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It's June, the start of Michael Gove will be bringing his range of skills and core-competencies to the justice department, Iain Duncan Smith will be continuing with his role ensuring that the poor and downtrodden are cared for in a suitable manner, and Theresa May will be continuing to safeguard our treasured liberties. What could go wrong? Immediately after the election, the Conservatives announced plans to replace the Human Rights Act with something that will make sure only those who don't need their rights preserving get them, and a wide ranging ban on anything that affects the brain, which is sure to be workable and not ban perfume or paint. The Liberal Democrats got completely destroyed as a consequence of  , and also lost a treasured former leader and decent politician.   RIP Labour got less seats, despite getting more votes, and UKIP got one seat, despite getting millions of votes, calling for people all across the political spectrum (except Tories) to question the validity of the first past the post system. Now is the time to sit and hope that what government there is fractures over Brexit, or breakfast, or whatever the issue of the day is. Previous Threads 2015 UKMT May 2015 Thread (Election Extravaganza) UKMT April 2015 Thread UKMT March 2015 Thread UKMT February 2015 Thread UKMT January 2015 Thread 2014 UKMT December 2014 Thread UKMT November 2014 Thread UKMT October 2014 Thread UKMT September 2014 Thread (OP includes links to previous threads going back to 2012) UK Pastime of Plutocrats (Pederasty) Thread Scotpol Thread
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Jun 2, 2015 16:39
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| # ? May 11, 2024 20:30 |
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Jun 2, 2015 16:55
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Harsh but accurate.
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Jun 2, 2015 17:06
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Vote communist. I know the election was last month but just write "Harpal Brar" on as many bits of paper you have and push them through the council's letterbox.
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Jun 2, 2015 17:07
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destroy neoliberalism
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Jun 2, 2015 17:13
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HorseLord posted:Vote communist. I know the election was last month but just write "Harpal Brar" on as many bits of paper you have and push them through the council's letterbox. Wiki posted:He, along with his daughter Joti Brar, is an active member of the Stalin Society, the website of which contains articles denying Soviet wrongdoing in the Katyn Massacre,[10] the Ukrainian Famine (Holodomor),[11] and the Moscow trials[12] which they blame on the Nazis, dismiss as propaganda, or describe as fair process, respectively. Seems like a bit of a nutter...
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Jun 2, 2015 17:28
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Venomous posted:destroy neoliberalism Well, I guess you are going to not be happy with the 10,000 year Reich they have planned out.
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Jun 2, 2015 17:50
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Being white, educated and most importantly not living in the UK right now I will enjoy watching the Tories fumble about to stab each other in the back until they lose a no confidence vote some time before Christmas.
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Jun 2, 2015 17:54
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Prince John posted:Seems like a bit of a nutter... You would say that.
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Jun 2, 2015 18:00
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There's a story regarding Charles Kennedy in that when the news of his drinking problem had broke into the mainstream, many party members were like "yeah, we knew years ago, and we still elected him". The Lib Dems even sing a song at their biannual Glee Club, typically held on the last night of Conference, to the tune of the Skye Boat Song: quote:Speed, bonnie boat, The EU referendum just got that little bit harder to win now.
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Jun 2, 2015 18:10
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BigPaddy posted:Being white, educated and most importantly not living in the UK right now I will enjoy watching the Tories fumble about to stab each other in the back until they lose a no confidence vote some time before Christmas. Didn't they modify the rules to make no confidence votes much harder?
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Jun 2, 2015 18:12
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Prince John posted:Seems like a bit of a nutter... i see you thought horselord's avatar was a joke
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Jun 2, 2015 18:21
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Jesus, he was only 55. Besides his drinking problem he didn't sound like that much of a bad guy.TinTower posted:The EU referendum just got that little bit harder to win now. Just to clarify (and not meaning anything by this) "Win" in this context is us staying in the EU?
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Jun 2, 2015 18:38
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ConanThe3rd posted:Jesus, he was only 55. Besides his drinking problem he didn't sound like that much of a bad guy. Yep. Charlie was one of the fiercest pro-European voices ever to grace Parliament.
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Jun 2, 2015 18:42
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TinTower posted:The Lib Dems even sing a song at their biannual Glee Club, typically held on the last night of Conference, to the tune of the Skye Boat Song: I wonder if they do it at the infamous disco? quote:The club night, which is only open to party members and staff and intriguingly has no official end time listed online, is being organised by Cambridge MP Julian Huppert to raise cash for his 2015 election campaign.
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Jun 2, 2015 18:44
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ConanThe3rd posted:Jesus, he was only 55. Besides his drinking problem he didn't sound like that much of a bad guy. I agree totally, but he was 33. 
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Jun 2, 2015 18:45
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Can someone summarize the reasons why the UK shouldn't exit the EU? Not sure why they should be the biggest contributor to the union especially with places like Greece dragging the region down.
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Jun 2, 2015 18:45
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Charles Kennedy was a great man in Parliament, of course he drank.
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Jun 2, 2015 18:49
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tdrules posted:I wonder if they do it at the infamous disco? Glee Club predates the disco by fifty years. It's also much more fun. It's pretty much an excuse for everyone to get drunk and take the piss out of politicians (including themselves). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbWpb1fnT1A
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Jun 2, 2015 18:50
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TinTower posted:Glee Club predates the disco by fifty years. It's also much more fun. It's pretty much an excuse for everyone to get drunk and take the piss out of politicians (including themselves). Darn, that looks like fun. Parties that have amusing singalongs and don't bring the Tories into power are where I want to be.
