The Cowards and Deceitful Opportunists of Brexit

TIME TO ABANDON SHIP

Gisela Stuart and Douglas Carswell have announced they will not be standing for re-election for parliament in the 2017 General Election. This adds to the growing number of prominent Brexit campaigners that seem to be leaving their jobs and have no intention of being a part of the huge and immensely complex negotiations involved in leaving the EU.

I don't understand how you can be so passionate about something in politics, yet decide you can't be bothered to finish what you started yourself. Either they're lazy, believe someone else can do a better job, or scared of the actual impact Brexit will have and have no intention of accepting any blame of how negotiations end. They are distancing themselves from the process of leaving, after being so in love with the idea of separating from the EU.

Several prominent figures on boths sides of the debate have decided to call it a day as an MP, for differing reasons.

Nigel Farage is an International Embarassment for the UK

Oh dear. Nigel Farage is at it again. On 5th April, he galloped into Strasbourg atop his Brexit unicorn and proceeded to once again, spew bile and delusional accusations at EU parliamentarians. Farage criticised the EU for it's £52 billion pound exit bill at the start of negotiations. As the official representative of all that is wrong with Britain, he had the audacity to say a hell of a lot of threatening and patronising words.

I am thoroughly disgusted by Farage's behaviour. He is there as a representative of the UK and is acting like everything about Brexit must be fine with him. He has become the face of the UK abroad and the poster boy for why people should just tell us to get stuffed. He's basically saying it's my way or no way at all. There are 65 million people in the UK and Farage is representing the extreme end of racist nationalism.

For the rest of this article, I want to analyse Farage's speech and bring to light other occasions that demonstrate what a disastrous demagogue he has been for Britain.

Why I support the EU in negotiations with the UK

On Wednesday 30th March 2017, the UK formally submitted a letter, notifying the European Union of it's decision to formally withdraw from the 28 state trading  power.

What has really and I mean really got under my skin, is the language and method we are using to conduct our "negotiations" with the EU. Patriotic nationalists are buoyed by the vitriolic bile spewed from prominent leave voters like Farage and Johnson, eschewing memories of a time long ago when Britain was actually a world power.  (I'm sure we were very nice to the world then too......)

But anyone who has ever been part of a successful mediation will understand that compromise and knowing your strengths and limits are of the utmost importance. Goading or infuriating the EU is not going to do the UK any favours in the long term. We are one small country, against an alliance of 27 others that are our closest trading partners.

 Moreover it is not like the EU is made up of countries who have no weight on the international scene. Germany have the strongest economy in Europe and the 4th strongest in the world. France are slightly behind the UK in 6th but are also a permanent member of the UN security council. Italy, Spain, Belgium, Portugal and Austria are also big economies with important pasts and will not suffer the UK's rhetoric lightly.

In essence, I want the EU to prove the UK is not a major player on the world stage anymore. I want it to throw those old ideals away and prove that integration is the best thing for all of us, under shared regulations and laws, agreed upon democratically inside the EU.

For Donald Trump : Don't Condemn the World to Forced Climate Change

On the 28th March 2017, Donald Trump has announced that he is to sign an executive order, overturning the previous Obama administration's plans to tackle global warming. His main reason is that combating climate change harms the economy with it's miasma of rules.

Trump is seeking to repeal the Clean Power Plan which limited the use of coal fired power stations because of the amount of carbon dioxide they released into the atmosphere. The Environmental Protection Agency estimated that this would reduce carbon dioxide pollution from the energy sector by 32% below 2005 levels by 2030. Environmental campaigners and democrats were highly supportive of the bill.

However, critics accused the Obama administration of a "war on coal" and warned that electricity prices will rise by so much that people will not even be able to surf the internet. Thomas J Donohue, the current president of the US Chamber of Commerce, said the EPA plan was a "power grab" that will "drive up electricity costs for businesses, consumers and families, impose tens of billions in annual compliance costs, and reduce our nation’s global competitiveness" 

Trumps head of the EPA Scott Pruitt, a former Oklahoma attorney general who questioned accepted climate science said "The president is keeping his promise to the American people,". Pruitt also denounced the Paris climate accord as a “bad deal” and said Obama-era standards on auto emissions were "counter-helpful to the environment".

Ah Donald Trump and the Republican Party,  here we go again..........

London's deaths are a tragedy, but there is far worse happening in the World

On the 22nd March 2017, Khalid Masood drove a vehicle at high speeds across Westminster Bridge, knocking down several people and killing some of them in the process. The vehicle proceeded to hit the railings outside Westminster and the driver exited, brandishing a knife and stabbing police officer Keith Palmer. Masood was shot dead by armed police seconds later, but 5 people including Keith Palmer died of their injuries. Islamic State took credit for the attack and outpourings of support have been sent to London.

It was an attack by a crazy jihadist who had a history of violence but I can't help have this feeling that there has been an over-exaggeration of the gravity of this attack. People have been on the news, bellowing in defiance of the terrorist actions. For an example, just watch Andrew Neil's denouncement of Islamic State from Newsnight a few days ago. However to me, this seems a case best explained by Josef Stalin :

"One death is a tragedy, a million is just a statistic"

There is only one Lord of Turkey.....and he does not share Power

Just a few years ago, Turkey was a country revered to be a safe haven for citizens and tourists, in a region torn apart by war and terrorism. Its modern values were imposed by Ataturk, a revered former leader, who championed democracy and secularism. However, times appear to have changed. In just a few weeks, there is to be a referendum held in Turkey to decide whether the country should have an executive presidency that would replace the existing parliamentary system of government and abolish the office of the Prime Minister. Albeit a democratic referendum, the people should be extremely cautious about who they are giving power to:

His Excellency Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Yep, that is his official title. He is a divisive figure across Turkey and the world. Born in 1954, he was an amateur footballer in his youth, progressing to accountancy, mayoralty, Prime Minister and then Dicta..... I mean President.

Well I think we should take a look at this man and see if he really is "excellent".

Referendum 

In Defence of the Wounded : An Opposition to the Alexander Blackman decision

Alexander Blackman was a British soldier who served in Afghanistan on several tours, most notably in 2011. He was known as Marine A and was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of an unarmed and injured combatant in Afghanistan. His case has endured a multitude of commentary and several court cases. Originally, he was found guilty of murder but this has now been reduced to manslaughter after an appeal, funded by his wife and several interested parties. I myself, have several reservations about this verdict and its implications on international treaties currently in effect. I believe the Court of Appeal has made a mistake and has partly legitimised the execution of those who could become prisoners.