There is a short scene in the acclaimed British political satire The Thick Of It where the lead character of Malcolm Tucker, an acerbic government spin doctor, reacts to the anxious knocking at his office door during a particularly fractious meeting by uttering the immortal line, “Come the fuck in or fuck the fuck off!”. At 11.00 o’clock tonight, after more than three years of torturous and seemingly insoluble negotiations, Britain will formally fuck the fuck off from the European Union. The optimists are hoping that the subsequent transition period and the decades following it will usher in a new era of mutually beneficial partnership between London and Brussels. The pessimists are weighing up forty years of anti-EU rhetoric and propaganda, of the toxic seeds sown by a generation of British politicians and journalists, lobbyists and campaigners, and have a suspicion that the worse is yet to come. When the United Kingdom discovers that the sunny uplands of Brexit are slightly more chilly than expected, it will be the EU that will be blamed; not those who promised unicorns and magical money-trees. And the anti-European sentiment will be passed onto another generation of UK nationals in a culture of forever-Brexit. The truth is, the Brits are leaving – and they are unlikely to ever come back.
The Day Brexit Britain Leaves The EU
AN SIONNACH FIONN 
Sink or swim from midnight tonight its up to the UK. Many people often forget the UK is an not in Europe it is an island Its people are islanders and they after centuries of struggle have become accustomed to doing their own thing their own way. I like the last sentence of this post The UK is very unlikely to ever return to the EU
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And yet EU membership seems to work for Ireland, an island IIRC even further out from ‘Europe’.
It maybe nevertheless that the UK will not be back because tbh the UK’s days as a unitary state are now likely to be numbered …
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EU membership works for Ireland Does it? If so why did the south go bankrupt sure it was corrupt Irish politicians but it was the EU who bankrupted the south. The UK was treated as an unimportant number while it was one of the biggest net contributors to EU funds. No company treats its biggest customer with contempt Its the golden rule of every business and its one the corrupt, undemocratic EU thinks only applies to Germany and France. I think the EU is doomed whether the UK went or stayed but I’m glad we’re going now
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In which case why isn’t there a prominent IREXIT movement, at least not one I’ve really heard about?
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There will be the UK is the first but it wont be the last to leave the EU The south has already voted against the EU once and been ignored I doubt it will take being ignored twice.
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pippakin,— keep your lie and moaning for the Daily Express, no one cares about your snivelling guff n Ireland, your country never gave a feck about Ireland or any country you invaded and exploited
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Tut, tut. You are behaving with all the huff, puff and racist venom so many Irish people like to pretend doesn’t exist in the south And, just so you know today of all days is not a day for sniveling.
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Rubbish. Britain is very clearly part of Europe. Where do you think it exists – somewhere in the Caribbean? Until a few thousand years ago the now island of Britain was a part of the European landmass and you could walk from what is now Germany to what is now England. Even in historical times the Celts and later the Anglo-saxons arrived in Britain from the main European landmass, not from Asia or Australia. As for ‘doing their own thing’ – they would now not be able to do their own thing, had it not been for the immense human sacrifice made by Russia during WWII. Finally, I predict that we will re-join the EU pithing 15 years – and Scotland even sooner. In the meantime, I hope you learn how to assess facts and think clearly about them.
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‘within’ – not ‘pithing’
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The UK is not anti Europe nor is it leaving Europe. The UK is leaving the EU which is not Europe or a nation The EU is an expensive con on the European people as a whole
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burning EU flags tonight in London and the comments from the Brexshitters pull the other chum
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Any”Trade deal” with the Americans will preclude them from rejoining the EU. Ironic that the first country that fought and won freedom from England and sent them packing in 1784, now have them by the cannonballs.
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I’m not sure about a trade deal all such deals will have strings attached and will have to be considered carefully and individually. As for 1784 I think the UK (was it then the UK?) was preoccupied at the time with some trifling war in Europe and of course a country the size and ability of America was always going to assert itself
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Which War in 1784 was “trifling”? Anglo-Spanish? “Second Mysore”? Kettle War?
What definition of racist do some of those other comments fit into? Or have you been putting words into other people’s mouths?
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I believe one war which became known in England as St Georges War lasted from 1740 to 1748 But it didn’t end in 1748 it was a sort of end of part one
As for definitions of racist I really don’t care none or all of them its in the eye of the beholder. racism is an ever growing delusion
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One point of fact there ARE specific definitions of “racist”. The most common is:
“”””a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race”””””.
