The bias changed and we got Brexit

 

Brexit used to sit on the far side lines of politics.

How did we get stuck with Brexit?

DATELINE 6 JUNE 2018: Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, has been criticised for rejecting a House of Lords amendment for Britain to remain a member of the EEA (European Economic Area) after Brexit.

So, what are you saying UKIP?

So, what are you saying UKIP? That you can have vote after vote until you get the leader you want?

The value of being citizens of Europe

Back in 2013, I wrote an article for my blog here called, ‘The value of being citizens of Europe’. I stated, ‘If you're a UK citizen confused about the value of EU membership, due to the untruths coming from UKIP and the national press, then just follow the evidence.’

I didn’t know then that within three years, Britain would vote to leave the EU in a referendum, leading to an end to EU citizenship for Britons. Today, I am republishing my article as it seems more pertinent now than it did in 2013:

How did we get stuck with Brexit?

Labour’s leadership has rejected Tony Blair’s claim that Brexit can be stopped.

Labour’s shadow chancellor John McDonnell said, "We have to respect the referendum result". And Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn agreed, adding "We do recognise the result of the referendum of a year ago."

How Brexit became mainstream

Brexit used to sit on the sidelines of politics. Indeed, the word 'Brexit' was only invented in 2012, and until last year, most people didn't even know what it meant. (Now it's in the Oxford English dictionary.)

Mrs May takes control, without a ballot or a bullet

Former Prime Minister, David Cameron, only offered an EU referendum to see-off UKIP and to appease the Eurosceptic right-wing of his party.

Sadly, the result of his endeavours has been that instead of seeing-off UKIP, his party has become UKIP, with the right-wing of the Tories – some would say the far, far right – taking over the government of Britain without even a ballot or a bullet.

Tim Farron versus Nigel Farage

• Ukip's Nigel Farage, and LibDem leader, Tim Farron, trading blows about the EU

Former Ukip leader, Nigel Farage, and Lib-Dem leader, Tim Farron, practically took over BBC’s Andrew Marr Show on Sunday when they traded blows about the EU.

Daily Express: 'A bloody awful newspaper..'

Prince Philip once said, “The Daily Express is a bloody awful newspaper, full of lies, scandal and imagination”. For good measure he added, “It is a vicious paper.”

He was right, wasn’t he?

UK Statistics Authority criticises 'Vote Leave' video

A YouTube video launched today by ‘Vote Leave’ campaigner, Douglas Carswell, MP, has been criticised by the UK Statistics Authority.

The EU accounts ARE signed off

Brexit campaigners and some of the British media often claim that the EU accounts have never been signed off by the auditors. But it isn't true.

TV entertainer says 'Britain is full'

Noel Edmonds of TV fame and one of the stars of the National Lottery's advertising campaign, is on the front page of the Daily Express declaring that ‘Britain is full’.

Most UKIP voters support Donald Trump's ban on all Muslims

According to a poll of British voters conducted by YouGov, most UKIP voters support a ban on all Muslims entering the USA proposed by Republican presidential hopeful, Donald Trump.  

Misleading claim about why Syrian boy drowned

A YouTube video posted yesterday by a UKIP supporter claims that the Syrian boy who was washed up on a Turkish beach drowned because ‘his father wanted new teeth.' The video has so far been viewed over 400,000 times and also posted by far-right groups.

The video shows a clip from a short Sky News interview to which has been added (not by Sky News) an opening title stating, ‘Syrian boy drowned because his Father wanted new teeth’.  

UKIP plays party chairs

•  UKIP's deputy chair 'unsacked' as spokesperson

I had a funny feeling this would happen. This week a leaked internal UKIP memo stated that Deputy Chair, Suzanne Evans, had been ‘sacked’ as the party’s media spokesperson after she criticised her leader, Nigel Farage, on TV. 

Daily Express Fury About Illegal Immigrants

Today’s Daily Express front page headline screamed, ‘Fury over Britain’s 2m illegal migrants’.  

Yet, on closer scrutiny, the ‘fury’ should instead be about the Express’s careless journalism.  The ‘exclusive’ statistic, claimed the Express, came from 'think tank' Migration Watch – yet Migration Watch this morning denied this, and announced that they, “declined to cooperate in this story”.

The UK government described the Daily Express number of 'illegal migrants' as a 'guestimate' and fact-checking organisation, FullFact.org today reported that nobody actually knows the true statistic, but previous estimates put the number of illegal migrants in Britain at between 417,000 and 1.1 million. The FullFact headline read, 'Think tank says it didn't estimate Express '2 million illegal migrants' figure

What Nigel Farage told British expats in Spain

About two million Brits live, work, study or are retired in other EU countries. Over 800,000 of them are estimated to reside in Spain alone; over one million if you include those who sojourn there for just part of each year. 

The numbers might now be higher, as the latest estimates* were published in 2010.  In addition, many tens of thousands of British own second homes right across the European Union – over 140,000 estimated to be in Spain and Italy. 

Understandably, these British expatriates are concerned about what will happen to them, and their homes abroad, if Britain leaves the European Union.  ‘Expat Forums’ are replete with anxious postings about just this subject. 

This month Nigel Farage, leader of the anti-EU UKIP party, was interviewed by Talk Radio Europe, which is based in Spain and broadcasts in English to British expats living there.

My vote for Europe

'The optimum deal for the United Kingdom is surely to be in a European free trade area but not in a customs union' - Daniel Hannan, Daily Telegraph 

True or False?