Swearing by the EU: UK's anti-Brexit Lib Dems opt for earthy election slogan

 

FILE PHOTO: British politician Vince Cable crosses the road outside the Palace of Westminster in London, Britain, December 11, 2018. REUTERS/Phil Noble/File Photo

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's pro-EU Liberal Democrats are showcasing their European election campaign with a down-to-earth slogan they hope will attract frustrated voters who want to remain in the bloc: "Bollocks to Brexit".

 

Fresh from a strong showing in local council elections, the opposition party posted a photograph on Twitter of its leader Vince Cable with a "special edition" of its manifesto for the May 23 European parliament vote. The document will be launched on Thursday evening.

 

The picture showed a black front cover emblazoned with the phrase on a yellow placard at its centre.

 

"It is an attempt to put in a more pungent way what a lot of people think actually," 76-year-old Cable told broadcaster ITV, which featured the cover with the presenter's finger partially covering the colourful word.

 

Literally meaning testicles, it is used as a synonym for 'nonsense' in colloquial British English.

 

Britain's third mainstream party more than doubled its number of seats in last week's local elections, when voters punished the governing Conservatives and main opposition Labour over a perceived collective failure to break the political deadlock over Britain's EU departure.

 

The phrase adopted by the Lib Dems, who also support holding a second Brexit referendum, has previously been used on stickers and T-shirts by ardent 'remain' campaigners.

 

"It is clear, it is honest," said Cable, a former business minister. "Some people will be offended, some people are easily offended. Other people will think well actually these guys are absolutely straightforward about what they believe."

 

For those keen on more measured language, there is an alternative front cover with the words: "Stop Brexit".

 

(Reporting by Kylie MacLellan; editing by John Stonestreet)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-05-10

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FYI.    How strange that if you read the Oxford Dic. definition you find the word had its origins in Germany. !!  ????

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/<deleted>

14 minutes ago, webfact said:

"It is clear, it is honest," said Cable, a former business minister. "Some people will be offended, some people are easily offended. Other people will think well actually these guys are absolutely straightforward about what they believe."

I can't help but wonder what Cable would say if his party - against all odds - managed to win the next General Election, but the result was not respected nor acted on. This would be due to some members of the public claiming the voters were racists and did not understand the issues surrounding the vote, and that re-runs were needed. Would he be offended then? I suggest he would explode with rage that democracy be overturned like that. Anyone would.

Edited May 10, 20197 yr by TopDeadSenter

58 minutes ago, webfact said:

Liberal Democrats "<deleted> to Brexit".

Question Time from Northampton with Nigel Farage 09/05/2019

 

Could be..."We give in"......????

Considering how Remainers are always claiming to be the intelligent, educated group this slogan is not particularly sophisticated or clever. In fact many people would find this use of language crass and rude. 

 

Besides, if they wish to overturn the result of the largest democratic exercise in UK history simply because they lost the vote, surely they should rename the party the Liberal Anti-Democrats. Or maybe the Liberal Dictatorship Party would be more apt?

Edited May 10, 20197 yr by JonnyF

2 minutes ago, oilinki said:

Liberalism, like it's name says, is about giving freedoms to the people.

You will find no greater freedom than for citizens to have a referendum to decide on important issues. We had one in Britain. Leave won. Yet the liberals who are remainer by and large were not happy they lost, and want a re-run or cancellation of the result. Can you explain how overturning the democratic referendum result fit in with notions of "liberalism"? 

22 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

Considering how Remainers are always claiming to be the intelligent, educated group this slogan is not particularly sophisticated or clever. In fact many people would find this use of language crass and rude. 

 

Besides, if they wish to overturn the result of the largest democratic exercise in UK history simply because they lost the vote, surely they should rename the party the Liberal Anti-Democrats. Or maybe the Liberal Dictatorship Party would be more apt?

On the contrary. Considering that my earlier post quoting the world renowned Oxford English dictionary, that states the meaning and origins of the word "<deleted>" then this truly illustrates how Brexiteers are more content with the past , then being in the present or looking  to the future.

6 minutes ago, oilinki said:

You are aware that Brexit rips off plenty of freedoms and possibilities from the UK population? Especially from the younger ones, whose lives are just starting. 

 

They are no longer allowed to keep their European freedoms once brexit is done and dusted. Nice way to treat your offsprings, not.

 

Good grief....????

21 minutes ago, oilinki said:

Quite the opposite. It's good that the liberals have finally started to speak common language of issues that matter. 

 

That is a good slogan. 

 

Liberalism, like it's name says, is about giving freedoms to the people. This doens't mean that liberals should be PC-folks. One can be polite, but that's not required. Liberalism has also nothing to do with the he/she/it/them/turtle folks.

 

I find it great that UK liberals have finally found some balls. 

Giving people the freedom to have the result of the referendum ignored by the political elite? How liberally democratic of them.

 

I guess they don't say "Barlucks to the local elections" from last week when they had good results. Maybe the slogan should be "Barlucks to the votes we lose, but all hail the votes we win". Democrats? Yeah, ok...

