Brexit

[PNWbrit]

Earlier I saw a comment from a British citizen that he wanted to trade in his UK passport for a Scottish one. How the fuck does that work, as I am in the same boat???

There is no such thing as a Scottish passport. Yet.

You might want to check about the eligibility requirements for UK citizens to obtain R of Ireland passport. I imagine qualification for a future Scottish one might be similar? Parent, Grandparent, length of residency etc...

[Adolf Allerbush]

Will the Falklands be next...join Argentina?

[PNWbrit]

Stupid British slag explains how she is voting in the "refeyendum"

[abraham]

Will the Falklands be next...join Argentina?

You mean the Malvinas?

[Adolf Allerbush]

You mean the Malvinas?

Thank you....what about Montserrat?

[Bromontana]

Scotland wants to stay in the EU and will probably hold another referendum on leaving the UK

Cool, thanks

[hawkgt]

You mean the Malvinas?

thank you

[PNWbrit]

BRITAIN is making headlines around the world today after over 17 million gobshites did something rather stupid, WWN can reveal.

Exit polling company YouGov confirmed that the biggest winners of the referendum, which saw Britain vote to leave the EU, turned out to be ignorance, casual racism and Nigel Farage’s erection.

Many voters were swayed by the fact that a Leave vote would supposedly bring day-to-day decision making powers back into the hands of elected members of British parliament, and out of the grasps of the unelected bureaucrats in the EU.

However, thanks to a successful Leave campaign, an unelected replacement for David Cameron will first have to be chosen and then verified by the unelected Queen before Britain get to the business of regaining the £150 billion wiped off their economy since trading opened this morning.

Leave campaigner and avid bastard Nigel Farage confirmed that any financial hardship people could face in the years to come will be mitigated by the fact dirty foreigners won’t be flooding into Britain and contributing positively to society and the economy.

On the recommendation of Donald Trump, among others, 52% of those who turned out to vote ignored an overwhelming number of experts to utilise their right to vote in a fit of misguided jingoistic silliness. While many people had legitimate concerns with Britain’s place within the EU and the overall benefit of remaining a member, the vast majority of those voting had a deep seethed desire to just see how ‘fucked up things could get’.

“Fuckin’ gobshites,” the majority of Europe confirmed upon waking up to the news that Britain had voted to exit the EU.

In his resignation speech a surprised David Cameron confirmed “I will resign, but if I’m being honest, I thought if anything was going to bring me down it was going to be that whole dead pig fucking thing”.

[klar]

1. This is about immigration. Period. Is this a legitimate concern for Europe? klar and other young Euros need to chime in about this.

Okay, well since you asked, here's a lengthy essay.

Cliff notes: Define "immigration". Yes, some of it is a concern, there wont be a simple solution, I think we are stronger and better equipped to face the challenge if we stick together and to our 'free world' values. I am also strongly pro European and would prefer a stronger, much more unified EU to what it currently is.

As abraham pointed out, a big part of the UK discussion was about EU citizens coming to the UK to work and "exploit social services" or something along those lines. This is a very different issue than the refugee crisis. Is the former a legitimate concern for Europe? No, I don't think so. Is the latter? Yes, and not just for Europe.

Do I think it will be solved by getting rid of the EU? No. Did the EU fuck up in how it has so far been dealt with? Yes. My feeling is that the problem of refugees wanting to come from shit places to better ones will get worse before it gets better. My feeling is also that this is not something the countries of the first world can ignore or shut out by closing their borders.

In my opinion, the EU failed in this not because it was overbearing regarding the sovereignty of its members but because it did not do enough to enforce a common European response to the crisis. Italy and Greece cannot be expected to deal with the problem alone just because they happen to be in charge of the beaches where bodies wash up. It should not be okay for member countries to flat out refuse any and all cooperation with neighbour states on issues that affect all members. Throwing some money at Libya and Jordan is not enough and making massive concessions to Erdogan so he'll keep a few more refugees in Turkey is a betrayal of European values (you know, things like freedom of speech, freedom of the press, human rights in general). Europe could absorb the refugees if we wanted to and worked together, it's not like this is a completely unprecedented situation.

What does seem unprecedented is that so many people apparently are really afraid of so many things. I figure that more than anything else this is due increasing uncertainty in the lives of almost everyone. Older people experienced the economic boom after the war and the massive rise in standard of living that went along with it. People lived knowing that things were getting better and would continue to do so for their children. I think we are the first generation since the war where this is no longer true. We fear losing some of our first world privilege in the face of shifting world economies, aging populations in our home countries (while developing countries keep having lots of babies) and all the other signs that a lot of things will probably change pretty massively in the future.

In this setting, it is easy to prey on people's fears for short term political gains. Media culture has also changed since the last comparable events (refugees from Balkan wars in the 90s) and I think this plays a significant role in how public debate is conducted. Everyone shares facebook posts about "mass rapes" (what?) and nobody bothers to fact check. Easy solutions are nice and it is tempting to believe the loudest person shouting about one when the alternatives will always be flawed and uncomfortable. Fear makes people focus on the safety of familiar things. Risks - like accepting change, people who look different and speak a weird language, new cultures, new thoughts into your life - seem less appealing than they might when you feel like you rule the world.

