It’s a moment in history. Congratulations to Nigel Farage.
Populism is becoming very popular
The Chairperson bureaucrat sums the petty pointlessness of the EU so well. As the Brits triumphantly and disobediently wave their flags, she tries to order them into submission: “Could we please remove the flags. ” “If you disobey the rules you get cut off” — she threatens to cut off the nation that’s celebrating that it has cut itself off.
Freed from the self-serving undemocratic conglomerate meddlers. Brilliant, and best wishes to the UK.
At long last, they’ll be able to buy whatever dang hairdryer they want…
…
With populist members lukewarm,
The E.U. fast needs some reform,
As the Brexiteers show,
How to pack up and go,
To the exits, could be the new norm.
— Ruairi
It was the lack of humour of the Chair that was the real tell.
Power without accountability facing a national flag.
700
The entire EU is a bunch of humourless despots. The second Battle of Britain has been won.
Now we’ll have to see what the humourless Scots intend to do.
560
And while we wait to see which other countries consider waving their flags and end the EU, the next abomination that needs to go is the UN.
560
Definitely. The more of these unaccountable, unelected, incompetent bureaucracies we can get rid of, the better.
240
A difficult moment for the rest of the EU’s people and nations, feeling abandoned to their institutions by the exiting Brits?
200
I don’t think so. It may be the impetus that everyone needed to start the exodus that so many secretly and/or openly want. When they see Britain thriving without the EU and realise that the EU depends more on Britain than the other way around, the flood gates will open. Everyone will begin to see the corrupt nature of the EU.
410
From what I understood from the other side of the Atlantic, the UK voted for a Common Market with Free Trade for all. What they got is what they and we fought two world wars against: a European Dictatorship that is, as it is with all Dictatorships, unaccountable to We the People.
As always, the so called member nations were seen as a voiceless and bottomless ATM’s, without choice, to support the members who were happy being fed free lunches without end. It had to fail.
The bottom line is: you cannot consume your producers of wealth without destroying both the producers and wealth. When other people’s money is gone, the collapse is soon to follow.
I wish you the best for your first steps back to self determination and freedom.
560
Well, as only 45% of the “humourless Scots” voted for the SNP and 55% of Scots with a sense of humour did not, I doubt that Scotland would change the outcome of the last vote. Anyway, Boris has told Sturgeon to get knotted – she will not get her referendum and as the next four years progress with the UK rejoining the world and forging ahead I forecast that the SNP will fade.
Written by a Scottish Ausie who has a sense of humour.
420
By the way that fat git keeps going on in the UK parliament, you would think the entirety of Scotland wants to leave the UK and join the EU.
90
bemused – what
the poison dwarfSturgeon says she wants is complete independence for Scotland, but ruled and legislated by the unaccountable bureaucrats in Brussels100
Good for you PeterPetrum; most Scots have their heads screwed on pretty straight. During the Scottish independence referendum a few years back I found I was unexpectedly very upset at the thought they might vote to leave the Union (UK). It’s been a good long association; was very pleased they decided to stay. I can’t begin to imagine they’d want to go it alone but remain bound by the highly undemocratic EU! What’s up with that?
180
Annie:
Scotland joined the Union because it was bankrupt after the Darien Disaster. For the time that the SNP has been ‘running’ Scotland they have been subsidised by the UK Government. Any cutting of ties would leave Scotland without enough money to pay the public servants and those in Universities so keen on Independence. You can only earn so much from exporting whisky and tweed, and tourism suffers if the picturesque landscape is littered with wind turbines.
230
It’s certainly littered with wind turbines. I cringe every time I see them in the Solway Firth and all the way to Glasgow Airport. Horrible. So many visible from the air too. An overdose of intermittent, unreliable electricity where the operators/owners get paid huge, ridiculous sums for reining back when there is more wind.
180
Annie: with Brexit done, the next business is surely to tackle the doom and gloom climate change merchants and send the science phonies packing – tree rings, ocean acidification, climate models, and the rest of it!
How long will it take, and how will it happen, I wonder?
20
Eurovision! What about Eurovision? Won’t anybody think of the children?
20
Boris also just rubbed her nose in it when she wanted a separate Scottish visa system so she could continue to have unrestricted EU immigration into Scotland after Brexit. She claimed any such immigrants would not find their way south into England/Wales but would somehow be constrained by a magical line on a map. She’s not taking many tricks ATM.
150
She’d need Hadrian’s Wall Mark 2! Thanks for the laugh there beowulf.
We haven’t seen a wall/barrier on our travellings between Cumbria and GLA, well, not so far anyway.
70
The EU parliament chair woman is Irish.
The Irish can always enjoy joke
Except when it is Ireland which is losing !
And Brexit means that Ireland will not e able to bully the UK anymore
Via the EU.
Poor old sour puss !
310
Irish?
I spent a couple of weeks in Ireland last year. There is absolutely NOTHING to an Irish man, woman or child that cannot be improved in someway by assigning blame to the English.
Interesting culture the Irish. No wonder all the hotels are staffed and run by Poles.
90
There are some really lovely Irish too; we know a few. It’s amazing how many move to England…what does that say?!
50
Odd, the woman at the end saying “we should not hate anyone”,
but her whole demeanor was oozing hatred and scorn.
WELL DONE BREXIT !!
[repaired typo] ED
540
“… anyone or any people or any nation”.
Did anyone ‘hate’ the Soviet Union and were they right to do so? Was that its ones, its people, or its nations, or its self appointed authorities?
120
As the French would have said, ” le heur de gloire est arriveé!” Farrage is so right to call out the humongous entity that the EU has become from its original free trade auspice. International cooperation yes, not monolithic control from the supra national elites. Populism is not a dirty word!
340
oops . major typo
said “we should NOT hate anyone”,
30
Nigel said “we love Europeans – but we hate the EU”. He was not signalling “hate” for people but for an authoritarian, useless organisation. She IS a sourpuss!
