It was pointed out me that I've been fairly quiet on the subject of the referendum so far. This is largely because I didn't want to state the bleeding obvious. Remain, obviously. Every argument I've heard from leave has been vague hand-flapping of the "it'll be fine" variety. I've heard no numbers. It's an emotional argument peddled by misty-eyed fantasists of an Elgar-soundtracked Merrie England which NEVER EXISTED at the more palatable end, and by swivel eyed bigots and xenophobes at the less refined end. All their argument about "red tape" conveniently ignore the protection of workers which eu directives enforce (and which the Tories would dearly love to get rid of, reckon maternity allowance would be what it is out of the eu? Then you're an imbecile. Get to the back of the class and play with some paper or something). I'd have some sympathy for the immigration argument, were it not for the fact that every eastern European I've ever met has been conscientious and hard working, and the ONS's own numbers indicate that they contribute far more to the economy than they take out. I understand the emotional dislike of immigration as eroding traditional societal structures but, frankly, it's the twenty-first century. get over it. There's a racist element to the Leave argument which can't be ignored and should be confronted.
Further disenchantment with the leave case is provided by those fronting it. I just don't believe in them. Gove spent ages banging on about how we should "be like Norway" until it was pointed out they pay in almost as much as we do. His next best argument? Albania. And all that shit he's chatting about giving money to the NHS, does anyone buy that for a second? I also refuse to believe talk of dropping VAT on fuel from a man which was part of a government which enthusiastically raised VAT to it's current eye-watering 20%. As for Johnson, I don't think he's ever said a word he believed in. This is the sight of a man prepared to gamble with an entire country purely for the sake of his own political ambition. The rest seem to be the usual mob of angry middle class white blokes (with Gisela Stuart as a fig-leaf to cover their shrivelled privates).
Remain's case is more compelling, not that I'm a fan of how Cambo and Osborne have gone about it. their scaremongering is as unpalatable as BoJo's opportunist flag-waving but, crucially, they have the stats. They have numbers. This decision is too important to leave to the heart alone. And much as it pains me to agree with Osborne about ANYTHING it seesm for once his sums are roughly in the right ballpark
I'm by no means a big EU fan, the sustained humiliation of the Greeks was hard to stomach from a progressive's point of view. It is an unwieldy machine and, as such, wasteful. But it strikes me that the correct approach is a sceptical remain, because you can't reform anything from the outside. On the whole I feel it does more good than harm. Not had a lot in the way of land wars in Europe since it's inception, either, have we? Not much of a banner-waving argument, I agree. But that's because I'm a grown up. I'm not here to wave a fucking flag around, I'm here to do the right thing by my wife, my kids, my fellow countrymen and my fellow europeans. So yes, Remain, obviously.
Further disenchantment with the leave case is provided by those fronting it. I just don't believe in them. Gove spent ages banging on about how we should "be like Norway" until it was pointed out they pay in almost as much as we do. His next best argument? Albania. And all that shit he's chatting about giving money to the NHS, does anyone buy that for a second? I also refuse to believe talk of dropping VAT on fuel from a man which was part of a government which enthusiastically raised VAT to it's current eye-watering 20%. As for Johnson, I don't think he's ever said a word he believed in. This is the sight of a man prepared to gamble with an entire country purely for the sake of his own political ambition. The rest seem to be the usual mob of angry middle class white blokes (with Gisela Stuart as a fig-leaf to cover their shrivelled privates).
Remain's case is more compelling, not that I'm a fan of how Cambo and Osborne have gone about it. their scaremongering is as unpalatable as BoJo's opportunist flag-waving but, crucially, they have the stats. They have numbers. This decision is too important to leave to the heart alone. And much as it pains me to agree with Osborne about ANYTHING it seesm for once his sums are roughly in the right ballpark
I'm by no means a big EU fan, the sustained humiliation of the Greeks was hard to stomach from a progressive's point of view. It is an unwieldy machine and, as such, wasteful. But it strikes me that the correct approach is a sceptical remain, because you can't reform anything from the outside. On the whole I feel it does more good than harm. Not had a lot in the way of land wars in Europe since it's inception, either, have we? Not much of a banner-waving argument, I agree. But that's because I'm a grown up. I'm not here to wave a fucking flag around, I'm here to do the right thing by my wife, my kids, my fellow countrymen and my fellow europeans. So yes, Remain, obviously.
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