As far as I can tell you are one of the top people who posted here in the past several, whose words could be *interpretted* that way. You one the other hand seem to be just assuming other people are racist.
1748 vs 1784? Are you sure that’s a meaningful connection versus a reversal of two numbers? Conditions did change a good deal from the mid to late 18th century.
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If you believe that pippakin, that racism” is in the eye of the beholder”, and “an ever growing delusion”, how come you only shortly above accused PaddyT of the following:
“You are behaving with all the huff, puff and racist venom so many Irish people like to pretend doesn’t exist in the south ”
Quite apart from there being no racist content to his comment, though an understandable impatience, a bit of consistency on your part wouldn’t go amiss.
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So, now there are words I shouldn’t use because I don’t believe their text book meaning? No, I wont succumb to such censorship I am as capable of seeing racism as anyone. I just believe the word is being over used and abused to silence debate and disagreement. It is not racist to point out that most Muslim gang rapists are not just Muslim they are Pakistani telling the truth is not racism it is stating facts
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Well if you don’t accept the common definitions of certain words, then you can’t reasonably expect other people to know what you are talking about. If I went around calling dogs “fish”
and brick buildings “igloos”, you’d probably think I was crazy.
That’s how language works. Common-if disputed- definitions exist so people can communicate.
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Well if you don’t accept commonly accepted definitions of words, you can’t reasonably expect people to understand you let alone take you seriously!!!!!
That kind of how language works.
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Indeed it is and I note you have written everything in English English language being the one thing the Irish cant afford to dump which would be impossible anyway since no one wants or bothers to speak the Irish language which is taught in every Irish school from age 5
The English language works because it is flexible, understood, spoken and loved in almost every country What a pity the Irish don’t even like their own language.
Its about choices I don’t bother with Irish history because it is full of lies aka fiction. I was going to learn the Irish language until I learned it is held captive in a medieval mindset held by people who refuse to allow it to grow up.
Words are what we make of them.
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If you accuse someone else of holding a view that you yourself have stated on the same page you do not believe can exist then drawing attention to that isn’t censorship, after all I can’t stop you from using any term you see fit, it’s just pointing out a basic inconsistency in the logic of your argument. And now I’m to take it from your latest comment that you do believe in racism, except you only believe it as and when you define it!
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Those who aught to know have said the Irish are the most racist people on the planet. I know they hate the English but I also know many English people wouldn’t be sorry if we never saw another Irish person again. I don’t regard either as racist there are good reasons on both sides for the views people have and none of them have anything to do with colour and since both sides are the same race they can hardly be described as racist.
Think what you will I believe in free speech but I also believe most Irish history should be relabeled as Fiction
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Ok. As long you have a personal definition of racist, that apparently has little to do with the accepted one or even any of the alternates proposed by theorists……..you’ve made a sweeping generalization into a completely untestable hypothesis!!!!
How exactly does one relabel any history as fiction. Move all the books into the YA novel section of the bookstores and libraries? What specific claims about Irish history do you think are wrong?
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Personally the only books I would be happy to see burned to ash are Irish so called history books. The Irish were thrilled to bits when they were invading the bigger island taking slaves and committing genocide against the picts But all that turned to tears when the bigger island fought back and won repeatedly.
Keep your nonsense your bilge is as fake as your name and i’m bored with your continual repetitive lies they are as bad and as fake as your name
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The Irish hate the English? What a crock. I was born in London, went back and lived there too as an adult for some years, I have a mother from Birmingham who came from a family with no Irish relatives whatsoever. I’ve heard prejudice from people from both places against the other, but it’s vanishingly few people. Really, this sort of generalisation, as Grace notes in reference to your other point, is sweeping and basically just pointless rhetoric.
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She doesn’t seem all that interested in rational debate, and isn’t even trying to make sense. Just a T-R-O-L-L.
Listening to Farage on his last Day in EU Project: Talk about Sore Winner Syndrome on Steroids!!!!!
As one of my personal hero’s said in a speech in 1860 “What will it take to satisfy them?” And went to talk about how another destructive political faction was not content with even winning. They want their opponents to recant and vociferously agree with them!!
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I just want you to take your balaclava off, its wrecking your hair, and stop being repetitive, how many comments has it been on just one post…Oh put your rosary away and tell the truth
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It’s odd, no one has accused you politically of anything Pippakin, but you’re perfectly happy to ascribe to others stuff like balaclava’s, rosary’s, being Irish, being ‘racist’, etc. One has to wonder.
