Congratulations to my British friends on their independence day. I genuinely hope that in the coming months and years Britain takes full advantage of its escape from the lethal embrace of the EU.
As the six or seven regular readers of this inconsequential blog know, I have been a long time supporter of Brexit.
My support for Britsh independence began years ago when I worked with British diplomatic, military, and intel personnel in various countries. I was appalled by how their freedom of action was constrained by the need to consult with their European “partners.” Those so-called “partners,” by the way, detested Britain and the British relationship with us. I remember a terrific Australian diplomat in Indonesia telling me, after I had expressed frustration with how difficult it had become to work with the British, “Forget the Brits. They want to be European not British.” For years I feared that to be true. Every visit I made to the UK over the years confirmed that this was a country intent on eradicating its amazing culture, history, and identity. London, one of the greatest cities on earth, had become increasingly a Third World bazaar governed by a mix of self-hating “woke” morons and hate-filled new arrivals. London was no longer English. If I wanted to see an anti-Western city I could have stayed in my old home town of Los Angeles.
But, perhaps, just perhaps, I was wrong. Is that possible?
Beneath the surface decay and the forced public obedience to the New World Order, the Ol’ Lion’s heart still beat. I commented before (Here for example) re the Brexit referendum. I was delighted when it passed and, once again appalled, by how the deceptive and treacherous PM May deliberately threw away the victory in the polls, and undertook some bizarre negotiations with the EU clearly designed to make sure that Britain never left the EU. I was again delighted when Britain’s equivalent of Donald Trump walked into Number 10; Boris “The Dude” Johnson vowed to execute the will of the people, and get Britain out of the EU. All the regular crowd of “annoited ones” threw everything they had at The Dude, but, in the famous words of the Original Dude, “The Dude abides.” And he certainly did that and more: he won a stunning parliamentary mandate, sent the horrid anti-American, anti-semite, and anti-British Labour clowns running, and began to fulfill his promise to make Britain Great and Independent Again.
As I said at the outset, I hope that the PM can begin the process of undoing decades of progressive damage to Britain. Britain has a wonderful opportunity as an independent country to establish relations with Europe and the rest of the world that benefit Britain. I hope that Britain gets its immigration issues under control and that the layers and layers of regulations that hold back British innovation and restrain the economy are drastically reduced. I want to see the UK and the US as full partners once again.
And, of course, we must extend a special thanks to Nigel Farage who has fought with intelligence, courage, and great wit to achieve this new beginning.
We always have to be careful about listening to our heart instead of our head. Yes, the EU is a bureaucratic monster which the US should treat with contempt. But let's not pretend that Boris Johnson is cut from the same cloth as President Trump.
ReplyDeleteLook at the facts. Boris has effectively banned fracking in the UK, despite their need for Russian gas. The main theme Boris used in the recent election was that leaving the EU would give the UK government more money to spend on their socialized (and only intermittently effective) National Health Service. Boris celebrated his Party's victory in the election by committing to make the UK "Carbon Neutral" -- which means more regulations, more taxes, more subsidies. Now the news suggests that Boris is going to commit to continuing the fatuous & wasteful High Speed 2 train system.
OK, Boris is an opportunist. But what about the average Brit? While Boris's "Conservative" Party won a large majority in Parliament, remember that his Party won only 44% of the total votes. 56% of Brits voted for an assortment of political parties which are even more Left-Wing than the "Conservatives".
And let's not forget the very insulting comments Boris has made about President Trump. Or about his government's decision to have the Chinese build their 5G system. And who can forget the UK's role in fomenting the ridiculous dishonest Russian Dossier which has caused so much trouble in the US?
We can wish the Brits good luck. But when they come crawling for a special trade deal with the US, the answer has to be -- Put your own UK house in order first; then come back and talk to us.
I expect the Russian Dossier was the work of Britain's own Deep State. I wouldn't blame Boris for that one. Also, the insulting comments were reported in the same mainstream media that hates both Boris and Trump. For the rest, no argument.
