Scrapping EU laws and the Ex-Pat?> - Page 4

Lee Anderson?  My gods ... they really *ARE* desperate aren't they?  Apparently there was also a rather cringeworthy "interview" with Blobby Johnson done by TalkTV's newest host and Johnson Syncophant-in-Chief Nadine Dorries; it appears she spent an hour telling him how nothing was his fault.  Apparently Johnson had the good grace to look embarrassed.

But Lee Anderson? Isn't he the one that Penny Mordaunt claimed was loved the length and breadth of the country because he spoke his mind?  He clearly wouldn't have to say very much at all of anything to "speak his mind"

What an ABSOLUTE shower of corrupt, cronyist, reality-challenged neanderthals are sitting in government now - and "lead" by what is becoming painfully obvious is one of the weakest leaders since Neville Chamberlain - or Anthony Eden come to that!!

I personally think we have the worst government and the weakest opposition that I’ve seen in my 74 years of breathing gods air . Well 56 years of ability to vote . The alternative is equally dire . Cmon folks we have let this happen . We have all had the wonderful chance to vote in our respective MPs . And you good folks that fled to Spain still have the ability to sway votes and options . Democracy was bought and fought for by our forefathers but it doesn’t just give people the right to slag off my country which I love . Dario I have a lot of time for you , far more learned than me . You won’t change what’s going on in uk by pontificating your left wing rants sitting in your cushdie Desert spring resort . Come and get on the streets here . And you Mathew , love our banter but it’s easy from an armchair in Southern Ireland . What exactly is the answer to this shambles . There the nice Mr Dev has come off the shelf and I am so angry with all this negative comments . The whole world is struggling . Then to see the tragic events in Turkey and Syria does that not just put our whole lovely lifestyle into perspective. Bless those poor people their . Dev

Well said Devo and I agree with every world, you have said, the voice of reason and sense at last.  Have a good weekend

Well Dev, if the government would carry through their promise of presenting before parliament the enabling legislation to scrap the 15 year rule, I could vote in my chosen MP and help effect change that way.

I spent time in the forces, went to the Falklands even - twice (because I hated it so much the first time, I got sent back to see if I liked it any better ...)  I served my country, I wear my vets badge with pride.  But the country no longer bears much resemblance to the country I served.  The country I served, even under Thatcher, did not hate refugees, did not hate the EU ('twas in fact Thatcher who forged closer links to the EU) and was not intent on driving itself wholeheartedly back in time into the ice-cold embrace of feudalism!!  Greedy, opportunistic and seemingly simple-minded pirates have raped and pillaged the country, causing distress and upset for family and friends that remain there and who in some instances do not have the luxury of escaping to a better standard and quality of life.

Aye, I could well remain in Britain and fight the good fight from the discomfort of rising energy prices, extortionate housing prices and ever-rising food prices 

But why should I? I am fortunate enough to be able to live in comfort here; I've served my country, done my time as it were.  So I'll continue pontificating and espousing my admittedly left-wing ideals from here .... and encourage those who are still in the country to perhaps listen to reason and get rid of the corrupt, soul-destroying, country-mangling, xenophobic tory filth.

"Nostalgia is not what it used to be ;-)

"More than forty years ago, television viewers across the country were switching on to watch the first episode of the fourth and final series of the hugely popular When The Boat Comes In.

Showing on BBC One at 8.10pm on Tuesday, February 17, 1981, newspaper previews announced: "Jack Ford returns from America after the Wall Street Crash - an illegal passenger aboard a Liverpool-bound tramp steamer.

"He returns to find an England of mass unemployment and hunger marches."

The show started in 1919 with a England suffering from the end of the First World War. When I say England suffering iIsuppose I mean the workers of what was then the UK & Ireland.

Ireland was in the middle of a war of Independence. Prohibition was the latest fad to occupy the USA.. The Wall Street crash in 1929 is what brought our hero Jack Ford back to blighty. An interesting Hero our Jack. A Working Class Capitalist. Screwed everybody over. But we really enjoyed it when he screwed over the upper class.

As I have said a fantastic glimpse of what it was like back in those golden days of no NHS and everyman for himself.

Nobody took care of the worker other than his Union. If you where outside the Union, tough brother,  you where on you're own.

Scotland was persuaded, using this logic to remain part of the United Kingdom, by the Tories. It was repeated time after time, being outside the Union was leaving the EU. Scotland would be all alone on the world stage. A no brainer for the Youth of Scotland and they voted to stay. A pretty bad career move, as one wag put it.

Anyway it is what it it is. And all we can hope for is, out there somewhere, another Jack Ford, is heading back to blighty.

To save the day.

For those of a nostalgic bent. "When the Boat Comes In" can be watched on Youtube. (Just search for "When the Boat Comes In" )

I remember watching the first episode with my Mom. And thinking it was going to be a comedy. As it had Jack Bolam from The Likely Lads, in it. I watched it for a laugh and ended up being gripped by easily one of the best drama shows ever put on TV.

