I suppose that I should spare a few words for the UK leaving the European Union (EU) on the 31st of January ...
It says a lot about this whole process, that I nearly forgot about it, and posted something else instead
... that's because the actual departure has been up in the air, right up until the UK general election on Thursday the 12th of December 2019, sealed the deal, by giving Boris Johnson and his Conservative Government the majority to enable them to force through the necessary legislation.
The European Parliament confirmed this on the 29th of January 2020, and then many MEPs marked the UK's exit by singing Auld Lang Syne. The Parliament's Brexit spokesman, Guy Verhofstadt, said it was "sad to see a country leaving that has twice given its blood to liberate Europe". A fact that counted for nothing whenever the UK's interests were overridden by the other states.
Of course some of the Remainer UK MEP's cried, and many said that they hoped the UK would return one day ... fat chance now ... unlike the Scottish SNP's once in a generation meaning 5 years, it will be at least a decade or more, before the UK will want to be asked this question again. Partly because the Remainer's in the UK parliament, refused to accept or back the result, and blocked it. This damaged their cause immeasurably.
Of course a lot of today's event, actually comes down to the fact that the EU officials (not necessarily the European Parliament), just never took the threat of the UK's EU Membership Referendum in 2016 seriously. They apparently couldn't believe that the UK's population would ever vote to leave to leave its warm embrace. When David Cameron, a largely popular (and Pro Europe Prime Minister) approached them for some concessions, that he could take back to the British public, to show that Britain's interests and concerns weren't being ignored by the EU .... He got nothing of any substance.
That was a message that many of us waverers took on board, and it tipped the balance of the scales and informed my vote. I don't know, and no one else does either, if its the best thing for the UK or not, but its what we have decided, and I was always of the view that democracy should prevail, and parliament should have accepted it.
We voted to stay in the European Economic Community 1975, on the promise that it was a trade bloc membership, and not a political union, and if at any stage Britain had been able to have a trade-only relationship that would have been enough .... but that wasn't the plan. Instead the EU developing as a quasi-state was the plan ... oddly this aspect of the EU has probably been severely knocked by Britain's departure, as its focussed many EU citizens on where the EU is heading. I suspect that a few other member states will watch the UK's progress over the next few years (especially those where the distrust over the EU's direction is strong), and there may be other defections from the EU Liner SS Political Union, if the UK fairs well.
The EU MEP's are aware of this and the Belgian MEP Philippe Lamberts said the EU must learn lessons from the UK's decision to leave. The bloc had to "regain the hearts and minds of European citizens" by focusing on what it could do for the many, not the few. A sentiment that might have been better expressed about a decade ago, when the EU superstate project really started to coalesce.
Well, whatever the regrets, the might have been's, and the missed importunities for a different outcome, we are leaving tonight ... Arrivederci (treaty of) Roma
 |
| Mr Farage's Moment Arrived .... And Now Its Gone. |
It says a lot about this whole process, that I nearly forgot about it, and posted something else instead
... that's because the actual departure has been up in the air, right up until the UK general election on Thursday the 12th of December 2019, sealed the deal, by giving Boris Johnson and his Conservative Government the majority to enable them to force through the necessary legislation.
 |
| For Auld Lang Syne - The EU MEP's Decide That They will Miss Us, And Our Money After All .... |
The European Parliament confirmed this on the 29th of January 2020, and then many MEPs marked the UK's exit by singing Auld Lang Syne. The Parliament's Brexit spokesman, Guy Verhofstadt, said it was "sad to see a country leaving that has twice given its blood to liberate Europe". A fact that counted for nothing whenever the UK's interests were overridden by the other states.
Of course some of the Remainer UK MEP's cried, and many said that they hoped the UK would return one day ... fat chance now ... unlike the Scottish SNP's once in a generation meaning 5 years, it will be at least a decade or more, before the UK will want to be asked this question again. Partly because the Remainer's in the UK parliament, refused to accept or back the result, and blocked it. This damaged their cause immeasurably.
Of course a lot of today's event, actually comes down to the fact that the EU officials (not necessarily the European Parliament), just never took the threat of the UK's EU Membership Referendum in 2016 seriously. They apparently couldn't believe that the UK's population would ever vote to leave to leave its warm embrace. When David Cameron, a largely popular (and Pro Europe Prime Minister) approached them for some concessions, that he could take back to the British public, to show that Britain's interests and concerns weren't being ignored by the EU .... He got nothing of any substance.
That was a message that many of us waverers took on board, and it tipped the balance of the scales and informed my vote. I don't know, and no one else does either, if its the best thing for the UK or not, but its what we have decided, and I was always of the view that democracy should prevail, and parliament should have accepted it.
We voted to stay in the European Economic Community 1975, on the promise that it was a trade bloc membership, and not a political union, and if at any stage Britain had been able to have a trade-only relationship that would have been enough .... but that wasn't the plan. Instead the EU developing as a quasi-state was the plan ... oddly this aspect of the EU has probably been severely knocked by Britain's departure, as its focussed many EU citizens on where the EU is heading. I suspect that a few other member states will watch the UK's progress over the next few years (especially those where the distrust over the EU's direction is strong), and there may be other defections from the EU Liner SS Political Union, if the UK fairs well.
The EU MEP's are aware of this and the Belgian MEP Philippe Lamberts said the EU must learn lessons from the UK's decision to leave. The bloc had to "regain the hearts and minds of European citizens" by focusing on what it could do for the many, not the few. A sentiment that might have been better expressed about a decade ago, when the EU superstate project really started to coalesce.
Well, whatever the regrets, the might have been's, and the missed importunities for a different outcome, we are leaving tonight ... Arrivederci (treaty of) Roma
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