Tony Abbot Gets it

In the speccie. It’s a longish read, but he understands well enough.

It’s pretty hard for Britain’s friends, here in Australia, to make sense of the mess that’s being made of Brexit. The referendum result was perhaps the biggest-ever vote of confidence in the United Kingdom, its past and its future. But the British establishment doesn’t seem to share that confidence and instead looks desperate to cut a deal, even if that means staying under the rule of Brussels. Looking at this from abroad, it’s baffling: the country that did the most to bring democracy into the modern world might yet throw away the chance to take charge of its own destiny.

That’s pretty much it. Any decent negotiator wouldn’t have negotiated anything.

Let’s get one thing straight: a negotiation that you’re not prepared to walk away from is not a negotiation — it’s surrender.

And that is what May has done. The treachery is unbearable to watch. To say that I am fuming would be an understatement.

We were in a position of strength back in June 2016. We could – and should – have simply packed our bags and left. As Abbott says, we could have set a zero tariff on imported goods with an agreement to abide by agreed standards of manufacture. We were in a position where we could set the terms bearing in mind the trade deficit. As for the Irish question – that’s been blown out of all proportion.

Finally, there’s no need on Britain’s part for a hard border with Ireland. Britain wouldn’t be imposing tariffs on European goods, so there’s no money to collect. The UK has exactly the same product standards as the Republic, so let’s not pretend you need to check for problems we all know don’t exist. Some changes may be needed but technology allows for smart borders: there was never any need for a Cold War-style Checkpoint Charlie. Irish citizens, of course, have the right to live and work in the UK in an agreement that long predates EU membership.

Precisely. We don’t need the EU. We never did need the EU. And let’s not forget what we have seen here – a spoiled child having a temper tantrum because someone decided to leave their club – an unelected, unaccountable, undemocratic bureaucratic oligarchy that exists merely to enrich and empower those at the top and fuck the citizens who have no say in the matter. The Parliament is merely a toothless talking shop with the real power held by the bureaucrats who are selected, not elected. Those who claim that this is democratic because democratically elected governments do the selection are at best, displaying a sleight of hand and at worst, they are downright lying. Either way, we cannot remove the commissars and that is the nub – there is no electoral accountability, whichever way you try to argue it.

We even have a president. Who voted for him? I didn’t. Did you? No, of course you didn’t. We, the little people, had no say in the matter, yet this drunken oaf swans about the world stage, at our expense, supposedly representing the people of Europe and not one of us had the opportunity to vote for him or any of the other candidates and they have the effrontery to lecture the world about democratic principles. The hubris here is planet-sized.

The EU’s palpable desire to punish Britain for leaving vindicates the Brexit project.

And we are letting these charlatans punish us for having the temerity to leave their club. For crying out loud! If nothing else comes from the pile of ordure that we now have to face, it is this; the knowledge that we were right all along. Not that it gives any satisfaction because the traitors in our own government have set us on a course of vassalage and “I told you so” rings hollow somehow.

Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!

As a former prime minister of Australia and a lifelong friend of your country, I would say this: Britain has nothing to lose except the shackles that the EU imposes on it. After the courage shown by its citizens in the referendum, it would be a tragedy if political leaders go wobbly now. Britain’s future has always been global, rather than just with Europe. Like so many of Britain’s admirers, I want to see this great country seize this chance and make the most of it.

Yes. Indeed. And someone gets it. I am hoping now that the whole thing will collapse and we “crash out” which will be a good thing. No deal was always the best deal.

10 Comments

  1. I still don’t understand why or how it can take 585 pages to say “Bye”.

    One page to say we’re leaving.
    One page to say how we’ll treat EU citizens already here.
    One page to say we won’t impose tariffs.
    One page to say we won’t be paying £39 billion.
    Etc.

    I reckon 10 pages, 20 at a stretch.

  2. EU punish UK – illegal?

    14 November Draft Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community

    The EU admits, in Art. 184, that it is in breach of Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty which oblige it to “conclude an agreement” of the terms of UK leaving the EU. We must now, it seems, “negotiate expeditiously the agreements governing their future relationship.” And if the EU does not? We settle down to this Agreement.”

  3. @LR

    H/T Whinging Spongers we don’t need or want, but pay for

    Refugees are being forced to live in filthy homes in the UK like the homes they left, official report finds

    Asylum seekers who have survived torture in their home countries are being forced to live in filthy, vermin-ridden, damp properties, an official report suggests.

    There were also long delays in getting repairs done. One new mother had to wait a month for someone to assemble a cot for her new baby, while others waited two weeks for a light bulb to be changed.

    Forced? Really? They are free to leave if they don’t like it – they’ve obviously proved they can do that.

    Assemble your cot yourself you lazy cow. Change your own damned lightbulbs.

    Where’s JuliaM’s tiny violin?

  4. Do send a copy of this blog post to Mrs May and each of her cabinet quislings. It tells them straight what idiots they have been regarding the EU.

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