DeleteNeed to hire an anti spammer
DeleteItaly next. Now frau merkel will have to pay for the entire EU debacle with the German auto industry. Thing is, trade talks coming up and the German auto industry is dependent on unfair tariffs.
ReplyDelete..."And, of course, we must extend a special thanks to Nigel Farage who has fought with intelligence, courage, and great wit to achieve this new beginning." --WLA
ReplyDeleteHear Hear! and,
With a wave of their Red White & Blue colors,
Farage & Company Brexited the EU venue,
as the Shemale Chair squealed on~~~ misrepresenting
Farage's expressed "hate" for the EU system, as 'hate'
for Europeons, a sly socialist tactical lament, lifted
from the 'American DemonRats' lying loudmouth songbook!
On Watch~~~
"Let's Roll"
The behavior of the Chairman of the session told you everything you need to know about why UK departed this odious institution.
ReplyDeleteMy impression is that this change means that EU laws are basically 'snapshot-ed' as british law, but now britain can change those laws without EU permission and subsequent changes to EU law are not binding on Britain? Is that about right?
ReplyDelete- reader #1482
Not really. The UK has withdrawn from the EU but is still committed to EU rules and regulations for the remainder of 2020. The idea is that UK and EU will negotiate details of their future relations during the coming 11 months. The UK does not really "leave" the EU until the end of that transition period.
DeleteWhat is this.. a no-exit-brexit?
DeleteBrexit in name only?
The negotiations will certainly 'fail', and then what, they continue following the EU laws? There's got to be some final limit, or it's just a joke being renamed over and over.
- reader #1482
Situation is murky. #1482. As far as I understand (and I would be happy to be corrected), if there is no final agreement by the end of the year on future UK/EU relations (eg tariffs, food regulations, Brits who have retired to sunny Spain, French people working in London, fishing, etc, etc) then the transition period would end and future trade between UK and EU would be under World Trade Organization terms -- whatever that means.
DeleteSince it took nearly a decade for the EU to negotiate a trade agreement with Canada, the likelihood is that the transition period will be quietly extended beyond the end of 2020. But at this stage, no-one knows how the UK/EU negotiations will go. Realists would guess that EU bureaucrats would like to make things difficult to punish the UK for leaving. Meanwhile, the UK will probably get increasingly desperate to conclude a deal.
UK leaving the EU is an important step in the Brexit process -- but it is only one step along a long road.
I believe Gavin is correct in his sentiment, but his mistake is that he focuses on the dog-and-pony show.
DeleteWe've both made our predictions on Brexit in similar threads https://www.samizdata.net/2019/09/brexit-predictions/#comments
As mentioned, my own wager with a British colleague revolves around the customs issue and official bilateral trade negotiation with the US by the end of June 2020.
He knows the inevitable outcome of that wager, as do I (a lesson never to let your emotions rule your pocketbook) - and yet he's still bluffing himself into believing in his Royals. Knowing the "inner-workings" of Brexit and the EU bureaucracy isn't going to get you anywhere - it's a dog-and-pony show. I never knew all of the byzantine rules and pseudo-rationale used by the Europeans, and I still don't (I listen as a matter of course, if only to gauge sentiment; never turn away free info, but be ready to dismiss bad info). The truth is that anybody with a stake/investor doesn't need to - it's just a distraction, misdirection.
Bottom line: the "Brexit" thus far been smoke and mirrors. Nothing substantive has actually happened.
It would be like Trump declaring that the wall has been built without an inch of infrastructure implemented or constructed. Actually, this Brexit is worse than that hypothetical; it would be as if no money or man-power were allocated, years after Trump became President.
It would take a true crisis to shake the UK out of the current EU malaise (in fact, not in name), but any crisis would probably shunt the British deeper into the EU.
Anything can happen; I'm not foolish enough to make reservations this early to buy a hapless Brit dinner on the 4th of July, but I'm definitely combing the prospective dining establishments.
