Posts by Craig Ranapia
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Speaker: A Disorderly Brexit, in reply to Russell Brown,
I Storyfied a pretty compelling stream of tweets from a Northern Irishman called Shocko on the hellish problems the Leave vote poses for his country.
Thanks for putting it together. RTs have been popping up my feed for a while, and every single bloody one of them in heart-breaking. I guess we can just put “the ugly and raw symbolism of thousands of Irish having to negotiate armed guards and checkpoints every day” to the dizzyingly long list of shit nobody thought through.
But does it not seem that Corbyn was a half-hearted-to-useless campaigner on an issue he was clearly not committed to? Shouldn’t he have campaigned properly or tried to win the the argument to align Labour with Leave (which would, to be fair, have been a bloody debacle).
Yes and yes, but there’s still this frankly bizarre narrative among Corbynistas that Brexit was all about “working class rage at Tory austerity” and somehow Labour is going to leverage this into an overwhelming victory at a snap election that will happen by the end of the year. Which is downright delusional on so many levels, it is terrifying.
Something else: I know Corbyn and large swathes of the media have a relationship that could most politely be described as "mutual contempt". But it's a little disingenuous to be pearl-clutching and crying media bias when the Brexit media swooned every damn time he appeared at a Remain even and started with "I'm no fan of the EU, but..."
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Speaker: A Disorderly Brexit, in reply to Rich of Observationz,
I don’t quite understand the “not punish” thing? If the EU allows UK-based corporates continued free access to sell goods and services into Europe without complying with EU laws and regulations, then they’ll be “punishing” everybody in mainland Europe by undermining their labour and environmental standards.
Let's get down to the brutal electoral realpolitik. The French presidential and German Bundestag elections are coming up next year. Hollande and Merkel would be politically battered if there was even a hint of the UK being allowed access to Europe on those grounds.
I know the pro-Brexit media love running that "punishment" line, the UK seems determined to act like that ex-flatmate who made you move out but keeps bothering you for money you don't owe, and is still pissy that he has to go buy his own wok.
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Speaker: A Disorderly Brexit, in reply to Rich Lock,
Toyota originally hedged their bets, and set up a plant in Derby, and one in Paris. Guess which one might now relocate? Rolls-Royce is also highly dependent on mutual co-operation with EADS, a European Union company with primarily French, Dutch and German roots.
And while the Article 50 process may take two years, these companies can't just hang around until the 1922 Committee pulls finger, the Tories decide who their new leader is and the Government deigns to come back to work again.
Please cue the "evil corporate bastards" music if you must. I sympathize, and hope I'll never be the kind of prick who says an awful lot of Leavers have brought it all down on their own heads and Vote Leave just don't care.
But its also more than a little naive to think contingency plans weren't being drawn up for a Brexit from the day the referendum was announced, even if the politicians weren't among them.
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Speaker: A Disorderly Brexit, in reply to Paul Campbell,
so will all the British retirees in Spain have to go home when their visas are up?
Probably not under the status quo, (but with today’s inconclusive election results who knows what will change down the line), but here’s real concerns judging from the media.
As soon as Brexit is final, they’re going to have to start paying the full whack for their healthcare just like every other non-EU citizen with resident status. No matter how hard Boris blusters, its going to be a snowball party at Satan's crib before EU taxpayers quietly swallow the healthcare costs for British expats.
Here's another wrinkle I'd never thought of:
However, more of a worry to retirees will be whether their state pensions will be up-rated annually. At the moment UK citizens who live in the European Economic Area (and Switzerland) have their state pensions protected - they're pegged to wage or price inflation.
Following the vote to leave, the UK government will have to decide whether this will continue or whether UK pensioners living in EU countries should be treated as they are if they retire to Canada, for example, where their pension is frozen.
At the moment, part of the reason that UK pensioners in the rest of the EU see their pension go up every year is because the principle of the single market is applied. That means pensions and other social security payments rise wherever you live. Because this agreement is a mutual arrangement between the UK and the rest of the EU, it is now likely to form part of the renegotiation process.
However, Tom Selby, senior analyst at AJ Bell, says: "While some believe the government will be able to negotiate protections for expat pensioners - it is worth noting the UK has not arranged a similar deal with a non-EU country since 1981."
The pound sliding into the crapper is also not great news if your main (or only) source of income is a British pension or investment income not already paid in Euros.
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Speaker: A Disorderly Brexit, in reply to Marc C,
INDEED MEDIA REACTION to the Brexit vote — filled with unreflective rage, condescension, and contempt toward those who voted wrong —
Thank you, Glenn. Greenwald might want to run his own "elite media" filters under a tap, because I was reading a lot of perfectly legitimate anxiety from PoC, and advocates for workers and migrants about how Brexit rhetoric would translate into cold hard reality. I'm sorry if their tone wasn't suitably chilly for Mr. Greenwald's refined sensibilities, but I guess that's something a white American man never has to see unless he chooses to.
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Speaker: A Disorderly Brexit, in reply to Russell Brown,
It’s rather disappointing that no one seems to have thought about all this in advance …
Nobody seems to have thought anything though -- but never mind, Boris has assured us all the EU really wants to hang out with the people who just told them to fuck off, If this stoned Womble is going to be responsible for leading negotiations on a trade deal with the EU and minimize whatever tariffs result, then the British economy hasn't even begun to feel the pain.
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Speaker: A Disorderly Brexit, in reply to linger,
Exactly like that dude. Thanks for the pointer, linger.
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Speaker: A Disorderly Brexit, in reply to Russell Brown,
Yes. One would think that there are many Remain voters unwilling to go along with a fantasy petition too.
I'm one of them, just as I'm bemused by people who think Nicola Sturgeon is going to pass up her best shot at an independence do-over for Scot Brexit veto on grounds that are... well, dodgy as hell.
I just don't know why more people aren't repeating this simple matter of fact: Parliament trumps a non-binding referendum. Why is nobody demanding a free vote in the Commons on Brexit?
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Speaker: A Disorderly Brexit, in reply to John Palethorpe,
My parents both voted Leave. I asked them why yesterday, after they’d told me they were horrified at people implying they were racist or xenophobic – I did point out that not all the 52% were that, but the proportion that were felt that they had 52% of Britain supporting them now.
Exactly. I know this is harsh, but when you went to the ballot box and voted with people who explicitly and unapologetically are racist and xenophobic as hell? Yeah, I don't think you should expect a lick of sympathy from the Polish and Muslim communities right now.
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Speaker: A Disorderly Brexit, in reply to BenWilson,
Since there is a power vacuum, it might be a good time to ask the Queen what she thinks. If there was ever a time for a constitutional monarchy, it would be when the democratic system suddenly collapses.
And she won’t, because The Queen has a grip on how a constitutional monarchy actually works.
And disappointed as I am by the result, democracy has not collapsed in the UK. Last time I looked, Parliament still trumps a non-binding indicative opinion poll and England already has one queen. It doesn’t need millions of the House of Drama.