Because I'm working at the election next weekend, I've signed an agreement that I will not comment on the workings of the AEC or Australian politics in general. It's not easy being neutralised but I'll have to wear it for another 6 days at least. If I want to keep my blog ticking over, I'll have to find something else to talk about. Brexit!
What were they thinking about? It seems it is the result of a bunch of older poms yearning for the old days of 'Great' Britain and worrying about the increasing immigration from Eastern Europe. Fair enough, but the days when half the world was coloured pink have gone and younger people don't seem to have the same concerns about immigration as their grandparents and they're the ones who have to live with this decision.
It's interesting that the only world leaders who applaud this decision are Marine le Pen, the French National Front leader, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. Wouldn't their approval make you think you had backed the wrong horse?
So what happens next? Will Scotland 'veto' the decision as it seems they can, or will it pull out of the Union? Will Northern Ireland decide the experiment of becoming part of the UK was not worth it and seek reunion with the Republic of Ireland? Will Bozo Boris become PM?
I think the UK has been suffering from 'relevance deprivation syndrome' since the Second World War and is now thrashing about seeking the importance it once held in world affairs. It has struggled with the need to accommodate the ideas and points of view of its partners in Europe, many of whom were its enemies in living memory and, like all one-time bullies, it doesn't like being told what to do. This choice to leave the EU smacks of cutting off one's nose to spite one's face.
What were they thinking about? It seems it is the result of a bunch of older poms yearning for the old days of 'Great' Britain and worrying about the increasing immigration from Eastern Europe. Fair enough, but the days when half the world was coloured pink have gone and younger people don't seem to have the same concerns about immigration as their grandparents and they're the ones who have to live with this decision.
It's interesting that the only world leaders who applaud this decision are Marine le Pen, the French National Front leader, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. Wouldn't their approval make you think you had backed the wrong horse?
So what happens next? Will Scotland 'veto' the decision as it seems they can, or will it pull out of the Union? Will Northern Ireland decide the experiment of becoming part of the UK was not worth it and seek reunion with the Republic of Ireland? Will Bozo Boris become PM?
I think the UK has been suffering from 'relevance deprivation syndrome' since the Second World War and is now thrashing about seeking the importance it once held in world affairs. It has struggled with the need to accommodate the ideas and points of view of its partners in Europe, many of whom were its enemies in living memory and, like all one-time bullies, it doesn't like being told what to do. This choice to leave the EU smacks of cutting off one's nose to spite one's face.
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