UK Brexit aftermath/repercussions

[robert99]

he was punched and now has bleeding on the brain, one witness said he fell into a window after being punched.

British MP Steven Woolfe in serious condition after 'altercation' with colleague
British media reported he had 'bleeding on the brain' and had collapsed some time after a fist-fight with another MEP during which he was punched in the head.
Several British media including The Sun's Westminster correspondent reported 'multiple sources' saying the row had been with party defence spokesman Mike Hookem.

(You cann't make this stuff up - Jeez!)

 

[Second Summer]

I'm reading there was apparently no bleeding on the brain after all, and Woolfe is recovering well, though staying in hospital over night.

Sounds like Farage will need to lead the party just a little bit longer ...

 

[robert99]

And I thought Labour had problems with in-fighting!

 

[robert99]

Pound falls 10% in 'insane' Asian trading mystery
A “fat finger” error by a trader or computerised chain reaction was thought responsible as the pound plunged to a new three-decade low during “insane” early trading in Asia on Friday – adding to the huge losses sterling had already suffered amid speculation that Britain is heading for a “hard Brexit”.

The pound fell almost 10% at one point to US$1.1378, prompting confusion among traders who were struggling to identify any news or market event that could have been to blame.

As the currency recovered to around $1.2415 there was speculation a technical glitch or human error had sparked a rash of computer-driven orders.

“What we had was insane – call it flash crash but the move of this magnitude really tells you how low the currency can really go,” said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst of Think Markets, in a note, according to Bloomberg. “Hard Brexit has haunted the sterling.”

 

[robert99]

Restriktioner för kemikalier överges efter Brexit

Farmers face fresh pesticide rules post-Brexit - Farmers Weekly
New pesticide rules will be introduced once the UK leaves the EU, Defra minister George Eustice has revealed.

Earlier this year, Mr Eustice called on Brussels to reauthorise the widely used weedkiller glyphosate despite claims by some scientists it could cause cancer.

Mr Eustice highlighted a European Food Safety Authority assessment which concluded glyphosate was unlikely to be carcinogenic and did not pose a risk to human health.

Mr Eustice said the UK government would continue to maintain what he described as a “science-based approach” to pesticide authorisation decisions.

It would be an evidence-based approach with a precautionary principle but one based on an assessment of risk, rather than being based on a theoretical hazard, he added.

 

[robert99]

In Little England, the conceit of Brexit is on full display
Chinese tourists may be enjoying London in the wake of the fall in sterling but for this visiting Brit, it is a depressing place. Brexit is built on a fearsome alliance of arrogance, ignorance and nostalgia. If pursued with the intensity indicated by Prime Minister Theresa May, a poor woman’s Margaret Thatcher, the decline of the nation relative to its European peers is destined to accelerate.

Much of the blame for this state of affairs rests with a professional political class focused more on party politics than on national interest or principles of government. Thus, then prime minister David Cameron promised a referendum on the European Union simply to buy off the xenophobic wing of his party, as there was no popular demand for it. In the process, he undermined centuries of representative government through Parliament, unleashing a protest vote backed by battalions of lies from the ranks of opportunists led by Boris Johnson, a precursor of Donald Trump.

As for the opposition Labour Party, its election of a 1960s neo-Marxist as leader despite its official pro-EU stance has condemned it to irrelevance. Its detachment from reality was indicated by its recent party conference, where Brexit, the most important issue the nation has faced in 50 years, went largely ignored amid talk on social and leadership issues.

The nostalgia for a non-existent past is particularly strong among older generations. That should be surprising to anyone who remembers what Britain was actually like in its pre-European Economic Community/EU days, or its arrogant failure to join the European movement in the beginning and then its humiliating rejection by France’s president Charles de Gaulle in 1963.

 

[robert99]

The pound’s fall and why it matters - BBC News
Why does the fall of the pound matter? On the upside, it matters for exporters which are boosted as their goods are far cheaper on foreign markets.

It matters for multinational companies like pharmaceutical firms which earn much of their income in dollars.

It matters for the tourism industry in the UK, as foreign visitors flock here for bargains and good value holidays.

On the downside, it matters for tourists travelling abroad who will find everything they buy much more expensive.

It matters for the food and fuel this country imports as it becomes more expensive.

It matters for inflation, as the rise in import costs feeds through to businesses and the High Street.

And remember, it does not need much of a rise in inflation to wipe out real income growth which at present is running at around 2%.

And if real incomes start falling, that is when the fall in sterling becomes a truly political issue.

Because the pound in your pocket will actually be worth less.

 

[Joe]

I've been reading a history of 20th century Britain called Hope and Glory.

According to this book, much of the opposition to Britain joining the EEC was stirred up by a politician named Enoch Powell.

He made a speech called "The Rivers of Blood" speech opposing EEC membership largely on anti-immigration grounds.
This infuriated Edward Heath so much he kicked Powell out of the shadow cabinet.

