General Politics Thread

[Antlion]

6 minutes ago, virginton said:

Bollocks. Regional development funds from the EU play a massive role in attempts to regenerate the utter shitholes in which many 'traditional Labour voters' live - case in point: Wales. A fact that they're going to learn the hard way once said funds are diverted to projects in eastern Europe instead as a result of gormless idiots voting against their best interests, 

It continues to astound me that these areas want to put more power in the hands of a governmental body, the UK Parliament, which dumped them on the scrapheap decades ago. It’s like handing a bag of rohypnol and a gag to your own rapist.

[Peppino Impastato]

9 minutes ago, Antlion said:

It continues to astound me that these areas want to put more power in the hands of a governmental body, the UK Parliament, which dumped them on the scrapheap decades ago. It’s like handing a bag of rohypnol and a gag to your own rapist.

That's fkn poetic man

[pandarilla]

Bollocks. Regional development funds from the EU play a massive role in attempts to regenerate the utter shitholes in which many 'traditional Labour voters' live - case in point: Wales. A fact that they're going to learn the hard way once said funds are diverted to projects in eastern Europe instead as a result of gormless idiots voting against their best interests, 

I should've worded it better - but the last 30-40 years has seen these areas being left behind. Of course it's far too simplistic to blame this solely on the eu but that is an organisation that has went hand in hand with globalised trade.

Regeneration from the 90s onwards has improved many areas but it doesn't bring back the industry and surrounding communities that were destroyed (again, not that the eu was responsible for this but it was an easy target).

Many folk were angry with the current situation in terms of the economy and politics. It's not so much that they were choosing Westminster over Brussels - but more that there was a chance to disrupt the system.

[vikingTON]

The EU has absolutely nothing to do with it; Germany has advanced industry and the UK does not because the UK had a full decade of Thatcherism and Germany did not. 

Once again the fault lies with voters being absolute morons and voting against their best interests. 

[welshbairn]

Ireland's economy boomed by taking every EU grant and project on offer, we turned loads down because we weren't prepared to match the funding. Just sat whining about unelected Brussels bureaucrats instead of getting truly involved. 

[bob the tank]

5 minutes ago, welshbairn said:

Ireland's economy boomed by taking every EU grant and project on offer, we turned loads down because we weren't prepared to match the funding. Just sat whining about unelected Brussels bureaucrats instead of getting truly involved. 

The funding went to specific areas of course. As well as grants there was other funding for some.

I read a piece last week by a convert to independence since indyref 1. 

He was at a meeting in London for work, and the group were sitting chatting during a break. They got on to the subject of grants etc, and the Norwegian oil fund was mentioned. The Scottish guy mentioned that the Scottish oil fund was actually known as the M25, and the rest of the crowd shuffled a bit, cleared their throats and looked down at their feet. There wasn't much banter for the rest of the meeting and they could barely look him in the eye.

[pandarilla]

The EU has absolutely nothing to do with it; Germany has advanced industry and the UK does not because the UK had a full decade of Thatcherism and Germany did not. 
Once again the fault lies with voters being absolute morons and voting against their best interests. 

I wouldn't necessarily disagree with that post (other than the very first point).

Globalisation has taken power away from people and their communities, and away from regions and even nations. Corporations close factories at the drop of a hat and move elsewhere - leaving chaos in their wake. Thatcherism, of course, actively encouraged this.

In terms of the EU it has gradually evolved to become a big part of that process (albeit they recognised the need for wealth redistribution and workers rights).

Like I said earlier, the idea that poor communities are glad to come out of the EU and return power to a ruthless Tory government...is insane. But who knows what the fallout will be from brexit in the medium to long term.

[Fullerene]

5 hours ago, pandarilla said:

The mystery box hasn't been opened yet though.

I didn't vote for brexit but I'm sure as hell not going to believe that the outcome is going to be automatically gloomy.

History is littered with unintended consequences, and economists often fall flat on their face when predicting how things will turn out.

