VBL Voetbal
Van strafschop tot schwalbe. Hier vind je Voetbal en alles wat daarmee te maken heeft. VBL - United in Voetbal.
met doping(lol)quote:Op woensdag 19 juli 2017 15:12 schreef Littlerabbit het volgende:
Soooo, ik kijk ook mijn eerste seconden tour de France. Hoe blijven mensen wakker
Op 
Gewoon beidequote:Op woensdag 19 juli 2017 15:13 schreef Littlerabbit het volgende:
[..]
Straks maar wat porno opzetten, pfft
Even die frustratie kwijtquote:
[..]
Straks maar wat porno opzetten, pfft
en dit is waarom wielrenners gay AF zijnquote:
Hmm. Goed plan. Al moet ik dan wel kundig op het juiste moment naar het juiste scherm kijken. Je zal maar klaarkomen terwijl je naar een groep mannen met geschoren benen kijkt.quote:
Knut zal vast wel eens klaar zijn gekomen kijkend naar de tour.quote:
[..]
Hmm. Goed plan. Al moet ik dan wel kundig op het juiste moment naar het juiste scherm kijken. Je zal maar klaarkomen terwijl je naar een groep mannen met geschoren benen kijkt.
Laat ik zijn levenspad maar niet volgens sinds zijn 27stequote:
[..]
Knut zal vast wel eens klaar zijn gekomen kijkend naar de tour.
Hoeren neuken nooit meer werken, lijkt je niets?quote:
[..]
Laat ik zijn levenspad maar niet volgens sinds zijn 27ste
Op
Niet in Azië met een leven vol onzekerheid.quote:
[..]
Hoeren neuken nooit meer werken, lijkt je niets?
Ha ha haquote:
[..]
Nee, daarom kijk ik alleen porno.
..
Tips? Lans is er helaas niet momenteel.quote:
[..]
Nee, daarom kijk ik alleen porno.
Maar in Zuid Amerika lijkt het je wel wat?quote:
[..]
Niet in Azië met een leven vol onzekerheid.
“The view from abroad. Translation by Paula Kirby.
This article in a Swiss newspaper today is so ruthlessly clear-sighted in its assessment of just how screwed we are that I just had to translate it for the non-German speakers. Hold on to your hats:
THE LAUGHING STOCK OF EUROPE
[Translation by Paula Kirby]
If it weren’t so serious, the situation in Great Britain would almost be comical. The country is being governed by a talking robot, nicknamed the Maybot, that somehow managed to visit the burned-out tower block in the west of London without speaking to a single survivor or voluntary helper. Negotiations for the country’s exit from the EU are due to begin on Monday, but no one has even a hint of a plan. The government is dependent on a small party that provides a cozy home for climate change deniers and creationists. Boris Johnson is Foreign Secretary. What in the world has happened to this country?
Two years ago David Cameron emerged from the parliamentary election as the shining victor. He had secured an absolute majority, and as a result it looked as if the career of this cheerful lightweight was headed for surprisingly dizzy heights. The economy was growing faster than in any other industrialised country in the world. Scottish independence and, with it, the break-up of the United Kingdom had been averted. For the first time since 1992, there was a Conservative majority in the House of Commons. Great Britain saw itself as a universally respected actor on the international stage. This was the starting point.
In order to get from this comfortable position to the chaos of the present in the shortest possible time, two things were necessary: first, the Conservative right wingers’ obsessive hatred of the EU, and second, Cameron’s irresponsibility in putting the whole future of the country on the line with his referendum, just to satisfy a few fanatics in his party. It is becoming ever clearer just how extraordinarily bad a decision that was. The fact that Great Britain has become the laughing stock of Europe is directly linked to its vote for Brexit.