360
Thanks ED 🙂
10
Congratulations!!! Finally BREXIT!!! took far too long!
Cheers!
Joe
160
Bendy bananas!
40
I believe she said we should not hate anyone (person), country, or people. Okay, but Mr. Farage said he hated an institution. Fair play in my book.
160
Farage is right, the EU as a project has failed. eventually every bureaucracy will overstep the mark and attempt to take more power than it requires.
complex problems sometimes require complex solutions and we have local representation to cater for that, eg bush v city in Australia where the problems of each locality are different. to attempt to simplify this into one solution for all would be the end to the representation of the bush simply because more people live in the cities.
well done to the people of the UK, you will soon have your own representation back.
420
Congrats to the UK! Now…if we could get Western Canada to separate!
260
A new column with Nigel on top needs to be erected in Trafalgar Square to honour this hero.
270
Nigel `Horatio‘ Farage!
It will soon be Sir Nigel… is my wager.
90
I hope you are right there Sophocles. He deserves recognition, especially having to come into the battle again after winning a referendum which should have ended tbe matter there and then.
Goodbye, unelected EU bureaucrats; I never gave you permission to interfere in my life.
The same goes for the blighted UN and the horrible greenies here in Australia. How dare they put the rest of us at risk of losing lives, health and property because of their ideological, illogical stance on forestry and hazard reduction activity. They’re are hard at it around here again; no shame whatsoever.
260
… I sense some passion! 😀
`One more sleep,’ says Nigel.
Yes, he certainly deserves recognition. He did retire a little prematurely but quickly fixed that.
As for Australian fires: I’m always downwind of them. So good luck.
110
Thank you Sophocles.
AWS reading 44C outside atm! Mind you; it’s not properly positioned…too near hot metal roof. Min temp at 0622 was 13C.
We’ll find a better place one day. 🙁
Perhaps I should put it under the water sprinkler that the birds are enjoying.
40
At 44° I would be sharing the sprinkler with the birds! 😀
Temps in Auckland passed 25° C over the last two weeks and the cicadas have outed themselves. They’re just a month late, and we’re continuously told `it’s warming.’
No it’s not. If it had been, they would be appearing back in late November — a month early instead of a month late in late January.
20
Thanks Jo.
The best bit of commonsense action in a long while after all the chaos and turmoil in Europe created by the European Parliament??
Hotel Europe may still be going but Hotel Britain is closing.
Brexit.
That’s made my day.
Now, can Australia turn in time to avoid a total collapse.
AUSUNEXIT would be a good start.
No more Julies strutting in high heels on the world stage, just the unemployed helping to clear our bushland fire traps.
Bring back honesty and decency to government and cheap reliable electricity for our homes offices and industry.
Governments must restore commonsense and fix our education system: stop frightening the children!
KK
410
We will not be exiting the UN, at least not for the foreseeable future. Neither major political party would even contemplate it let alone do it. In any case we can and should ignore much of what the UN says and does if a leader is serious about maintaining our sovereignty. We need a Nigel Farage and a Trump to stir things up here. Otherwise, this nation is heading downhill so get used to it.
160
‘Our government has access to the science, to the best advice available, and yet it continues to shirk the mitigation challenge. It continues to gamble with the future in the worst way imaginable.’ Murphy/Guardian
Morrison is aware that the electorate has been brainwashed by fake news, so until the MSM starts telling the truth the PM is stuck. He appears to sit on his hands, but in fact is continuing to prepare the groundwork to ease us out of this mess.
122
What we need is a multi year la niña and a negative Indian dipole. Hopefully a downward tick in temperature.
150
That is what I am observing.
70
Since when were we educated and guided by the MSM? Oh of course since year dot. You hit the nail on the head. Most people are too lazy, too dumb or couldn’t care less about doing their own research and coming to their own conclusion using common sense and logic. I can understand that as a human species as per history. As a result much of the public is so easily swayed on a whim, rumour, etc.. Hitler was just one of many examples in history. The Tulip Mania was another. I suspect another will be recorded in the annals of history in the not too distant future.
60
You could have said that to Farage two decades ago though Peter.
50
A huge change in politics needs to take place KK, in Melbourne three people were arrested/removed from a public place on Australia Day, their crimes?
1- Displaying our national flag during the street march.
2- Displaying our national flag during an invasion day protest march.
3- Reporting on the invasion day protest and not complying to Vic Police illegal move on order.
In each case the people targeted were peaceful and reasonable, instead of addressing the violent protesters Police took the cowards way out, pathetic!
This highly illegal and heavy handed behaviour by Victoria Police is an absolute bloody disgrace and should scare any Australian that thinks they will protect them.
230
But first Boris will have to overcome Irish intransigence and EU Laws for another 12 months. I note that 30% of Remainers have already switched over to a free Britain!
130
Yes there will be 12 months of keeping tom EU rules.
But the Brexit train is moving.
The UK is ‘becoming’ independent
Three years after the British people said that’s what they wanted in a referendum.
And those three years were spent with an undemocratic minority doing all they could to sabotage Brexit !
150
Agreed, the problem is that this is NOT a clean Brexit, it is a modified form of Brexit Lite. In the following 12 months the UK is subject to EU laws and regulations and knowing the pro EU civil servants they will try and gold plate any of the EU laws that get added to British law – not a good thing for the UK especially with Boris following his girlfriend down the green path when he should be actively trying the repeal the Climate Change Act (2008) and everything that leads from it.
70
Rule, Brinannia!!
As its my ancestral seat, I say well done, Blighty.
Good riddance to the European Soviet!
220
Good on GB, on its way to becoming a 3rd rate power, saying it is not going to bullied, and will find it’s own way into insignificance.