Edited May 10, 20197 yr by JonnyF

6 minutes ago, oilinki said:

Let's talk about the real life freedoms. Closing borders, limiting people's possibilities to choose where they want to live is not exactly doing that. 

 

But hey, you wish to talk about some anger fuelled referendum two years ago, when people voted for what? They had no idea what they voted for, perhaps rainbow colored unicorns. Now they do know what they voted for and they are not exactly happy, are they?

 

I don't see crowds walking on British streets yelling "We did the right thing! We did the right thing!". 

 

If you love idea that people can have their direct voices heard, then educate them and only after they know what they are voting for, ask them to vote. That's democracy, not abusive populism, what the 2016 referendum was.

The idea that it's OK to ignore the vote that you lost because anyone who disagreed with you was uneducated and didn't know what they were voting for is arrogance beyond belief. Absolutely deluded. 

1 minute ago, JonnyF said:

The idea that it's OK to ignore the vote that you lost because anyone who disagreed with you was uneducated and didn't know what they were voting for is arrogance beyond belief. Absolutely deluded. 

But it might be how they do things where he comes from...????

How else could that lot make headlines?

Edited May 10, 20197 yr by evadgib

2 minutes ago, oilinki said:

Are you saying, thinking things over is a bad way to run a nation? I can tell you, it works way better than UK's current model of talking head repeating the same old slogans all over again.. yet going nowhere. 

 

Past is past, it's time to think about the future. 

Yes, you keep thinking about the UK's future but you ain't from the UK, we are trying to distance ourselves from folk like you..Do you not understand that...?

15 minutes ago, oilinki said:

Angry, old, uneducated, very conservative men want to distance UK from the EU. And yes, the voter statistics support that.

 

Perhaps they are afraid Europeans take their jobs and are on benefits - at the same time, which is perfectly feasible logic in the rainbow unicorn world they are living in.

"Howzatt" ????

(The first 'Ficker than us' seen today!)

 

59 minutes ago, oilinki said:

Quite the opposite. It's good that the liberals have finally started to speak common language of issues that matter. 

 

That is a good slogan. 

 

Liberalism, like it's name says, is about giving freedoms to the people. This doens't mean that liberals should be PC-folks. One can be polite, but that's not required. Liberalism has also nothing to do with the he/she/it/them/turtle folks.

 

I find it great that UK liberals have finally found some balls. 

Found some balls! Very good.

 

However, as they wish to overturn a national democratic vote, they should probably remove the word "democrats" from their party name and just call themselves The Illiberal Nuts. 

2 hours ago, geoffbezoz said:

How strange that if you read the Oxford Dic. definition you find the word had its origins in Germany. !!

How is that in any way strange? English is a Germanic language so as an absolutely natural and inevitable consequence of that, a large proportion (around 25%) of words in the English language have Germanic origins.

 

Why is English a Germanic language?

 

42 minutes ago, geoffbezoz said:

On the contrary. Considering that my earlier post quoting the world renowned Oxford English dictionary, that states the meaning and origins of the word "<deleted>" then this truly illustrates how Brexiteers are more content with the past, then being in the present or looking to the future.

Again, you're saying something that makes no sense. Apart from a very few neologisms, virtually every word in English had its roots in the past. By your logic, anyone using a word that was not coined in the present, or within the last couple of years is "more content with the past."

 

So that would include you - almost without exception, every word you have used in your posts has an etymology that stretches back thousands of years to Proto Indo-European, a language that was spoken an estimated 4,500 to 6,500 years ago.

19 minutes ago, oilinki said:

Angry, old, uneducated, very conservative men want to distance UK from the EU. And yes, the voter statistics support that.

 

Perhaps they are afraid Europeans take their jobs and are on benefits - at the same time, which is perfectly feasible logic in the rainbow unicorn world they are living in.

Gotcha......????

 

But I am one who doesn't worry about an iPhone battery charger fail....????

Just now, GroveHillWanderer said:

How is that in any way strange? English is a Germanic language so as an absolutely natural and inevitable consequence of that, a large proportion (around 25%) of words in the English language have Germanic origins.

 

Why is English a Germanic language?

 

Again, you're saying something that makes no sense. Apart from a very few neologisms, virtually every word in English had its roots in the past. By your logic, anyone using a word that was not coined in the present, or within the last couple of years is "more content with the past."

 

So that would include you - almost without exception, every word you have used in your posts has an etymology that stretches back thousands of years to Proto Indo-European, a language that was spoken an estimated 4,500 to 6,500 years ago.

Excellent load of totally uninteresting drivel. Carry on though - you another one of those Brexiteers ? ????  Anything directly connected to the OPs subject  matter to add to the thread ?

Just now, oilinki said:

How is 2nd referendum overturning a national democratic vote? 

 

It will happen only in the situation when majority of UK voters would vote for staying within the EU. Otherwise 2nd referendum would not overturn the previous result.

 

Does this mean that you are so certain that Remain would win the 2nd (or 3rd actually) referendum, that you can not allow people to say what they would now say - democratically?

 

It certainly sounds like you think along those lines.

