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NOT SURPRISINGLY, ON the last day of Britain’s membership of the EU, Brexit dominates the nation’s front pages on Friday.
The Daily Telegraph adopts a jubilant tone, with a picture of Boris Johnson under a Churchillian headline of “This is not an end, but a beginning”.
The Daily Mail hails it as a “new dawn for Britain”, The Sun says the nation’s course will change for the better, and the Daily Express is also euphoric.
The Times looks at business, leading on Johnson’s desire for a “Canada-style” trade pact with Brussels.
The Independent carries the word for “goodbye” in a multitude of European languages, but ponders whether it is “inevitable” Britain will one day rejoin the EU.
Metro opts for a simple “Thank EU and goodbye”, while the i calls it the UK’s “leap into the unknown”.
And The Guardian strikes a distinctly downbeat tone, with a headline of “Small Island” over a story about “the biggest gamble in a generation”.
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Was watching itv and they had David Davies on and he said that the British would get a good deal because Europe realises that the British saved them twice in the last century, the arrogance is unbelievable.
@lee Jones: in reality it was the Russians who saved Europe!
@lee Jones: that’s not arrogance it’s ignorance !
@Alan Kelly: very true it just shows how distorted their views are.
@Alan Kelly: “it was the Russians who saved Europe!”
And then proceeded to subjugate half of it.
@Alan Kelly: yes. Tell the Americans that too please.
@Will: well, nobody’s perfect!
@Will: well, nobody’s perfect!
@Fabio Dillon: USA! If it wasn’t for the Russians I’d be posting this in German!
@lee Jones: In reality true, while the Russians and the Americans fought the battles with Britain and supplied way more men and material, what’s lost on the masses is Britain stood alone from practically 39 to 41 if in those early days of 1940 Britain said let’s have a cease fire, Germany would’ve been un checked and most likely USA would not have entered the war.
@Alan Kelly: If it wasn’t for the USA the whole of Europe would have come under the dictatorship of the soviets. Stalin’s Russia or Hitler’s Germany, what a hellish choice!
@Will: Agree. But if were going to talk about “If”‘s. If European nations had formed the EU in the 1930′s maybe the war would not have happened?
@Will: I would have to say Britain had a big hand in post war negotiations. We would never have been speaking Russian or German.
@Alan Kelly: would they be the same Russians that started the war & the ones the northern convoys kept supplied?
@Mjhint: Yeah that’s them… don’t you believe all that “Germany invaded Poland” nonsense!
@Alan Kelly: On Sept 1st 1939 The Germans launched an invasion of Poland. The Soviets launched theirs on the 17th of September from the east. The coordinated invasions were agreed as part of the Molotov–Ribbentrop pact signed a few weeks earlier. You can very easily argue that the Germans and Soviets together started the Second World War
@Feardorcha Ó Maolomhnaigh: Thanks for that….so the Russians Started AND finished WWII? interesting.
@Alan Kelly: They with the allies, defeated the Germans but like all historical events there is no black and white. There was concern among the Western powers that the Soviets were not going to stop their advance. The Brits and the Americans drew up military plans to curb any further Soviet advances. The Soviets decided to stay where they were and pulled down what Churchill christened, in 1946, the “Iron Curtain”
The cold war and potential WW3 that we lived with from then ’til 1989 could be argued to have been a natural continuation of WW2.
@Dougal67: Do you mean that the US wouldn’t have gone to war after it was attacked by Japan?
Remember it was Hitler that declared war on the US after the US declared war on Japan, it would be kinda hard for the US ignore a declaration of war from another country.
@Alan Kelly: What a silly comment . As if Hitler would sign up to the EU 7.7 TOXIC
@Gerry Whelan: We don’t know that, it’s hard to know what hitler would’ve done, he wanted peace with Britain, and most Americans wanted a Pacific war with Japan and leave Europe to Britain and Russia, what I’m sayin is Britain stood alone against the evil nazis after France fell when no one else did, Russia signed a pact with them to devide up Europe and USA wanted nothing to do with it, Britain never gets enough credit for that??
@lee Jones: ‘Twas ever thus
@Dougal67: It was The English Channel that gave Britain the opportunity to stand alone. Without the channel they would have been overrun just like France, Italy, Belgium, Greece etc.
@Feardorcha Ó Maolomhnaigh: you know your history..yes Churchill didn’t trust Stalin, but he knew he needed Russia (he knew he needed the US too).
@Alan Kelly: If it wasn’t for the British you’d be posting that in Irish.
@Dougal67: UK was part of an allied front from 39-41. France, Belgium, Holland, Norway, Poland, Czechoslovakia all resisted Germany in the early years of WW2.
