EU membership referendum debate thread

What can we do to change the minds of decision makers and people in general to actually do something about preparing for the forthcoming economic/energy crises (the ones after this one!)?

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3rdRock

Post by 3rdRock »

johnhemming2 wrote:4 isn't right. They do exclude ex members of the National Socialist parties.
Excluded from joining the party perhaps, but they do receive a thinly veiled message of thanks for their vote in many local elections.

Check out the EDL web site. They openly advise their membership to vote for UKIP. United by their common sense of hatred.
johnhemming2
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Post by johnhemming2 »

All parties have some racists. The BNP are a racist party. UKIP are a party with (more) racists. Not all UKIP members are racist, however. Nor are all their elected representatives. Farage plays the tribal card in a way which can be divisive. I don't think he is as bad as Trump, however.
3rdRock

Post by 3rdRock »

johnhemming2 wrote:All parties have some racists. The BNP are a racist party. UKIP are a party with (more) racists. Not all UKIP members are racist, however. Nor are all their elected representatives. Farage plays the tribal card in a way which can be divisive. I don't think he is as bad as Trump, however.
Amen to that! :lol:

Our friends on the other side of the pond may be laughing at us now, but it'll be our turn come November if they elect that loud-mouthed, bigoted reptile.
3rdRock

Post by 3rdRock »

And the latest from UKIP's Douglas Carswell?
"Nigel Farage’s “breaking point” posters were morally indefensible. Those Syrian refugees fleeing war had nothing to do with Britain’s borders. Far from winning support for Vote Leave, that poster handed the remain campaigners, keen to cast aspersions on the leave sides values and motives, ammunition. It cost us votes."
:roll: :lol: It just gets better folks!
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PS_RalphW
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Post by PS_RalphW »

To put the (futile) online petition into context.

3.69M votes is

5.7% of the population
7.9 % of the electorate
11% of the people who voted in the referendum
23% of the people who voted remain.

Of course, there is little or nothing to stop non-eligible people voting in the poll, and I am sure that it is fairly easy to defeat any attempt at preventing fraudulent multiple votes, but the raw numbers are still overwhelming.
3rdRock

Post by 3rdRock »

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... it-fallout
Germany rules out informal Brexit talks before article 50 is triggered

Decision deals major blow to leave campaign leaders, who show no sign of wanting to launch formal proceedings
raspberry-blower
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Post by raspberry-blower »

PS_RalphW wrote:
Of course, there is little or nothing to stop non-eligible people voting in the poll, and I am sure that it is fairly easy to defeat any attempt at preventing fraudulent multiple votes, but the raw numbers are still overwhelming.
Looks like this has been put to the test:
The second meme pushed is the "success" of some petition for a #ReverseBrexit vote someone set up on the UK parliament website. It now has more than a million "signatures". That is a lot in a short time frame. But wait, any dog on the Internet can "sign" that petition provided it has some throw-away email address. I, a German in Germany, "signed" to test the procedure. It took me about 30 seconds.

This propaganda campaign will not have any tangible success, but it sets a certain atmosphere which then will be used to stall the exit process.
Moon of Alabama: The Imminent Dodging of Brexit - A Gift for the Fascist Right
A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools - Douglas Adams.
3rdRock

Post by 3rdRock »

raspberry-blower wrote:
PS_RalphW wrote:
Of course, there is little or nothing to stop non-eligible people voting in the poll, and I am sure that it is fairly easy to defeat any attempt at preventing fraudulent multiple votes, but the raw numbers are still overwhelming.
Looks like this has been put to the test:
The second meme pushed is the "success" of some petition for a #ReverseBrexit vote someone set up on the UK parliament website. It now has more than a million "signatures". That is a lot in a short time frame. But wait, any dog on the Internet can "sign" that petition provided it has some throw-away email address. I, a German in Germany, "signed" to test the procedure. It took me about 30 seconds.

This propaganda campaign will not have any tangible success, but it sets a certain atmosphere which then will be used to stall the exit process.
Moon of Alabama: The Imminent Dodging of Brexit - A Gift for the Fascist Right
The aborted Brexit will also give further impetus to the hard-rightwing parties currently cropping up in several European countries. These parties ostensibly cater to the "small people" who feel unrepresented and on the economic losing side. But the economic programs of these parties are anti-social and would only further inequality. They (ab-)use the grievance of the poor and middle class to gain even more power for the rich.

What is missing in Europe are leftwing parties that take the romantic longing for local nationalism - in opposition to bone-crushing globalization - seriously and merge it with socialist policies. The social-democrats once had that role but under Blair, Schroeder and Hollande they waft away into the anti-nationalism, neo-liberal globalization sphere. Nationalism has, for them, become a dirty word. This at the time as nationalism gains new popularity as the anchor for common people lost in the sea of neo-liberal arbitrariness.

The space left empty by them will be filled by fascism.
My greatest fear in this whole sorry saga. :(
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PS_RalphW
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Post by PS_RalphW »

One simple check on the validity of the petition votes is to look at the
geographical distribution of the registered postcodes

http://petitionmap.unboxedconsulting.co ... ion=131215

This is almost exactly the same distribution as the referendum Remain votes

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-36616028

So, random vote stuffing on any scale is unlikely. Does not prevent organised fraud of course.
3rdRock

Post by 3rdRock »

PS_RalphW wrote:One simple check on the validity of the petition votes is to look at the
geographical distribution of the registered postcodes

http://petitionmap.unboxedconsulting.co ... ion=131215

This is almost exactly the same distribution as the referendum Remain votes

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-36616028

So, random vote stuffing on any scale is unlikely. Does not prevent organised fraud of course.
Thanks for that. I think I'll move to Oxford West or South Cambridgeshire. :wink:
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PS_RalphW
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Post by PS_RalphW »

When it comes to the Brexit camp, I am reminded of Augustine of Hippo
Grant me chastity and continence, but not yet.
3rdRock

Post by 3rdRock »

:D

Latest:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... act-europe
It’s not over yet. A law that passed last year to set up the EU referendum said nothing about the result being binding or having any legal force. “Sovereignty” – a much misunderstood word in the campaign – resides in Britain with the “Queen in parliament”, that is with MPs alone who can make or break laws and peers who can block them. Before Brexit can be triggered, parliament must repeal the 1972 European Communities Act by which it voted to take us into the European Union – and MPs have every right, and indeed a duty if they think it best for Britain, to vote to stay.
3rdRock

Post by 3rdRock »

And this from someone I know you all respect - Paul Mason:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... omic-model
The global order is dying. But it’s an illusion to think Britain can survive without the EU
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UndercoverElephant
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Post by UndercoverElephant »

3rdRock wrote:And this from someone I know you all respect - Paul Mason:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... omic-model
The global order is dying. But it’s an illusion to think Britain can survive without the EU
What a pile of crap. Britain "can't survive without the EU"? What does the author think is going to happen to Britain if we leave the EU? The Isle of Wight sinks into the sea, Scotland disappears beneath a river of volcanic lava and England gets eaten by space monsters?

Of course Britain can "survive without the EU."
johnhemming2
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Post by johnhemming2 »

I am not a fan of Paul Mason. Folks may remember that I pointed out that we are an individual member of the EEA anyway.

Obviously everyone could decide that we have left that as well. It is interesting that they are looking for a basis upon which they can claim we have given notice.
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