UK General Discussion Thread: mayy lmao

[ChrisDR68]

MP's vote 498 to 114 in favour of invoking Article 50.

A majority of 384.

Now the bill goes to the Lords.

[ChrisDR68]

I can't be the only one who thinks the result was quite impressive for Remain - the EU has never been loved at all yet over 16 million came out and voted for it. Polls a few years ago were showing around a 20-point lead for the exit side in a (then) hypothetical referendum.

In retrospect I think that's correct especially when looking at opinion polls in the UK with regard to this issue since 1977:



When adding in the ongoing Greek crisis which shows no sign at all of being solved and by extension the problems inherent with the Euro single currency and the fairly obvious ambition of the EU in the medium and long term to create a United States Of Europe, 48% in favour of remaining in the EU in the referendum was quite a good result for Cameron, Osborne and co.

[ChrisDR68]

Very interesting article from the pollster John Curtice:

Do Scots really back Sturgeon over Brexit? The polls suggest not



Nicola Sturgeon disagrees profoundly with Theresa May about Brexit. Behind this disagreement lies a presumption – that whatever voters in England and Wales might want out of Brexit, people in Scotland want something very different.

Yet to date little effort has been made to check out this assumption by asking voters in Scotland what kind of Brexit they would like to see. New research published today by NatCen Social Research finally does so – and makes rather sober reading for Scotland’s first minister.

It turns out that Scots are not so keen on freedom of movement after all. As many as 64% believe that, post-Brexit, anyone from the EU who wishes to live in Britain should have to apply to do so in the same way as anyone from outside the EU. Even more, 72%, think that the same rule should apply to any British citizen who wants to go and live in the EU.

That is not to say that Sturgeon has misread voters’ mood entirely. No fewer than 93% express support for allowing EU companies to trade freely in Britain and for ensuring that British companies are able to do trade equally freely across the EU. Even leave voters think this would be a perfectly sensible outcome. But of course what this does mean is that what voters in Scotland want out of Brexit is closer to what the prime minister has in mind than Sturgeon’s vision of what should happen – that is, ending freedom of movement but securing an “ambitious and comprehensive free trade agreement”. It also means, by the way, that attitudes towards Brexit in Scotland are very similar to those in the rest of the UK.

It is, thus, perhaps not surprising that there is relatively little support for the Scottish government’s idea that Scotland might have a closer relationship with the EU even while still being part of the UK.

Between them, these findings raise severe doubts about the wisdom of the Scottish government’s decision to turn a disagreement about what Brexit should mean into the crux of an argument as to why Scotland should have a second opportunity to back leaving the UK. The level of commitment to the EU in Scotland may be broad but it is also seemingly too shallow for Brexit to be an issue that is likely to change many minds about the merits of independence. Even among those who were already in favour of leaving the UK in the first independence referendum, just over three in five would like to see an end to freedom of movement.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/mar/30/scots-back-sturgeon-brexit-polls

[ChrisDR68]

Comedians tell how anti-Brexit jokes are damaging their careers as audiences outside of London walk out in offence



A number of comedians have described scripting their take on Britain leaving the European Union for left-wing audiences in London, only to face unamused audiences when they take their acts out to the rest of the country.

Marcus Brigstocke has been touring the country with a set that includes 20 minutes of material on Brexit, it is his first tour that has seen members of the audience walking out "every night" in anger.

He revealed that a number of his fans were unlikely to return to his shows in future, following the jokes.

"People have been angry; people have walked out of shows and people have booed.

"A lot of the people that I think of as my audience will not be back - they won't come again - they're that angry," he told BBC Radio 4.

Writing on Facebook, Brigstocke said he did not want to turn his audience off, but said: "for the first time ever on tour I have people walking out every night ‑ not hoards, but some. That's unsettling.

"I have never before dealt with a subject as divisive and upsetting (including passionate criticisms of religion etc.). It's a challenge I would usually enjoy but (perhaps because I'm not doing it well enough) it is proving to be a nightmare.

"It seems that for the most part Brexit is not just the hideous social and political turn we have taken as a country but is also comedic poison."



Comedian Stewart Lee has also spoken of some audience members' reactions to his material poking fun at leave voters during his shows.

Aaron Brown, editor of the British Comedy Guide, said: "I consume a lot of comedy – mostly TV, also some live – and would say the comedy world’s reaction has been almost exclusively negative.

"Many jokes essentially paraphrase as 'shooting ourselves in the foot', and the rest rely on lazily branding 52 per cent of the voters as racist.

"One would have hoped comedians would be able to find comic mileage in their evident disengagement from half of the public, but there instead seems to be little to no such acceptance and analysis of the referendum result, instead merely anger at lashing out at stupid people making the wrong decision, as they see it.

"As far as audience reaction goes, it tends to be fairly warm with television studio audiences as most such recordings take place in the resolutely pro-remain London, but in the rest of the country – England and Wales, at very least – one can only begin to imagine how alienated and offended some audiences must feel."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04/04/comedians-tell-anti-brexit-jokes-damaging-careersas-audiences/

Interesting on how divisive the referendum continues to be. The assumption that what goes down well in London will go down well outside of it is quite amusing though as much as it is revealing (the London bubble effect).

[ChrisDR68]

Liverpool doesn't elect Labour MPs by 70% majorities and then elect a Tory council and mayor the following year unless something along the lines of a world war took place in between.

They did regularly elect a Lib Dem local council until fairly recently though.