Rykehaven -- If I understand your bet correctly, it sounds like your Brit punter is using his heart rather than his head. The proposition that the US will agree to a trade deal with the UK by June of this election year is implausible on its face.
DeleteThere are no simple "Free Trade" deals in this world. What we get are Managed Trade deals, even though they are given names like NAFTA. It has taken 3 years and the irresistible force of President Trump to push through a revision to NAFTA -- no realistic trade deal with the UK could be accomplished within 5 months. And there is the further complication that it is difficult to negotiate a deal with the UK while there is uncertainty about what constraints the UK will have to accept to get a deal with the EU.
We can wish the Brits luck. But that does not extend to subsidizing their economy at the expense of the American people. Any trade deal with the UK must demonstrably increase employment in the US, increase investment in the US, and reduce the US's unsustainable Balance of Payments deficit.
@ Gavin_Longmuir, As per the above link, the wager was made last year in the wake of Boris Johnson's [meaningless] elevation to Prime Minister, nearly 7 months ago.
DeleteAnd it does NOT hinge on the finalization of a trade deal; my associate is naive, but even he has some trepidation about the British system. Again, our bet hinges on official trade negotiations. For the purposes of our wager, the details are arbitrated by one of our Senior. We have a grace-period to assess any ambiguities, which is unlikely to kick-in I think.
Trump was literally re-negotiating with Mexico immediately after his inauguration in January '17, fully acknowledged by the Mexican leadership. One of the biggest issues between us - Water Rights from the American river system - was renegotiated and finalized within a year - forget just "negotiations". Trump scrapped TPP within days of his Presidency. China was agreeing to trade talks within a month, with official talks beginning in Spring '17. That just barely covers what he did in the first few months of his Presidency.
And the British Prime Minister?
Johnson can't even decide whether to TALK about trade with the world's biggest economy, after a full year into his Premiership - not even a date assigned - and anybody who takes stock of Britain's Monarchical system and its history can gauge why.
And nobody who understands "Power" would ever expect him to.
Boris Johnson can't even acknowledge trade issues without "permission", and that "permission" has nothing to do with British "electorate" (and never did).
It's above Prime Minister's paygrade. Above the British subject's paygrade too, obviously.
If you haven't watched Nigel Farage's speech in the EU Parliament. It is a must watch. A very English goodbye. I had faith in the Brits. I knew they wouldn't toss away a thousand years of Britannia.
ReplyDeleteLiving there for 2 years always had a affinity for England, so very happy for them.
ReplyDeleteFor the sake of the planet, I hope Britain pulls this off.
ReplyDeleteI spent a three-year tour of duty at RAF Mildenhall during Dame Thatcher's reign. She was dealing with the Falkland Crisis that spring. I left in August of '82. The Brits I knew then were definitely different from the EuroSNOBs that populated NATO HQ in Mons. The EuroSNOBs acted as if they were doing us a favor in allowing our presence on continental Europe. But they were scared shitless of Ronald Reagan.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes to the British--if they remain British much longer, rather than devolve into Scots, English and Welsh.
ReplyDeleteHowever, recovery needs a cultural revolution that goes back to the roots rather than a continuing toleration of an anti-educational, anti-informational, and intellectually stultifying cultura-media-academic elite. Americans should recall that John Adams held that our Constitution will work only for a "moral and religious people", which in his context meant people raised on the Old and New Testaments. Britain's own mix of liberty and law also drew on a Biblically literate culture. Our Anglophone civilization (a lot of us can't lay claim to much Anglo-Saxon ancestry) has been in the hands of a chattering class that has been clever rather than wise for way too long.
Damn fine writing Sir!
DeleteBritain should learn some lessons from her friends in America. First, write down your constitution! The fact that their government ran on the ministers' nodding acquaintance with tradition was a mistake that Tony Blair used to rearrange their government, probably not for the better. WRITE THE D@MN THING DOWN! Another American lesson is Federalism. Let the Scots run the internal affairs of Scotland, Wales run Wales, etc. Which means the English need a new English Parliament, separate from the historic Parliament, to handle England's internal issues.
