kaa
kaa

I didn’t want to believe this day would come to pass. I didn’t want to believe that a majority of the British people thought that being European was such an unwanted part of their lives. Yet here we are. For my part, I have enjoyed and continue to enjoy being European.

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ChrisJWilson
ChrisJWilson

@kaa "the vast majority of the british people"... as one of the 48/1% of remain voters I don't think the word vast is fair.

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kaa
kaa

@ChrisJWilson maybe not for the referendum, but the vote for the Conservatives certainly was.

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ChrisJWilson
ChrisJWilson

@kaa the 43.6% who voted for the conservatives? Some of whom voted just because they want the referendum result fufilled and not because they ideologically want to leave the EU (I know some who identify as such). It's certianly possible that a majority (even larger than the 2016 referendum) want brexit but a general election is hardly a good way to determin that.

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kaa
kaa

@ChrisJWilson I hear you about using the general election as a proxy 2nd referendum, but ultimately that is what it was about. Obviously no guarantees that a second referendum would have been put on the table or even how that one would have played out.

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kaa
kaa

@ChrisJWilson come to think about it vast is unfair. I’ll change that :). This is a sad enough day as it is.

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johnjohnston
johnjohnston

@kaa not vast at all here in Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿☹️

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kaa
kaa

@johnjohnston no definitely not in Scotland

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bradenslen
bradenslen

@kaa I often wonder is it about being European or is it about surrendering sovereignty? England fought a very bloody civil war to decide whether the Crown or Parliament was the final sovereign. Or is it both with some other factors thrown in?

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In reply to
kaa
kaa

@bradenslen over the years since the referendum, I think the most nuanced thoughts on this have come from Nick Clegg. In an interview he described why the British people don’t have the same level of connection with Europe as many countries in the EU have. Part of this was the fact that the country didn’t feel the step change that many other nations felt when they became European (I certainly felt it as I grew up in Greece). Obviously there is many more reasons, but that analysis of the country has stuck with me. Sure European projects have contributed to the country, but the step change wasn’t felt across.

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bradenslen
bradenslen

@kaa I think that is true. Britian has always been insulated from the Continent. In fact they celebrated it as the Splendid Isolation.

But I also think political legitimacy plays into this. British institutions: parliament, the courts of law, a constitutional monarchy and a strange but serviceable unwritten constitution have evolved over hundreds of years into something quite remarkable compared to the rest of the world. Historically these have served Britian well when Europe was in flames from the French Revolution and on. Those British intitutions have a political legitimacy that is hard to match in other countries. They are not easily surrendured, I think.

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