Goodbye Power-Elite.

What political opinion is not based in speculation?

Well done, Finn, for not being blinkered by media-based propaganda.
I am slightly concerned - That the, current, directive is a case of 'triple-jeopardy', though...?
Something is amiss - With 'their' act.
Open to observation, nonetheless.

Well observed.

Snood.
You are being a 'knob' of late.
You call me stupid - You postulate 'speculatively', and still, choose to attend, such folly.
Please try and bring something clear to the table, soon.

The folly is to attend to anything that you say. I shall attempt to remedy that.

There's an 'ignore'-function'' - Press it.

Nope. Even an idiot has something intelligent to say occasionally. never ignore, just pass by.

Agreed.
Anything to contribute to the thread?

It's also worth noting that markets around the world are bouncing back after the two days of sell-offs immediately following the vote.

Remain proponents in the UK, Europe and even the US were warning, in advance of the vote, that the economic impact on the global economy, not just the UK's, would be very serious if not catastrophic.

The markets are only one indicator of the status of any economy and so it would be wrong to claim that their quick rebound from a sell-off that was hardly devastating (Stocks were overpriced and the market was looking for a reason to sell) means that there won't be further negative economic implications as a result of Brexit (particularly for the Brits), but it does highlight the degree of hysterical doom & gloom that was being pitched in favor of Remain.

The Europeans remaining in the EU now have a major decision to make: Do they approach the UK's exit with punishment in mind, or do they accept the will of the British voters and manage the process in a way that may benefit all involved?

The punishment approach is strategic if it is believed that making an example of the UK would discourage other nations to exit, but it could back-fire. Making life miserable for millions of people simply because they didn't want to play your game anymore is hardly good for the EU's brand, and might be seen by those inclined to leave as a willingness on the part of the EU Elites to crack down on opposition to their will.

It's important to remember that the Brits who voted to leave the EU were not motivated by a desire to see it fail. Leave wasn't an opening salvo in a war, and yet many of the comments coming out of Brussels have been spoken with anger. Anger and fear will largely motivate any punishment strategy.

Rather than attempt to warn away other member states from joining the UK in its departure, the EU should seriously analyze the reasons the Leave position won. Immigration obviously played a part, but it wasn't the only motivation and perhaps not even the main one.

My friends and colleagues in the UK who voted to exit have all cited a displeasure with EU officials telling them (The British people) what they can and cannot do. Now, I also know that a number of them are none too happy with the immigration situation, but the atmosphere of the election became so toxic in terms of branding Leavers as racists and xenophobes that they are very careful about what they say in terms of the problem.

It's a no-win situation for them which is an unfair and noxious result, but that's the goal of folks who try to shut down opposing opinions with unsupported slurs and name-calling, and their response to the dilemma of having to weigh every word spoken on a topic is likely to be something along the lines of "Good! I hope the pressure has forced them to cease their bigoted rhetoric! Now they'll have to be quiet racists!"


I would like to think that the Remain proponents are able to acknowledge that the immigration situation in Europe is, at least to some degree, problematic and that concern about it is reasonable. They might disagree on the size of the problem and whether or not leaving the EU was a sensible way to deal with it, but it truly is reprehensible to accuse 52% of their fellow Britons of being brutish xenophobes because they disagreed with them on these matters.

In any case, the EU can join with many Brits who favored remaining and blame it all on unfounded xenophobic rage and fear (and there are already signs that this is the road they intend to follow), however discontent with the EU is rife throughout the member states and dismissing legitimate concerns as simply irrational bigotry will practically insure that the discontent will grow.

You would be hard pressed to find any serious analysis among European pundits and journalists, regardless of their position on Brexit, who don't acknowledge that the EU has made significant mistakes and that there are aspects of the organization that are flawed and in need of reform. Again, many will disagree on the scope of the mistakes and flaws as well as the types and extent of needed reforms, but this is where the debate should be focused and not on whether or not the EU needs to be punished harshly to intimidate like-minded Europeans elsewhere on the continent.

So far, Angela Merkel's comments have been encouraging. We have seen the extent of Germany's influence on EU decision making, and it is considerable. If Merkel is able to steer the EU's official response away from punishment and towards reform she will prove herself to be the union's staunchest and most astute defender.

Even without an EU bent on recrimination and sending a message to its remaining members, the UK is going to go through some hard times as a result of this decision. Whether or not the British people ultimately believe that what they've gained by leaving is worth what they are going to lose, remains to be seen, but, regardless, they are not facing a walk in the park. Whatever difficulties are inherent in the disassociation, they will be felt and all of Europe will be aware of them. Frankly I don't think modern Western Europeans have much of a stomach for discomfort and a shake-up of the status quo, so the Brits won’t have to suffer all that badly to provide a scary example to folks in France, Italy and elsewhere. However if the problems that exist in Europe worsen, particularly those associated with security, they may seem a larger threat to Europeans than whatever punishment can be meted out by the EU to Brits.

Not as far as your concerned.

What Brexit does to Europe is more than it is.

What?