The ones who will suffer most will be the British people, who were lied to by the Brexit campaign during the referendum and betrayed and treated like idiots by elements of their press. The shamelessness still knows no bounds: the Daily Express has asked in all seriousness whether the inferno in the tower block was due to the cladding having been designed to meet EU standards. It is a simple matter to discover that the answer to this question is No, but by failing to check it, the newspaper has planted the suspicion that the EU might be to blame for this too. As an aside: a country in which parts of the press are so demonstrably uninterested in truth and exploit a disaster like the fire in Grenfell Tower for their own tasteless ends has a very serious problem.
Already prices are rising in the shops, already inflation is on the up. Investors are holding back. Economic growth has slowed. And that’s before the Brexit negotiations have even begun. With her unnecessary general election, Prime Minister Theresa May has already squandered an eighth of the time available for them. How on earth an undertaking as complex as Brexit is supposed to be agreed in the time remaining is a mystery.
Great Britain will end up leaving its most important trading partner and will be left weaker in every respect. It would make economic sense to stay in the single market and the customs union, but that would mean being subject to regulations over which Britain no longer had any say. It would be better to have stayed in the EU in the first place. So the government now needs to develop a plan that is both politically acceptable and brings the fewest possible economic disadvantages. It’s a question of damage limitation, nothing more; yet even now there are still politicians strutting around Westminster smugly trumpeting that it will be the EU that comes off worst if it doesn’t toe the line.
The EU is going to be dealing with a government that has no idea what kind of Brexit it wants, led by an unrealistic politician whose days are numbered; and a party in which old trenches are being opened up again: moderate Tories are currently hoping to be able to bring about a softer exit after all, but the hardliners in the party – among them more than a few pigheadedly obstinate ideologues – are already threatening rebellion. An epic battle lies ahead, and it will paralyse the government.
EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier has said that he now expects the Brits to finally set out their position clearly, since he cannot negotiate with himself. The irony of this statement is that it would actually be in Britain’s best interests if he did just that. At least that way they’d have one representative on their side who grasps the scale of the task and is actually capable of securing a deal that will be fair to both sides. The Brits do not have a single negotiator of this stature in their ranks. And quite apart from the Brexit terms, both the debate and the referendum have proven to be toxic in ways that are now making themselves felt.
British society is now more divided than at any time since the English civil war in the 17th century, a fact that was demonstrated anew in the general election, in which a good 80% of the votes were cast for the two largest parties. Neither of these parties was offering a centrist programme: the election was a choice between the hard right and the hard left. The political centre has been abandoned, and that is never a good sign. In a country like Great Britain, that for so long had a reputation for pragmatism and rationality, it is grounds for real concern. The situation is getting decidedly out of hand.
After the loss of its empire, the United Kingdom sought a new place in the world. It finally found it, as a strong, awkward and influential part of a larger union: the EU. Now it has given up this place quite needlessly. The consequence, as is now becoming clear, is a veritable identity crisis from which it will take the country a very long time to recover.”
KOEKOEK
This article in a Swiss newspaper today is so ruthlessly clear-sighted in its assessment of just how screwed we are that I just had to translate it for the non-German speakers. Hold on to your hats:
THE LAUGHING STOCK OF EUROPE
[Translation by Paula Kirby]
If it weren’t so serious, the situation in Great Britain would almost be comical. The country is being governed by a talking robot, nicknamed the Maybot, that somehow managed to visit the burned-out tower block in the west of London without speaking to a single survivor or voluntary helper. Negotiations for the country’s exit from the EU are due to begin on Monday, but no one has even a hint of a plan. The government is dependent on a small party that provides a cozy home for climate change deniers and creationists. Boris Johnson is Foreign Secretary. What in the world has happened to this country?
Two years ago David Cameron emerged from the parliamentary election as the shining victor. He had secured an absolute majority, and as a result it looked as if the career of this cheerful lightweight was headed for surprisingly dizzy heights. The economy was growing faster than in any other industrialised country in the world. Scottish independence and, with it, the break-up of the United Kingdom had been averted. For the first time since 1992, there was a Conservative majority in the House of Commons. Great Britain saw itself as a universally respected actor on the international stage. This was the starting point.
