Is Britain about to leave the EU?

[Arwon]

I would suggest it is more likely he is ignorant and parochially English and only has a foggy idea about what other countries are.

 

[Manfred Belheim]

It's probably more likely that he just meant to say "land border" or something to be honest.

 

[Lexicus]

Erm, no. It's not ‘all that matters’. It's simply ‘all’.

Congratulations, England, you've gotten yourselves a Tory government not even restrained by the European Union.

I thought, maybe some good will come of this since after Britain leaves (assuming they in fact do) people will realize it's not the EU but the Tories that have been screwing them over?

But then I realized, of course people won't realize that.

 

[Akka]

Seems like Theresa May said that the government will not trigger the article 50 this year. Who would have guessed ?

So I suppose we'll have people continuing to blame the EU for the screw-up of the UK (by somehow claiming it's the EU preventing the UK to leave).
If only the EU could decide to vote for a rule allowing to kick a member out and then gives the UK the boot, this farce could maybe be over one day.

 

[aelf]

I would suggest it is more likely he is ignorant and parochially English and only has a foggy idea about what other countries are.

Don't try to weaponise your intellect. People are sick of experts, and Brexit will benefit the average citizen. Don't ask how, but it will.

 

[Takhisis]

Funny thing, that. How dare lawyers have opinions on the legal consequences of withdrawing from the EU, how dare economists have opinions on the economic consequences?

 

[Takhisis]

Oh, look, Angela Eagle steps down from her challenge to allow Owen Smith to have a go. She was completely not a stalking horse, of course.

 

[Arakhor]

I was thinking that exactly when I read that article. Wasn't it Traitorfish who called that some time ago?

 

[Takhisis]

Can't be. He's a weirdo loony lefty and a voter, so obviously he doesn't understand politics.

 

[Kyriakos]

Oh, look, Angela Eagle steps down from her challenge to allow Owen Smith to have a go. She was completely not a stalking horse, of course.

Lol. But BBC said she had a chance to win the general election. Why did she quit?

Wonder what excuse they'll present when Owen is also ruined by Corbyn.

 

[EnglishEdward]

David Davis the minister for getting out seems to have missed some history lessons while he was in school.

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2016/07/brexit-minister-david-davis-thinks-republic-ireland-part-uk

David Davies first reference to internal:

"one of our really challenging issues . . . will be the internal border we have with southern Ireland".

makes perfect sense if he is thinking internal to the physical island of Ireland.


His second reference to internal:

"we are not going to go about creating other
internal borders inside the United Kingdom"

makes sense if he is talking about the English/Scottish border.

 

[EnglishEdward]

I thought, maybe some good will come of this since after Britain leaves (assuming they in fact do) people will realize it's not the EU but the Tories that have been screwing them over?

People in the UK already realize very well that it is not just the EU or for that
matter the Tories screwing things up. Rememer it was Tony Blair and new Labour
who joined in with the USA in invaded Iraq and occupying Afghanistan, the percentage
of home owners started dropping from 2003 when the Labour party was in power.
The gap between the rich and the poor rose during Labour's 13 years, 1997 to 2010.

 

[Arakhor]

David Davies first reference to internal ... makes perfect sense if he is thinking internal to the physical island of Ireland. His second reference to internal ... makes sense if he is talking about the English/Scottish border.

The trouble with that rationalisation is exactly what was pointed out though - you agree that he is implying that the Irish border is similar to the Scottish border, i.e. within the same political state, which clearly the Republic of Ireland is not.

People in the UK already realize very well that it is not just the EU or for that matter the Tories screwing things up.

Are you sure about that? We already had a referendum where what "people in the UK" thought was shown to be decidedly lacking.

 

[EnglishEdward]

The trouble with that rationalisation is exactly what was pointed out though - you agree that he is implying that the Irish border is similar to the Scottish border, i.e. within the same political state, which clearly the Republic of Ireland is not.

Not being a mind reader, it is difficult to know what David Davies was thinking about.

However several posters here have delberately chosen to take unlikely worst possible
interpretations, rather than more reasonably argue his answers were poorly worded.

I take the view that David Davies is well aware of the history and current politics,
and does not want to see a return to hard borders with rasor wire fences, and
queues of cars and lorries building up in either of the islands of Britain or Ireland.

Are you sure about that? We already had a referendum where what "people in the UK" thought was shown to be decidedly lacking.

Yes, I am quite sure about that.

The fact that the majority of the UK voters decided that we should return to
self government rather than continue on the road to a single European state
does not mean that we think the sun shines out of the arses of the Tories.

 

[really]

The kindest explanation would be that he chose his wording poorly. Not what you would hope from the person negotiating but we are all human.

All the other explanations are less kind.

It hasn't gone down well on this side of the border - it reinforces the view that this whole thing hasn't been thought out and that the practical and political consequences for Northern Ireland and Ireland aren't a priority for the English cabinet.

 

[Takhisis]

Edward, you can't create an internal border with Ireland because, by definition, an internal border is within the country. As really said, the least damning explanation is that it's simply poor choice of words.

 

[Traitorfish]

It tells you something about the Conservative Party's talent pool that "struggles with the English language" is considered a relatively light mark against a senior cabinet member.

 

[Zelig]

The kindest explanation might be that he was referring to the maritime border in the North Channel between Scotland and Northern Ireland, and misspoke between "northern" and "southern".

 

[Takhisis]

It might be that that was why the Tories didn't have a plan for when they toppled Cameron won their referendum. They don't actually know what the European Union is.

 

[Arwon]

I really think the obvious answer is that a chunk of the English population would be insular and indifferent enough to be genuinely unsure if Ireland isn't in some way governed from the UK. I mean they speak English and are in the British Isles right?

Surely a low talent politician is perfectly capable of being addled enough to share the confusion.