/at least 12
[Readers please note that Peter Fitzroy is unhappy with the moderation filter. So apparently to protest he has changed his screen name to “Shadow Banned”.] ED
334
not so much unhappy, just pointing out that practices on this website are mimicked by YouTube
122
Mimicked
018
Not happy luv?
Free to post free to leave, simple.
170
There’s a lot of freedom lying around
😀
40
There he goes again. Delusional. Go on Peter Fitzroy, tell the world what happened. You posted repeat links and comments and the auto-standard-spam-filter decided you were spam. You asked why your comments were blocked, but not before inventing conspiracy theories about you being shadow banned. I responded quickly — searched through the 41,000 comments trapped in spam. I replied to your emails, and took the trouble to free the accidental spam, delete the repeats, approve the rest, and even reply, and yet, despite your conspiracy theory being 100% wrong, here you are…
It hurts, doesn’t it Peter, finding out that for free you get better treatment and better answers here than in any of the autocratic public service institutes we all pay for.
As for Youtube, you must be kidding?
PS: Go Figure: you’ve posted 3,300 comments in the last ten months and you’re complaining about shadow banning.
PS: This entire subthread is off topic and you are posting under many names, are you hoping I will block you? Is that your aim?
530
Jo are we allowed to know which names he is posting under ?
It might help some of us avoid wasting our time with his comments.
110
Bill has a good point.
50
Agreed, but why should anybody be allowed to change their post name for no real reason?
40
lessee:
3,300 comments over 10 months = 330 per month.
If we ignore February (last February) then that’s 306
days. In 10 months there are 6 of 31 days and four of
30 days but I can’t be bothered slicing it so exactingly
so that’s 11 comments per day. Every day, on average.
Gee. No wonder the scripts got a little excited.
10 to 11 comments Monday to Sunday!
77 per week.
I can think of one commenter who comes close to that and has a similar form of (empty) expression. But I’ll let that lie for the moment.
30
Time to grow up, and become more than just the little man you have shown yourself to be.
110
Like YouTubes?
You mean ads every 3 minutes?
Curse you Jo. I told you before I don’t want to play League of Legends!!! 😛
21
Your sourness over this great moment,
is tinged with outrages economic predictions.
Maybe at the same time, the proletariat will raise up and overthrow the bourgeoisie.
Haha hoho haha hoho .. I just can’t stop laughing.
100
Fitzy, the EU is the closest thing to Nazism the world has seen in 75 years. It is Hitler’s revenge. Britain will prosper from this move and Europe will become a 3rd rate bureaucracy held up financially only by the wealth of Germany. Name what good has come from the EU?
240
Accidental touch on green SB. It was in hasty response to ED’s comment.
60
‘ … becoming a 3rd rate power…’
Highly unlikely, the world is full of commercial opportunities.
Farage was clear, this has been a victory for populism. What do you think he meant?
120
Why is it that everyone keeps forgetting the Commonwealth of Nations?
The UK doesn’t need the EU with the Commonwealth …
170
Exactly, our two countries were once outposts of empire, but now we can deal with England on equal terms.
The UK treated us shabbily when they first joined the EU, but we can forget the past and begin a new commercial alliance, unfettered.
70
Only reason it is lowering its standards is because it is cow-towing to the AGW anti-CO2 idiocy.
70
Fact is, that BREXIT will open up the UK’s opportunities for progress into the future.
It no longer will be ruled by un-elected totalitarian globalist bureaucrats.
FREEDOM again. !
180
A 3rd rate power with the 5th highest economy SB? The country that held on by the skin of its teeth at the Battle of Britain, without which there would not still have been a war to win against N@z1sm? The country that gave Western democracy to the world, now under severe attack by all the lefty, controlling globalists.
190
Better a 3rd rate power in their own right than a voiceless minnow in a 4th rate dictatorship.
Besides, I was always under the impression you were a bit of an anti-imperialist. Britain WAS a 1st rate power once. Actually in real terms they were a 1st, 2nd and 3rd rate power all at the same time, exercising a naval policy that they would always be stronger than the next two biggest navies COMBINED.
Britain WAS the 1st rate power on which the sun never set and their navy protected the world trade and fought against the evils of slavery (sorry Americans, but slavey unfortunately didn’t end with Lincoln).
The British Empire was mighty… and then the revisionist complained about it.
100
I have been well aware of the decline of the UK since my distant childhood.
So what?
I did not want the UK to become part of the EU because it is an undemocratic institution, no other reason. So I am delighted (and somewhat surprised) that we have left.
And we are now free to choose the manner of our decline.
50
At last! Well done Nigel.
250
With populist members lukewarm,
The E.U. fast needs some reform,
As the Brexiteers show,
How to pack up and go,
To the exits, could be the new norm.j
280
Happy Brexit Day everyone!
Staying in the lyrical theme here’s Dominic Risby on 17 million FUs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2zJ8vaB5jo
90
Brexit and moah. What they said. Listen up BBC et AL ABC… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GE6mx6wyKmU
60
Thanks for the laugh.
The global revolution is floundering.
When its comes to a choice between andy pandy progressivism
and conservative popularism,
popularism is more….
..popular!!
70
I’ve always enjoyed your poetry, Ruairi. You’ve inspired me to have a go. 🙂
There in the UK stood Farage,
And on the UK he rained a barrage,
Of popular votes,
Politicians, take notes!
The EU states are now in triage.
130
I’ll have a go
:
From a union with its splinted side,
“You’ll do no good”,
their polies lied.
The poms they headed for the door,
With flags and chant of,
“never more”.
50
Renewed trading and defence support group, closer economic relations between GB and the Commonwealth of Nations with some additions including the USA.
100
Matt Ridley, now that Brxit is happening, has written an interesting bllog post about how Britain can succeed having escaped from the EU :
A good read !
http://www.rationaloptimist.com/blog/innovation/
30
He’s too polite:
It should have read: After leaving the steaming European pile…
80
Brexit is happening !
