for lefties too stubborn to quit
…is a good way of putting it as regards the latest from the British government on the border. But where is the surprise given that this is a Tory government or that their concern for the negative outcomes of a harder border or issues surrounding the dispensation on this island will almost certainly be of a low priority?
| Gary Hare on Class not race | |
| James Monaghan on Class not race | |
| Hamid on What you want to say – 15th Ma… | |
| Hamid on Overtourism… | |
| roddy on Behind the scenes during Covid… | |
| NFB on Mentioned the forward march of… | |
| WorldbyStorm on Overtourism… | |
| NFB on Overtourism… | |
| Paul on Behind the scenes during Covid… | |
| alanmyler on Culture Thread 19/5/2024 | |
| Aonrud ⚘ on Left Archive: Housing campaign… | |
| roddy on Behind the scenes during Covid… | |
| Robin Livingstone’s… on Behind the scenes during Covid… | |
| Hamid on Sunday and other stupid statem… | |
| Hamid on Sunday and other stupid statem… |
worldbystorm2014ATgmailDOTcom
The Cedar Lounge Revolution
I’m somewhat amused/concerned by the fact that people from large parts of the UK, now find themselves in a situation similar to that faced by nationalists in NI. Effectively, large geographical areas that are opposed to leaving the EU are being dragged along by a majority disproportionately located in a different part of the union.
This is a risk in and of itself, but the fact that the driving force behind the move (UKIP and the Tories) hardly exist in those geographical regions makes it even riskier. The parochialism of the pro-Brexit forcers (and the pro-remain Tories as well) was on display throughout the campaign. They hardly ever mentioned Northern Ireland, the border with the Republic or the Scottish Independence movement. It was all about Little England.
Time for those who see themselves “British” to ask themselves what exactly “British” is. The peoples of the UK don’t seem to share any more in common with each other than they do with say, the Irish or the Australians.
LikeLike
“I’m somewhat amused/concerned by the fact that people from large parts of the UK, now find themselves in a situation similar to that faced by nationalists in NI. Effectively, large geographical areas that are opposed to leaving the EU are being dragged along by a majority disproportionately located in a different part of the union”
Was thinking something similar (or perhaps, opposite!) yesterday – were London to declare UDI in order to remain in the EU, the rest of England would, rightly, complain. And yet breaking up a country in order to preserve access by the richest part of it to a union to which the rest of the country is opposed is exactly what unionists in the NE of Ireland were allowed do a century ago – with the support of most of the rest of Britian.
LikeLike
There is a strange inconsistency.
Most Tories are in favour of preserving the “union”. This seems to be as much out of a strange combination of respect for tradition and nostalgia for a time that never was. And yet, all of the arguments that the pro-Brexit Tories made about the benefits of leaving the EU were the same ones that they rubbished when Scotland debated independence.
I’m not exactly opposed, in theory, to London becoming an independent city state. It’s become more and more obvious to me that London is not English to the extent that there is an English identity or character. White British people do not make up the majority and that will not change. I think there are a lot of immigrants (including second generation immigrants) who would have no problem identifying as a Londoner but who would probably be a little more hesitant to identify as English.
LikeLike
For the series “we don’t care and you don’t count”.
The same arrogance and egotism is displayed in statements like “It was a UK Referendum You have to abide by what the English majority decide because there are more of us”
LikeLike
Is it all a symptom of the collapse of the British Empire? After that is what the Scots (or their establishment) bought into when they “voted” for the Union back in the day (1707), and now the Empire has gone.
LikeLiked by 1 person