In order to get from this comfortable position to the chaos of the present in the shortest possible time, two things were necessary: first, the Conservative right wingers’ obsessive hatred of the EU, and second, Cameron’s irresponsibility in putting the whole future of the country on the line with his referendum, just to satisfy a few fanatics in his party. It is becoming ever clearer just how extraordinarily bad a decision that was. The fact that Great Britain has become the laughing stock of Europe is directly linked to its vote for Brexit.
The ones who will suffer most will be the British people, who were lied to by the Brexit campaign during the referendum and betrayed and treated like idiots by elements of their press. The shamelessness still knows no bounds: the Daily Express has asked in all seriousness whether the inferno in the tower block was due to the cladding having been designed to meet EU standards. It is a simple matter to discover that the answer to this question is No, but by failing to check it, the newspaper has planted the suspicion that the EU might be to blame for this too. As an aside: a country in which parts of the press are so demonstrably uninterested in truth and exploit a disaster like the fire in Grenfell Tower for their own tasteless ends has a very serious problem.
Already prices are rising in the shops, already inflation is on the up. Investors are holding back. Economic growth has slowed. And that’s before the Brexit negotiations have even begun. With her unnecessary general election, Prime Minister Theresa May has already squandered an eighth of the time available for them. How on earth an undertaking as complex as Brexit is supposed to be agreed in the time remaining is a mystery.
Great Britain will end up leaving its most important trading partner and will be left weaker in every respect. It would make economic sense to stay in the single market and the customs union, but that would mean being subject to regulations over which Britain no longer had any say. It would be better to have stayed in the EU in the first place. So the government now needs to develop a plan that is both politically acceptable and brings the fewest possible economic disadvantages. It’s a question of damage limitation, nothing more; yet even now there are still politicians strutting around Westminster smugly trumpeting that it will be the EU that comes off worst if it doesn’t toe the line.
The EU is going to be dealing with a government that has no idea what kind of Brexit it wants, led by an unrealistic politician whose days are numbered; and a party in which old trenches are being opened up again: moderate Tories are currently hoping to be able to bring about a softer exit after all, but the hardliners in the party – among them more than a few pigheadedly obstinate ideologues – are already threatening rebellion. An epic battle lies ahead, and it will paralyse the government.
EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier has said that he now expects the Brits to finally set out their position clearly, since he cannot negotiate with himself. The irony of this statement is that it would actually be in Britain’s best interests if he did just that. At least that way they’d have one representative on their side who grasps the scale of the task and is actually capable of securing a deal that will be fair to both sides. The Brits do not have a single negotiator of this stature in their ranks. And quite apart from the Brexit terms, both the debate and the referendum have proven to be toxic in ways that are now making themselves felt.
British society is now more divided than at any time since the English civil war in the 17th century, a fact that was demonstrated anew in the general election, in which a good 80% of the votes were cast for the two largest parties. Neither of these parties was offering a centrist programme: the election was a choice between the hard right and the hard left. The political centre has been abandoned, and that is never a good sign. In a country like Great Britain, that for so long had a reputation for pragmatism and rationality, it is grounds for real concern. The situation is getting decidedly out of hand.
After the loss of its empire, the United Kingdom sought a new place in the world. It finally found it, as a strong, awkward and influential part of a larger union: the EU. Now it has given up this place quite needlessly. The consequence, as is now becoming clear, is a veritable identity crisis from which it will take the country a very long time to recover.”
KOEKOEK
Dat ga ik toch niet lezen, lamlul?quote:
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Nieuws 18 juni 2017
Laatste update 19:22
52
Hypernerveuze Theresa May geeft ‘harteloos’ interview over Grenfell Tower
De kritiek blijft aanzwellen tegen Theresa May en haar conservatieve, partij over hun reactie op de catastrofale brand in een Britse torenflat. Niet alleen weigerde May in eerste instantie bezoekers te ontmoeten en komen hulpdiensten voor voormalige bewoners die nu dakloos zijn veel te moeizaam op gang. Ook zijn velen ervan overtuigd dat de ramp voorkomen had kunnen worden en dat het neoliberale beleid van de Tories aan te rekenen valt dat er zo laks om werd gegaan met de brandveiligheid van het gebouw.
