The now-enacted will of (some of) the people

[chrisp65]

1 hour ago, bickster said:

One wonders how much longer NI will be part of the Union.

In the last census, exactly 50% of people resident in N.I. self identified as British, or English, or Scottish, or Welsh.

I think 2021 is another census year (though it wouldn’t be unreasonable for it to be postponed), it’ll be interesting to see if the figure moves from bang on 50%.

 

[ml1dch]

11 minutes ago, chrisp65 said:

In the last census, exactly 50% of people resident in N.I. self identified as British, or English, or Scottish, or Welsh.

I think 2021 is another census year (though it wouldn’t be unreasonable for it to be postponed), it’ll be interesting to see if the figure moves from bang on 50%.

 

And presumably under the agreed terms of the Belfast Agreement, Brandon Lewis (assuming he's still in post) will immediately use that "minority now identifying as British" information to set the wheels in motion for a referendum on reunification.

Right?

[sidcow]

32 minutes ago, ml1dch said:

Oh, is that the same "woe is me" eel farmer appearing in a UKIP campaign video with Mike Hookem whining about the EU stopping him from exporting live eels to China?

Why, yes it is.

Thing is, how old is he? He's probably 65 or older looking at it.  He'll have stacks of money squirelled away in various pension pots, have a massive house, probably a classic car or two.

Ok his business goes under so he can't flog it for loads of bonus money and has to retire a few years earlier than he wanted to. 

Boohoo him for being a thick easily led pillock. 

It's the poor buggers who work for him I feel sorry for.  Probably not well paid, will have to find new employment in challenging times.  Probably all encouraged to vote out by him as well as he's promised them the business will grow outside of the EU. 

How dumb can people be, seriously, what did he think would happen?

It just proves that people really didn't think it through at all. 

[Davkaus]

2 minutes ago, sidcow said:

 

It just proves that people really didn't think it through at all. 

Of course they didn't. We didn't have any idea what a potential deal would look like. We didn't think we were leaving the single market. A fraction of the electorate has any clue even what tariffs are, never mind how they work, and how many people knew what financial passporting was before this?

We may as well have had a referendum on string theory. 

[chrisp65]

2 minutes ago, ml1dch said:

And presumably under the agreed terms of the Belfast Agreement, Brandon Lewis (assuming he's still in post) will immediately use that "minority now identifying as British" information to set the wheels in motion for a referendum on reunification.

Right?

I wouldn’t pretend to know the detail of the Belfast Agreement, i certainly wouldn’t presume anything of Northern Ireland and it’s clearly obviously super super sensitive.

The only given, will be that any tory, Brandon Lewis, Johnson, Rees Mogg, any single one of them, will make any situation worse with any intervention. Because they don’t care enough to swat up on the history before they play to the gallery of their home crowd.

Perhaps, in a truly crass world, they might even suggest food shortages as a political lever. As wildly disgusting as that would be.

[StefanAVFC]

51 minutes ago, markavfc40 said:

I see the ERG have given the deal their approval. Further confirmation it is a shit outcome for the masses.

All about the 'sovereignty' for them.

Amazing what doesn't matter when you hang the entirety of what you want can be boiled down to one single meaningless word.

[colhint]

1 minute ago, chrisp65 said:

I wouldn’t pretend to know the detail of the Belfast Agreement, i certainly wouldn’t presume anything of Northern Ireland and it’s clearly obviously super super sensitive.

The only given, will be that any tory, Brandon Lewis, Johnson, Rees Mogg, any single one of them, will make any situation worse with any intervention. Because they don’t care enough to swat up on the history before they play to the gallery of their home crowd.

Perhaps, in a truly crass world, they might even suggest food shortages as a political lever. As wildly disgusting as that would be.

I don't think you could accuse JRM of not knowing his history.

[ml1dch]

5 minutes ago, chrisp65 said:

I wouldn’t pretend to know the detail of the Belfast Agreement, i certainly wouldn’t presume anything of Northern Ireland and it’s clearly obviously super super sensitive.

(paraphrasing rather quoting directly) It basically says that a poll is held on Irish reunification whenever the SoS for Northern Ireland believes that such a poll would result in a vote to reunify.  And you'd think that census that you mention could easily be considered as such.

