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Brexit finally got done at 23:00 GMT on 31st December 2020 when the UK's Withdrawal Agreement with the EU finally expired. A "trade deal" between the UK and EU was agreed on 24th December. The Alt-Wrong finally got their prize of freedom, democracy and British sovereignty.
What did they actually win? Chaos at the ports, thousands of tonnes of fish that can't be sold, tariffs, duties, and all sorts of things which were once Project Fear and the undemocratic, treasonous lies of the Liberal Metropolitan Elite, Socialists, Marxists, quislings, traitors, lefties and people who hate their country. Socialism, Marxism, EUSSR, Venezuela, toilet paper!
We are on the third week of this glorious new future of sunlit uplands with no downsides, only upsides with much more to look forward to. And Donald Trump is going to give us a fantastic trade deal with the USA straight away.
Over at the Guardian, Polly Toynbee has an excellent summary entitled Brexiters are waking up to the damage they've done.
As Brexiters turn on each other, Brexit politics move fast. Until now the Tories planned to move on, only reviving “Brexit done” triumphalism to re-arouse the captured red wall at the election: Labour just wanted to bury the whole issue.
The Westminster system has failed us (the UK). We are now looking at Irish Reunification and Scottish Independence. Gibraltar has already got its own deal where it gets to join Schengen.
We have Taken Back Control(TM).
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @05:17AM (9 children)
I doubt you care because 'mah politics', but it should be clear this is a political stunt and not reality. Let's see, I have large amounts of shell fish that I cannot sell in foreign markets. I can:
1) Drive around in giant trucks ranting about Brexit while letting the produce rot and telling everybody it's rotting.
2) Go sell the produce at home at sub-market rates making the folks back home thrilled and giving you some time to sort your shit out.
Real tough decision. Well I suppose it is for the politard types.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by c0lo on Tuesday January 19 2021, @05:29AM (8 children)
Yet another solution: dump the whole load on the steps of the politicians that caused the problem, then go to the pub and have a pint.
I know which one "mah politics" would make me choose.
https://www.youtube.com/@ProfSteveKeen https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @06:29AM (6 children)
I don't understand how people such as yourself fail to understand one simple recurring issue. It's not "politicians that caused the problem". The question was asked in a democratic fashion and the public and the public chose to leave. And that was after they were (and continue to be) inundated with nonstop propaganda against Brexit. And Authoritarian globalists spent years trying to cancel democracy, and hoping to somehow change the tide. And they failed. Even if Brexit were run again, it'd *still* [mirror.co.uk] pass.
This is why democracy is failing. People on both sides appeal to it when they like the result of an election, but then aim to destroy society and undermine democracy in every imaginable way when they don't like the answer it gives. The very nature of democracy means you're sometimes not going to get your way. And at that point the right path forward is to make the best of what you perceive to be a bad situation, and move on with your life looking forward to the next vote where you can make your voice heard, so long as you believe that your vote still matters.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by c0lo on Tuesday January 19 2021, @06:47AM (5 children)
The problem with rotting shellfish today was created by politicians, with no clear idea about what has to happen after the public and the public chose to leave. One may argue the same human subspecies, the politiheads, lied to public and the public before asking them in a democratic fashion, but that's so well behind everybody that it becomes a moot point today.
I don't think you can argue in good faith that it was the people that wanted to make a choice between:
1. ranting about post-Brexit brouhaha causing shellfish rotting in huge trucks or
2. selling the stuff at under the cost of obtaining it.
This is why the shellfish rots today, because of dickheads looking to "the principle of things" and letting to the others to deal with the fallout.
https://www.youtube.com/@ProfSteveKeen https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @08:51AM (4 children)
There is no evidence that selling their product locally would be at a loss. Simply that it would likely need to be sold for less than they could get by selling it to foreign nations. And this was expected. Brexit was expected to lead to lower cost domestically obtained seafood, higher cost imported seafood, and lower profit margins for the fishing industry as a whole.