Glad to see them gone. After 3 years of political wrangling and brexit fatigue. Ironically this could be just the beginning of a tough time for Ireland if we don’t play our cards right. This saga could go on for a few more years
@The Equalizer: Brexit never was about Brexit. For the free-market fundamentalists it was about cash. As for the rest, it was always about the psychology of the Brexit supporter. The EU is gone…but the loathing will live on among the Brexiteers…until they are honest with each other and with themselves Now the market is going to screw them over. They will be angry again and they will seek a new bogeyman..lefties, foreigners, woke people, PC comedy, experts, the BBC, George Soros….nothing will end their whining.
@Paul Furey: It’s tragic that they might never join the dots between leaving the EU and things not getting better. I pity those at the bottom, who will most be impacted by the race to weaken workers rights for the benefit of the UK (read: the rich who stand to benefit from the exit).
“Free and independent after 47 years”. Cry river. You’d swear they were under foreign occupation, they way that reads…
@osintme.com: 52,000 EU laws passed in the UK since they joined. When they did, it was for seamless trade primarily – not a political union headed by Brussels:
@Perlum Sprite: The majority of those laws were to create level field to facilitate seamless trade and movement of labour. It’s not as if the EU just plucked stuff out of the air. The laws were debated and drafted by elected representatives of each member state.
Here’s a fun fact, our own core safety laws are in place because of an EU directive which itself was based on Britain’s Health and Safety Act. To say member states have no say or input is just not true.
@Darren Tully: “Create level field” my arse what’s vrt about then and the new no2 charge on top of that, eu is a joke, we’ll rid of it, watch the rest follow…heard it hear first
@Dougal67: Learn how to spell, and invest in some punctuation while you’re at it. It might make your absurd post less comical.
@Philip Kavanagh: that doesn’t answer his question on vrt now does it?
Good Riddance
@JohnnyMc: Best comment here.
The whole affair is bad news for everyone, except for a few power-hungry and greedy elites. We will lose out, Northern Ireland will lose out, the ordinary British person will lose out, the EU will lose out. British politics has already lost out after the debacle they engaged in.
@Conall: when the eurozone collapses, Britain will be sitting pretty and far away from the fallout: will we?
@Perlum Sprite: when did Britan join the euro?
and when did they leave it ?
People have to remember that the only thing that has happened to date is that as of tonight Britain will have legally left the EU, they will still be subject to its rules and agreements until January 1st 2021. Let’s see how the actual negotiations of the withdrawal agreement go?
@Justin Cosgrove: Canada/EU negotiations took what… 10 years? I’m sure Boris can turn it all around in 11 months… Oh starting after Feb… 10 months… Oh needs to be completed before the year end… I’ve always thought 7 months would be enough time… This thing is gonna be disastrous.
A great day for true democracy. The British people have once again shown the courage to stand up to power hungry continental Europe. Onwards and Upwards.
@james dimaggio: onwards and downwards more like. except for Jacob Rees-mogg of course whose laughing all the way to the bank with his payout
@Siobhan Breen Malone: It’s got nothing to do with money. It’s about being a truly independent democracy. Something we here in Ireland know nothing about.
@james dimaggio: Yes because some of the British (and [whisper] Russian) elites did not just manipulate entire populations to satisfy their own narrow desires and machinations. A great example of a democracy at play.
Now let’s hide away any official reports on those manipulations just to make sure that democracy is really working at its best, and to ensure that ordinary people vote against their interests.
@james dimaggio: I think it’s ironic that Boris’s Hero, Winston Churchill was the first to call for a “United States of Europe” after WWII. It’s seems UK have not learned from their own history.
@Stephen Rogan: Yawn. You’re watching some strange tv channels Stephen.
@james dimaggio: A United States of Europe run by Germany was definitely not what Winston Churchill envisaged when he made that statement.
@james dimaggio: Like your true name ? . People hiding behind false twitter accounts have something to hide
@james dimaggio: the UK is now weaker and isolated now… 1939 all over again.
@Mary Mc Carthy: The only way I’m allowed to state my opinions here is by setting up a twitter account. I’ve no desire to use Twitter in the conventional way, therefore I set up an account with an alias, solely to comment here. How you deduce I have something to hide because I use an alias is beyond me. All I do is express my opinions.
@Mary Mc Carthy: “People hiding behind false twitter accounts have something to hide”
Why would anyone put up personal information about themselves if it’s not necessary?
This isn’t the UN you know. Nothing you post here carries any weight.
@Alan Kelly: How were Britain isolated in 1939? They became isolated in the summer of 1940 after the French capitulated in order to protect Paris from being destroyed. Only for the RAF, Europe ( including Ireland ) would be under German occupation. Or possibly Russian. Isolation if it means not having to associate with the French and Germans might be a good thing.
@Mary Mc Carthy: how does anyone know your account is not ‘false’….anyone can open an account under a true or fake id in minutes. Think ‘mary’ think.
@james dimaggio: u seem to be pontificating from under a rock….this is good for NO-ONE.