Things can change very quickly. The eu itself isn't entirely secure. There is still the chance (however unlikely) that it could fold.

.. or as Theresa May would say "What's in the box is in the box."

[Granny Danger]

1 hour ago, pandarilla said:

I wouldn't necessarily disagree with that post (other than the very first point).

Globalisation has taken power away from people and their communities, and away from regions and even nations. Corporations close factories at the drop of a hat and move elsewhere - leaving chaos in their wake. Thatcherism, of course, actively encouraged this.

In terms of the EU it has gradually evolved to become a big part of that process (albeit they recognised the need for wealth redistribution and workers rights).

Like I said earlier, the idea that poor communities are glad to come out of the EU and return power to a ruthless Tory government...is insane. But who knows what the fallout will be from brexit in the medium to long term.
 

We won’t be any less susceptible to the negative aspects of globalisation outside the EU.

 

[pandarilla]

We won’t be any less susceptible to the negative aspects of globalisation outside the EU.
 

I'm not quite so sure.

We'd be more able to support our own industries, and even renationalise. These things are much harder to do within the eu.

Obviously we'd need to get a corbyn style government in place, and a brexit deal that isn't too restrictive.

[Newbornbairn]

Can't remember where this was discussed but the Gender Pay Gap stuff is starting to really boil my piss. This on the BBC today - 

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-43632763

 

It bangs on and on about how unfair everything is with only one throwaway line pointing out the other side of the story -

 

Quote

Some have criticised the exercise, which also applies to charities and public sector bodies, as a crude mechanism open to misinterpretation.

It's absolute fucking bollocks is what it is!

[welshbairn]

13 minutes ago, NewBornBairn said:

Can't remember where this was discussed but the Gender Pay Gap stuff is starting to really boil my piss. This on the BBC today - 

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-43632763

 

It bangs on and on about how unfair everything is with only one throwaway line pointing out the other side of the story -

 

It's absolute fucking bollocks is what it is!

The BBC are shit scared of it after paying a China news lassie that nobody had heard of less than the Washington boy who was on the telly every night.

[topcat(The most tip top)]

I'm not quite so sure.

We'd be more able to support our own industries, and even renationalise. These things are much harder to do within the eu.

It’s worth noting that the French Government doesn’t just own the bulk of the electricity generation sector in France it also owns a reasonable chunk of the UK sector as well. SNCF and Deutche Bahn are in public ownership blaming the EU for the UK not rolling back the worst excesses of privatisation is something of a red herring.

[pandarilla]

It’s worth noting that the French Government doesn’t just own the bulk of the electricity generation sector in France it also owns a reasonable chunk of the UK sector as well. SNCF and Deutche Bahn are in public ownership blaming the EU for the UK not rolling back the worst excesses of privatisation is something of a red herring.

I'm certainly no expert and this is a genuine question, but is the difference that those were already nationalised? Has the eu not made it more difficult, or almost impossible, to renationalise?

And what was the eu trying to block the Scottish government doing recently? Was it minimum pricing, and how did the Scottish government get round it?

(Genuine questions)

[Glen Sannox]

The funding went to specific areas of course. As well as grants there was other funding for some.
I read a piece last week by a convert to independence since indyref 1. 
He was at a meeting in London for work, and the group were sitting chatting during a break. They got on to the subject of grants etc, and the Norwegian oil fund was mentioned. The Scottish guy mentioned that the Scottish oil fund was actually known as the M25, and the rest of the crowd shuffled a bit, cleared their throats and looked down at their feet. There wasn't much banter for the rest of the meeting and they could barely look him in the eye.

Didn’t happen.

[John Lambies Doos]

Didn’t happen.

Thats a minter of opinion

[bob the tank]

Didn’t happen.

The guy posted this in a blog, and he's a liar...... You say it didn't happen, and you're a fud

[Baxter Parp]

Awks

[Miguel Sanchez]

tbf nobody ever thinks of Wales, it's just sort of there

[Jeff Venom]

I enjoyed the "Brexit Bridge" reply