Friday, June 24, 2016



The people have spoken

So, the results are in, and its Brexit by a million votes. The old, nostalgic for empire and Britain being important, voted to fuck the young, as always. And it turns out that I do have an orc in this fight - and it wears a kilt. Scotland voted overwhelmingly to remain part of the EU. England voted to get out. So another independence referendum beckons.

As for England, some people are trying to highlight the fact that the poll is not legally binding, and hoping that parliament will veto the people. While legally true, doing so would give up any pretence that England is a democracy and that its government is legitimate. The consequences of such action will probably resemble the nightmare we saw on Friday.

Finally, no matter what you think of the result, its a Good Thing that the people of the UK can express their opinion and decide to leave by peaceful, democratic means. And it would be nice if the Basques, Kurds and Tamils were allowed to do the same. If a region or group wants to leave your country, the only moral option is for a peaceful departure, on terms which will maintain a friendly and peaceful relationship. So the idea that the EU would punish the UK for leaving and impose punitive exit terms pour encourager les autres to stay is fundamentally immoral. And if that happens, it will, like Greece, be another reason not to care what happens to the EU anymore.