@james dimaggio: In 1939 the UK didn’t have a tunnel linking them to mainland Europe! (Hitler would have loved that! :) )
@james dimaggio: I think Britains hard on for their part in the world wars is a huge part of the blind nationalism. Thanks for re-enforcing that opinion
Stalin won the war, and would have won it without Britain or the US (sorry)
@james dimaggio: funniest thing I’ve read today
@james dimaggio:
I’m Ireland, we elect all TDs as well as Head of State. We also have the direct power to change the law ourselves by referenda. The UK has an unelected house of Lords, family peerages as well as a never-ending monarch (Anglican-only) as well as no written constitution. By any and all standards of measurement, the UK is decades behind Ireland in terms of subsidiarity and open democracy. We’re not talking about infantile personal opinions here. We’re talking about the actual meaningful structure and organisation of representative democracy. In Ireland, we are citizens by law and in practise. In the UK, they are SUBJECTS, with virtually no access to the higher, and frankly medieval, echelons of political and economic power.
Facts don’t care about your feelings.
@Alan Kelly: I am sure Churchill wanted a “united states of europe ” but certainly not in its current form .
@Robert Preston: your probably right, but then I bet Churchill couldn’t see that far into the future either. But history does tell us that Europe has enjoyed relive peace and prosperity for over 50 years, and it’s easier to change an institution/organisation/alliance from within then from outside.
The white cliffs of Dover….hos apt that they picked an image of something being constantly eroded. Auf wiedersehen pet.
Somebody needs to tell the Daily Mail or Arlene that it is the UK that left and not Britain
Ha, love The Metro where Gwyneth Paltrow gets a bigger headline than Boris. Gobbledy Goop indeed !
Its still not clear with me…. Is it like leaving your house but leaving on the lights, the washing machine and forgetting the incomplete shopping list…
@HearMeNow33: it’s recognising the EU is a failure. Today, we witness is disintegration. If not for the euro currency, it might have worked.
@Perlum Sprite: Will you be trying your material out at the laughter lounge any time soon? Your a gas lad
The Trocaire adds are going to be interesting in the next few years
Just tell me that we can get duty free now when travelling to the UK?
@Jim Buckley Barrett: well seeing as you are travelling out of the EU if you go to England, then yes.
@Jim Buckley Barrett: Not for the remainder of this year as a “standstill” applies while the future relationship is negotiated.
Hearing the brits complain about not being free and independent is the biggest load of nonsense I’ve ever heard. These lot used to have an empire that stole independence from half the world across multiple continents and because they were made follow some rules they act like they are under colonial rule. They don’t know nothing about their own history outside of probably WW1 and WW2 and 1966
@Jake Kelly: worse again, they were made follow rules they took part in writing.
Democracy served…
Remarkable that after all this time Charles de Gaulle has been proven 100% right.
Congratulations Britain. Hopefully more will follow your lead in the coming years. #eirexit #irlexit
@John Tierney: Why would you want that? Do you not understand the huge improvements that have occurred in this country due to our membership of the EU. Ireland has gone from being a third world country to being one of the wealthiest in the world, this would not have happened if we hadn’t joined the EEC/EU.
You should have a read of An Economic History of Ireland since Independence
@Tjamr: at what price? EU gives nothing for nothing.
Ireland has paid 42% of the total cost of the European banking crisis. We’re €200 BILLION in debt and you think we’re one of the wealthiest? We may be wealthy among third world countries but we’re the laughing stock of the first world.
@Tjamr: When was Ireland a “third world country” . Most countries in europe has raised standards of living in the last 50 years not aLl down to the EU .
@John Tierney: The final sentence in you comments demonstrates exactly why you are wrong.
The true extent of negative effects will be hidden from the UK public for years. Papers will continue to tell them how great a decision it was to leave.
@Anthony Clark: And if the UK does well outside the EU do you think anyone on here will say that NOPE
Delighted. I don’t want to be in any sort of union with those people.
Give in 10 or 15 years and it will be a new dawn re joining…
I’m genuinely sad that this day has arrived as I believe this will be harmful, not only to UK and Europe, but most especially, to ourselves.
I think people in UK who believe that the EU will have to do them a great deal because “we buy more off them than they buy off us” are going to get a rude awakening. If that’s the case I think, for a lot of people who can least afford it, there could be tough times ahead!
If that’s the way it all pans out, I really hope the likes of Bill Cash, John Redwood, Peter Bone and JRM and many more eurosceptics, will all be around to say why it was all such a worthwhile idea!
Off you go
Time to see if Britain’s belief that capitalism and market forces can be slaves to
democracy / sovereignty is possible.
Fantastic opportunity for Ireland and reunification, we’re the big dog now, with a continent backing us up, we hold all the cards at last and I really think we’re going to do it.
Did anyone see Farage and his cronies in the EU the other day? Pathetic. GB has fallen to new lows. Let them off I say. Pls do not vote FG or FF.
The anniversary will probably have to be in black akd white with the rationing an all.
have your say