If we could delay triggering Article 50 until 2018, with the French and German elections, the Hungarian referendum and the Swiss negotiations in the meantime there might not be an EU to come out of.
I said 'effectively' employed, as in one of the main industries there is the car manufacturing plants, located in the UK due to our access to the single market. Ie - Sunderland is one of the main beneficiaries of us being in the EU. Seriously, Longs - do you really think that most of these Brexit-voting Nissan workers really understood what they were voting for? Many certainly couldn't articulate it, so I'm guessing their thinking went little further than "Taking control again..."
I remember that it was reported that all Nissan employees were sent a letter advising them to vote "Remain". As us British don't like being told what to do a lot of people voted to "leave" just because of this, supposedly.
To work at the 'Nissan plant', or the supplying companies you don't need to live in Sunderland and even if it was a requirement, that would only account for approx 10% of Sunderland's population. I would guess that no more than 0.2% actually have any direct connection to Nissan for employment reasons. As for leave voters being thick as pig excrement, how many remain voters do you reckon, percentage wise, are just as thick, but just happened to vote the other way? 20, 40, 90%, what ya think?
That would not surprise me at all. The exact same sentiment has been used on here by some of the usual suspects.
Ok, Longs - fair do's. But you do know what I'm saying. Areas like Sunderland and the Midlands rely heavily on car manufacturing industries, and that - in turn - relies heavily on our single-market export to the EU. In addition to that, being in the more deprived areas of the UK, they also tend to get more direct assistance from the EU for other projects (just as we do down here in the SW). Despite that, these areas voted 'Leave'. That speaks volumes. I do understand the 'reasoning' - these areas contain those who have been hit hardest by the recession, do not feel they are getting a fair deal from the recovery, and they watch in horror as those who caused the recession are seemingly thriving once again. They are rightly pishedoff. They want to punish those responsible. But they chose the wrong target with their EU vote. Why did they do this? Because they are susceptible to glib soundbites and catchy phrases. Sorry - it's as simple as that. I've heard it from enough people down here in Devon - they do not 'understand' the EU and what it does for us, so they come out with a 'justification' for voting out, delivered with a smug grin as tho' they have just made a thoughtful, reasoned decision. They have not. Honest to gawd, when I ask them "Why?", the answers are weep-inducing. I've mentioned them before - the crim who couldn't be deported 'cos he owned a cat. The £350M. To save the NHS. 'Cos we are giving priority to the immigrants. To get our Sovereignty back. Etc etc etc. There is no other word for this except 'ignorance'. I repeat - that is not delivered as an 'insult', but as a correct statement to describe their level of understanding of these issues. This is EXACTLY what is happening in the US with Trump. His speech delivery is generally referred to as being aimed at the level of a '4th-grader'. Anyone with a modicum of intelligence, awareness and critical thinking knows that he's just saying 'stuff' - it is off-the-cuff nonsense which is packed full of lies and contradictions. And yet it works. It was little better over here. Us Brits have truly lost the right to call Americans 'stupid'. It is a simple truism that the Remain/Leave vote is split along a number of divides - age, etc. But also significantly by education level.
DA, I don't see the French company EDF backing out of any deal with UK(and China) over the Hinckley neuc plant down your way! Mr. HandyAndy - Really
That Contract should be cancelled immediately. Have a look at the obscene amounts above the wholesale price of Electricity that EDF have been promised.
It's a complex one indeed. I can't say I have the first idea where to go on this one. We do have to bear in mind, tho', that it's a very long-term investment, providing power for around 50 years with the energy payment guaranteed for - is it - 30 years? Does anyone here wanna guess what energy prices are going to be like in 30 or 50 year's time? (not that it'll affect me personally... ) I think it's pretty clear we do need Nook power, tho', so where else are we going to get it?
I understand exactly what your saying, but the propaganda from the remain camp obviously had an equal effect on how the ignorant masses voted. If, Corby the 'squatter' wasn't leader of the opposition we probably wouldn't be having this discussion!