In het interview met Newsnight over de ramp is de Britse premier zichtbaar nerveus. Ze ontwijkt directe vragen met halfslachtige antwoorden. De platitudes waarmee ze steun wil uitdrukken voor de overlevenden komen over als holle frasen.
De reacties op de brand in Grenfell hebben nog veel meer impact op haar premierschap dan de twee recente terroristische aanslagen die recent in Groot-Brittanië plaatsvonden en misschien nog wel meer dan de Brexit. De reacties op het interview zijn vernietigend; ze wordt ‘onmenselijk’ en ‘harteloos’ genoemd.
Lafaard
Vrijdagavond bestormden honderden mensen het stadsdeelkantoor van Chelsea en Kensington in Londen vanwege pure frustratie met de gemeenteraad die hun herhaalde alarmsignalen over de gebrekkige brandveiligheid jarenlang negeerden. ‘We want justice!’ scandeerden ze, en ‘Murderers! Murderers!’. Toen Theresa May wegreed uit Noord-Kensington schreeuwden bewoners ‘Coward!’ achter haar aan.
De demonstranten eisen duidelijkheid over het dodental, dat eerst op 17 en nu volgens officiële tellingen op 58 en groeiende wordt geschat. Volgens buurtbewoners moeten dit er veel meer zijn.
De demonstranten zijn woedend dat er nog geen enkel persoon ter verantwoording is geroepen en eisen dat lokale bestuurders, politici en ondernemers worden vervolgd.
Lees ook:
Zware kritiek op Tories en Theresa May vanwege Grenfell Tower
Vlammenzee slokt torenflat op, bewoners waarschuwden al jaren over brandgevaar
818 1030 0 WhatsApp0 0
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Reacties verbergen
Gerry Jöris 19 juni 2017 at 13:56
Wat een beschamende vertoning. Er spreekt geen spatje medeleven of verdriet uit het zakelijke verhaal dat zij afsteekt, waarbij zij zich strak aan haar tekst probeert te houden.
Log in om te reageren
Cliff Clavin 19 juni 2017 at 11:54
Ik vond dit commentaar op een Londense site waar ik al lang lid van ben. Het is een vertaling uit het Duits, en het is afkomstig uit een Zwitserse krant, Der Bund (die ik verder niet ken). Het is een ongebruikelijk lange lap tekst, ik hoop dan dat hij toch geplaatst wordt, want of je het ermee eens kan zijn of niet, de moeite van het lezen is hij waard.
——-
“The view from abroad. Translation by Paula Kirby.
This article in a Swiss newspaper today is so ruthlessly clear-sighted in its assessment of just how screwed we are that I just had to translate it for the non-German speakers. Hold on to your hats:
THE LAUGHING STOCK OF EUROPE
[Translation by Paula Kirby]
If it weren’t so serious, the situation in Great Britain would almost be comical. The country is being governed by a talking robot, nicknamed the Maybot, that somehow managed to visit the burned-out tower block in the west of London without speaking to a single survivor or voluntary helper. Negotiations for the country’s exit from the EU are due to begin on Monday, but no one has even a hint of a plan. The government is dependent on a small party that provides a cozy home for climate change deniers and creationists. Boris Johnson is Foreign Secretary. What in the world has happened to this country?
Two years ago David Cameron emerged from the parliamentary election as the shining victor. He had secured an absolute majority, and as a result it looked as if the career of this cheerful lightweight was headed for surprisingly dizzy heights. The economy was growing faster than in any other industrialised country in the world. Scottish independence and, with it, the break-up of the United Kingdom had been averted. For the first time since 1992, there was a Conservative majority in the House of Commons. Great Britain saw itself as a universally respected actor on the international stage. This was the starting point.
