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The UK votes to leave the European Union

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Auctopus

Member
Congratulations, UK:

SilkyBoringHorsechestnutleafminer.gif


Trump in one side of the sea, this on the other. Yikes.

this works so depressingly well.
 

Lego Boss

Member
It's been a fascinating day in politics.

The turnout was fantastic and whether you voted to leave or remain, we should be proud of staging such a showpiece of democracy at work.

There's been good - and bad - arguments on both sides and while I voted to remain in, I can't say I'm not intrigued to see how it all plays out.

A dip in the markets was expected but I believe we'll see that level out and growth in the future.

We're in a scary new world now.

I have my doubts but the public has spoken, so it's time to roll up our sleeves and move forward together.


Boris? Is that you?
 
Can somebody please enlighten me how Boris Johnson went from being the mayor of London whose citizens voted to stay to a frontrunner of the #brexit movement.
He of all people should know what is good for London.

Because he's an insincere careerist asshole who gambled on our future to fast track his run as PM. And we fell for it.

I hate today so much.
 
I'd love to see another vote a week from now after everyone realizes what they have done

Their were polls right after the Scottish referendum that had folk swinging over to a YES vote once they realised that much of what the NO camp had said was fabricated nonsense.

Much of that was based on how stable the UK was in the EU, now completely laughable.
 

Acorn

Member
The older people who voted leave (I know a few) know what it was like before the EU began with the trade deals and know we can survive as we did it before. I wouldn't call them selfish the ones I've talked to genuinely felt that it was a better option for the country. Plenty have pension that will be effected and other problems but calling them selfish is a bit much, its a democracy.

Also I noted that the majority of folk under 30 voted to leave, I wouldn't call them apathetic, as in this referendum both sides poorly constructed the arguments to remain and leave in my opinion, and did a very poor job of reaching out.

Ultimately we need to organise trade deals etc as soon as, put uncertainty to bed (Cameron really should have stayed he looks like a sore loser/coward) and focus. There will be no Indy ref 2 in Scotland, its a typical SNP idea but 1 million more people voted to stay in UK than who voted to remain, had they voted it may have been a different story (higher stay or closer vote). Northern Ireland will stay as they are and Gibraltar will need help being stuck by Spain.
We can't have more divisions in the UK just now, it's critical that we move on from this and voters accept that democracy has decided the to leave rather than show bitter resentment.
You have no understanding of Scottish politics it was in their manifesto. Continue to hand wave us until you realise it's a wave goodbye.
 

mrklaw

MrArseFace
Indeed. Not enough to count, of course, but interesting as a little microcosm of what I believe to be the case in this referendum - the people made a monumentally important choice on the basis of lies, a misunderstanding/distortion/obfuscation of the key facts, or just plain pig-headed ignorance. I don't say that to wave away the decision of all leave voters, just that I believe, hand on heart, a clear, strong and definitive argument for Remain was there for all to see and for whatever reason was ignored.

I still think there would be a case to argue that the leave campaign wilfully mislead people
 

Qassim

Member
I'm just sad. I've called it anger in other places, but I'm actually not as angry at this point - I'm mostly just really sad.
 
A showpiece of democracy where a complex question with layers of impact that would be difficult to understand for most people, is hijacked by politicians with scaremongering and barely any facts, and is decided by a simple majority rather than requiring a large majority?

Yeah well done us.


I don't think either campaign 'nailed it'.

As you say, it's an incredibly complex topic but it was always going to come down to two key battles - immigration and the economy.

I also think romanticising the idea of striking out on our own and forging our destiny was a smart move by the Leave campaign.

Boris? Is that you?

I voted remain.
 

ghst

thanks for the laugh
Rather go down the pan ourselves than anchored to your right wingers. We're having to face pain either way. Oh and continue to belittle us please it will help the yes vote to hear the arrogant right wing English.

it's a funny thing scotland, before the referendum WESTMUNSTUH was the demon. a cabal of scotch hating bigwigs backed by monied corporate lackies cut off from the plight of the north. there was talk of an allegiance with the north of england in a federal breakdown, a natural empathy with wales who was facing similar questions about its future.

well it's the north and wales that have put us in this mess, voting on similar ideas of misplaced nationalism (albeit with a far uglier manifestation) and being forsaken and undermined in favour of london's corporate interests.
 

