The lies your PM is going to dish out in an hour or so are much worse.
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The lies your PM is going to dish out in an hour or so are much worse.
So Randy, does BETA make you happy?
Pointless question. Whatever the outcome, it will make him happy and it will be what he wanted all along.
Why would you say that? Apart from when I've changed my opinion (which I'm happy to acknowledge as a changed opinion not what I thought all along) I'm consistent.
I'm also quite willing to say when I'm not happy with what we've got. That's been a rather consistent thing for recent decades actually.
I fully don't expect to get everything I want - but then we never have had everything I want so there's no change there.
Interestingly breximaniacs haven't written angry opinion pieces about being punished by the USA.
You also said that we had no power in the EU but out of the Eurozone and would be rule takers there as the Eurozone would make all decisions.
You've not given a reason yet why we should stay in the EU under those circumstances.
What? "You had no power in the EU"?
I'm pretty sure Hazir never said that.
He did. He was very, very clear that we were powerless if we didn't join the Euro as the Euro nations would decide on a position between themselves in advance and then vote it through as a fait accompli that we had no say over.
Bear in mind this was in the debate over whether the UK should join the Euro or not. We weren't debating Euro membership - at the time I believed only a crank or loon would advocate leaving the EU.
I see. What I also see: You suddenly believe Hazir. But not everything else.
I'm deeply impressed. Then again, cherry picking is a national sport, or so I hear.
I didn't say no power. I said the UK was being pushed into the margins. In the end it would have resulted in being a more or less powerless appendix. I have never disagreed with breximaniacs or their precursors about what the growth of federalism would mean for the nation state as a sovereign entity. I did and do think they are bonkers to think that a country the size of the UK can be really sovereign in the world of today.
I don't "suddenly" believe Hazir. I've been quite clear about what the turning point was.
I said for a long time that I thought Cameron would achieve a good renegotiation in the same way that Thatcher won the rebate. Hazir said he wouldn't. But in the end Cameron didn't. Hazir was right, I was wrong. I'm not ashamed to admit when I'm wrong and I was wrong there. So why shouldn't that lead to a re-evaluation of other assumptions?
Whether it was because he couldn't, didn't bother or whatever is immaterial. If even the threat of an upcoming referendum on membership wasn't sufficient to get some real change achieved then the reality is we weren't ever going to achieve any real change.
Oddly enough had it been a flat in/out from the start I would probably have voted In. But by having the failed renegotiation that just showed that we were ultimately as Hazir had argued powerless to change the course of the EU. So fine, so be it. Go to Plan B - leave and control our own destiny.
As for Hazir's remark about "bonkers to think that a country the size of the UK can be really sovereign in the world of today" ... the UK is a decent mid-sized nation on a global scale of course we can be. If much smaller nations against much bigger neighbours, like Canada against the USA, can be sovereign then why can't we be? Hazir seems to have some odd blinkers on just what size a nation the world's fifth/sixth largest economy actually is.
Seems like you've missed how the USA is fucking over CANADA and Mexico in the most incredible way for no other reason than that Trump doesn't have the votes in congress to get out of NAFTA. Two midsized countries turned into pawns of internal political games of a bigger neighbor.
As for your own country; that is also over the barrel in order to get an agreement in order to fly to the US. Let's see if how much kinder the EU will treat you.
Not so long ago you thought that very little would happen as everyone was going to be practical about it. But once you let out a beast like sovereignty all of a sudden you get it thrown right back at you. The newest 'surprise' is the non-recognition of British driver's licenses after Brexit. You still believe it's going to stop before telling you to get a visum for travel to Europe?
Seems like you've missed how Canada is escaping the worst of Trump's madness by being a sovereign nation not part of the USA.
Yes I do.
Interesting developments on the horizon in Switzerland:
https://www.ft.com/content/17d840b6-...5-1ba1f72c2c11
It's quite inevitable that we'll not allow that situation to go on forever. I think the Swiss should be very worried about any referendum about FoM coming out as a rejection. Last time round we could allow them to fudge it, an outright end to FoM will mean an end to all treaties.
I do and I have family in Canada and travel there regularly. Not a single one of my relatives there is upset at the fact they're not a part of the USA. Something tells me that if anyone surveyed Canadians asking if they should give up their sovereignty and join the USA the answer would be a resounding and emphatic no.
Honestly the fact that you think this is convincing just shows how warped and twisted your mentality is.
That's not at all what Hazir said, you doofus.
You doofus he is making out that it would be "bonkers to think that a country [like Canada] can be really sovereign in the world of today".
Everything is interconnected and you usually cannot act unilaterally without dire consequences. What's so hard to understand about that?
Never said otherwise have I?
I think you're confused about a lot of the concepts involved which explains your constant non-comprehension of basic details.
I think you're condescending and ignorant. Not a pleasant combination.
The Russians no longer seem to be overly worried about killing people in the fully sovereign UK. What you gonna do about it?
I expect the same as we did a dozen years ago when they killed Alexander Litvinenko.
Having different politics to you isn't idiocy, you're just being a small-minded bigot.