In order to get from this comfortable position to the chaos of the present in the shortest possible time, two things were necessary: first, the Conservative right wingers’ obsessive hatred of the EU, and second, Cameron’s irresponsibility in putting the whole future of the country on the line with his referendum, just to satisfy a few fanatics in his party. It is becoming ever clearer just how extraordinarily bad a decision that was. The fact that Great Britain has become the laughing stock of Europe is directly linked to its vote for Brexit.
The ones who will suffer most will be the British people, who were lied to by the Brexit campaign during the referendum and betrayed and treated like idiots by elements of their press. The shamelessness still knows no bounds: the Daily Express has asked in all seriousness whether the inferno in the tower block was due to the cladding having been designed to meet EU standards. It is a simple matter to discover that the answer to this question is No, but by failing to check it, the newspaper has planted the suspicion that the EU might be to blame for this too. As an aside: a country in which parts of the press are so demonstrably uninterested in truth and exploit a disaster like the fire in Grenfell Tower for their own tasteless ends has a very serious problem.
Already prices are rising in the shops, already inflation is on the up. Investors are holding back. Economic growth has slowed. And that’s before the Brexit negotiations have even begun. With her unnecessary general election, Prime Minister Theresa May has already squandered an eighth of the time available for them. How on earth an undertaking as complex as Brexit is supposed to be agreed in the time remaining is a mystery.
Great Britain will end up leaving its most important trading partner and will be left weaker in every respect. It would make economic sense to stay in the single market and the customs union, but that would mean being subject to regulations over which Britain no longer had any say. It would be better to have stayed in the EU in the first place. So the government now needs to develop a plan that is both politically acceptable and brings the fewest possible economic disadvantages. It’s a question of damage limitation, nothing more; yet even now there are still politicians strutting around Westminster smugly trumpeting that it will be the EU that comes off worst if it doesn’t toe the line.
The EU is going to be dealing with a government that has no idea what kind of Brexit it wants, led by an unrealistic politician whose days are numbered; and a party in which old trenches are being opened up again: moderate Tories are currently hoping to be able to bring about a softer exit after all, but the hardliners in the party – among them more than a few pigheadedly obstinate ideologues – are already threatening rebellion. An epic battle lies ahead, and it will paralyse the government.
EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier has said that he now expects the Brits to finally set out their position clearly, since he cannot negotiate with himself. The irony of this statement is that it would actually be in Britain’s best interests if he did just that. At least that way they’d have one representative on their side who grasps the scale of the task and is actually capable of securing a deal that will be fair to both sides. The Brits do not have a single negotiator of this stature in their ranks. And quite apart from the Brexit terms, both the debate and the referendum have proven to be toxic in ways that are now making themselves felt.
British society is now more divided than at any time since the English civil war in the 17th century, a fact that was demonstrated anew in the general election, in which a good 80% of the votes were cast for the two largest parties. Neither of these parties was offering a centrist programme: the election was a choice between the hard right and the hard left. The political centre has been abandoned, and that is never a good sign. In a country like Great Britain, that for so long had a reputation for pragmatism and rationality, it is grounds for real concern. The situation is getting decidedly out of hand.
After the loss of its empire, the United Kingdom sought a new place in the world. It finally found it, as a strong, awkward and influential part of a larger union: the EU. Now it has given up this place quite needlessly. The consequence, as is now becoming clear, is a veritable identity crisis from which it will take the country a very long time to recover.”
KOEKOEK
Dat is zo smaak gebonden. Waar hou je van?quote:
[..]