And Matt Ridley has posted on how Britain can succeed now it is free of the EU
http://www.rationaloptimist.com/blog/innovation/
A good read !
40
getting out of Brussels in, indeed, great, but what if Britain is now consumed by another elite?
27 Jan: BBC: Climate Change: Tough questions at first UK assembly
by Roger Harrabin
From the corners of Britain, members of the first UK “citizens’ assembly” on climate change descended on Birmingham.
There was Sharron-Ann, in pink fun fur coat – a young mum with children at home in Scotland.
Journalists were only allowed to speak to assembly members who had expressly volunteered to meet the media – and most of them did not offer their surname.
So we met Mark from Manchester, Tracey, a carer from Northern Ireland, and Ibrahim, a GP from Surrey.
They are among 110 members of the public chosen to reflect the nation in diversity of age, ethnicity, geography and opinion.
And they include those who are unworried by climate change, along with others who are positively alarmed.
Gathering of ‘ordinary people’
After four weekends they will make recommendations to MPs on how the UK can fulfil its law on cutting emissions to virtually zero by 2050…
You might have thought a climate conference would be a meat-free zone, given the impact of belching cows and sheep on the atmosphere.
But this aims to be an extraordinary gathering of “ordinary” people, with no preaching.
That means lamb with couscous in the restaurant, along with honey-glazed chicken and sweet potatoes, as well as a vegan option.
In the nearby conference hall – with panoramic views over Birmingham’s snaking road system – members heard talks from climate experts, and got the chance to ask questions.
These included: “Which is better for the environment – British beef or an avocado from Peru?”…
When Chris Stark from the independent advisory Committee on Climate Change was asked, “Who gets to decide what is ‘fair’?” his answer to the assembly was short and clear: “You do.”…READ ON
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-51258368
28 Jan: ManchesterEveningNews: Campaigners call for a Bolton Citizens’ Assembly to tackle climate emergency
Activists want members of the public to inform the council’s environmental policies
By Joseph Timan, Local Democracy Reporter
PIC: Climate change campaigners (XR) outside Bolton Town Hall last August
The teenager who led calls on Bolton Council to declare a climate emergency has accused the town hall of failing to act on the pledge.
Paris Hayes, who lobbied the council to make commitments on tackling climate change last year, said that campaigners are frustrated by the local authority’s “inability to act” on the issue…
Councillors agreed to a long list of steps the town hall would take when they voted to declare a climate emergency in August which included setting up a “Citizens’ Assembly”.
Now, a new petition has been set up urging Bolton Council to act on its pledge.
It said: “We want the council, to set up a Citizens’ Assembly, that will allow a cross section of the Bolton public to be invited to take part.
***“They will be given the facts of the situation by experts including scientists and other climate professionals, and will bring together plans to present to Bolton Council.
PIC: Paris Hayes (HOLDING VOTE GREEN PARTY POSTER)…
As well as convening a Citizen’s Assembly, the council also committed to setting up a Climate Change Partnership group involving councillors, residents and climate experts…
https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/campaigners-call-bolton-citizens-assembly-17642235
20
nothing at theirABC is pure chance:
AUDIO: 21m40s: 31 Jan: ABC Life Matters: Why political corruption is like lying to your dad about the car keys
Presenter: Hilary Harper
Trust in governments, democracy and our political institutions is in decline, but how does this affect our everyday lives? Why does trust matter anyway? And how can it be rebuilt?
Guests:
AJ Brown, professor of public policy and law at Griffith University and board member of Transparency International
Anne Tiernan, dean of engagement at Griffith Business School and chair of Queensland Independent Renumeration Tribunal
AJ and Anne both have essays in Griffith Review 67: Matters of Trust (LINK, SUBSCRIPTION REQD)
(16m49s CALLER CAROLINE, BLUE MOUNTAINS (ABC’s Hilary: Caroline has a very interesting community engagement example):
CAROLINE: Citizens Assembly. one is being set up in UK for CLIMATE JUSTICE. 100 people are RANDOMLY selected etc. it originates in Ancient Greece. spruiks for NEW DEMOCRACY FOUNDATION.
TIERNAN & BROWN/GRIFFITH end with calls to get away from hyperpartisan tribalism.
ABC’S HILARY ENDS WITH RESPONSE TO BROWN’S WORDS: CONFOUND, CHALLENGE & DISRUPT – THERE’S SOME POWERFUL WORDS TO END WITH.
https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/lifematters/do-you-trust-anyone-anymore/11909450
19 Feb 2018: SMH: A citizens’ jury could solve our thorny constitutional questions
By Luca Belgiorno- Nettis (founder and director of the newDemocracy Foundation)
At the beginning of this month, I appeared before the federal parliamentary committee tasked with a number of questions, including political donations and campaign advertising…
In Australia, most people trust a random sample of citizens to consider the evidence, and then discuss among themselves the common ground they have regarding the accused’s guilt or innocence…
The committee could take heart from the success of the Irish Constitutional Convention of 2012 that had 99 delegates: two thirds randomly recruited from the population at large, and the balance made up of MPs…
Facebook: Events: People’s Climate Assembly Federal Parliament
Feb 2 – Feb 6 2020, Parliament House, Canberra
Big Rally Day: Tues Feb 4
943 going · 3.5K interested
Federal Parliament reopens on 4 February 2020, we must use this opportunity to show a united front to our government that action must be taken to address the climate and ecological emergency and that the people of Australia will no longer accept complacency and denial of the truth.
We are calling on the government to declare a CLIMATE AND ECOLOGICAL EMERGENCY and take immediate action on climate change.
