"oh you don't get me I'm the end of the union": lol brexit is how we're all gonna die

He was asked about his comments in support of Liam Neeson and went on a rambling incoherent monologue, starting off with something about how if Liam Neeson's friend had been attacked by a Frenchman or a Lithuanian he'd have been out hunting for Frenchmen or Lithuanians - how he would manage that I know not. Then he got onto the Troubles and how an Irish friend (Liam Neeson or Lawro?) had explained to him how hatred between Catholics and Protestants existed and how, if a Protestant does something terrible to a Catholic, or vice versa, the Catholic will hate all Protestants, and vice versa. Then it was a lot of gibberish about racism - oh yes, the Jews aren't a race so can anti-Semitism be described as racism - which I zoned out of because I genuinely couldn't follow what he was saying. And he got a round of applause at the end!

hahahaha

don't know how folk watch question time. id need a few blue valium after watching if i wanted to get any sleep, i end up so livid whenever i catch a minute of it

is corbynz a marx

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qm7_syQ6SQQ

Idk how they are going to get by as a party with, at most, four people who can stand in front of a camera without embarrassing themselves and Berger the only one of them not a Tory.

Holy shit, this is the apotheosis of neoliberal antipolitics. pic.twitter.com/zYrv8h9KCk

— Sara Byrella 🐯🐻 (@umbyrella) February 21, 2019

This is pretty amazing.

"you are still stuck in the old way of doing things this is something new.."

sneering at those sticks in the mud that still go to bingo halls on the way to the shiny new fangled discotheque!

I love the way she is inferring that a thousand agreeable policies will flower in an organic manner because of their obvious common values, don't you see stupid .. it's us!

The Utopia scene linked in the replies is too *chefs kiss* for words.

The Corbyn Marxist video is a masterpiece! I hadn’t seen the original interview either, looks like it’s incredibly vacuous.

Seems like Barnes had a slight mare on QT but tbf I've found some of his comments quite thoughtful and brave on some issues of late - an attempt to unify and allow a culture in which people admit and discuss their own failures or prejudices. I don't think that can ever properly happen in the media or even online though - his take seems to be that there are natural tendencies towards discrimination and prejudice which need to be admitted to in order to be fought - I can see value in that, with a dose of the idea that nobody will ever be brought along to more progressive views by being lambasted.

I mean he's not an intellectual so prob shouldn't be going on QT etc but on Raheem Sterling and on Liam Neeson to an extent he was worth listening to.

He can say the word 'nuance', he's from a middle class military background ergo he's an intelligent footballer, he's always struck as being a dimmer than average footballer. By the way, next time the Labour Party are invited to send someone to appear on a programme with Chris Leslie they should make sure they send someone as niggly as possible, because Leslie is so easily rattled and is on the verge of having an embarrassing ranting meltdown.

"we're not tribal" claims woman in group whose only raison d'etre us "common values"

thought his performance was OK on it’s own terms - he stuck to the ‘we’re iconoclasts us’ script at least. which is presumably why anna “austerity and the coalition were great” soubry was pulled ? outrageous slur on shami but - can’t believe he didn’t walk that back

you really think a heavily pregnant lady who has left her party in deep sadness due to bullying and antisemitism should fight a by-election ?

while utterly cynical bullshit, was one of his better /lines/

audience wasn’t having any of it though - mood was roundly in favour of these people resigning their seats

He was losing the rag with Andy McDonald, who's like Pooh Bear with a red rosette.

thought andy mcdonald was going to chin him when he denigrated shami

As predicted, Ian Austin is out, but "hasn't spoken to Independent Group" which seems fairly unlikely.

I'm not sure if 'has no plans to join' is stronger or weaker than that.

He is pro-Brexit deal so probably doesn’t fit in with the cool kids.

They have telepathic common values - no need for talking silly, that's the old way of doing things.

He is starting the independent hepatitis party.

Dudley Popular Front

The Independent Group isn't a political party, it's a state of mind

this is the michael segalov piece on AS I referred to yesterday that’s well worth a read

https://amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/feb/21/labour-antisemitism-overhaul-policy-discipline-public?__twitter_impression=true

News in: Ian Austin has announced the formation the Ian Austin Party. It has quickly elected its leader, Ian Austin, and their press officer, Ian Austin, is holding a press conference right now.

— Michael Rosen (@MichaelRosenYes) February 22, 2019

John Mann, Kate Hoey and Frank Field are welcome to the share their values with Mr. Austin.

Lol SB otm

A man who:
1) believes Brexit is bad for the UK (but won’t block it)
2) thinks JC shouldn’t be PM (but won’t join any of the forces tryna stop it)
3) opposes racism (when it isn’t a prejudice shared by the people of Dudley)
Truly, a giant of our times.

— Stephen Bush (@stephenkb) February 22, 2019

(The post he’s replying to includes a quote from Austin calling Ed Miliband an “out of touch London elite”, which is 😬😬😬😬

he is totally clueless about the labour party's 20th century history as well, standard blair year zero tool I know - but just saying.