Tips? Lans is er helaas niet momenteel.
niet gelezenquote:
Inloggen
Search
Nieuws 18 juni 2017
Laatste update 19:22
52
Hypernerveuze Theresa May geeft ‘harteloos’ interview over Grenfell Tower
De kritiek blijft aanzwellen tegen Theresa May en haar conservatieve, partij over hun reactie op de catastrofale brand in een Britse torenflat. Niet alleen weigerde May in eerste instantie bezoekers te ontmoeten en komen hulpdiensten voor voormalige bewoners die nu dakloos zijn veel te moeizaam op gang. Ook zijn velen ervan overtuigd dat de ramp voorkomen had kunnen worden en dat het neoliberale beleid van de Tories aan te rekenen valt dat er zo laks om werd gegaan met de brandveiligheid van het gebouw.
In het interview met Newsnight over de ramp is de Britse premier zichtbaar nerveus. Ze ontwijkt directe vragen met halfslachtige antwoorden. De platitudes waarmee ze steun wil uitdrukken voor de overlevenden komen over als holle frasen.
De reacties op de brand in Grenfell hebben nog veel meer impact op haar premierschap dan de twee recente terroristische aanslagen die recent in Groot-Brittanië plaatsvonden en misschien nog wel meer dan de Brexit. De reacties op het interview zijn vernietigend; ze wordt ‘onmenselijk’ en ‘harteloos’ genoemd.
Lafaard
Vrijdagavond bestormden honderden mensen het stadsdeelkantoor van Chelsea en Kensington in Londen vanwege pure frustratie met de gemeenteraad die hun herhaalde alarmsignalen over de gebrekkige brandveiligheid jarenlang negeerden. ‘We want justice!’ scandeerden ze, en ‘Murderers! Murderers!’. Toen Theresa May wegreed uit Noord-Kensington schreeuwden bewoners ‘Coward!’ achter haar aan.
De demonstranten eisen duidelijkheid over het dodental, dat eerst op 17 en nu volgens officiële tellingen op 58 en groeiende wordt geschat. Volgens buurtbewoners moeten dit er veel meer zijn.
De demonstranten zijn woedend dat er nog geen enkel persoon ter verantwoording is geroepen en eisen dat lokale bestuurders, politici en ondernemers worden vervolgd.
Lees ook:
Zware kritiek op Tories en Theresa May vanwege Grenfell Tower
Vlammenzee slokt torenflat op, bewoners waarschuwden al jaren over brandgevaar
818 1030 0 WhatsApp0 0
Geef een reactie
Je moet inloggen om een reactie te kunnen plaatsen.
Laatste reacties (52)
Reacties verbergen
Gerry Jöris 19 juni 2017 at 13:56
Wat een beschamende vertoning. Er spreekt geen spatje medeleven of verdriet uit het zakelijke verhaal dat zij afsteekt, waarbij zij zich strak aan haar tekst probeert te houden.
Log in om te reageren
Cliff Clavin 19 juni 2017 at 11:54
Ik vond dit commentaar op een Londense site waar ik al lang lid van ben. Het is een vertaling uit het Duits, en het is afkomstig uit een Zwitserse krant, Der Bund (die ik verder niet ken). Het is een ongebruikelijk lange lap tekst, ik hoop dan dat hij toch geplaatst wordt, want of je het ermee eens kan zijn of niet, de moeite van het lezen is hij waard.
——-
“The view from abroad. Translation by Paula Kirby.
This article in a Swiss newspaper today is so ruthlessly clear-sighted in its assessment of just how screwed we are that I just had to translate it for the non-German speakers. Hold on to your hats:
THE LAUGHING STOCK OF EUROPE
[Translation by Paula Kirby]
If it weren’t so serious, the situation in Great Britain would almost be comical. The country is being governed by a talking robot, nicknamed the Maybot, that somehow managed to visit the burned-out tower block in the west of London without speaking to a single survivor or voluntary helper. Negotiations for the country’s exit from the EU are due to begin on Monday, but no one has even a hint of a plan. The government is dependent on a small party that provides a cozy home for climate change deniers and creationists. Boris Johnson is Foreign Secretary. What in the world has happened to this country?
