Why Everyone Is So Angry About Brexit

We are not so different to chimps

Okay, not everyone is angry about Brexit, but a lot of people are.  I was with a group of people a few days ago who were all of the same mind on the issue.  The language and venom they were using to describe the other side was both eye opening and blood curdling.  I have never heard such venomous language about a disagreement.  It was certainly worse than anything I have heard about politics or religion - it was even worse than the contempt some people express for users of Macs or PCs.

5 Lessons for Lefties from Daniel Hannan

It's easy being on the outside criticising.  I can't imagine a more care free life than that of Nigel Farage endlessly touring the country and the broadcast studios finding fault with the bigwigs.  Now he's come out on top of course, he has a completely different scenario to cope with.  He is now held responsible for what is happening.  His cheeky chappy persona is no longer an asset.  As he shows no sign of retiring he has to develop a new approach.  So far he shows no sign of doing that either.   Given the damage he has done I am afraid I will withhold my limited supply of sympathy if he fails to succeed in his new role.

Brexit - What Have We Got To Lose? Quite a lot.

Leaving the EU will change the way Britain relates to the rest of the continent, and inevitably there will be winners and losers.  There will probably be enough of each for anyone who fancies a spot of cherry picking to prove that leaving was a disaster or a blessing if they put their mind to it.  But what about the might of beens?  The things that would have happened if we had stayed but didn't because we left.  This is something we'll never know about, but an interview with Taavet Hinrikus in the Guardian gives some clues.

Flags At The Proms

I am fan of classical music and follow the Proms season every year.  When I lived near London I used to go to up to a dozen events each season.  I still try to get up there a few times, though sadly life got in the way this year.  I've never done the Last Night, but I always watch it on the telly.  I am not a flag waving in your face patriot, but I am patriotic enough to enjoy the atmosphere.  I even have the Sea Songs on one of my regular playlists - though the Pomp and Circumstance and Rule Britannia bits  are strictly for the night only in my book.  But it is all good fun and it is good to have a real live tradition.  It is something that brings us together.

Express Opinons - The Media Environment

Anti-EU Bias not remotely subtle

I haven't got much actual news right now, but here's a retrospective on the long term media trashing of the EU.  What effect has all this negativity had?  I think it has affected me for sure.  In my job I deal with legislation from around the world in my field.  I have always just assumed, for no other reason than that this was a thought that was easily picked up, that the EU's was especially bad.

Australia's Priority is the EU rather than the UK

If I am really interested in an argument I will always try and put a case for the other side, at least in my head.  It is best to do it on paper though, because it is instructive to compare the lists of arguments on both sides to see where each case seems strongest.  The best case I could come up with for Brexit was that it would make trade with the rest of the world easier.

Gordon Brown - The Man Who Saved Brexit

It was always possible that the Brexit project would not last a week.  On news of the result the value of the pound started to fall.  Markets being markets, there is every possibility that the fall would have continued.  Panic can feed panic.  The UK has reserves of course, but they are not infinite.  A sharp enough drop could have wiped them out leaving the currency too weak to pay for vital imports let alone loans on foreign debt.  Everything would have to be tried to restore confidence and any promise that was needed to calm the markets would have to be made.  The national government run by Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn would have had to issue a statement confirming that plans to leave the EU had been put on hold indefinitely.