Saturday 25 June 2016

As the dust settles

Well, I appear not to be terribly motivated by model railways today. Though maybe I'm  not shocked by the referendum result I am disappointed and perhaps a little cross too. There has been much talk about betrayal of the young by the old (who by and large are sitting comparatively pretty) but perhaps the biggest betrayal has been in the lies of politicians and the collusion of some sectors of the media. If I had been foolish enough to vote leave I'd be livid that the two main planks of the Brexit argument, a reduction in immigration  and an extra £350m a week for the NHS will not happen. The cynic in me knew that these promised 'benefits'  wouldn't happen. There is strong suspicion abroad that a good section of those who voted to leave are now regretting their choice and that the same applies (despite what they may say in public) to some movers and shakers in the leave campaign. I believe that we can directly trace the referendum back to the Tory promise of a cap on immigration, but indirectly further back for years of government blaming unpopular decisions they have made on the EU rather than taking responsibility for their own actions. Whilst on the subject of responsibility, it also strikes me that immigration has been the scapegoat of those who have done less well out of life. Some of this scapegoating may have been self generated, but a lot has been at the instigation of the less responsible media, both print and tv.

My apologies, pictures of trains may have to wait a while longer.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

You are correct and I too feel too many grandmothers have dropped their grandkids futures in the dirt without thinking. Lying no it is just a factual inaccuracy... about covers the rest.

Anonymous said...

You said it.

We are currently trying to figure out what thet means for our immigration status in Germany long term.

Simon Dunkley said...

There have been more immigrants from outside the EU than within over the last ten years, but that wasn't mentioned.
Nor was the fact that we have, in the UK, simply stopped legislating in some areas and adopted a common EU standard (e.g. Banking regulations, employment law) which has saved us a lot of time and expense: that will all need changing.

I spoke with a leaver yesterday, who was worried about having Boris Johnson as the next Prime Minister. I pointed out that the resignation of David Cameron was the most predictable outcome of a leave vote, and she was in part responsible for this. We now have 4-5 months of not knowing who will lead the country and in what direction, not just in the negotiations but generally. This will not be good for the economy: DC has been short-sighted there, but nowhere near as the leave campaign who had no clear plan for an actual exit, nor those who voted for this singe issue without any thought over the wider implications (and if only Putin and ISIS are providing international support, that tels you something!)

But most of all, I am disappointed with the Leader of the Opposition, who as far as this campaign was concerned simply failed to show up, proving that a lifetime of delivering stirring speeches to people who agree with you is no basis for leadership. I think he coud have swung a core percentage of voters.
So, ironically, we haven iven succour to right wingers across the EU, with whom virtually the whole UK has no agreement.

What a shower we have in charge - and those coming in are possibly even worse.

Matthew Paris was right: we complained about "part-time politicians" who had other jobs, and it serves us right that we got full-time politicians with no real life experience instead.

(If anyone wonders, I would describe myself as left of centre, but a believer in greater harmonisation of trade, and in free trade with sensible ontos on excess and the provision of sensible welfare.. The EU had many failings for non Eurozone countries which need addressing, but I opted to remain.)

Enough - hoe you on't mind me using your lap box, Neil.

Simon

Phil Parker said...

I have a feeling that the main motivation behind the Leave win was pure racism. Voters were promised that foreigners were to blame for every ill, and that they would be hurled from the white cliffs of Dover on Friday morning. This isn't true but many chose to beleive it anyway. Even Kate Hoey, on the Leave side, said she was shocked at how in many areas how it had become perfectly acceptable to say they were voting to get rid of imigrants.

The other aspect is that its "sticking one to the man" to vote leave. Well, well done. You've had your little tantrum and now have to clear up the mess.