Europe

Ivanhoe, I think you'll find the inhabitants of Britain are called Britons BTW
Quote:

"There's a lot of what I as a British citizen born and bred, can only describe as pig ignorance about Europe from the average Britain."

gracesmum, My point is made.

By the way over the past 35 years of political experience, I have been in touch with many MP's from all political parties, and they have written back to me as a leader of former apolitical groups.

Their spelling and grammer has been appauling. You would have had a field day checking each coma and dot.

Ivanhoe

Commas and dots even although most MPs would induce coma Quite appalling, some people's grammar.

Given your strong opinions I foind it hard to see you as a leader of apolitical groups!!
Just realised, your last post clearly meant ot be ironic

Ivanhoe, I don't really get you. You seem to have come out of nowhere to set up several soap boxes to stand on and then fire off a number of tunnel visioned political rants. Many of us on GN have often had exchanges about how they feel on political related matters but most of the people I have encountered pop up on all sorts of threads and don't spend all their time banging on about our past, we cannot change it. I don't like the way you refer to the pig ignorance of the British on Europe, presumably you don't include yourself among this poor unfortunate group of people. I thought we had gone past lumping any one nationality together and talking about them in a negative way, if it's wrong to talk collectively about other ethnic groups and nationalities in this way surely we shouldn't do it about ourselves. Who are the British anyway, we might as you say be born and bred, we might not be, we might like me have immigrant grandparents and great grandparents. As for going on about treating people like lepers when we had an empire, as I stated in my post we weren't alone in that arrogance and indifference to the people of our colonies. Many other Europeans did the same. I think you will find there are those, not necessarily European that are still doing this. Your reply to my previous post was "I'm British, that's why" that's why, that's why what? You make rather a lot of negative generalisations and assumptions about your fellow British citizen. None of us can change the past, we weren't there, only a small section of our society had any say at all in how the country was run. Most of the citizens at that time had no say in what was going on in say India, they didn't even have the vote until the last part of Britain's presence there anyway. As for Britain being the most decadent country in the western world, what exactly are you basing that fact on. We do have some undesirable excesses, drinking and gambling would be two that spring to mind. Which political party introduced wholesale gambling and 24 hour drinking, yeah that would be Labour. May I say running through everything you consider evil about this country and then attributing it to the Tories is somewhat skewed, especially when you ask someone do they by chance happen to be one. Unless someone has actually stated who they voted for I think it's a rude question it would come under the same category as why haven't you married? why haven't you had children? why are you religious/atheist? gay/straight? how much do you earn? These are all matters that are personal and some may not want to defend.

Well said BA

BAnanas, If you dont get me. Fine.

Not another wind-up perhaps?

Perhaps omitting the "pig' from ignorance would have been wiser, but it is a sad truth that the majority of the British public have little knowledge and a lot of prejudice about the EU, the euro and the Court of Human Rights. However, ignorance has proved to be no barrier to holding and expressing a strong opinion or to expecting to be allowed a referendum. That, I would add, is a general comment about the great British public; many Gransnetters have expressed a desire to have more information before making up their minds. Whether our beloved politicians will do anything to satisfy this desire is another matter.

Good on you BAnana
Ivanhoe I don't mind political discussion but its best not to insult people with terms like "pig ignorant" if you want your views to be taken seriously. It rather spoils any further rational discussion.

absent, Actually I could not have put that better myself.

I would happily withdraw the word "pig" from my comment, if I could.