death rattle, on 29 March 2017 - 10:02 PM, said:
How have opinions shifted among the populace?
As the others have said it's difficult to tell for sure, but I'm inclined to believe that if a 2nd referendum were held then remain would win, as Tiste said. I doubt it would be by a large margin but I think a significant enough portion of leave voters voted with a genuine belief in false promises - the backtracking of which started almost immediately - or on a basis of complete misinformation - as certain facts have shed light on - and lack of understanding. The leave campaign was built almost entirely on a platform of lies the foundation of which was and is the perpetuation of the idea that, where the EU are concerned, we can have our cake and eat it too, all the benefits with none of the drawbacks - real or imagined - because they need us more than we need them. This has been exposed - and is continuing to be so - for the nationalistic nonsense that it is, but while plenty of people can see this still others cannot or it simply doesn't matter for them. Either they still view this issue, wrongly, as one of sovereignty - by and large the same sort of people that showed their complete misunderstanding of the term when they attacked parliament for exercising said sovereignty - or they are part of a cross-section of society for whom immigrants and immigration are the source of all ills, and leaving the EU is somehow the miracle panacea - I like to call them the 'I'm-not-racist-but' brigade, for the most part. Which isn't to say that the leave campaign are entirely to blame for our current situation, the remain campaign was so pathetically run it would be laughable if it wasn't so depressing, and Corbyn's 'support' was so limp that a wet noodle would be offended by the comparison!
Article 50 has been triggered barely a day and Amber Rudd is already having to deny that Theresa May and the British government are attempting to blackmail the EU, as Theresa May's letter triggering the article suggests that intelligence - counter-terrorism and the like - could be withheld if a favourable trade deal isn't given. Yeah that's the way to start negotiations, we've already turned around and spit in the faces of the EU, now blackmail. This makes me angry and sad in equal measure.