The episodes are in clumps. So you will not get them all in a ducks row. But as each episode is nearly a complete story, I didn't mind. I just love the acting, the writing, the Geordie accent. And I'll freely admit it. The Nostalgia.

Enjoy

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/history/farewell-landmark-geordie-tv-series-19848257

All well and good . Boys from the black stuff , Alf garnett in til death us do part and now there is an uproar about fawlty towers  , ( watch out Mathew your required ) . Not allowed to take the mick out of a Spanish accent and batter the poor waiter around the head . How was it ok then and not now . Did anyone find that funny ?None of those programs would see the light of day in this era . Good on you Dario for your service to Queen and country and I have good friends who were involved in that falklands conflict and still struggle with problems from there . I will never knock you for your views and as we profess on this forum opions,just sometimes some people have the ability to put their opinions more forcefully than the likes of me . I still can’t see that labour are a better option , Diane Abbot , John McDonnell , a Miiliband I’ve just looked at the full line up and I can’t see a great deal between them . We must look forward and not keep looking back . We’ve all got 24 hours in a day , rich or poor and I expect a lot of us on here have come through tough times . Let’s crack on , do what we can to help each other but continue to tear lumps out of each other on here without any blood been shed . 

Labour *may* not be the perfect answer - but they are certainly a better bet than what is in at the moment; if only because it will put the Tories on the opposition benches, and when the inevitable infighting and political assassinations are over, maybe just maybe, whoever is left will have time for some deep introspection and to ask "where did we go wrong?" - and MAYBE actually arrive at an answer instead of trying to blame everyone else and deny any responsibility.

Do you think there is an alternative to this stagnant , toxic two party state Dario ?

Not with FPTP voting - that will always ensure the two major parties hold the balance of power.

Proportional Representation will be the only way the iron grip of Tory / Labour is broken. There’s more of a chance of getting in MPs that actually work for the electorate, instead of themselves.

This is why Tories are against PR; FPTP is what keeps them in power.  PR would seriously dent their ability to get large majorities and do what they want without effective challenge

I think that the people who liked the idea of Brexit will allow this to happen and they are pretty silent, unfortunately. Staying silent with their beliefs, unable to express any positive ideas about the benefit of Brexit and ignoring what is going on? Passively allowing the world to crumble around them because they do not know how to do anything else. It is easier to blame someone than come up with positive solutions.

Lots of talk about the next election and rightly so, because it appears to be the only way out of the mess. However, I think there are lots of other ways to influence what is going on. The residual force of the Remain groups still exist including Lord Hesseltine and have been out on the streets campaigning but that is about Europe and what is lost. It is fighting the action in Parliament that started this debate but is seen as pro-Europe and not anti UK destruction. I think it is important to reach out to other groups (of a growing number) who are also concerned about what is happening and to support any group who can bring pressure to bear on MPs and government departments?

Like Dario, I have lost my right to vote. I haven't been in one place long enough to be registered and was always going to leave the UK anyway. (Who dreamed up the, register every year rule, to retain your vote - the tories), My MP was typical of many. He was photographed more often with prize winning cattle than with people as he sought the agricultural applause of the Shires. The constituency was always Conservative and so he only needs to smile at farmers. Occasionally he was seen with soldiers or a D-Day veteran. Was he ever at a school or hospital? Nope! This is hanging on to an era that does not exist anywhere except in someone's mind. The reason we laughed at the likes of Alf Garnett and Basil Fawlty was because we recognised those values were changing and we knew that something had to give, (laughing is actually a showing of fear) most of us reflected on it and moved with the times.

The world is moving on at a pace that is hard for anyone retired to comprehend, the AI - robots of the world have been around for a while and will impact all societies increasingly. UK politicians are only interested in keeping things as they are and making money out of any changes, like privatising the NHS.

The riot outside a Liverpool asylum centre last night highlights the point I think. Several hundred people gathered to protest at asylum seekers being given  'hotel treatment' more people arrived to defend the asylum and police arrived in large numbers to try and stop the violence. Whatever you make of the asylum situation, attacking it with violence is the option of last resort surely? These people need to understand the asylum seekers are being processed before being allowed to stay, or not. They need somewhere to stay (education) that is not a tent in a muddy field (civilised behaviour). They also need to see that a lot of the leading lights in the Conservative party are 'black' and came from backgrounds abroad, not in the UK (more education).

Ex-pats in Spain do have other ways to influence what happens back in the UK. That is besides an association for ex-pats down the Costa del Sol mainly and an 'ambassador for the Costas' who was seen in the Olive Press a year or so ago, specifically to address ex-pats needs if you prefer a political route? Don't give up, keep resisting :)