Ohhhh you don’t realise just how much I have wanted to tell everyone this. But I haven’t been able to say anything until now. A whole week I’ve had to keep quiet – well bar a few of you. Remember the job interview I went for in Amersham about 6 weeks ago? I went to meet them last week, in a pub, of course, and they offered me the job. This is my dream job. This is what I have been working towards for the past few years – particularly the last 2 years. This is … Continued
I had to put up with a lot of bullshit during the EU referendum campaign. We all did, in one way or another. Something that particularly pissed me off was the abuse that I and other remainers would receive within Tory circles. As a member of Tory-only groups on Facebook (allegedly Tory-only as many members seemed to view UKIP very positively, for a party trying to damage the Conservative Party), I watched as relatively sensible discussions about any subject became nasty, vilifying discussions with spurious anti-EU arguments backed up by allegations of those of us that supported remain, such as … Continued
One week ago today I fell out of love with my country. I have always been a passionate Brit, but also a European. Don’t worry, I’m not about to go over the arguments for and against the European Union! I awoke at 3:45, my alarm had been set, and I switched on the internet to find Nigel Farage making some kind of victory speech. Surely not? When the referendum had been announced, in my head it was more of a case of how much the winning margin would be. I wanted the referendum so that we could finally put a … Continued
I have awoken to find that the open, welcoming, free-trade loving country that I loved, has been replaced by an insular, backwards-looking nation that I simply do not recognise. Today is a victory for racism. Today is a victory for xenophobia. Today is a victory for lies. And I have never felt less proud to be British. This was utterly avoidable. Firstly, there was no need to call the referendum in the first place. It was David Cameron’s choice out of party management – a need to placate those swaying towards UKIP especially after the two party betrayals from Reckless … Continued
In the final part of my series on why I voted to remain, I am going to change tack – the other 3 posts were about how I saw the European Union affecting the country as a whole. This is about me. I appreciate that the European Union is not perfect. I’d like to scrap the common agricultural policy, it should have more of a pro-business focus and a reduction of regulation where possible. The Eurozone is a large problem. Since around 2010 I’ve been arguing that one of two things needs to happen – either the Eurozone needs to … Continued
Good afternoon I was delayed getting back from Leeds to Hull on the evening of Saturday 5th December. I cannot remember the exact amount of time late but it was over an hour. Firstly the train was around 30 minutes late arriving into Leeds. This meant an extra 30 minutes standing on the platform with drunk football fans. Then the train set off and I believe the emergency alarm was pulled. I am rather concerned about the delayed manner in which this was resolved – the amount of time it took for a decision to be made to go back … Continued
I know it isn’t cool to admit it, but I like immigration. In fact, I’d go so far to say that the most important aspect of being a European Union member is the right to live and work in 27 other countries (plus a couple of others with freedom of movement as part of their access deal to the single market). Had David Cameron come back from the negotiation to say that we no longer had this right, then Brexit would have tempted me. I LOVE IMMIGRATION. I LOVE IMMIGRANTS. But I don’t want to make these blogs about me. … Continued
Back in December, I decided that I had had enough. Time to move on. ****** Dear Sainsbury’s I think our relationship is over. At the very least, it is time to take a break. I have told you on multiple occasions how it upsets me when you give me chicken which will not last for my weeks’ worth of salads. I have to bring this up at least on a monthly basis and at the moment it seems to be almost every week. This week the chicken is going to expire tomorrow. OK, Friday is Christmas Day so I won’t … Continued
For obvious reasons I didn’t post the second part on Friday as planned. You can read part 1 on economics here if you missed it. As I mentioned last time, I may or may not respond to any comments – any blatant lies I will simply delete. So. Sovereignty. I see polls of Conservative Brexit members in particular who keep stating that sovereignty is by far their number 1 reason for voting to leave. But what does it mean? Travel back thousands upon thousands of years, to cavemen existence (no I’m not saying we will all become cavemen if we … Continued
Over the course of the next week, I am going to explain why I came to my decision to vote to remain in the European Union, in possibly 5 blog posts, separated into distinct chapters. Like many, my mind was made up long before the campaign started – around a year ago for me. There is plenty that I don’t like about the European Union in terms of how it organises itself so myself voting to leave was possible. There was a decision for me to make. The most important part of any voting decision for myself is the economy, … Continued