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Jun 2, 2015 19:00
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shrike82 posted:Can someone summarize the reasons why the UK shouldn't exit the EU? We can't relocate geographically so having procedural influence on the happenings in the EU will always be useful because it'll always affect us. Cameron is basically arguing against all the other advantages of being in the EU and wants to get rid of them so who knows what else will last.
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Jun 2, 2015 19:11
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shrike82 posted:Can someone summarize the reasons why the UK shouldn't exit the EU? Because having to meet the same regulations if we want to do business with the continent (which we will) while foregoing the right to have a say in those regulations would be loving stupid.
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Jun 2, 2015 19:11
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Because not being willing to comply with or co-operate with the largest economic and political entity in our immediate vicinity seems unwise.
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Jun 2, 2015 19:21
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Because it's better to be on the inside pissing out.
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Jun 2, 2015 19:47
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I've said this repeatedly before, but the only remotely plausible alternative (And I stretch the phrase beyond the breaking point) to being in the EU is calling up Washington and asking if they want a few more stars on the flag, and even if we assumed that entire procedure went perfectly and nobody at all objected we'd still have problems due to simple geography. The world today is just not one where a country like the UK can prosper outside of a bloc or group like the EU. Can we get by? Probably, just about. Can we do well, have a seat at any meaningful tables outside the UNSC, and actually have British interests represented abroad? Not a chance in hell. So we can be inside with said seat, or we can be outside and still have to follow the marching orders like Norway and Switzerland do.
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Jun 2, 2015 20:15
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There's always Russia. We could proably get a good deal.
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Jun 2, 2015 20:23
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How much could we get for Scotland, I'm sure they could use some more sub bases.
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Jun 2, 2015 20:33
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V. Illych L. posted:i see you thought horselord's avatar was a joke Guilty as charged. What's your avatar from out of interest? Edit: vv I'd stake a reasonable amount on us being a larger net contributor, at least pre-rebate. Edit 2: Yeah, even post-rebate, we're the second largest net contributor. The Telegraph has a surpsingly detailed article on EU finances here. quote:However, on a net basis, Britain was the second largest contributor to the EU budget last year. It put €10.8bn more into the EU pot last year than it took out. Only Germany paid more on a net basis. Edit 3: I hadn't quite realised the rationale for Thatcher's negotiation of the rebate. Thought it was just her being bolshy, but actually it looks like it was addressing a genuine unfairness: quote:Yes, the Iron Lady used her handbag-swinging negotiating style in June 1984 at a summit in Fontainebleau, just outside Paris, to declare: Prince John fucked around with this message at 20:45 on Jun 2, 2015 |
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Jun 2, 2015 20:33
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And UK is not the biggest contributor, France pays more with a smaller population even. Edit: That's still a way to say that the UK is not the biggest contributor to the EU budget. It may benefit from EU policies even less than other countries, but it's a bit disingenuous to say that it pays in more. For the record, according to the graph at the bottom of the article, and even before the rebate, UK is the fourth largest contributor (behind Italy!). Private Speech fucked around with this message at 20:48 on Jun 2, 2015 |
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Jun 2, 2015 20:35
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Rip Charlie K. And I thought my hangover was bad this morning.
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Jun 2, 2015 20:58
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Private Speech posted:. For the record, according to the graph at the bottom of the article, and even before the rebate, UK is the fourth largest contributor (behind Italy!). Which bit are you reading? 
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Jun 2, 2015 21:01
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Pissflaps posted:Which bit are you reading? This one:  It's not at the bottom, my bad.
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Jun 2, 2015 21:08
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Private Speech posted:This one: Yeah there's your problem. Net contributions are the important bit. If you look you can see that while France and Italy pay more than the UK, they also receive more back. The difference between the two values for each country is less than the same difference calculated for the UK.
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Jun 2, 2015 21:09
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can we get some more advanced stats on the net spend please?
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Jun 2, 2015 21:09
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Pissflaps posted:Yeah there's your problem. Net contributions are the important bit. If you look you can see that while France and Italy pay more than the UK, they also receive more back. The difference between the two values for each country is less than the same difference calculated for the UK. No I understand that, but rather than complain UK should be lobbying for the money to be spent in ways that benefit it more. It's not really the fault of France and Italy that they benefit more from the agricultural subsidies than Germany and the UK, even if the subsidy system is a bit messed up currently. Here is a breakdown of EU spending, most of it goes on the common agricultural policy (i.e. subsidies) 
Private Speech fucked around with this message at 21:17 on Jun 2, 2015 |
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Jun 2, 2015 21:14
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Private Speech posted:No I understand that, but rather than complain UK should be lobbying for the money to be spent in ways that benefit it more. It's not really the fault of France and Italy that they benefit more from the agricultural subsidies than Germany and the UK, even if the subsidy system is a bit messed up currently. I mean, it is, because the system was created principally to benefit the French farming industry. It's not a happy coincidence for the French.
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Jun 2, 2015 21:16
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It sort of is their fault given that they do presumably have some control over their industry and are A-OK with hoovering up the money to pay a large portion of their workforce on the EU
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Jun 2, 2015 21:17
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Private Speech posted:No I understand that, but rather than complain UK should be lobbying for the money to be spent in ways that benefit it more. Why would somebody lobby for something unless they have a complaint about the way things are? Personally I'm not particularly animated about the UK being one of the largest net contributors.
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Jun 2, 2015 21:18
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I'm just saying that it's more about how the money is spent, rather than where it comes from. And the rebate is a bit ridiculous because it goes back directly to the government, rather than just to the economy,
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Jun 2, 2015 21:22
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| # ? May 11, 2024 20:30 |
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TinTower posted:There's a story regarding Charles Kennedy in that when the news of his drinking problem had broke into the mainstream, many party members were like "yeah, we knew years ago, and we still elected him".
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Jun 2, 2015 21:28
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