In response to Niall McCrae: My part in the glorious revolution that secured our independence:
DollarPound wrote:
It was an act of the most profound irresponsibility on behalf of Cameron to stand for election with the intention of delivering a referendum, to then call that referendum, but then – knowing the result was on a knife edge – to make absolutely no plans whatsoever for a “Leave” result.
The fact that Cameron has now resigned only compounds that irresponsibility. And now Osborne has gone AWOL too. What a bunch of spineless cowards. They need to realise that when we elected them, we did not just confer power, but responsibility too.
Aaron D Highside wrote:
The most important politician for decades will be our EU exit terms negotiator, who must be trusted to fearlessly achieve the best terms for Britain. Someone who knows the arcane systems and institutions and more importantly is completely unfazed by the bureaucrat and bullies in Brussels. In short, someone like Margaret Thatcher. Nigel!
In response to Rob Slane: Glastonbury is an establishment event:
Cecelia O’brien wrote:
It is part of the media narrative that the Glastonbury crowd are all rebels, fighting against the oppression of their awful society. But yes – they became the Establishment some time ago and what an irony! The Remain camp was supported by the Establishment – virtually all government leaders in the UK and beyond, all the bankers. financial firms, cultural institutions, they even got Soros to show up. Hillary and Obama! Totally establishment. But the Glastonbury crowd cannot handle the inconsistency of this- so they must continue to see themselves as crusading rebels.
That most of them did not even bother to vote is beside the point.
sfin wrote:
Peter Hitchens says much the same thing as your conclusion.
He muses that, for years, as a conservative, he had much more in common with the likes of Kate Hoey and Frank Field than he did with the likes of David Cameron and George Osborne.
Politics at Westminster needs a dramatic realignment to reflect the natural, political fault lines of the British people. Between social conservatives and social liberals, between large state collectivists and small state libertarians.
The insane scrabbling for the mythical ‘centre ground’ has permitted a series of narcissistic sociopaths to create a political X factor, with the first goal of winning the anointment of the media, the second to retain power for as long as possible, and the third to exercise power on our behalf rather than represent the wishes of the majority.
I would also like to see more referenda and a much more direct democracy, based on the Swiss model.
After all, they don’t go to war (people don’t wage war, governments do), nobody would invade them as the citizenry is armed, they have a GDP per capita nearly twice the size of ours and the lowest crime rate on the planet.
Outy Mc Outface wrote:
What a strange lot the young pop stars and celebs of this country are. I can’t imagine the likes of Hendrix, The Who, Stones etc following the establishment, globalist line like a bunch of brainwashed sheep. I suppose being left in the hands of lefty, liberal educationalists has had it’s inevitable outcome.
In response to Kathy Gyngell: Brexit victors ignore Farage at their peril:
timbazo wrote:
Vote Leave was made the ‘official’ campaign for Brexit, in order to sideline Farage. This almost worked, in that Farage was pushed to make more and more extreme statements in order to be featured in the debate. It is likely that Johnson (and perhaps even Gove) were operating the Brexit campaign in concert with Cameron. Their aim would have been to secure a heroic failure for Brexit but, were the unexpected to happen and Brexit won, to then control the aftermath. Expect Johnson to now argue for access to the single market, even if that means that the UK has to allow the free movement of EU citizens and accepting all EU directives. He will probably offer the British people a second referendum with only two choices: associate membership on the above terms or full EU membership. Given those two choices, expect huge abstentions leading to the UK voting to stay in after all.
Charles Dawne wrote:
What should happen is that Brexit be delayed until the failed main parties rearrange themselves accordingly as they had been during this referendum debate.
The Conservative Party needs to die along with Labour, and for a proper conservative (small c) party to emerge. That done, call a general election.
Calling it first: new pm and cabinet will be announced, who will be “eurosceptic” and once that done Douglas Carswell of UKIP will jump ship back to the Tories.
Politically__Incorrect wrote:
Well said Kathy. Good to see the TCW ladies finally back online. Must have been a heck of a party!
For the first time in months I watched the BBC News covering the referendum result. The BBC, along with Channel 4 News, seem to be doing everything they can to engender fear into their viewers. I have never seen such a gross display of wound-licking, blame-throwing bile by our national broadcasters; a reminder to me, if I needed one, why I don’t watch them anymore. Instead of irresponsibly whipping up angst and resentment, our state broadcaster should encouraging calm and unity. Unfortunately, the BBC continues to peddle its old narrative and political agenda as if it were still fighting the campaign.
The treatment of Nigel Farage by Vote Leave shows that people like Johnson are still partly in EU mode, despite their late conversions to Brexit. They are still in the old mind set, treating Farage and UKIP as toxic. To me Farage is actually quite a humble man. He is not a career politician seeking high office. He has spent his political career focusing on one issue, and has won, taking millions of voters with him. I am still sceptical about the Johnny-come-latelies from the Tory party; after all it was a Conservative Prime Minister who duped us into this mess in the first place.
UKIP is not a spent force just because the referendum is over and won. UKIP stands for an Independent UK, and should stay around in case we get another incarnation of Edward Heath. I’ll be renewing my party membership.
JB wrote:
Of course they’ll try to side line Farage and UKIP. They are dangerous to the Tories. The Tories will have taken some serious damage for their support of Remain and their actions during the referendum. Johnson and Gove will do little to mitigate that. UKIP will be the main beneficiary of the Leave vote. How that that would affect a general election, I’ve no idea. I think Labour and the Tories will lose support. The Lib Dems will remain a spent force. UKIP will pick up votes, but can they win seats? Don’t know.
It’s important UKIP stay in the game. The Tories cannot be trusted. They seek power for its own sake. They have not been conservative for a long time. It would be better if they were to merge with either the Lib Dems or the Labour party, or both. There are no significant policy differences between them. They waste everyone’s time being separate. Like British Leyland’s various sub-brands competing with each other in the ’70s. A new conservative party is needed. UKIP could become that party.