El Topo

Member
Yes, once they are out of the EU, they don't contribute anymore. They got investment back from the EU in poor regions, access to the single market and free movement of people and goods.

Not to mention they had direct political influence on a large region. That said, if UK wants to strike a deal like Norway, they will have to contribute. Norway pays €388m a year on €363bn GDP, if the UK got the same deal, they would pay roughly €2.8bn without getting anything in return.
That is assuming they would get that deal.
 
..except they don't, those areas have far LESS immigration than other areas.

What they do have are a lot more disenfranchised people who've been ignored, and been fed a flase enemy by the papers and politicians.

Which does fit in with my idea it's down to people not interacting with migrants and stuff enough to realise they aren't the source of their woes.

Totally agree on the disenfranchisement point. Last couple days any debate I saw had leave campaigners aghast they were being pained as racists and xenophobes. And they're right, a massive problem as of late is people having grievances, and sometime perhaps due to their phrasing, they get completely dog-piled on, which the media really doesn't help with, both in shaping how people think about issues and their reactions. We need to be able to have debates, have conversations, and find a real source of people's problems, rather than simply labeling them as a nutter and therefore they have no valid point.
 

theaface

Member
The older people who voted leave (I know a few) know what it was like before the EU began with the trade deals and know we can survive as we did it before.

Oh, you mean back in the 70s when we were an industrial powerhouse and globalisation and automation weren't what they now? Yep, looking forward to turning back the clock to the good ol' days. /s
 

Jisgsaw

Member
you are completely right, people need to stop ignoring this majority opinion and actually interpret what has happened. yes these people are lashing out at immigration but thats because of how things are presented to them.

People have been ignored and downtrodden and its lead to them making a fucking awful decision because they haven't been listened to. the reason england is all leave is because things have gotten worse here over the last decade and more.

if we want to unite the country again we need to improve the quality of life of those that are worst off. unfortunatly leaving the EU is jsut going to make things more difficult.

I think the main reason Leave won is the politician that reaped what they sowed: for years they had the "easy" solution to blame most of the bad stuff and unpopular laws on the EU (often enough without basis). Surprise, that leads to strong eurosceptism in the population.
(my teacher 15 years ago already warned against that)

And the EU is also in part to blame. The only good thing that may come from Brexit for Europe is that maybe some EU reforms will finally be made.
 

Joni

Member
Any word on what's going to happen to EU citizens who live here? My polish girlfriend of 10 years is panicking! I keep telling her she will be fine but upon my very basic google searches I can't actually find anything concrete....

Your Polish girlfriend could easily become your Polish wife, so she doesn't need to panick.
 
This is cheap journalism tbh, you could do this after any election.

Not at all.
1) In regular elections ppl. vote for choice A1, A2, A3, etc.
Party A1 may lower your taxes, party A2 may raise them, but none of them will get rid of taxes altogether or raise them to 100% of your income.
Here you voted for A or B, both of which are diametrically opposed.
The decision was binary. In regular elections you can protest vote so that electing some fringe party takes away from the share of votes for the established parties or makes those parties listen more to the fringe parties or make them alert of the fringe party's rise.
Protest voting does not work here, because you can't negotiate a better deal or something like that, you're either IN or you're OUT. A lot of ppl. apparently didn't realize them.

2) The Leave campaign has admitted to lying right after the referendum. Normally in elections you wait and see about promises being fulfilled, but Leave made it so their electorate have a rude awakening on the next day.

Not the same at all.
 

theaface

Member
I still think there would be a case to argue that the leave campaign wilfully mislead people

Absolutely! I've long felt that it should be a criminal offence for politicians and press to lie so blatantly on matters of great importance as they do (it's another form of slander in my eyes) but alas, it's seemingly all considered fair game and good sport.
 