FIVE DAYS OF EVENTS
Hosted by (INCLUDES)
Australian Religious Response to Climate Change (ARRCC)
Extinction Rebellion South Australia
Canberra – School Strike 4 Climate
PICS PROGRAM – FRONT PAGE BUSHFIRE: RALLY DETAIL: OUR HOME IS ON FIRE
Tues 4: Dr. Karl MC; speakers include Bob Brown, John Hewson, Greg Mullins
Dress in orange & yellow to symbolise bushfires and wear black DECLARE armband.
https://www.facebook.com/events/952114955171432/
GOOD TO SEE THEY ARE NOT HYPERPARTISANS.
30
a final word on protests – loads of stuff listed at the following. who will the experts be? will Michael Mann be one? lol:
ClimateChangeProtests.net: The People’s Climate Assembly – Federal Parliament (Canberra) – 2 Feb 2020
Our Home is on FIRE!…
There will be a large tent set up on Parliament lawn (Federation Mall), with amenities for attendees. The tent will be a place for people to show their presence to parliament as they enter, as well as an invitation of politicians to talk and engage with the Assembly…
Mon 3 Feb: OFFICIAL OPENING of the Peoples Climate Assembly, including:
(iv) Invitation to leading climate science experts and other leading climate figures to address the Assembly
Tues 4 Feb to Thu 6 Feb: Continuing activities on PARLIAMENTARY SITTING DAYS. Our goals will be:
(i) Carryover of addresses by MPs and climate experts…
13 March 2020 University Students for Climate Justice
Canberra Climate Justice Now – ANU 12.00pm – 1.30pM.
Upcoming Events
Tell the Truth – News Corp (Melbourne)
January 31 @ 1:00 pm – March 13 @ 2:00 pm
Swarm the City for Climate Justice (Melbourne)
January 31 @ 5:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Murdoch Newscorp Lie-In Protest (Sydney)
January 31 @ 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm
http://www.climatechangeprotests.net.au/event/the-peoples-climate-assembly-federal-parliament-canberra/
30
In about 23 hours the British should be throwing a new tea party of independence.
No, not dumping British tea into the harbour. With Brexit finally they can compost their EU-conformant teabags without getting fined by Brussels for risking the spread of disease.
80
I’m just sorry we didn’t bring back a bottle of nice British Fizz to have at breakfast at 1000 on Saturday (2300 GMT Friday the 31st of January). We last left the UK on the 31st October last year and felt too dispirited by the antics of the remoaners to bother.
Ah well, it’ll have to be a French one from Aldi, unless I pop into town for a decent Australian one!
60
And they can once again buy kettles that can boil water, toasters that can toast bread and vacuum cleaners that actually suck.
100
The vacuum cleaners they have now really suck, but in a different sense.
70
The difference between a good non-EU vacuum cleaner and the Swiss Navy. A good vacuum cleaner sucks and sucks and never fails. The Swiss do not have a Navy. Geoff S
40
What a great chink in the armor of globalization.
A child of the UN has broken its arm.
It a wonder that the UN hasn’t declared an International Day of mourning.
Tears from these who lose their chauffeur driven Rolls Royce, luncheons, dinners, parties, accommodation, big salaries and power.
Maybe they are crying because they have to become that terrible thing call productive to earn a living.
Viva la sovereignty.
140
… don’t give them ideas, Jack!
It does show just what is popular, and it’s not globalism.
70
sophocles
Got plenty of suggestions for the UN, but the moderation filter wont allow it here.
30
… it’s a problem, it really is, isn’t it?
Even declaring Open Season on the UN won’t solve it.
20
re Luca Belgiorno-Nettis – who sounds like he could well have come out of Brussels!
6 Mar 2019: TheMandarin: An innovative step toward truly empowered citizen governance
By Luca Belgiorno-Nettis
A small Belgian city tries out a new governance system that gives 25 Average Joes and Josephines decision-making influence on the management of important social issues…
***In July 2018, I, along with 14 other international academics and practitioners, was invited to Eupen to propose a permanent Citizens’ Council—the first of its kind in the world—as a complement to the region’s elected parliament.
On February 25, 2019, the Eupen parliament agreed to proceed with our proposal…
The world’s first ‘citizens’ council’ to be on parity with elected officials
One might suspect the introduction of yet another layer of stultifying administration is typical of Belgium. But this time it’s radically different: the Citizens’ Council elevates a group of everyday people to the same level as elected politicians. As democracies across the world strain to connect to disaffected voters, the model might well be what’s needed…
Out with the politicians…
…in with the citizens
Deliberation with randomly selected citizens avoids many of the structural flaws plaguing elected parliaments…
Citizens, when hearing information on a topic or taking a decision on an issue, know they won’t be criticized by the media for changing their mind or moving away from the party line…
https://www.themandarin.com.au/105012-an-innovative-step-toward-truly-empowered-citizen-governance/
not partisan:
NewDemocracyFoundation: Why democracy doesn’t deliver
by Luca Belgiorno-Nettis (founder and a director of the newDemocracy Foundation)
As published on the Australian Financial Review. 22 January 2018
Many of us believe that democracy delivers our collective wisdom. The ascendancy of Donald Trump to the Presidency of the United States has jolted that faith. Trump’s victory epitomises the challenge of the popular vote. Elections are synonymous with democracy, but it is disconcerting to see how poorly that tool is serving us now. The elected politician is no longer respected, no matter the country or mandate. In any number of surveys, politicians consistently rank with car salesmen…
Indeed, it can be argued that elections do more harm than good…
Then there’s the politicisation of the public service, and the vested interests related to campaign funding. The US is especially notorious for the latter, as well as the redrawing of electoral boundaries – the entrenched gerrymander carried Trump…
Replacing Parliament with everyday citizens might sound like a crackpot proposition but many countries, not just Australia, think their political systems are outmoded…
https://www.newdemocracy.com.au/2018/01/21/why-democracy-doesn-t-deliver/
Luca Belgiorno-Nettis is the Managing Director of ***Transfield Holdings, and Prisma Investment – a private Family Office. He has a B. Arch. (UNSW) and a Dip.Urb.Est. Mgmt. (UTS) and is also a member of the UTS Vice-Chancellor’s Industry Advisory Board. In 2004 he founded The newDemocracy Foundation, a non-for-profit research organization focused on political reform. In 2009 he was awarded an AM for his work in arts and the community generally, and in 2014 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Western Sydney University.