Really I think the issue is quite symbolic of the entire issue in ways entirely unintended. Immigration and globalization do help improve economies but it's not equally distributed. It disproportionately helps the mid to upper class, and harms the lower class due to increased competition from foreign workers who are either imported, or to whom domestic jobs are exported. There's a growing underclass in the UK that overwhelmingly supported Brexit. And now the moneyed corporate class is able to throw a tantrum by simply letting tons of shellfish rot - the same sort of foods this underclass would struggle to be able to regularly afford. 'If we can't have our profit margins, let them eat cake!' An apocryphal but nonetheless apt quote that sums up the mentality. It's akin to a wealthy businessman protesting against a tax hike by lighting millions of dollars on fire. 'That'll show 'em!'
(Score: 3, Insightful) by c0lo on Tuesday January 19 2021, @09:48AM (3 children)
Oh, so Molly Malone's ghost no longer pushes her wheelbarrow, eh? She gave place to greedy corporations, sucking the life out of the poor poor lower British class, who probably voted Brexit for cheaper seafood.
Except... there's some dissonance in this narrative. You see, the Shellfish Association of Great Britain [shellfish.org.uk] is made of
Doesn't seem that the production side members of SAGB made it in the "moneyed corporate class". In 2012, there were exactly 248 shellfish enterprises employing 705 staff across the UK [service.gov.uk] (see page 17/20) - I'd call it a cottage industry by the number of employees.
But what do I know, maybe they managed to take over the London forex and, in 2020, are pissing from the balcony on the poor class in the stalls.
Heck, no! In 2019, When focusing on the challenges facing the UK oyster industry today, he conceded that, “the size of the industry is small, and out of balance with the regulatory burdens”. [thefishsite.com]
--- Bottom line ---
GTFO, mate, you help nobody spinning your hot air! Especially when your narrative seems always in the search for some scape goat to blame:
1. the "mah politics" of a guy posting on S/N from Melbourne - yeah, surely I'm the UK equivalent of deep-state or some francmason or some other kettle of fi... conspirator
2. if it's not c0lo, it's the "moneyed corporate class" of oppressors.
At the end of the day, the reality is that the Brits will get to live with the consequences of their choice; maybe they'll be better of, maybe not.
Mark my words, with the political class and bureaucracy in UK today, it will be a long time for them to get better and then there's no warranty they will.
https://www.youtube.com/@ProfSteveKeen https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @04:14PM (2 children)
There being few shellfish enterprises is not the sort of argument you ought want to make. The gross throughput in shellfish is very high, which directly implies what I was speaking of before - that wealth tends to be deeply centralized rather than distributed, even in industries like fishing. The 'little guy' fisher, farmer, and so on has largely faded away to be replaced by larger conglomerate and corporate entities with large margins that tend to be disproportionately directed back towards their executives. A trend in most western nations today.
However, we do actually agree on the bottom line. There will be pros and cons of Brexit. And only the future will tell what happens. I'm curious what you feel were the benefits to the UK's participation in the EU in the past? For negatives I'd point to what I mentioned above about the rapid growth of an economic underclass, greater social instability including things like terror attacks due to diversity, and a substantial deterioration in national sovereignty due to the ability of the EU to impose binding legislation. Benefits? There are countless benefits for the rich and for multinational businesses, but for people/companies not engaged in international commerce? All I can really think of is paper free travel/employment/education throughout the EU. That's not really a great exchange, in my opinion.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @07:24PM
It's not like the people of Europe have been free to move about, even in their own countries, for almost a year.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by c0lo on Tuesday January 19 2021, @10:31PM
I have no opinions on the matter.
If you look at the title of my comment and the content of it, I made no judgement about the value (or lack thereof) of Brexit.
I just signaled the boondoggles caused by politicians and bureaucracy occurring after a moment that anyone knew for years it was coming and could have planned for.
https://www.youtube.com/@ProfSteveKeen https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 20 2021, @01:56AM
According to a friend of mine in the UK, the area near one of their offices stinks to high heaven because of the various groups parking their rotting fish in trucks by the politician offices.