this post was submitted on 12 Aug 2023
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Europe

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[–] [email protected] 103 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Still can't believe we voted to leave. Madness.

[–] [email protected] 64 points 1 year ago (5 children)

And on a non-binding, simple majority vote. The results were like what, 52-48% for such a momentous decision? Should’ve required something like a 60% minimum, though they’d just have kept calling for the same vote every year.

[–] [email protected] 47 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

This is what gets me. Require 2/3 for constitution changes, but 1/2 to leave EU?

[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (4 children)

The UK doesn't have a referendum procedure for constitutional amendment, or a 2/3 supermajority in the legislature. It's basically simple majority in the legislature for anything that might be called constitutional, as any act of Parliament can do anything other than binding future Parliaments.

There are other countries which do have 2/3 supermajority.

looks

Finland has a 2/3 requirement of legislators, for example.

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The problem is that no one knew what leaving like like, in part because the Leave camp danced around it.

If Leave had to campaign against the actual terms, the vote would have failed.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

No one knew? I'm sorry but pretty much every single repercussion the UK is feeling right now was rather obvious when you take the time to think on it and consider the EU's point of view as well. The only people who are surprised about stuff like being treated like every other outside country by the EU were the ones who didn't think one second about it and wanted to believe the lies.

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

My theory is a group motivated to change the status quo is far more likely to be mobilised to vote on that issue than a group in favour of maintaining the status quo, i.e. being forced to respond to that group. Because you're trying mobilise a group to do nothing, there's no impetus to the counter-movement. I think any vote like that is naturally biased towards the group seeking to change something, though it would be hard to quantify the extent of the effect and would only apply to specific single issue votes. I said this during the lead up to the Brexit vote, that more people in the country would prefer to stay, but the "leave" voter base would be over-represented at the ballot. I think the whole democratic system fails to function unless everyone is compelled to vote, because of weird effects like this.

[–] [email protected] 66 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Good luck getting the same generous terms as before.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 year ago

No amount of luck will make that happen.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

That's what's baffles me the most. Leavers were painting the whole situation as if they had the worst terms with the EU and were exploited at every corner when in fact the UK had one of the most favourable terms in the whole union. So many idiots ...

[–] [email protected] 57 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It could be 90% in favour of rejoining, but it wouldn't make much of a difference. The EU would need to see strong, long term cross-party support in Westminster before they'd consider it. The EU know that otherwise the issue is just going to keep re-emerging in UK politics so long as the Tories are ideologically opposed to the EU. I think the best chance the UK has is if the modern Tory party stopped being relevant electorally, because their membership's views aren't likely to change, and everyone in the EU institutions hates them for the damage their governments have done over the last 7 years.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I also would be really surprised if the EU would offer the same favourable terms the UK had before. Most likely they would need to show their willingness to integrate more in the union than they did before.

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[–] [email protected] 41 points 1 year ago (1 children)
  • They might not be willing to rejoin as equals though.

  • If the trashy newspapers start doing their thing again, they’ll reduce that percentage successfully.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 year ago
  1. True.
  2. When did they stop!?
[–] [email protected] 39 points 1 year ago (1 children)

6 in 10... in the UK. You'd be lucky to find that level of support in the EU for the UK rejoining.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago

Yeah they'll have to wait a couple decades before they'd have a chance of being let back in.

[–] [email protected] 33 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Aw yep. So 4 in 10 people are absolute morons. No surprises there haha

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

At least some percentage are just lying to themselves / the pollsters. We've seen enough bad-faith rejection of fact on this side of the pond to know that it's fairly common with shitheads who refuse to admit they're wrong.

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[–] [email protected] 22 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I don’t think the EU is very keen to accept the British back in the warm nest… they’d probably leave again in 2 weeks’ time.

[–] [email protected] 35 points 1 year ago (2 children)

They would likely not get all of the previous special allowances back. Especially having a separate currency.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Having your own currency is not a special treatment at all - instead, the Eurozone is kind of an elitist club inside the EU that won't let everyone in.

The "British Rebate" (or whatever it was called) that guaranteed 66% of the British payments to be sent back to the UK on the other hand should be gone for good. Same for not being a member of the Schengen area or adhering to the rules concerning fiscal stability.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago

British Schengen membership would probably depend on whether Ireland wants to remain outside Schengen or join. If the UK wants to rejoin the EU, Ireland will be able to choose.

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] idkwhatimdoing 24 points 1 year ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This looks french. We can't allow that

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

God there are too many stupid people. A lot more than that should want to re-join.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago

Ooo they can vote to leave again in 8 years

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