DeleteDon't forget, every poll in the UK put Remain ahead of Brexit for the last two years. The only reason BoJo won the election was because everyone was pooping their pants about the Leninist anti-Semite as the only other choice. If a smooth talking Tony Blairesque figure had been leading the left with a Remain agenda it would've been a "Damn close run thing".
ReplyDeleteBritain is completely and utterly a place of the left now. BoJo's faction of the conservatives is the "One Nation Tory" branch, as far away from Thatcher and Reagan (and Trump) as it is possible to be. BoJo even refers to himself as "Brexity Hezza". Hezza is Michael Heseltine, a one time rival of Margaret Thatcher and another "blue socialist" like BoJo.
Sadly Britain is going to be simply no use to man nor beast for a few decades until the inevitable collapse of a top heavy state takes us down, like it did at the end of the 1945-75 period when Britain was bailed out by the IMF, as broke as Greece, and scarpered to the EU for some half-decent governance.
The great irony of all this is that the crowning glory of the EU that has sustained it and made it prosper, namely the single market, was *actually Margaret Thatcher's legacy*. A Libertarian construct that meant so much more than free trade, four freedoms in fact: movement of goods, services, capital and labour, not just trade, at the border. A true Confederate system, if not full political federalism.
Margaret Thatcher knew her legacy was not safe with the conservatives and that they would revert to type after her demise: the blue socialists would return. So she threw the torch to Brussels (of all places, shows how little she thought the Tories were up for small state, swamp draining, open tendering for government, zero tolerance for state subsidies, and Libertarian ideals for individuals) as the single market.
Britain birthed you. You are our greatest offspring. Sure the teenage years were a tad rebellious as you grew up and stamped your authority, but the Love of kin grew back quickly. And you came back and saved us, not once, not twice, but three times. Two world wars and a cold one. If that ain't family, I don't know what is.
And now ,you've sad gotto say, or maybe you won't shed a year, but you're about to watch your parent wither and die.
SoD
Thank you. Some excellent, though depressing stuff.
DeleteNow get Trump and the Brits together and make a trade deal that will be then envy of and piss off the EU. MGBGA
ReplyDeleteI would imagine that putting a temporary deal in place that "maintains the status quo" wouldn't be that difficult. I'm sure many careers and livelihoods typically go into even drafting a proposal to form a committee to propose a document that might be considered, but I could see that being significantly short-circuited by something that acknowledges the current reality of trade between the US and the UK, rather than trying to do some sort of 'ground up rewrite'. Might have trouble getting through 'deep state' stuff, and certainly if a democrat is elected in 2020, it would be canceled immediately as punishment for the UK voters 'failing to reject brexit' in 2016.
ReplyDeleteRemember, Iraq was significantly tamed by the time Obama took office. It required deliberate action to squander the gains for which the US had already sacrificed blood. The intent was clear: to punish the US (yes, his own country) for aggression Obama and his followers perceived in the Bush administration. Let no man think that defending US interests will bring fruit anywhere in the world so long as Democrats and progressives are around to roll back gains to civilization.
- reader #1482
True enough. But I still think the US needs a less adventurous foreign policy. History is going to happen, especially to people and nations who are determined to see it happen.
DeleteSure... it's mainly about crazy people electing the first anti-American US President and his interest in preventing further 'Americanization' of the world by punishing his own country for such 'adventurous foreign policy'. In a sense, it makes the point of "don't do that", but capriciously and with no respect for sunk costs in blood and treasure.
DeleteThe best is Obama: "Our hands are tied, we have to respect Iraq's sovereignty and they aren't willing to sign this status-of-forces agreement, so we have no legal right.... except when *I* want to do something... of course... because then I just invoke AUMF-Iraq and then we don't care about a status-of-forces agreement."
- reader #1482