Enoch Powell - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Heath sacked Powell from his Shadow Cabinet the day after the speech and he never held another senior political post. Powell received almost 120,000 (predominantly positive) letters and a Gallup poll at the end of April showed that 74 per cent of those asked agreed with his speech and only 15 per cent disagreed, with 11 per cent unsure.[41] One poll concluded that between 61 and 73 per cent disagreed with Heath sacking Powell.[1]

See also:

Rivers of Blood speech - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

On 5 August 1976, Eric Clapton provoked an uproar and lingering controversy when he spoke out against increasing immigration during a concert in Birmingham. Visibly intoxicated, Clapton voiced his support of the controversial speech, and announced on stage that Britain was in danger of becoming a "black colony". Among other things, Clapton said "Keep Britain white!"[38] which was at the time a British National Front slogan.[39][40]

In January 2014, UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage stated that 'the basic principle' of one passage of the speech which had been read to him was 'right'.[44] In June of that year, in response to an Islamist plot to infiltrate schools in Birmingham, Conservative peer and former minister Norman Tebbit wrote in The Daily Telegraph "No one should have been surprised at what was going on in schools in Birmingham. It is precisely what I was talking about over 20 years ago and Enoch Powell was warning against long before that. We have imported far too many immigrants who have come here not to live in our society, but to replicate here the society of their homelands".[45]

 

[robert99]

The "rivers of blood speech" was more an anti-immigation speech then anti EEC (if I remeber correctly). Britain was taking in lots of people from the Commonwealth after WW2 and this caused the disquiet amongst the populace. The speech is on Youtube at

 

[Joe]

The "rivers of blood speech" was more an anti-immigation speech then anti EEC (if I remeber correctly).

That's true. It was only later that he came out and opposed Britain's membership in the EEC. But I don't think it is a sheer coincidence that he ended up doing both.

 

[Joe]

The speech is on Youtube at ...

Thanks. I would have never thought of looking on Youtube for it.

 

[Joe]

What the hell. The man who was quite likely to be the new Ukip leader, Steven Woolfe, is in a serious condition in hospital after an altercation with a colleague at the European Parliament. Telegraph is saying that he was punched and now has bleeding on the brain, one witness said he fell into a window after being punched.

Ukip leadership favourite Steven Woolf collapses after 'being punched by colleague'
UKIP MEP Steven Woolfe taken to hospital - BBC News

It appears that both people who participated in the altercation will be barred from UKIP leadership.

Ukip MEP Steven Woolfe discharged from hospital

 

[robert99]

Ex-PM Cameron reveals his next job - BBC News
David Cameron has revealed his first new role after quitting political life will be to lead an expansion of the National Citizen Service for teenagers. The ex-PM said the scheme, which he set up during his time in office, was "the Big Society in action".

The NCS aims to prepare teenagers for work through team-building activities and community projects.

Mr Cameron will be chairman of NCS Patrons, aiming to make the course "a normal part of growing up".

 

[Joe]

Ex-PM Cameron reveals his next job - BBC News
David Cameron has revealed his first new role after quitting political life will be to lead an expansion of the National Citizen Service for teenagers. The ex-PM said the scheme, which he set up during his time in office, was "the Big Society in action".

I read the article but don't really understand what Cameron will actually be doing there. Fundraising? PR?

Also, what is "the Big Society"? Is that like Lyndon Johnson's Great Society?

Wikipedia has an article explaining it.

Big Society - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Joe]

Britain, get real: Brexit means whatever the EU says it means | Joris Luyendijk

 

[robert99]

Brexit: High Court to hear challenge to Article 50 strategy - BBC News
Things could get messy -
A legal challenge to the government's right to begin the official process of Brexit without parliamentary approval is due to get under way.

The High Court will consider whether ministers can invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, the trigger for formal talks on separation, without MPs passing an act of Parliament.

The case is being brought by investment manager Gina Miller among others. Ms Miller has been joined in her legal action by London-based Spanish hairdresser Deir Dos Santos, the People's Challenge group set up by Grahame Pigney and a campaign group called Fair Deal for Expats.

 

[Moll Flanders]

Handy Brexit table explains the options for the UK's exit from the EU | This is Money

 

[robert99]

'Hard Brexit' or 'no Brexit' for Britain - Tusk - BBC News
In his speech, Mr Tusk mocked a Brexit campaign promise that Britons could "have the EU cake and eat it too" - the idea that the UK might manage to keep trade benefits of EU membership while barring European immigrants and rejecting EU courts' authority.

"To all who believe in it, I propose a simple experiment. Buy a cake, eat it, and see if it is still there on the plate.

"The brutal truth is that Brexit will be a loss for all of us. There will be no cakes on the table. For anyone. There will be only salt and vinegar."

Mr Tusk also suggested that Britain might ultimately decide not to leave the EU "even if today hardly anyone believes in such a possibility".

(The Conservatives took UK into EU and will now take them out of EU - somehow apt for a political party so schizophrenic about EU.)

 

[Joe]

Mr Tusk also suggested that Britain might ultimately decide not to leave the EU "even if today hardly anyone believes in such a possibility".

I'd be very interested in Mr. Tusk's ideas on how that might be accomplished at this late date.

BTW, Tusk is Polish.

Donald Tusk - Wikipedia

 

[Joe]

(The Conservatives took UK into EU and will now take them out of EU - somehow apt for a political party so schizophrenic about EU.)

I think that is a little bit of an oversimplification. Britain apparently applied for EU membership long before Heath came into office, but DeGaulle blocked them repeatedly. Then DeGaulle left office and was replaced by Pompidou. Heath negotiated with the much more pragmatic Pompidou, securing acceptance of Britain into the EU. So yes Heath was instrumental in securing the membership. Still, he was only a part of the process.