Yup, the UK right now is blaming everyone but themselves (or at least the papers are). There was fury about Belgian authorities taking away sandwiches etc from UK lorry drivers. I also read that someone in the UK got really annoyed that they had to queue up in the 'Outside EU' line....
GP is a reflection of the current political state of affairs: to feel schadenfreude, you need that us-vs-them mentality, and GP mentions feeling schadenfreude like it’s the most natural thing ever.
The only feeling that’s triggered in me is being sorry for normal UK folks.
And, I think we will really know after a couple of years if this was a “mistake”. Being in the EU feels often like a “mistake”, too. I am not thinking my country should leave, but I’d love to see a major reform making the EU much lighter, less bureaucratic and focused on core topics instead of being this gigantic monster that’s deciding which popups I need to see.
Look up the actual numbers, chances are that you’ll find the actual EU bureaucracy is nimbler and more cost-effective than your national one, per-head. The EU budget is tiny.
The choice of matters discussed at EU level is sadly due to the agenda of national states, for the major part; in a lot of cases it’s actually what they don’t feel brave enough to touch but still think “something should be done about”, so the EU provides plausible deniability. If you feel this is not to your likes, complain to your MEPs and your national MPs.
Personally I think some issues won’t be solved until we have more European authority rather than less; a bit like the US ended up moving most powers to the federal government during its first 150 years.
Just support your country negotiating opt outs of things you don't like. That's one thing I thought really worked about the EU, when we were in we had opt outs on all sorts of things. Schengen, the Euro, various employment legislation, it was very flexible. The only things we were 'forced' into were a few marginal issues like the details of the contents of labels on tin cans and such. I thought two speed Europe, really multi-speed Europe worked pretty well. It's been rather sad watching so many Brexiteers complaining about EU regulations and agreements we weren't even part of.
The EU really needs to get better at educating everyone what it actually does and why it exists. How much money they spend every year and how much the EU actually costs every citzen in Europe on average.
The SNP has already announced that they will hold another independence referendum should they win a majority in the Scottish Parliament in Mays elections - which seems highly likely:
The current narrative in the uk media is that the EU have failed to plan the Covid Vaccines effectively as they insisted doing it as a single block, and that the UK has done much better as we were no longer tied to them and could move much quicker.
If there is any truth to that it's a big vindication of Brexit and I say that as a remain voter.
meigwilym|5 years ago
melomal|5 years ago
whalesalad|5 years ago
matthewmorgan|5 years ago
kstenerud|5 years ago
The loss of the UK is nothing but a sad occasion, because everyone in the UK and the EU is weakened as a result.
read_if_gay_|5 years ago
baxtr|5 years ago
And, I think we will really know after a couple of years if this was a “mistake”. Being in the EU feels often like a “mistake”, too. I am not thinking my country should leave, but I’d love to see a major reform making the EU much lighter, less bureaucratic and focused on core topics instead of being this gigantic monster that’s deciding which popups I need to see.
toyg|5 years ago
The choice of matters discussed at EU level is sadly due to the agenda of national states, for the major part; in a lot of cases it’s actually what they don’t feel brave enough to touch but still think “something should be done about”, so the EU provides plausible deniability. If you feel this is not to your likes, complain to your MEPs and your national MPs.
Personally I think some issues won’t be solved until we have more European authority rather than less; a bit like the US ended up moving most powers to the federal government during its first 150 years.
simonh|5 years ago
Lutzb|5 years ago
jacquesm|5 years ago
ThePadawan|5 years ago
arethuza|5 years ago
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/jan/24/scotland-in...
samwillis|5 years ago
If there is any truth to that it's a big vindication of Brexit and I say that as a remain voter.
czzr|5 years ago
simonh|5 years ago