The Absolute State Of It - It's The UK Politics Thread!

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Mantis
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Re: The elephant in the room - Brexit

Post by Mantis » Mon Apr 08, 2019 10:20 pm

Cooper's Bill has been passed into UK law tonight. It is now legally binding for the Government to apply for an A.50 extension to avoid a No Deal.

She was doing that anyway, but whatever. It shows the substantial backing in the House for not crashing out.

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Re: The elephant in the room - Brexit

Post by elgaucho » Tue Apr 09, 2019 6:00 am

Not a source i'm familiar with, but possibly not as certain as you suggest, amigo!

https://www.firstpost.com/world/british ... 13521.html
The law does not actually prevent a no-deal Brexit when the deadline for Britain runs out on Friday, as that is the legal default if Britain and the EU cannot agree on an extension at the summit.
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Re: The elephant in the room - Brexit

Post by Medicine Man » Fri Apr 12, 2019 12:12 pm

I see Farage is back...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-47907350

Usually I don't tend to comment on these matters but his promise that his new party will be "deeply intolerant of all intolerance" has had me on the floor for the last wee while.

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Re: The elephant in the room - Brexit

Post by Raid » Fri Apr 12, 2019 5:10 pm

Hysterically, the Brexit Party didn't register every suitable domain for their website including thebrexitparty.com, and it's been snatched up by Led by Donkeys.

https://thebrexitparty.com/

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Re: The elephant in the room - Brexit

Post by Achtung Englander » Mon Apr 15, 2019 11:45 am

:D

This class of politicians just gets better and better
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Re: The Elephant in the Room - Brexit

Post by eny » Sun Apr 21, 2019 9:22 am

Everything on the internet is 100% true.

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˙ƃuıʇıɹʍ ʎuıʇ ʎllɐǝɹ uʍop ǝpısdn

elgaucho
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Re: The Elephant in the Room - Brexit

Post by elgaucho » Sun Apr 21, 2019 9:44 am

We all know this is happening, and it's affecting the world. Season 4 of The Bureau touches heavily on this subject (another reason that show should be watched!), but I find myself personally conflicted on the subject of it.

Yes what is happening here is immoral, in that targeting vulnerable voters with false facts in order to swing, or drive, votes is very poor form.

But what is democracy, if not the ability for people to vote the way they want to? That these people are uneducated enough, or uninformed enough to not understand what is being presented to them does not make them culpable. There is ignorance, yes, but there is also lack of opportunity, or communal misinformation.

How do you address the problem?

Do you ban advertising that is not "authenticated" or has a seal of verification? Can an independent panel truly be independent? what happens when a despot misuses that panel through duress or other means?

Do you remove people from voting who are uneducated?

do you force people to attend a seminar / debate on the subject before they can vote on it?

The root cause here is education, or lack thereof. People are not trained to be able to understand or verify if what they're being fed is true or not.

We've seen evidence from all parts of the world of the press being "manipulated" one way or another when reporting a story. China is the big one. Fox in the US is another.

We see and read that and think... wow - how could that happen?

By what metric do we judge that the UK press is not impacted? I mean, i generally trust the press and what i read in terms of information, and draw my own conclusion. But I can't check the FACTS of the story that i'm using to base that conclusion on, expect by comparing the same news story against other sources, and reconciling them.

In fact, Brexit happened on the basis of this same misinformation, so we are impacted. We just don't think it's utterly compromised our ability to see news impartially. Unbiased reporting today means parroting what people of "status" say, whether that is true or not. It does not involve critique, education, subjectivity or anything else. Working it through, i'm wondering if it should? Perhaps forcing debate and polarising opinions is what the press needs to do, to force discussion by different parties on specific subjects, and to have more opinion pieces....

This whole subject is probably something that will be discussed for and over many decades to come, and it doesn't really have an easy answer...
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Re: The Elephant in the Room - Brexit

Post by Sly Boots » Fri May 24, 2019 9:41 am

This thread as good as any I guess - Theresa May has announced her resignation, will leave No10 on June 7th.

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Re: The Elephant in the Room - Brexit

Post by DjchunKfunK » Fri May 24, 2019 10:09 am

About two years too late. Her speech is a classic example of the delusional world a lot of politicians live in. To try and claim she has stood for compassion and social justice after Windrush, the hostile environment, the cuts, the debacle of Universal Credit, the increase in foodbank usage and the mess of the Greenfell Tower inquiry is quite something. She should rightly go down in history as one of the worst PMs we have had.

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Re: The Elephant in the Room - Brexit

Post by Wrathbone » Fri May 24, 2019 10:13 am

Good riddance, but god help us with whoever we're lumped with next. It's a bit like being given the choice to keep getting punched in the face or start getting kicked in the nuts instead.

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Re: The Elephant in the Room - Brexit

Post by Sly Boots » Fri May 24, 2019 10:16 am

DjchunKfunK wrote:
Fri May 24, 2019 10:09 am
About two years too late. Her speech is a classic example of the delusional world a lot of politicians live in. To try and claim she has stood for compassion and social justice after Windrush, the hostile environment, the cuts, the debacle of Universal Credit, the increase in foodbank usage and the mess of the Greenfell Tower inquiry is quite something. She should rightly go down in history as one of the worst PMs we have had.
Agree with the above, but given that Boris is currently the bookies' favourite, I feel it's a record that might not stand for long!

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Re: The Elephant in the Room - Brexit

Post by Strudel » Fri May 24, 2019 12:41 pm

If Game of Thrones has taught me anything, it's that David Blunkett will be the next PM.

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Re: The Elephant in the Room - Brexit

Post by Mantis » Fri May 24, 2019 2:43 pm

Her self pitying tears at the end of that speech make me sick. Good riddance to a vile, vile woman. Looking forward to the even worse candidate that they put forward next now that all the hopefuls are scurrying out of the woodwork before her body is even cold.

Urgh. Tories.

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Re: The Elephant in the Room - Brexit

Post by Raid » Fri May 24, 2019 4:32 pm

Sly Boots wrote:
Fri May 24, 2019 9:41 am
Theresa May has announced her resignation, will leave No10 on June 7th.
Minor correction, but she's stepping down as Tory leader on June 7th; she'll continue as PM until someone else is chosen.

I've made no secret of the fact that I despise Theresa May; I think she's arrogant, close-minded, and stubborn to the point of ineptitude, but there was never any chance of her coming out of this premiership looking good. She's had an impossible task to perform, and she'll never be thanked for it by anyone with common sense. She'll be remembered as quite possibly the worst prime minister this country has ever had.

Still, it could be worse, and it undoubtedly soon will be. Boris Johnson, a somehow even more inept buffoon who is nearly as bad a choice for statesman as Donald Trump, Jeremy Hunt who is largely seen as responsible for the state of the NHS as it is now, Amber Rudd who has someone been allowed back into government despite being partially responsible for Windrush, and Michael Gove who may as well just wear a mask of Rupert Murdoch.

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Re: The Elephant in the Room - Brexit

Post by Medicine Man » Fri May 24, 2019 8:34 pm

Raid wrote:
Fri May 24, 2019 4:32 pm
Still, it could be worse, and it undoubtedly soon will be. Boris Johnson, a somehow even more inept buffoon who is nearly as bad a choice for statesman as Donald Trump, Jeremy Hunt who is largely seen as responsible for the state of the NHS as it is now, Amber Rudd who has someone been allowed back into government despite being partially responsible for Windrush, and Michael Gove who may as well just wear a mask of Rupert Murdoch.
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Oft ya bastard. What a line up.

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