The concern about terrorists sneaking in with legit refugees: Yes, well. What is the acceptable ratio of people drowning in sight of our favourite beach destinations per terrorist kept out? Does it matter if the drowned people are children under 5? Will it produce more or less terrorists if we behave like total assholes to the rest of the world? Should the terrorist sneaking in concern be taken seriously? Absolutely. I just don't see how sealing our borders to all refugees could possibly be a real solution to any of it.

I believe in not letting fear dictate my life, that we have a duty to help people who need help, that diversity is a good thing, and that people do not risk their toddlers drowning in the Mediterranean if they have any sort of alternative.

Eastern European immigration is not as emotionally charged but it is also a point of discussion, maybe similar to Mexicans coming to the US? It has become common to distinguish between "economic refugees" who come from not-completely-shit places, often in eastern, non-EU Europe, and the others who are fleeing war, persecution, torture in the utterly-and-completely-shit places. Asylum regulations for the economic refugees have become much tougher in many EU countries since the others started showing up in force.

oh, and I like this:

[liv2ski]

This headline made me laugh.....

[narc]

I’m proud that my fellow countrymen have had the conviction to vote to leave. The British way is typically bitching and moaning while putting up with something and it shows just how far off the rails the EU has gone to incite such a drive to vote out.

Finally our elected government will have the powers back to actually govern this country.

[Hayduke]

I’m proud that my fellow countrymen have had the conviction to vote to leave. The British way is typically bitching and moaning while putting up with something and it shows just how far off the rails the EU has gone to incite such a drive to vote out.

Finally our elected government will have the powers back to actually govern this country.

You stupid cunt.

[PNWbrit]

You stupid cunt.

^yep.

[Benny Profane]

Just let us keep Austin, mmk?
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-br...-idUSKCN0ZA3F4

The danger there is The Texan Air Force carrying nukes.

Don't laugh.

[muted]

if texas leaves, can trump build a wall between it and us?

[narc]

I love the comments (hate?) the outcome of this from people who have never lived under the EU

[ClarkleberryFinn]

I love the comments (hate?) the outcome of this from people who have never lived under the EU

Challenge: name one way in which the EU has oppressed you, personally, one law it has forced upon the UK that has negatively affected you personally, and one law you wanted passed that the EU prevented.

[ClarkleberryFinn]

Earlier I saw a comment from a British citizen that he wanted to trade in his UK passport for a Scottish one. How the fuck does that work, as I am in the same boat???

It doesn't work yet, as there is no such thing as a Scottish passport, only British.

However if - as seems likely - Scotland hold another independence referendum, and then vote to leave the UK, they will need their own passport as an independent country.

At least I hope so, as I want one.

[PNWbrit]

I love the comments (hate?) the outcome of this from people who have never lived under the EU

You stupid cunt.

You're welcome Hayduke.

[Adolf Allerbush]

It doesn't work yet, as there is no such thing as a Scottish passport, only British.

However if - as seems likely - Scotland hold another independence referendum, and then vote to leave the UK, they will need their own passport as an independent country.

At least I hope so, as I want one.

If Scotland leaves the UK they're still years away from EU membership, and during that time a bunch of other countries may drop out.

[ClarkleberryFinn]

For 1. The UK was not in the Schengen zone. The people they allowed to immigrate are allowed in by the British government, not the EU or any other member states so they have nobody to blame but themselves. The specter of mass immigration from the EU zone certainly was scary enough to be used in the campaign but I don't believe there has been any push to force them into Schengen.

Not sure if I've mis-read you or you've misunderstood.

Schengen isn't really about immigration. The fact the UK is out of it simply means you have to show your passport at the border.

Currently (or until today), ANY EU citizen has full rights to live and work in the UK. Some people don't like this because they are worried that Polish people will come and steal their jobs.

Some people are also worried that a lot of the refugees Merkel welcomed into Germany will soon be given citizenship (and so be allowed to love/work in the UK) - and then turn out to be terrorists.

[ClarkleberryFinn]

If Scotland leaves the UK they're still years away from EU membership, and during that time a bunch of other countries may drop out.

Yeah for sure. It's a big if, and even if it happened would take years.

[abraham]

Not sure if I've mis-read you or you've misunderstood.

You didn't misread, I got that wrong

[fastfred]

who the fuck really cares is my question

cause some dip shit over educated people think this is bad because it might hurt their stock portfiolio

things can't get much worse than they are here or in britian so who gives a fuck that they don't want to be part of the EU, if the average uneducated shit out of luck american realized they could stand up and say enough of getting fucked over by the 1% and all these corporations, then you might have to worry, but hey, with a nice cell phone, the internet, and cable tv no one is going to get too far off the couch

I still don't get what the fuck the big deal is, I had to get up and goto work today so I guess the end isn't near

[neck beard]

The Internet has not made us smarter.