NONE OF THE ABOVE COULD SAVE LUCA FROM THE PC MOB:
March 2014: Guardian: Sydney Biennale chairman quits over company’s links to detention centres
Luca Belgiorno-Nettis, whose father founded Biennale, resigns as organisers cut all ties with Transfield
by Michael Safi and Paul Farrell
The chairman of the Sydney Biennale and of its major sponsor Transfield Holdings, Luca Belgiorno-Nettis, has resigned his position with the festival.
Organisers have announced that they will cut all ties with Transfield Holdings and with Transfield Services, a contractor for Australia’s network of immigration detention centres…
“We have listened to the artists who are the heart of the Biennale and have decided to end our partnership with Transfield effective immediately,” organisers said in a statement.
“With deep regret, the board reluctantly accepted the decision of the chair to resign. We gratefully acknowledge the personal contribution of Luca as chair over the past 14 years. We also acknowledge the enormous contribution of the Belgiorno-Nettis family over 41 years.”…
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/mar/07/sydney-biennale-chairman-quits-transfield-detention
30
That was so poignant seeing the EU chair gag them and demand they put down their British flag, and them refusing. A perfect summary of the battle.
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Youtube: 59m48s: 30 Jan: Sun UK: “The establishment is defeated” Brexit special interview with Brendan O’Neil
Britain will leave the EU on 31st January. In this Brexit special of ‘Burning Questions’ with Brendan O’Neil, the writer and editor of ‘Spiked’ takes apart the establishment and remainers who attempted to stop Brexit. Steven Edginton of The Sun interviews Brendan about why Britain voted to leave, what happened after 2016 and why Britain should be optimistic about Brexit.
Covering all topics from Nigel Farage and The Brexit Party to the European Parliament and Tony Blair, watch this interview to understand Britain’s relationship with the EU and why the UK is leaving.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcjOjiUGwwQ&app=desktop
60
Congrats to the UK for finally leaving. Democracy at last.
And as for the sneering chair, while its not OK to hate people or nations, it is perfectly acceptable to hate an institution.
130
She highlighted the wickedness of the EU dictatorship.
70
It will be interesting to watch the play between London [ inc. the Mayor of London ] & the City of London in the future.
30
Boris is about to do a Trump — by-passing the BBC & Co and broadcasting direct via social media to the people with no biased middle men to spin what he says. His Brexit address to the people at 10pm tonight will be done direct from Number 10 using his own videographer. The MSM can pick it up like everyone else.
The Beeb is going into meltdown at the snub, coming on top of the rumoured scrapping of, or making optional, their TV licence fee. Their planned enforcement of the TV licence on the over-75s (exempt up to now) is not helping their cause either — £154.50 per year ($301 AU). They have already announced their news teams will be cut by 450 jobs before any funding changes.
The poo is starting to hit the fan for the Beeb, the consequence of years of blatantly pushing Left-Green propaganda.
I hope the contagion spreads to their love-child, the ABC. All we need is for Morrison to take notice of what Trump and Boris are doing and copy their tactics. He would have had a much better run during the fires had he spoken direct to the people instead of having his every word filtered and twisted by the MSM rabble.
230
🙂 🙂
30
19% of Remainers still don’t believe that Britain wanted to leave the EU! Talk about being intransigent.
Only 30% have come to terms with leaving. 16% are angry, 25% depressed, but it’s OK, Sadiq Khan is providing emotional support to European Londoners.
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/01/30/30-per-cent-remainers-reached-acceptance-5-stages-brexit-grief/
We must wait to see what antics the Left will get up to tonight to spoil the Brexit party.
50
a must-read by the great Paul Sperry. novel length:
22 Jan: RealClearInvestigations: Whistleblower Was Overheard in ’17 Discussing With Ally How to Remove Trump
By Paul Sperry
Barely two weeks after Donald Trump took office, Eric Ciaramella – the CIA analyst whose name was recently linked in a tweet by the president and mentioned by lawmakers as the anonymous “whistleblower” who touched off Trump’s impeachment – was overheard in the White House discussing with another staffer how to remove the newly elected president from office, according to former colleagues.
Sources told RealClearInvestigations the staffer with whom Ciaramella was speaking was Sean Misko. Both were Obama administration holdovers working in the Trump White House on foreign policy and national security issues. And both expressed anger over Trump’s new “America First” foreign policy, a sea change from President Obama’s approach to international affairs…
https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2020/01/22/whistleblower_was_overheard_in_17_discussing_with_ally_how_to_remove_trump_121701.html
30
So climate change deniers support little Britain. Can’t see how they are related but there yo go…….
110
Happy to clear things up for you Frednk.
Unskeptical “scientists” need the biggest easiest gravy train there is. Say hello to the EU.
The corrupt or incompetent will always prefer Fat Governments to lean competitive markets.
120
Come on fred, tell us what we DENY that you can provide empirical scientific evidence for.
So far all you have managed is mindless bluster..
… and use of the “d” word in a totally MEANINGLESS and EMPTY context.
40
Humanity is a complex woven tapestry,
certainly beyond the comprehension of anti intellectuals.
It is for that reason that collectivism does not work with the use of force.
20
Edit
It is for that reason that collectivism does not work without the use of force.
30
Anyone want to make a call on who will be next?
I am torn between Poland and Hungry.
60
I have read that Poland and Hungary have the highest support for the EU among their citizens of any countries.
One of the PIGS could be first. With Britain gone the money will be in short supply.
50
Greece, Italy Spain ?
All entered the EU money zone with grossly over valued currencies. And being in the Euro zone means there is no capacity by their governments to adjust things…
50
Yes,
Portugal, Italy, Greece, Spain.