Hey all! American here. I haven't been following Brexit news very closely. I paid attention to a lot of the news leading up to the original vote, but as you know we Americans had our own problems over here at the time and it's been tough to pay attention to both. Every time I have tuned back into the Brexit threads, I've been unable to understand much of what's going on at all. I have managed to pick up recently that things seem to be taking a turn for the worse?

a.) Can anyone point me to a real simplified timeline that lays out the major events of Brexit and their ramifications?
b.) I have an acquaintance (another USian) who claims to support Brexit. She's a bit of a ditz and when pressed for details, simply replied "currency is a lot more complicated that you think." Based on this information, any idea whose shit she's been swallowing? Were some of the Leave motivations about currency somehow?

Many thanks.

short version: the footsoldiers of capitalism/the liberal bourgeoisie are being a reet set of cunts.. again.

We are the bully punching ourself in the face and saying "why don't you stop punching yourself?"
Thankfully we will pass out and die at some point.

First up, don't worry, no one understands it properly even over here, it's a complete clusterfuck and a mess, but:

a) Britain leaves the EU at the end of March, crashing out without a trade deal unless MPs either vote through the Withdrawal Agreement on the table, or an alternative like a second referendum, or postponing the date of departure. The latter can't be done without the consent of the EU but in practice it's difficult to imagine why they'd do that when the alternative is a major economic shock.

b) Your friend is handwaving away the question. The currency has not been a major issue wrt Britain and the EU since Gordon Brown prevented Britain entering the Euro over a decade ago and it's been years since anyone seriously believed the UK was going to join the single currency.

MPs are currently overwhelmingly against the Withdrawal Agreement and against the idea of No Deal, but Theresa May has no majority and they can't agree on any alternative course of action and there's no sign of them doing so. So we're almost certain to end up with one or the other.

Thanks Matt.

I can't remember if Broon actually deserves any credit for keeping us out of the Euro or was just it never going to happen, but looking at Italy's recent problems it was definitely a good move

This is a simple timeline of what happened when:

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/01/brexit-timeline-190115164043103.html

It doesn't touch on the three most complex aspects, though - why it happened, what the ramifications are and whether it could realistically be stopped / reversed. This is partly because the situation is chaotic in a way that Western politics rarely is - the 'why' is bitterly contested, the ramifications are not clear if May's deal goes through, let alone if it doesn't, and the 'could it be stopped' has generated vast amounts of wishful thinking from a section of the political / commentariat class who frequently seem as prone to fantasy as the most hardcore Brexiters. I work for a big multinational company with lots of money to invest in future-proofing revenue routes and i think our general position is "we don't know what's going to happen and we don't know what any of the implications might be". Scenario planning runs from 'no fundamental change' to stockpile toilet paper'.

Notionally, at least, it's about 'control' of the economy rather than control of currency. However, any Americans looking to holiday in the UK post-Brexit are probably quite rational in wanting our currency to crash even further before buying tickets.

Or just bring an extra suitcase full of kraft mac and cheese, should be able to fund the holiday on the black market proceeds.

In other news:

https://www.euronews.com/2019/02/22/sfo-drops-probes-at-rolls-royce-gsk

GSK and Rolls Royce both cop to international bribery and pay a settlement to the government that draws a line under future corporate claims but leaves open the criminal prosecution of individuals. SFO says nobody will face any charges.

That's not a bad timeline, I suspect that people's general angle on things might determine what they think is missing - for me it'd be "December 2107: EU and UK agree that a backstop of some sort will be necessary"

from sv's link:

Britain's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has dropped long-running investigations into individuals at aero engine maker Rolls-Royce and drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline, adding to a growing list of cases where the agency has failed to land convictions.

"After an extensive and careful examination I have concluded that there is either insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction or it is not in the public interest to bring a prosecution in these cases," the SFO's new director Lisa Osofsky said

o rly, i'd be interested to see the workings behind that assertion

what prompted the first step in that timeline though? i was wondering whilst half asleep this morning how we got from Summer 2012 (a highpoint) to this?

If you think the summer of 2012 represents a high point then we're gonna need a bigger timeline.

We were four years into the financial crisis and two years into austerity by then! The Olympics was fun but the myth of a happy, united, optimistic nation is just that.

Xp The same thinking that got Phil The Greek of the hook.

It was labour backed austerity as well. Many politically homeless ppl actually became homeless or worse.

The Olympics was fun but the myth of a happy, united, optimistic nation is just that.

There's a YouTube of P Hitchins whining about people like him were left out of the ceremony, so you know, not as inclusive as you might think...

lest we forget, the summer of 2012 was the last real summer before we all died on december 21 and ended up here

in hell

2012 olympics = "the austerity games" + "games makers" = gtfo

thanks to BG's reminder i have just discovered that "North and South Magnetic Poles are not antipodal, meaning that a straight line drawn from one to the other does not pass through the geometric centre of the Earth" which i find surprising and indeed worrying, now back to my colleague in the studio, the Ravenous God Bolon Yokte' K'uh

Not working today + enjoying this awesome weather + Austin fucking off = a highpoint

no deal brexit : fogerraboutit

weak magnetic field flip: aaargh my eyes are melting!