Two years ago David Cameron emerged from the parliamentary election as the shining victor. He had secured an absolute majority, and as a result it looked as if the career of this cheerful lightweight was headed for surprisingly dizzy heights. The economy was growing faster than in any other industrialised country in the world. Scottish independence and, with it, the break-up of the United Kingdom had been averted. For the first time since 1992, there was a Conservative majority in the House of Commons. Great Britain saw itself as a universally respected actor on the international stage. This was the starting point.
In order to get from this comfortable position to the chaos of the present in the shortest possible time, two things were necessary: first, the Conservative right wingers’ obsessive hatred of the EU, and second, Cameron’s irresponsibility in putting the whole future of the country on the line with his referendum, just to satisfy a few fanatics in his party. It is becoming ever clearer just how extraordinarily bad a decision that was. The fact that Great Britain has become the laughing stock of Europe is directly linked to its vote for Brexit.
The ones who will suffer most will be the British people, who were lied to by the Brexit campaign during the referendum and betrayed and treated like idiots by elements of their press. The shamelessness still knows no bounds: the Daily Express has asked in all seriousness whether the inferno in the tower block was due to the cladding having been designed to meet EU standards. It is a simple matter to discover that the answer to this question is No, but by failing to check it, the newspaper has planted the suspicion that the EU might be to blame for this too. As an aside: a country in which parts of the press are so demonstrably uninterested in truth and exploit a disaster like the fire in Grenfell Tower for their own tasteless ends has a very serious problem.
Already prices are rising in the shops, already inflation is on the up. Investors are holding back. Economic growth has slowed. And that’s before the Brexit negotiations have even begun. With her unnecessary general election, Prime Minister Theresa May has already squandered an eighth of the time available for them. How on earth an undertaking as complex as Brexit is supposed to be agreed in the time remaining is a mystery.
Great Britain will end up leaving its most important trading partner and will be left weaker in every respect. It would make economic sense to stay in the single market and the customs union, but that would mean being subject to regulations over which Britain no longer had any say. It would be better to have stayed in the EU in the first place. So the government now needs to develop a plan that is both politically acceptable and brings the fewest possible economic disadvantages. It’s a question of damage limitation, nothing more; yet even now there are still politicians strutting around Westminster smugly trumpeting that it will be the EU that comes off worst if it doesn’t toe the line.
The EU is going to be dealing with a government that has no idea what kind of Brexit it wants, led by an unrealistic politician whose days are numbered; and a party in which old trenches are being opened up again: moderate Tories are currently hoping to be able to bring about a softer exit after all, but the hardliners in the party – among them more than a few pigheadedly obstinate ideologues – are already threatening rebellion. An epic battle lies ahead, and it will paralyse the government.
EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier has said that he now expects the Brits to finally set out their position clearly, since he cannot negotiate with himself. The irony of this statement is that it would actually be in Britain’s best interests if he did just that. At least that way they’d have one representative on their side who grasps the scale of the task and is actually capable of securing a deal that will be fair to both sides. The Brits do not have a single negotiator of this stature in their ranks. And quite apart from the Brexit terms, both the debate and the referendum have proven to be toxic in ways that are now making themselves felt.
British society is now more divided than at any time since the English civil war in the 17th century, a fact that was demonstrated anew in the general election, in which a good 80% of the votes were cast for the two largest parties. Neither of these parties was offering a centrist programme: the election was a choice between the hard right and the hard left. The political centre has been abandoned, and that is never a good sign. In a country like Great Britain, that for so long had a reputation for pragmatism and rationality, it is grounds for real concern. The situation is getting decidedly out of hand.
After the loss of its empire, the United Kingdom sought a new place in the world. It finally found it, as a strong, awkward and influential part of a larger union: the EU. Now it has given up this place quite needlessly. The consequence, as is now becoming clear, is a veritable identity crisis from which it will take the country a very long time to recover.”
KOEKOEK
blablablabla
Wel meer, lastig.quote:
[..]
Maar in Zuid Amerika lijkt het je wel wat?