50
I think France is the sleeper. It has not had favourable current account since 2006. There is considerable, visible unrest amongst the plebs. I expect all current accounts in EU nations to be under pressure from UK exit and US trade war with EU looming.
Germany’s current account has been deteriorating since 2015 and I see many factors that will continue that slide. Mercedes may have got the Wheels COTY with its EQC battery electric but this vehicle is produced in China and I expect China will get the current account benefit rather than Germany. Mercedes already refer to China as their second home.
So with EU administrators sucking the life out of its contributing States it is only a matter of time before the populists start to push for sovereignty in preference to EU rule.
70
Could the last country to leave the EU please turn off the lights.
70
Hi Jack
20
Farage has indicated he plans to spend more time in the US through 2020 to support the Trump campaign:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/nigel-farage-hints-he-will-join-donald-trumps-presidential-campaign-next-year-2019-12-12
60
De Gaulle in 1963(or thereabouts) closed the door on Britain’s initial attempts to join the Common Market (as it then was), saying that
Britain was a proud nation at the centre of a global link of similar communities built up over many centuries.
He implied that Britain would never be a comfortable partner in a european union and everything that has happened since seems to have proved his
instincts to be correct.
De Gaulle was IMO one of the more outstanding Western political leaders (it seems demeaning to call him a politician because he was so much more than that) of the 20th century.
71
behind paywall – no idea where this goes, but it’s outrageous on the face of it:
The climate case for childlessness
Financial Times – 7h ago
It brings a smirk to the lips that Thomas Malthus was one of eight children and had a further three. Unremarkable numbers in Georgian England …
50
31 Jan: ABC: Royal Adelaide Hospital patient describes moment lights went out mid-operation
Posted about an hour ago
A patient who was undergoing a skin operation on his scalp when power was cut at the Royal Adelaide Hospital says staff had no option but to keep working by the light of a mobile phone.
Bob Harris, 76, was booked in at the hospital for a procedure this afternoon to remove a malignant growth on the side of his head.
He said medical staff had completed the minor surgery and were starting to put stitches in when the lights went out, just before 2:00pm…
“It took two or three minutes before the power came back on.”
The Central Adelaide Local Health Network (CALHN), which is responsible for the running of the hospital, said generators then kicked in…
Power supply at the Royal Adelaide Hospital has been in the spotlight several times over the past two years, especially following a significant blackout two years ago.
Health Minister Stephen Wade has announced an “urgent” review into today’s and other power failures, saying the State Government would engage an external engineering expert.
“The regularity with which this is happening is not acceptable to the Government, patients or staff,” he said…
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-31/patient-operated-on-by-mobile-phone-light-after-blackout/11919680
40
Though I voted for Brexit, I didnt reckon for the cack handed way UK politicians have gone about it. Rather like booking a foreign holiday and finding Mr Bean is in charge of organising it.
50
Nicely put, although I think a lot of remoaners were somewhat more malicious than dear old Mr Bean. I think there will still be big efforts to impose a Teresa May lite version of her appalling WA.
40
Yes Annie, Boris himself bears watching very closely. Even though he has said that there will be no level playing field, no customs union, no single market, no European Court of Justice, no EU regulations and standards, and UK fisheries will now be protected, you have to wonder what he’s up to after the Huawei decision.
Boris is making the right noises, but noises are not actions. Brexit means Brexit . . . except for when it doesn’t. Farage is on the job holding Boris to account.
The UK Fisheries Bill currently before the House of Lords states Britain’s sovereignty over its territorial waters very clearly in its early sections, but then has sections curiously worded with loopholes that could allow EU boats to continue to plunder UK waters if Boris signs away fisheries to get a trade deal. It smells like UK fishermen could be about to be thrown under a bus again. The next UK-EU fisheries deal is due to be negotiated in July and the EU has already demanded another 25 years of unhindered access to UK waters.
I think Dominic Cummings is all that stands between Boris and his next stuff-up. Boris always was a loose cannon firing in all directions.
30
It doesn’t matter.
Fish isn’t real nutritious, the British Fishing Industry died decades ago and it’s never
coming back plus Boris is a known liar.
What the British have now got to beware of is a Foot & Mouth outbreak
leading to a mass culling of Cattle.
I can’t remember any since they joined the Common Market in 1973, but without being able to
source European Beef now, they might be in a lot of trouble quite quickly.
12
Mad Cow disease?
40
Thanks for that.
Wiki says 4.4 million cows were culled in the U.K..
10
SOOOOOOOO…… Britain has left the EU.
ABOUT F***ING TIME!
Now they can get on with THEIR lives.
10
Correct me if I am wrong, but was it not Hitler that coined the term Pan Europe in the thirties? The whole idea being a EU like structure?
10
Less than one hour to Brexit…champagne breakfast coming up! 🙂
20
1 Feb: ABC: Brexit may finally be done, but for Boris Johnson, the nightmare may only just be beginning
By Europe bureau chief Samantha Hawley in London
As the UK officially left the bloc at 11:00pm (London time) on January 31, the iconic (Big Ben) chimes were absent.
The tower is closed for renovations…
And Boris Johnson’s euphoria over getting Brexit done is not a nation-wide, bell-ringing moment of joy…
The grand old clock stood silent.
And some might say that was very good timing
AUDIO: 9m49s: 31 Jan: ABC PM: What lies ahead for Britain as it prepares to exit the EU?
By Linda Mottram
PM speaks to political strategist John McTernan, who was British prime minister Tony Blair’s political operations director.
