Hypnotic Chimera
Directional Consultant Extraordinaire
It is not a "fact" that the UK is £100bn poorer because of Brexit - we actually don't know what would otherwise have happened. The best that can be said is that £100bn is the consensus assessment of informed and able economists.
I have seen little or nothing from the Brexiteer camp that their aspirations have been delivered - foreign trade improvements, economic growth, reduced immigration, etc. "Take back control" hasn't even been a damp squib - just a memorable utterly meaningless slogan.
BUT - there is ZERO merit in repetitive criticism of what was a completely flawed decision and those who endorsed it. It drives conflict and defensive behaviours. It is ultimately destructive.
A positive action is to collectively identify how the deficiencies now identified can be effectively addressed to improve future outcomes. There may be disagreement along the way - but constructive debate with a common goal trounces playing the blame game.
HaHaHaHa.
Nice - very reminiscent of the "the country has had enough of experts" mindset.
That we both agree that there is consensus amongst the experts is all that we need for it to be acknowledged as a fact. The wide and broadest consensus is that the £100Billion is "as a result of Brexit". Not from anything else. Just Brexit.
[Did you know that economists use data - without motive - and travel down the road where the data leads them. I like economists, because they follow facts not emotion.]
I agree insomuch as - "aspirations haven't been delivered" - which is a common war cry (or just a crybaby cry) - but I don't believe there is any credibility; at all; zero; to the viewpoint that the legislature at large have not made the very best out of a very bad situation.
Does anyone actually believe that some people or organisation or other (the "deep state", perhaps?) <<chuckle, chuckle, chuckle>> have deliberately held the UK's progress back. I'm going to go all out here and state than anyone who actually believes this is an utter retard. No question about it in my mind. Of course all efforts have been made to make the absolute best of the Brexit situation and I don't *care* one iota if that isn't what some people want or not, or if some people claim otherwise. We are here, in the now, and have got to work within the situation and restrictions that exist - ie, borders have been raised, MUCH red tape has been instituted (because there is no option to do anything otherwise), and this basically means that the UK have placed economic sanctions against nobody other than the UK. That's the bottom line and no other realistic eventuality exists.
I disagree in the strongest possible terms about intermittent repetition being of "ZERO merit". That is a silly viewpoint in my humble opinion.
Just for one moment, have a think about how many books, documentaries, and school lessons were based upon, for instance, WWII and how deeply ingrained the actions of Germany are inscribed into the German mindset, for instance, - which of course serves as a lesson from history to at least to try not allow those situations to arise again in the future. The Holocaust Museum and Sites in Germany stand as monuments to this very mindset - and I don't think there is any section of civilised German society that wants to bulldoze them, close them or to stop visiting them. Or to rewrite or censor the history behind them (like we have stupidly seen here in the UK concerning National Trust stately home histories!).
None of that above stops any of the constructive progress from happening. I'm not dwelling on the facts above. Simply allowing those facts to guide future progress. In order to progress, we must acknowledge the position that you find yourself and the provenance of the history that ended up in you being in that position in the first place. Saying otherwise is also silly. We can't go full steam ahead unless we know what placed us in the position we are in.
Actually, to a large degree, the recent history (Brexit Vote) is definitely being used as an influence in where to aim for next. Given the position that "leaving the UK is costing the UK £100Billion per year", one might conclude that the best way to regain that lost economic activity would be to join the EU. Which only goes to illustrate that provenance of how we ended up outside the UK is being used as a basis from which to proceed. It is acknowledging that it was a recent vote that led to the UK leaving the EU. So re-joining is not viewed as a viable option, despite it being the most logical way to redress the £100Billion loss.
TLDR - an addict cannot be free of addiction until they acknowledge they are an addict. Acknowledgement of the £100Billion loss being due to Brexit is required to enable any forwards progress.
Anyway, back to Trump - and something that I've been thinking of asking everyone here for a while, now...
Has anyone on here ever seen the old film 12 Angry Men? (from the '50s)