[chrisp65]

Just now, colhint said:

I don't think you could accuse JRM of not knowing his history.

Granted yes, there’s a world of difference between not knowing it, and being deliberately antagonistic, and playing to your home crowd.

If that’s better or worse than not knowing it, there’s a debate to be had. 

[snowychap]

1 minute ago, colhint said:

I don't think you could accuse JRM of not knowing his histor

Well, he might know his own but I'm not so sure that counts.

[ml1dch]

4 minutes ago, colhint said:

I don't think you could accuse JRM of not knowing his history.

Why not? By all accounts, his "Victorians" book which is the only real evidence one way or the other, got an absolute kicking across the board for being badly researched, badly sourced and badly written.

[chrisp65]

1 minute ago, ml1dch said:

(paraphrasing rather quoting directly) It basically says that a poll is held on Irish reunification whenever the SoS for Northern Ireland believes that such a poll would result in a vote to reunify.  And you'd think that census that you mention could easily be considered as such.

Surely people would just start rolling out all that ‘super majority’ bollocks.

It would certainly be a spectacularly sensitive and tricky time.

 

[ml1dch]

2 minutes ago, chrisp65 said:

It would certainly be a spectacularly sensitive and tricky time.

Of course, I don't there's a chance of any Tory government abiding by it. They've spent the last 25 showing that they couldn't care less about it. They're probably still ruing the fact that they don't get to deploy the army onto the streets of Armagh anymore.

Hence my tongue-in-cheek "right?". 

[ml1dch]

26 minutes ago, sidcow said:

Thing is, how old is he? He's probably 65 or older looking at it. 

72 next month. 

[NurembergVillan]

5 hours ago, ml1dch said:

Oh, is that the same "woe is me" eel farmer appearing in a UKIP campaign video with Mike Hookem whining about the EU stopping him from exporting live eels to China?

Why, yes it is.

18 months ago he learned that DEFRA was in his way for exporting eels rather than the EU.

Quote

Mr Wood said he has explored opening trading with China where a block of 3,500 of the eels can go for up to £3,000, unlike the current £230 paid by counties such as Sweden, Germany and Lithuania.

But the move would have to get the approval from Defra which is currently stands against it due to concerns over illegal wildlife trading to the Asian country.

“If we left the EU without a deal then we are in the hands of Defra,” said Mr Wood. “But as it stands they will not allow trade with China so that is currently a no-go.”

https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/gloucester-news/gloucestershire-eel-farm-wont-survive-2732750

The soppy clearing in the woods.

EDIT - also, feel free to imagine I'd made an obvious joke about UKIP being slippery words removed.

[sidcow]

29 minutes ago, NurembergVillan said:

18 months ago he learned that DEFRA was in his way for exporting eels rather than the EU.

https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/gloucester-news/gloucestershire-eel-farm-wont-survive-2732750

The soppy clearing in the woods.

EDIT - also, feel free to imagine I'd made an obvious joke about UKIP being slippery words removed.

It sounds like utter bollocks anyway.  China will pay over 10 times more for eels than a European country? Really? Don't they have Eels there? 

This bloke is just farming them in tanks.  I'm sure if they were that valuable there would be Eel farms springing up all over China.  I mean it's not like they lack the resources to set a few up. 

[bickster]

22 minutes ago, sidcow said:

It sounds like utter bollocks anyway.  China will pay over 10 times more for eels than a European country? Really? Don't they have Eels there? 

This bloke is just farming them in tanks.  I'm sure if they were that valuable there would be Eel farms springing up all over China.  I mean it's not like they lack the resources to set a few up. 

There is an iliegal industry thought to be worth £3bil a year supplying the ENDANGERED European Eel to China, I just read in an article in the Express (So I can't be arsed quoting it)

[sidcow]

6 minutes ago, bickster said:

There is an iliegal industry thought to be worth £3bil a year supplying the ENDANGERED European Eel to China, I just read in an article in the Express (So I can't be arsed quoting it)

Just read up on it. 

So he's basically angry that DEFRA are not legalising the extinction of endangered species. 

What a charming fellow. 

How many of earth's species are being wiped out because of China right now? 

[chrisp65]

 

 

[Genie]

9 hours ago, chrisp65 said:

 

 

More project fear, it’ll never happen.