Spaghetti

Member
It's been a fascinating day in politics.

The turnout was fantastic and whether you voted to leave or remain, we should be proud of staging such a showpiece of democracy at work.

There's been good - and bad - arguments on both sides and while I voted to remain in, I can't say I'm not intrigued to see how it all plays out.

A dip in the markets was expected but I believe we'll see that level out and growth in the future.

We're in a scary new world now.

I have my doubts but the public has spoken, so it's time to roll up our sleeves and move forward together.

It really is a showpiece of democracy.

"Give the likes of Baldrick the vote and we'll be back to cavorting druids, death by stoning and dung for dinner."

It was like a nation of Baldricks turned up to vote.
 

Plum

Member
I'm going to go on a new blackout and probably an OT Gaf blackout for the next few weeks or so.

I'm supposed to be enjoying the end of my exams yet all I feel is dread, worry and fear for mine, my family, and 49% of the country's future. It's tiring as fuck and I have done none of the stuff I said I'd do once I didn't have school.

So, GAF. It's been a wild ride with you for today but I don't think I can handle any more news like this. It's just all so goddamn disheartening.
 

darkwing

Member
Any word on what's going to happen to EU citizens who live here? My polish girlfriend of 10 years is panicking! I keep telling her she will be fine but upon my very basic google searches I can't actually find anything concrete....

no one has actually invoked Article 50 yet and the markets are recovering, losses are expected though
 
the thing is i think boris wanted remain to win too and was just stirring shit up to advance his career

I think Britain's EU membership has always been a prickly subject. We've never fully embraced the union and over time large parts of England have become disillusioned by Brussels.

I did not expect such strong support to leave from Wales though.

I theorised England would probably be kept in by the votes from the other members of the UK. Where it seems like England's fierce leave vote, along with help from Wales, has taken everyone else out.

It really is a showpiece of democracy.

"Give the likes of Baldrick the vote and we'll be back to cavorting druids, death by stoning and dung for dinner."

It was like a nation of Baldricks turned up to vote.

I think neither campaign gave a real representation of the issue. It was kids playing politics no doubt.
 
in Portugal, the Ultra-Far-Right Eurosceptic parties are weak and pose no influence

for the establishment Right, the main Center-Right party in coalition with the main Right wing party are pro-EU

the current governing Center-Left Party is pro-EU but they are in a coalition government with two Far-Left parties who are Eurosketpics

if Portugal were to Exit, it would be from the Far-Left not the Far-Right.


We will have to wait and see what is going happen in neighboring Spain. The outcome of Spain's next election could have a downsspiral trend of veering further hard-Left.


by the way, I am a centrist.
 
Oh, you mean back in the 70s when we were an industrial powerhouse and globalisation and automation weren't what they now? Yep, looking forward to turning back the clock to the good ol' days. /s

But UK was anything than a powerhouse back in the 70s. Nothing makes sense here.
 

Acorn

Member
it's a funny thing scotland, before the referendum WESTMUNSTUH was the demon. a cabal of scotch hating bigwigs backed by monied corporate lackies cut off from the plight of the north. there was talk of an allegiance with the north of england in a federal breakdown, a natural empathy with wales who was facing similar questions about its future.

well it's the north and wales that have put us in this mess, voting on similar ideas of misplaced nationalism (albeit with a far uglier manifestation) and being forsaken and undermined in favour of london's corporate interests.
Keep the disaster of your own making to yourself. A govt we didn't vote for and a ref we didn't vote for.

Enjoy your randian paradise.
 
I feel like I'm getting lumped in with the Leave voters because I'm based in the North West. I absolutely hate seeing "This was a war between the North and the South" quotes. It's weird having this sense that I feel like I don't belong here. The conversations I've had with colleagues on the leave side have left me livid. Not because they voted leave, but because it was "because immigration" or "because Cameron" and have absolutely no substance behind them.
 
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