Brexit watch

Appropo of probably nothing already posted on this thread , my D has just come back from Berlin , staying with an old school friend who has lived there for 28 years ,she has married a German citizen and has 3 children born out there. She has just applied for German citizenship to a country she says has been good to her.
My d met some of her German friends and one British who has been out there for many years . They all asked D what on earth were you thinking and many comments like , we couldn't believe the result. D was quick to say, no neither could we and don't blame me or my parents.

It would certainly chime with the little forum for pensioners I watch (don't post on there now). There is never a chance of a discussion and they present everything as knowledge rather than opinion. So I would read that "everyone in their right mind wants to leave", etc. Even when other discussions are raised there is no nuance they just expect other posters to agree. It would explain why the leave leaders caught the mood when they inferred we shouldn't believe in experts as, in fact, the experts were talking about possibilities not certainties. I suppose the question is why are some people so black and white while some so much more open to the details of the discussion.

Of course, it could all just be tosh

politicalscrapbook.net/2016/07/ukip-councillor-talked-about-time-to-start-killing-eu-remain-voters-on-facebook/

It seems to have disappeared from the BBC online news, but this is what UKIP councillor Terence Nathan said said...

The comments appeared on the Facebook page of Terence Nathan on Tuesday night.

The Cray Valley West Councillor is being investigated by Bromley Police.

In response to an article about Brexit, it said:

Time to start killing these people till article 50 is invoked, perhaps remainers will get the message then.

– Facebook page comment

When someone replied to his comment saying:

Really Terry, that's not going to help.

– Facebook comment

A reply said:

Not threatening anyone, no need for threats just a bullet.

He then dismissed it as an 'overstatement. Sorry, but I don't find it funny, especially after what happened to Jo Cox.

Saw this on Facebook- he is now saying it was a joke, and to be taken with a pinch of salt. Truly shocking and I really hope the police will prosecute him and UKIP will have the decency to sack him.

My comment was meant to be taken with a pinch of salt, I thought it was so extreme as to be obviously daft. I did not think anyone would take it seriously but some obviously have and I greatly regret this.

It was honestly intended as ridiculous over-statement. Anyone would tell you that I hold dear both respect and democracy, I would never seriously have advocated such violence.

But UKIP are refusing to do anything about it:

We don’t see the need for a show trial. His joke was in very poor taste, but we have spoken to him and he is mortified. There seems no advantage to anyone to take it further.

From the link I gave earlier. It does not sound like UKIP think it is serious.

Can you imagine the uproar and the consequences if a Remain campaigner had said the same about Leavers- especially is s/he happened to be y British Muslim??? Shocking beyond belief.

So if UKIP won't take this on- the police or the GVT should certainly do. With Jo Cox's tragic death in mind, it is even more appalling.

He was a complete and utter idiot. He made what he thought was a joke. One of those ones made by someone trying to look big and play with the big boys. But I fear he was only copying the sort of remarks many across all parties say in private.

"Britain’s businesses have taken the Brexit vote in their stride and there are no signs of a sharp economic slowdown, the Bank of England said yesterday".

Times

Well that's OK then. We can all rest on our laurels knowing that "business" has taken Brexit in its stride.

Not sure the research scientists agree.

@NfkDumpling

If that really is the kind of remark people of any party make in private, they should be challenged. Throwaway remarks like that, whether meant as a joke or not, lead to them becoming acceptable and some idiot might act upon them. I hope he has the book thrown at him by the police. There is absolutely no excuse.

According to legend, Henry II's "Who will rid me of this troublesome priest?" wasn't meant to be taken seriously, but it was.

This is a long, but excellent article on some of the causes of the Brexit vote, in post-industrial Britain.
www.lrb.co.uk/v38/n15/john-lanchester/brexit-blues

You will find the Lanchester article interesting .*Bags*.
Of course it hardly needs pointing out that there is a world of difference between the Brexit vote and Brexit implementation.

Hmmm...The Times seems to have left one little word 'yet' out of its report.

"The Bank of England said it had seen no clear signs yet of damage to British companies after the vote to leave the European Union, and one of its policymakers said she would wait for more evidence of a slowdown before backing an interest rate cut."

We haven't even left yet! The Bank of England issued that statement to justify keeping the interest rate at 0.5%. It's trying to hang on as long as possible before we get into a negative interest rate scenario.

It has been mentioned several times by ecomonists and others that we could possibly 'talk ourselves into a recession' ....I'm sure (well nearly sure) no one wants that. So the BoE is right to be positive surely?

HSBC has announced it will continue to be UK based and is moving 1,000+'workers to a new purpose build facility in Birmingham in 2017. Seems as if the Midlands is going to,do well out of Brexit (I've been flagging up the new jobs being created here in the last few weeks) and one result of this 'out' vote is less centralisation around London.

One of the functions of the Bof E is to ensure we survive this cataclysmic result.

Of course they are going to talk up the economy - it would be astounding if they didn't.

Exactly! The B of E is trying to persuade other countries that it's still safe to invest in the UK. Reducing interest rates is the nuclear option.

"Andy Haldane, the Bank of England’s chief economist, pledged on Friday to vote for a “significant” and “material” package of action in August to mitigate a Brexit-induced slowdown.

In text of a June 30 speech but updated following the Monetary Policy Committee meeting on Thursday, Mr Haldane, who voted for no action until August, said he was almost certain to seek a large monetary easing.

“I would rather run the risk of taking a sledgehammer to crack a nut than taking a miniature rock hammer to tunnel my way out of prison,” he wrote in his updated speech.

Mr Haldane said he had not voted for action in July because the data available were insufficient, but by August the bank would have had time to calibrate a radical response."

www.ft.com/cms/s/0/744ab662-4a6e-11e6-b387-64ab0a67014c.html#axzz4F1gE9YEd

Please do read the Lanchester article - it is very clear on who is likely to benefit and why...
www.lrb.co.uk/v38/n15/john-lanchester/brexit-blues

A very interesting essay, Mamie. Thanks.

Thanks Mamie - very interesting. Pinned it on Pinterest so I can re-read and absorb.

How do you do that? grace

I have a "Pin it" button on my menu bar whitewave. If you go here you can put one on. You just click the 'pin it' button when you are in anything you want to save and it give you the saveable choices from that page. A few will not allow pinning but I have only found a very few like that.

If you are still having problems PM me and I will 'unsecret' my politics board and give you the address so you can pin from there.

Cheers will give it a go!

Thanks gg I'll give it a go

Oh didn't think my first thanks had "gone"