It is trolling, as Grace says, but as bad, or worse, such a waste of time and energy and intelligence. And if we’re talking about nationalisms, well, I like the English, I like English culture, feel an affinity to it and them, feel it a part of me on various levels, but this sort of moaning is completely alien to my understanding and engagement and experience of it.
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Another possibility down the road-under a better administration than the current. The US itself might work out some kind of agreement with the EU. Not a Canada level relationship and not 100% conformity with EU regs either. (Chlorinated chicken many Americans would be OK with getting rid of. However there is no way thousands of cheese makers are going to agree to rename their products without a fight-and most of the public would agree.)
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I suspect that many English WILL resent it, when it gets harder for many to work or study in other countries. They’ve clearly gotten used to a lot of freedom of movement and enjoy the idea of working in Spain or traveling in Germany.
Of course if a trade deal goes badly, I imagine they’d be even more resentful of having to live off leeks and potatoes.
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Clare Daly spoke very well in the European Parliament. In a way, losing the strong critical voices from the UK might be one of the worst effects of the whole shambles. Self-regard, nepotism, cronyism, inside-dealing, corruption, lobbying, federalisation, centralisation: all these are things that benefit from the weakening of the Eurosceptic block.
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To a degree. And certainly those of us who see the utility of the EU in certain areas but also keep a sharp eye on it – particularly in regard to federalism and/or forcing states away from neutrality need to keep doing so. But there’s another side to the UK’s participation since the 1980s which has been as an obstacle to social aspects of the EU, pushing its stance to the economic right. The huge irony is that for all the moaning about the EU from Brexit proponents it is in many ways the product of British policy, and British Tory policy that it has certain aspects that it does – which sort of suggests that it is a lot more malleable than they would even begin to admit.
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Another big problem is that some of the best research in energy efficient transportation comes from Franco- British ventures, and its funding is up in the air now.
As far as I know the large majority of Britons involved in this stuff were Remainers-they’d be shooting themselves in the foot not to be. Big question now, is what happens to this research now. It would be set back by having to be turned over to other people, or worse put on hold.
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+1
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You say anti-EU sentiment will be passed down to younger generations by their parents? That’s obviously possible.
However, I see no reason to believe that won’t be equally possibly more true of Remainers. It seems to be there are pretty strong views on both sides, and it is likely the more youth will rebel against Brexiteers elders than Remainer ones. Just the social dynamics would make anti-European Fever easier to rebel against. The kids with Remainer parents will have to settle for ever stranger body piercings and music their parents hate.
You could argue England has a history of expelling itself from European “clubs” only for the next generation to want back into the fold.
My guess is that at some point England will come back again-although possibly no longer as part of the UK.
Another possibility is a that they were keep hashing our various deals with the EU for some time.
In short to medium term this could mean Europe moves to a fuller integration or even Federalism. A model for the EU most Irish Citizens clearly don’t want and probably isn’t a good fit for a body like The EU. It might be time for Ireland and other small nations to up their game in promoting a looser-but successful EU.
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It’s like watching Bear Grylls, in a South American jungle, about to swing across a box canyon 50 foot wide, on a vine. One with a 200 foot drop to rocks. It was immediately clear that he was going to slam into the far wall, 50 feet down from the top, and at a fair speed. But onward went brave Bear, not a worry. Until he let go and then the look on his face as he realized his error. Delicious.
Brexiteers are in that brief window between swinging from the lip and realizing their error. This is when the coat trailers swing by to insult and lord their “victory” over those they believe they have defeated. Ignorant of that which looms ahead of them. Rushing onward to their inevitable fate. Delicious.
Within 10 years a disintegrated UK will be entirely re-integrated into the EU. Scotland independent, Ireland unified and perhaps even Wales independent – 5 years of an unassailable Johnson majority is already working its magic on the nationalist numbers there.
But please do enjoy this time, it certainly is the best. The Brexiteers have no clue what is hurtling their way, and we do. Popcorn and gales of laughter ahead.
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You wouldn’t laugh if this does go all the way to another English Civil War? Or if the EU itself has negative consequences from Brexit?
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Laughing at bigots and racists in their hallucinatory moment of triumph in the present because they are entirely ignorant of the fate they have created for themselves is precisely the same as laughing at their manifest suffering when reality gives them a kerbstomping.
Sure it is.
Could you be anymore of a troll?
You really are going to have to let the Andrew Jackson thing go. Eventually.
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