AlexRich

6 minutes ago, vinny41 said:

Nothing of the sort just pointing out to you the petiton data is a carbon copy of the 2016 referendum results so nothing has changed

Almost three years later a great deal has changed, it will not be the same voters ... there will be plenty of young new voters, and some who failed to vote in 2016, but won’t make that mistake again. Not to mention the dead voters ... who voted for it but never seen it.

1 hour ago, BritTim said:

Add the Philippines to your shortlist. Visas are pretty easy, and living costs low, especially if you like to spend some of your time in bars. The main drawback is that the food scene is pretty dismal.

I will second that. You can stay there on a tourist visa, renewing now and then, for three years before you have to leave then come back. No hassles. And you can go to plenty of different places. I’m thinking of checking out Cebu the next time I’m in SE Asia.

4 hours ago, ewelve said:

You guys make me puke. I know David and his kids for years, he's one of the nicest gentlest people ever. He adores his family and he protected them from more heart ache by saying what he did. Would you sanctimonious cretins do any different with young children. People up here in Kan that know him Thai and Farang have no doubt Dave did nothing and this diatribe is vile and horrible for him and his family.

Everybody loved Dr Harold Shipman?

I'm not sure if it really matters much, anyone who has lived and worked in a foreign country is capable of adapting to living in Thailand. I suspect anyone who has got through their military career relatively unscathed physically and mentally is more suited to adapting than the average person. I wonder if anyone who has had a tougher experience wouldn't be better off at home surrounded by friends and family, as the temptation to sit in a bar and drink yourself into oblivion is stronger here?

8 minutes ago, beautifulthailand99 said:

Thank God we took a leaf out of the Brexiteers book and got our troll farms up and running just in time for this petition. !!

The petition will not change the outcome but when you include the numbers that will attend the march in London it might remind politicians that the UK population is not 17.4 million ... there is a growing number of voters who will never forgive them if they throw us all over a cliff ... we are heading for another vote if May’s deal is rejected again.

Shortly 

1 hour ago, dick dasterdly said:

They've had nearly 3 years to talk about a trading deal, but for reasons known only to themselves - preferred to leave this as the last item on the agenda - and the may/eu deal STILL talks about negotiating a trade deal in the future!

Shortly after the vote came through I watched an EU official on Newsnight, a lady with understanding of the the procedure for leaving the EU, and she explained that the agreed procedure was agree a withdrawal first, and only after you have left the EU can you discuss the future relationship, because they don't negotiate a trade deal with a country that is a member. Now that appears to be what all EU countries have signed up to, including the UK ... and that is what has actually happened. They did not make it up on the hoof ... it was already written down and signed up to.  

So what they have done is followed the agreed procedure. When people like Davis and Johnson stated otherwise they were really only displaying their own ignorance ... or lying?

3 minutes ago, dick dasterdly said:

Not at all.

 

The remain side (before the referendum) threw up every biased expert possible to convince the electorate that voting for leave would immediately result in catastrophe!  Osborne was (IMO) the straw that broke the camel's back - when he promised a 'punishment budget' ????.

 

I think we will never agree as you clearly believe that the referendum was influenced by russians etc - even though whilst young people are addicted to fb and other similar types of social media, older people are far less likely to spend anything like as much time on these types of social media!

Older people are more avid Facebook fans ... and that's why younger people have moved away from it.

18 minutes ago, dick dasterdly said:

Quite.

 

Online petitions are easy to manipulate by those determined to do so.

 

Referendums are far more difficult to manipulate.

Agreed ... and that's why ardent Brexiteers never want to go near another one. You can't fool the people all of the time. 

It's the fear of what that democratic act would tell them.

20 minutes ago, dick dasterdly said:

Disagree.

 

MPs know that the electorate are very aware that the eu/may deal is very bad indeed!

I'd like to see a random 20 people stopped in the high street and asked to explain what May's deal means to them? I'd be surprised if many of them really understood it, or were clear on the difference between the withdrawal agreement and the future relationship?

The WA gives you the breathing space to negotiate the future relationship ... but the latter is an open book ... and we could end up with anything from Norway + to Canada + ... it doesn't mean permanent customs union, although many disingenuous MP's claim that to be the case. My personal view is that the "backstop" issue is a red herring. 

41 minutes ago, Nigel Garvie said:

Others have replied on this, but just to clear one point up:- 

I am against Brexit for many reasons, it is true that there is an element of personal interest in some of them. I would have thought that applies to all of us on both sides of this argument though. My main reason for being against Brexit is the rather mundane one of believing that it will have a terrible effect on our economy, and most people other than some of the super rich, will suffer. Ironically, the working class Brexit voters who were lead to believe that the EU was the source of all their woes, will probably suffer most. This would give me no pleasure at all.

This is an interesting question for me too. I don't believe that I'll be better off economically with Brexit, so I see no sense in it from that viewpoint. But if I believed that I would be better off or it would have no impact I would still not want it. I like having a European passport and having the freedom to live, travel and work in Europe without any issues should I choose to. That will not be as easy after the exit.

For dedicated leavers there is no economic benefit, unless you are a hedge fund like Odey, Rees Mogg, and you'll position yourself to profit from it initially ... or be able to avoid tax legislation on offshore funds coming down the pipe later. But for a typical voter I can't see any real benefit, indeed, I think many of them are going to suffer the consequences more than the average remainer. The benefit seems to be psychological, like your team winning the cup. The problem is that wears out quickly, and they'll find they are facing the same problems (or more) as before, but don't have an EU to blame it on.  

Well deserved. 

It's not looking good for Mr Armitage, but that doesn't in itself make him guilty. For that you need some solid evidence. Colin Stagg was castigated in the UK media and considered by all to be a guy that "got away with murder". A few years later DNA evidence found the real killer, Colin Stagg was innocent. Best keep an open mind until the evidence is revealed.