= Сообщение: 3901 из 12549 ====================================== ENET.SYSOP = От : David Rance 2:203/2 24 Jun 16 16:55:22 Кому : Gerrit Kuehn 24 Jun 16 16:55:22 Тема : Brexit FGHI : area://ENET.SYSOP?msgid=2:203/2+576d49d8 На : area://ENET.SYSOP?msgid=2:240/12+574b4018 = Кодировка сообщения определена как: CP437 ================================== Ответ: area://ENET.SYSOP?msgid=2:280/5555+576d5830 ============================================================================== On Thu, 23 Jun 2016 20:27:44 Gerrit Kuehn -> David Rance wrote:
DR>> Interesting development - I wonder what effect last night's floods in DR>> south-east England will have on voter turnout. In a general election DR>> such an event would normally cause the Labour supporters to stay at DR>> home. Don't ask me why. It just happens. This referendum transcends DR>> political allegiances. We've got nothing to compare it with.
GK> What about the time when you joined the EU? Wasn't there something similar?
Yes, there was. It took place after we joined the EEC in 1971 or 1972 (I can never remember which). We were forced into the EEC by the then Conservative prime minister, Ted Heath. There were so many people that complained that we joined without proper consultation that, when Ted Heath lost the next election in 1974 and Harold Wilson got in as a Labour prime minister, he was more or less forced to let the country actually have a say.
Referenda have never been a part of British politics because the argument is that the government is always elected on its manifesto and that subsequent referenda are irrelevant and unnecessary.
Wilson's heart wasn't really in it and relied on the British desire to keep the status quo (I seem to remember that the ballot paper itself was so worded that people would automatically vote no). But it was quite a low profile affair. Yesterday's was completely different and the ballot paper was worded in such a way that one couldn't mistake what one was voting for.
This time there were particular grievances which had been building up over many years, mainly to do with immigration and the economy. We, like the rest of you, have had a number of years where public spending has had to be cut and the poorer people in the UK were getting very angry about having their allowances being cut back - and even being given to immigrants who had no skills or any jobs to go to. Housing had become a big problem ...... I could go on but I'm sure you know what the arguments are. And, of course, the Brexit supporters latched on to the grievances and, with the consummate artistry that only politicians can wield, got the support of the worse off by feeding them half-truths. (Like "We give £350 million to the EU every week. If we weren't in the EU we could spend that on hospitals." That sort of thing.)
Today, the UK is in shock. We never really thought that the vote would be to leave. Everyone I have met today is gloomy because we know that, in the short term, we are going back to years of austerity. I don't expect to live to see any benefits, if benefits there are, to accrue. My first impulse this morning was to go down to Reading Bridge and throw myself into the Thames.
Another interesting point is that a greater percentage of Scotland and Northern Ireland voted for staying in than they did in 1975! There will now be another referendum for Scottish independence.
And it's being widely reported here that several EU countries will now also want a referendum about leaving, including France and the Netherlands.
A sad, sad day!
David
-- David Rance writing from Caversham, Reading, UK
