I realize that with election fever in the USA, there seems to be nothing else happening in the world that rates any notice, but actually this is rather big:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Ki … pean_Union
The referendum is to be held on 23 June of this year, not much more than a month from now. I’m not a UK citizen and thus don’t get to vote, but I’d be interested in hearing what some of our resident Brits have to say about this.
cheers,
DB
I’m eligible to vote, but having lived outside the UK for so long, and as this is my home, I won’t. I’ll leave it up to those who live there to decide.
If I would, I would vote to exit. Our leaders seem utterly incompetent. From the Uk if I have to listen to one more moronic word from Cameron I’ll probably disconnect from the internet and TV completely. The EU is just one more layer of incompetence (and corruption?) on top of an already incompetent government.
That seems to sum up most brexit voters motivations. Ah the wonders of democracy.
Actually brexit doesn’t just affect British people in UK it affects many Europeans, many international businesses and it will have a big effect on British who want to move back to UK or move or even travel in Europe. It also has worrying ramifications for those British who live in places like Spain and Greece and France in large numbers as they may lose pension access and residency and health insurance rights. It may even throw up a new border between Republic of Ireland and northern ireland and that has political ramifications also. It’s not a small thing that should be done because you don’t like a given politician or are skeptical of politicians. What, having another toff like Boris Johnson in charge will really be different than Cameron? The U.K. Is class ruled not EU ruled. Why else have I met management types in companies I’ve worked who gave even gone to elecution classes as they are ashamed of their regional accents.
They went to the same schools , they are making power plays, Boris is the UK trump now with his latest comments.
Yeah, I kind of expected a little more response from the Brits and other Europeans here on Forumosa. As for Americans, most of them probably never heard of Brexit, or think it’s a brand of mouthwash.
Yeah, I kind of expected a little more response from the Brits and other Europeans here on Forumosa. As for Americans, most of them probably never heard of Brexit, or think it’s a brand of mouthwash.[/quote]
I don’t know about “most Americans” but for those who pay some attention to the news they would have heard the term, as Obama advocated against Brexit during his April trip to the UK. Many American talk shows also did segments on Brexit. I think Seth Meyers had the best one.
which is funny, because I thought John Oliver probably would have done a better piece on Brexit…
Yeah we’ll have lots of EU parts soon 
Well, German Merkel’s immigration policy during a phase (more a condition) with the Euro weakness going on was like hacking holes into a sinking ship.
[quote]The survey shows that Northern Ireland and Scotland are the regions most in favour of staying in the EU, with almost two thirds of respondents wishing to remain.
The least positive region about EU membership is the Midlands - with 59 per cent of the East Midlands wanting to leave.
There is a huge gulf among young and older voters over the European issue - with seven in 10 young voters backing the European Union. 73 per cent of those aged between 18-29 want to remain in the EU, while 63 per cent of those aged over 60 want to leave.
When it comes to social class and education, those who went to university are most likely to be pro-EU - with seven out of ten UK graduates wishing to remain in Europe, according to the polls.
Those belonging to the AB social class - usually in higher managerial, administrative and professional occupations - support the EU by 62 to 38 per cent.
Meanwhile, people in the lower C2 and DE social grades have net dissatisfaction with the institution. Ukip has attempted to re-brand itself as a party for the working class, and so it will try and boost turnout in this eurosceptic group.
[/quote]
telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/03 … ts-to-rem/
So older, poorer less educated favour exit; no gender gap. The only thing I found strange was the Northwest and Northeastwere split pretty evenly; I would have thought they would have been more opposed; I see Yorkshire is.
I hope they vote to stay in. Wish I could claim UK citizenship and vote, having been born in the UK.
I hope we leave. Seems the whole establishment and media( aprt from the Sun) is pushing for Remain. EU is corrupt.
[quote=“MikeN”][quote]The survey shows that Northern Ireland and Scotland are the regions most in favour of staying in the EU, with almost two thirds of respondents wishing to remain.
The least positive region about EU membership is the Midlands - with 59 per cent of the East Midlands wanting to leave.
There is a huge gulf among young and older voters over the European issue - with seven in 10 young voters backing the European Union. 73 per cent of those aged between 18-29 want to remain in the EU, while 63 per cent of those aged over 60 want to leave.
When it comes to social class and education, those who went to university are most likely to be pro-EU - with seven out of ten UK graduates wishing to remain in Europe, according to the polls.
Those belonging to the AB social class - usually in higher managerial, administrative and professional occupations - support the EU by 62 to 38 per cent.
Meanwhile, people in the lower C2 and DE social grades have net dissatisfaction with the institution. Ukip has attempted to re-brand itself as a party for the working class, and so it will try and boost turnout in this eurosceptic group.
[/quote]
telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/03 … ts-to-rem/
So older, poorer less educated favour exit; no gender gap. The only thing I found strange was the Northwest and Northeastwere split pretty evenly; I would have thought they would have been more opposed; I see Yorkshire is.[/quote]
Yorkshire has completely different demographics to the north-west and northeast in terms of immigration. There’s a lot of hatred of Pakistani communities and more recent immigration. Liverpool and Manchester have less trouble with stuff like that. The Rotherham cases had a huge impact and riots in Burnley and places like that.
Me, I don’t hugely give a toss because I don’t live there. However, my socio-political demographic would be a ‘remain’ one. The ‘leave’ voters: they can’t really see how it affects them. Less trade? So what? They’re thumbing their nose at the establishment because the Labour party has effectively collapsed: the Conservative government knows exactly what is doing by distributing these particular bread and circuses at this point in Cameron’s term.
All those warning about how bad a Brexit would be are just fear mongering. There’s no reason the UK can’t have trade deals with the EU like other non-EU states and be part of the European Economic Area (EEA). The real fear behind all of scare tactics is the UK might stop helping Germany foot the bill for a collapsing political fantasy. I guess we’ll see how gullible the Limeys are
The “Leave” campaign is supported by extreme right-wing groups like UKIP, while most economists and world leaders urge UK citizens to vote “Remain”.
Then be a good little Limey and fall in line. Important people know what’s best. Otherwise, you’re a hateful Nazi
Then be a good little Limey and fall in line. Important people know what’s best. Otherwise, you’re a hateful Nazi[/quote]
He’s American.
It’s a little more nuanced than that, Chris. UKIP all but collapsed after the last election and have no real mandate for anything. Farage is not popular: he’s too chavvy for the establishment, he’s too plummy for the chavs. There is a significant Brexit sector, although I would say they’ll lose (I’ll be surprised if Cameron has called it wrong, for various reasons) and for middle-class liberals to continue ridiculing and ignoring that voting sector is foolhardy, in a post-Corbyn environment. The fringes of the Conservative party have always been more working class than Labour, since Thatcher. Gove and Johnson recognise that and are manipulating it for when Cameron is finished.
Labour need to pull their finger out and stop shooting themselves in the foot with stuff like Emily Thornberry’s white van fuckup. They had the chance to throw a bit of a shadow with this campaign, but they’ve done nothing, as usual.
I view it as a One China policy, European style, except that, unlike Taiwan, Britain gets to choose. Taiwan, on the other hand, is slowly being subsumed by its mainland death star until one day it will cease to exist as a sovereign entity. If history is any guide, Britain faces the same long-term fate, despite any assurances to the contrary from the mandarins in Brussels.