mistake since WWII. Instead of rebuilding their own populations, they import “guest workers” who then DUH don’t leave and bring their families. They develop the EU and common currency that are highly dysfunctional and damaging to the less advanced economies. After the cold war, they let their militaries go to seed (except France, I guess). They embrace democratic socialism to the extent they emasculate their citizens will to do anything about it–maybe that is changing though.

I think there is a real possibility in my lifetime that one or more European nations will implode and no longer exist. My money on that happening is on Germany.  They’re in real trouble. Sure it doesn’t seem like it now, but demographically it’s lights out in 30+ years. Like Hemingway said, the disaster will come slowly but then suddenly.

[Flashman]

Just in case anyone thinks that the exit is an extreme right-wing thing, look here:

http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-1bff-Why-the-Morning-Star-supports-a-Leave-vote/#.V23DA9QrIrh

What has happened is that the right and left (at least half Labour voters went for leave) combined to defeat a centre which has become lazy and bloated, and gave up on democratic politics by handing control of everything over to the unelected European Commission and Central bank.

The Irish experience with the Lisbon treaty tells you everything about the true nature of the EU.

There are already some trolls trying to get Parliament to throw out the result, but there will be civil war if they succeed.

[aequitas-et-veritas]

I wish England the best and all the success it can get.

[Witt]

Thanks Aequitas.
We shall see, eh!

[KaLeu]

We’ll miss you guys.

On a side note: this is not a first.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenlandic_European_Communities_membership_referendum,_1982

The Greenlandic example made me wonder whether an option could exist for Scotland and Northern Ireland to remain within the EU while England and Wales would be out. I’m not sure whether the legal status of the constituent parts of the UK is in any way comparable to the Danish Realm, though.

[CWO Marc]

@Flashman:

Our message to the rest of Europe must be: join us! A Europe of free, democratic, independent nation states

The second sentence made it clear what the first sentence was referring to, but my initial reaction to the first sentence (before I got to the second one) was to think that you were proposing something different: achieving the goal of having an independent Britiain be part of a united Europe by inviting the rest of Europe to join the British Commonwealth of Nations.  I’m not sure how the rest of Europe would react to that proposal, but my feeling is that it would be easier to market this idea now rather than later because Continental nations might be more willing to accept Queen Elizabeth the Second as their new head of state than would be the case with King Charles the Third.

[Private-Panic]

@Herr:

I’m not sure whether the legal status of the constituent parts of the UK is in any way comparable to the Danish Realm, though.

I was reading this morning that the Scottish parliament will need to vote in favour of any move to leave sanctioned by the UK parliament.

If they don’t we may be in the sort of situation you highlight.

It’s all a muddle. And I’d rather we were not leaving. But it will keep things interesting for a while! It could result in seismic changes in the UK political status quo, with the break up of the UK and realignment of political parties.

Did those that voted for Brexit realise the implications I wonder?

[LHoffman]

@CWO:

@Flashman:

Our message to the rest of Europe must be: join us! A Europe of free, democratic, independent nation states

The second sentence made it clear what the first sentence was referring to, but my initial reaction to the first sentence (before I got to the second one) was to think that you were proposing something different: achieving the goal of having an independent Britiain be part of a united Europe by inviting the rest of Europe to join the British Commonwealth of Nations.  I’m not sure how the rest of Europe would react to that proposal, but my feeling is that it would be easier to market this idea now rather than later because Continental nations might be more willing to accept Queen Elizabeth the Second as their new head of state than would be the case with King Charles the Third.

Heh  :lol:  Now wouldn’t that be something!

[Flashman]

They’ll keep the Queen in a frozen stasis container to keep Charles (sorry, George VII) off the throne.

[CWO Marc]

@Flashman:

They’ll keep the Queen in a frozen stasis container to keep Charles (sorry, George VII) off the throne.

This tactic may require the services of a first-rate ventriloquist because the Queen has to give a Speech From The Throne (or whatever the phrase is in Britain; I’m quoting the Canadian counterpart) each time a new session of Parliament opens.

[KaLeu]

Scotland may be looking for an alternative anyway once it regains its independence.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacobite_succession

But maybe they’ll wait for the oil price to go up.

[lexgreat]

After much internal debating I manage to stay away from this, barely.

But the notion of “finally free” makes this very hard. I just hope that the UK old people get what they want as quickly as possible and I dont have to watch leaders of the stature of Farage and the Ex-Mayor drag this out now.

[Private-Panic]

Farage is a nasty piece of work. Boris is a clown. It’s saddening to see so many fellow Brits taken in by them.

[CWO Marc]

@Private:

Farage is a nasty piece of work.

A Canadian news program a couple of nights ago showed a clip of a speech he had just given to the European Parliament, in which he gloated over the victory of the Leave side (“When I came here 17 years ago and said I wanted to lead a campaign to get Britain to leave the European Union you all laughed at me. Well, I have to say, you’re not laughing now are you?”), and in which he openly insulted his fellow MEPs with shots like “I know that virtually none of you have ever done a proper job in your lives, or worked in business, or worked in trade, or indeed ever created a job”.  Considering that these are some of the people with whom Britain will soon be trying to negotiate favourable exit terms, I have trouble understanding why Farange would go out of his way to antagonize them, since from a  purely practical point of view this sounds like a counterproductive thing to do.  He’s presumably never read the famous book “How to Win Friends and Influence People”, one of whose sections is called “How to Change People Without Giving Offense or Arousing Resentment”.

[Private-Panic]

Quite right Marc. It was an awful performance.