He was also communications chief for former Australian prime minister Julia Gillard.
https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/pm/what-lies-ahead-for-britain-as-it-prepares-to-exit-the-eu/11919536
above: Mottram opener: Britain formally divorces from the EU tonight, when the clocks strike 11pm in London;
2m48s: McTERNAN: the REALITY is BREXIT will never be done. Britain will be living with BREXIT for the next Century.
all but over now:
31 Jan: The Federalist: Yes, Trump’s Acquittal Is Real, And It’s Spectacular
by David Marcus
The most amazing thing about Democrats and their allies in the media is that they never actually lose. Any time it seems like they lose, it’s actually the result of cheating and chicanery.
Hillary Clinton didn’t lose 2016, the Russians interfered and the Electoral College is racist…
Mitch McConnell, President Trump’s legal team, and the GOP made fools of the Democrats and drank their milkshake. But this will not stop the aggrieved cackling heads from claiming this is all somehow fake. Take a gander at the sad-sack gaslighting below…ETC
This is the behavior of toddlers told they won’t be stopping for ice cream…
The speed with which coordinated Democratic talking points infect the news media represents some of the most efficient propaganda the nation has ever seen. Efficient, but not effective. Only those already in the pews of the Church of Orange Man Bad are buying this latest nonsense argument…
Conservatives today should be celebrating and mocking a media that still doesn’t understand how wrong it constantly is and why. The leftist establishment took their best shot at President Trump and today it glances harmlessly off his chin. Make no mistake: Donald Trump’s acquittal is real, and it is spectacular.
https://thefederalist.com/2020/01/31/yes-trumps-acquittal-is-real-and-its-spectacular/
40
I would take the pronouncements of any of Blair’s operatives with a couple of grains of salt. Sour grapes to the bitter end.
40
Refers to #38.
10
jut for fun:
1 Feb: ConservativeUS: Hilarious Video: “MASSIVE” Protest At The Capitol Calling For Witnesses In The Sham Impeachment Trial
WATCH IT HERE. PLENTY OF FUN COMMENTS WITH MEMES, ETC:
TWEET: Henry Rodgers, Daily Caller
Current scene outside Capitol
VIDEO 24s
31 Jan 2020
2.6K comments
https://twitter.com/henryrodgersdc/status/1223274029483773952/video/1
30
31 Jan: BBC: Climate change: UK sacks its UN conference president
By David Shukman
In a surprise move, the woman appointed to run the crucial UN climate summit in Glasgow in November has been sacked.
Claire Perry O’Neill, a former climate minister, had been assigned the post of “president” of the event, known as COP 26.
The British government has confirmed that the job will now be handled by the business department, Beis.
In a tweet, Mrs O’Neill said she was “very sad” to lose the role, and went on to criticise the government.
It couldn’t “cope” with an independent unit managing preparations for the conference, she said.
And in a sharp dig at No 10’s green credentials, she also added: “A shame we haven’t had one climate cabinet meeting since we formed.”…
This will come as a shock to many of the business and environmental groups working with her in the run-up to the summit.
It will also surprise diplomats and negotiators from other countries with whom Mrs O’Neill had formed bonds.
At the last UN summit, held in Madrid last December, she played a highly visible role as part of her preparation for the UK to take over the presidency…
In an interview recorded at that time, she said she believed the world had “one shot” at the Glasgow summit (LINK) to take meaningful action on climate change – or people would question the whole process…
Richard Black, director of the Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit, commented on Twitter: “While Claire Perry has a background in climate change, she doesn’t in foreign affairs. Arguably that’s more important – no doubt one of the real stars of the #ParisAgreement was Laurent Fabius, steeped in diplomacy but not, prior to 2015, in climate change.”
And Mohamed Adow, director of another climate and energy think-tank, Power Shift Africa, said: “It was always going to be a challenge to have a president who had no formal role in Government…READ ON
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-51334031
10
31 Jan: UK Express: Macron FURY: French plotting to BLOCK British Steel rescue putting 5,000 jobs at risk
FRANCE has threatened to block the UK’s attempts to rescue British Steel, it has emerged, potentially costing up to 4,000 UK jobs which could have been saved by the takeover.
By Carly Read
China has come forward to assist Britain in rescuing British Steel from oblivion, but Emmanuel Macron’s government has blocked any hope of a deal between London and Beijing being done. Sky News reports French finance minister Bruno Le Maire told Chancellor Sajid Javid they would not sign a deal to secure the firm’s rescue. The row comes the day Britain leaves the EU…
The 5,000 British Steel employees are directly responsible for a further 20,000 jobs.
British Steel is struggling with its cash flow because of the EU not allocating UK-based companies their usual permits under its carbon emissions trading system (ETS), a scheme that prompts industrial polluters to pay for their previous year’s emissions…READ ALL
https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1236231/British-Steel-France-macron-latest-britain-Brexit
40
31 Jan: Wired: Google, Microsoft and the strange world of corporate greenwashing
Astrazeneca, Google, Microsoft, VW and even Sainsbury’s have unveiled net-zero targets. But how seriously should we take them?
By Natasha Bernal
https://www.wired.co.uk/article/corporate-greenwashing
31 Jan: National Indigenous Times: Aboriginal Carbon Foundation earns carbon credits with strategic cultural burning
By Rachael Knowles
https://nit.com.au/aboriginal-carbon-foundation-earns-carbon-credits-with-strategic-cultural-burning/
30
Magic non-CO2 emiting burning?
Much like Drax burning wood pellets with 32-33% increase in CO2 but getting subsidies for being Green. Or the burning of household rubbish in Finland, Denmark and Germany for district hot water schemes in winter (that CO2 doesn’t get counted).
30
Youtube: 4m37s: 31 Jan: Nigel Farage celebrates with crowds at Parliament Square as Britain leaves the EU
posted by Sun UK
Crowds gathered in London’s Parliament Square to celebrate one of the biggest moments in the nation’s history. Brexit fans had tears in their eyes as they sang a rendition of God Save The Queen.
‘Mr Brexit’ Nigel Farage ushered in new era and urged people to be optimistic about the future..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkFC5bkJiQw
20