Just stick to your own countries stuff...I look forward to reading about it in the future.....NOOooo, I never mentioned Turkey...????

11 minutes ago, oilinki said:

Direct answer to a post. Don't blame me if "your side" says funny things, which warrant such replies. 

So it's our own fault that we're 'Ficker than us'...?

You're priceless pal. Please keep it up! ????

Edited May 10, 20197 yr by evadgib

6 minutes ago, oilinki said:

How is 2nd referendum overturning a national democratic vote? 

 

It will happen only in the situation when majority of UK voters would vote for staying within the EU. Otherwise 2nd referendum would not overturn the previous result.

 

Does this mean that you are so certain that Remain would win the 2nd (or 3rd actually) referendum, that you can not allow people to say what they would now say - democratically?

 

It certainly sounds like you think along those lines.

I am talking about the slogan: <deleted> to Brexit" implies they want to remain by whatever means.

 

I am not talking about a second referendum. We had the referendum already but if there were to be another (same questions) I think that leave would win with a bigger majority. That is what I think, so you are sure.

6 minutes ago, oilinki said:

Turkey and Russia are both way too populous countries to be included to the EU. 

 

That has never been a real possibility. It was simply fear mongering from the UKIP folks - and hey, it worked!

Yes. Russia in the EU would certainly would pose a problem for German dominance.

2 minutes ago, oilinki said:

I see the slogan as a reference to nutsack, a nice and warm "safe place" where the brexiteers feel at home talking to themselves about the great wars. 

Well history is a great subject. But I'd rather chat about it in a nice bar. 

16 minutes ago, oilinki said:

I will. Don't you worry about that. 

 

Btw. How does it feel to get the UKIP treatment back? Now added with facts. I hope someone will start posting excessive amount of silly and simplistic memes against Brexit. That is one missing peace of this puzzle. 

Your trolling will suffice until reinforcements arrive  

Well it's not really trolling when you give your opinions, which on this time are less filtered, yet still based on facts. 
 
Junker admitted that it made a mistake when it didn't correct all the wrongs what the UKIP said during the 2016 referendum. That was requested by Cameron. Only afterwards it became clear that the UK MP's had absolutely no idea what EU is and what EU does.
 
EU will not make the same mistake this time around. 
 
But we need a Portuguese bear posting lots and lots of nonsense memes to give you the full UKIP experience. 

Lib.dems. shower of bitter LOSERS..should be renamed the bitter sweetie wife oddity party..very apt for them

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5 hours ago, TopDeadSenter said:

I can't help but wonder what Cable would say if his party - against all odds - managed to win the next General Election, but the result was not respected nor acted on. This would be due to some members of the public claiming the voters were racists and did not understand the issues surrounding the vote, and that re-runs were needed. Would he be offended then? I suggest he would explode with rage that democracy be overturned like that. Anyone would.

 

Do you understand the difference between a GE and an advisory referendum in the UK's constitution?

 

Rhetorical question, because clearly you don't.

3 hours ago, oilinki said:

Angry, old, uneducated, very conservative men want to distance UK from the EU. And yes, the voter statistics support that.

 

Perhaps they are afraid Europeans take their jobs and are on benefits - at the same time, which is perfectly feasible logic in the rainbow unicorn world they are living in.

 

Not just men. Plenty of old women too!

 

It's scary reading some of the many threads/groups on social media. how they repeat the same old mantras based on ignorance, and downright lies from certain politicians.

 

Most haven't got a clue when asked how the European Parliament works, what the Council of Ministers is, etc etc. They prefer to believe the crap Farage, Boris and the sinister R-Mogg feed them, helped by the gutter-press papers.

 

Few know the reality of EU law on movement of citizens; and a great many seem to equate EU freedom of movement with the influx of Asian immigrants from Commonwealth countries!! The lie that the EU Courts overrule the courts of member nations can be easily found to be nonsense but most can't seemingly even use Google!

 

But they like the rousing speeches of Farage, pandering to the "good old days" (which for many many weren't good) and pretending Britannia still rules the waves!

5 hours ago, oilinki said:

Same old story, same old story. I suppose next comes the story of 17 million voters. The big talk about sovereignty, how great WTO deal is and naturally how all the Commonwealth countries love to do the best and quickest deals possible for the UK... 

 

If you so much want to hear the people, then ask them. That's pretty much the only way to get UK from this impasse so that the country could start the healing process. 

 

 

 

 

I find it amazing,that as a europhile E.u citizen, you keep posting on these Brexit threads, yet when I ask you this simple question, you fail to reply.

 

 

————-

 

 

And I’m still awaiting my polite request to you,asking for you to explain why you and your fellow non Brit E.u citizens think it’s so important for us to remain in your so called union.

  And are you not aware, that should our Treacherous political class continue to ignore the Democratic decision of the British people, in the largest vote in our history, and keep us shackled to the E.u. That an ever increasing majority of the British people will never accept the E.u. And will make life hell for the Bureaucrats in Brussels. To such an extent that before too long, you will be begging us to leave.

 

 

————-

 

 

Edited May 10, 20197 yr by nontabury