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Legacy of the fraudulent referendum

(285 Posts)
varian Sat 29-Jan-22 19:18:39

The Brexit fantasy was never deliverable – voters fell for a confidence trick

Michael Heseltine

www.independent.co.uk/voices/brexit-boris-johnson-lies-europe-b1990960.html

Cunco Wed 02-Feb-22 12:55:18

The reference in the BBC link is under a photo of a young lady at a Polling Station. I wondered if any chance it might be you. smile

Yes, the EC was mentioned in the main manifestos, most enthusiastically by the Liberals, but it wasn't a big election issue. The economy predominated. From memory of past searches, I think the polls showed a majority of voters were eurosceptic and remained so until the Referendum campaign in 1975.

M0nica Wed 02-Feb-22 22:51:02

Presumably Boris was getting rid of the red tape when he held all those parties. He partied while others died alone and uncomforted and the bereaved grieved unconsoled while he stuffed birthday cake down his throat at his birthday party.

MayBee70 Wed 02-Feb-22 23:45:54

What was the vote tonight that gave bankers a multi million pound tax relief? This when the government won’t cut VAT on fuel. This is the sort of thing a government can do when they have a massive majority….

vegansrock Thu 03-Feb-22 08:01:08

More interesting Brexit news - 500 jobs in Newcastle to go from the Rolo/ Smarties plant and moving to the Czech Republic. So any more Rolos will have to imported from the EU.
Now just waiting for the energy price cap to go….

Cunco Thu 03-Feb-22 10:47:59

Just to finish off a previous discussion, the 1975 EC Referendum was a clear win to remain by 67.2% of those voting to 32.8%. The vote to remain was 43% of those registered to vote (and, if it is of interest to some) just 31% of the UK population.

Comparative figures for Leave in 2016 were 51.9%, 37% and 26%.

What I had not realised was that, despite the 10m rise in population between 1975 and 2016, the actual number of votes to remain fell from 17.4m in 1975 to 16.1m in 2016. To me, that is a staggering demonstration of how poorly successive governments and ultimately the Remain campaign failed to convince the public of the benefits of EU membership. As opinion polls showed, Euro-scepticism ebbed and flowed after 1975 but never went away.

Of course, people have said that the 2019 result was affected by lop-sided media, a questionable claim especially when set against the clear media bias of 1975. There have been other objections to 2019 but I think we all know that if the Remain powers-that-be had evidence to rule out the 2016 Referendum, they would have. There was no shortage of attempts to discredit the result and order a re-run.

GillT57 Thu 03-Feb-22 13:01:02

Cunco, interesting figures, and I agree with most of what you have posted. I have always maintained that the blame for this distressing state we find the country in is down to David Cameron. Not only was he too weak to take control and sort out the ERG mob, he set out the referendum without proper guidelines as to acceptable percentages etc., and then ran an extremely week and complacent Remain campaign, assuming in his ignorance and arrogance that of course he would win and all will be well. The only small consolation is that he has, as far as I can see, made himself an outsider politically and something of a pariah in business after the Greensill business. But, bottom line, I blame Cameron, he knew Cummings, knew, or should have known what he was capable of, but presumably thought he knew better.

growstuff Thu 03-Feb-22 13:04:54

He was chillaxed Gill.

GillT57 Thu 03-Feb-22 13:16:56

He certainly was.

varian Thu 03-Feb-22 19:53:51

In September 2021, UK goods trade was 11.2 per cent, or £8.5 billion, lower than it would have been if the UK had stayed in the EU’s single market and customs union.

For many months the CER’s cost of Brexit model model has found that UK goods trade is between 11 and 16 per cent lower as a result of leaving the single market and customs union. Using the data for September 2021, the model puts the cost at 11.2 per cent.

www.cer.eu/insights/cost-brexit-september-2021