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Off Topic The EU thread ... first 100 weeks

Discussion in 'Charlton' started by lardiman, Oct 22, 2020.

  1. Smudger603

    Smudger603 Well-Known Member

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    Without starting a “PC” argument how many people would check origins of products and be less likely to purchase if found to be Chinese- bearing in mind their lack of cooperation trying to get facts and figures regarding Covid?
     
    #141
  2. The Pub Landlord

    The Pub Landlord Well-Known Member

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    Some of the Chinese companies I work with are very conscious of the suspicion towards China. Others see the blame of China as a Western conspiracy, the official view.

    My best friend there is originally from Wuhan and her degree was in biochemistry. Had she not taken an alternative career path she could well have worked at that lab.
     
    #142
  3. ForestHillBilly

    ForestHillBilly Well-Known Member

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    I really like the Chinese people, always polite and friendly, but their government is evil, and their factories produce cheap sh1te. This week's Private Eye has stuff about the torture used by the totalitarian regime systematically.
     
    #143
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  4. Smudger603

    Smudger603 Well-Known Member

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    Totally agree forest, very honourable people but I do worry about their governments intentions
     
    #144
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  5. The Penguin

    The Penguin Well-Known Member

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    REceived the following e-mail yesterday:

    Good Afternoon,
    We are keeping you updated ref.toaster exchange.
    Our Belgium team have advised due to Brexit the deliveries have not been processed.
    They are looking into this further to find a way of getting things to the UK as soon as possible, but unfortunately there is a delay at this time due to the current situation.
    We are very sorry for the delays and inconvenience caused in this matter.
    Kind Regards,
    Giuseppina.
     
    #145
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  6. Butterfield

    Butterfield Well-Known Member

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    I don’t like the fact you are still sans toaster, I just like the update <laugh>

    #toastgate
     
    #146
    Ken Shabby likes this.
  7. Butterfield

    Butterfield Well-Known Member

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    With the local elections looming, FHBs toaster situation could be a hot topic.

    I envisage a voxpop or a prospective councillor being forced to explain how they will retrieve said toaster.
     
    #147
  8. The Penguin

    The Penguin Well-Known Member

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    It could be part of a fiendish plot by the EU to punish the UK. However, I've now foiled them by phoning Kitchenaid, the manufacturer, who have promised me a cash refund:emoticon-0129-call:.
     
    #148
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  9. Butterfield

    Butterfield Well-Known Member

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    Johnny don’t know wot it em
     
    #149
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  10. deleted.....

    deleted..... Well-Known Member

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    Dualit is a British manufacturer of coffee and tea capsules, kitchen and catering equipment and is best known for its range of heavy-duty toasters. The Dualit Classic Toaster is regarded as a design classic.
     
    #150

  11. The Penguin

    The Penguin Well-Known Member

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    No cash refund<cry>, so I can't buy Dualit, but..................................................................my replacement toaster has just been delivered, even as I write this post:grin:.
     
    #151
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  12. lardiman

    lardiman The truth is out there
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    Day 95

    This was the one thing about leaving the EU that really bothered my conscience...

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-56631894

    And this was the one red line that I was not willing to cross in order to gain independence for the UK.
    The Peace in Northern Ireland should absolutely not be threatened.
    How long will it be before local rioting and attacks on the PSNI - already dreadful enough - becomes bomb attacks or open warfare between paramilitary factions?

    Rather than dithering about easing lockdown restrictions, the PM and our Government must focus on lowering the temperature in Northern Ireland.
    Rightly or wrongly, more and more people there are perceiving they are being cut adrift from the Union and abandoned.

    This situation MUST be addressed.
     
    #152
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  13. The Penguin

    The Penguin Well-Known Member

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    Our attitude towards this problem would have done credit to Mr Micawber. Unfortunately nothing has turned up, and we can't kick the can any further up the road. Boris&co will be having a meeting to decide who to blame. Probably the EU, because they know the supine tabloids will do their bidding.
     
    #153
  14. lardiman

    lardiman The truth is out there
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    Ouch. Harsh but probably true.
     
    #154
  15. Ubedizzy

    Ubedizzy Well-Known Member

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    Unfortunately I can't see what the solution is. The two sides are basically too far apart and unwilling to forget about 100's of years of history nor set aside their religious beliefs for the benefit of the community as a whole. It is too ingrained and neither wants to give in to the other. The peace process/Good Friday agreement/surrender to terrorism (pick one of three depending on your viewpoint) merely put off the inevitable, it in no way solved the underlying problems.

    The rest of the UK shouldn't be held to ransom and decisions shouldn't be made on the basis of what the terrorists/criminals/freedom fighters (pick one of three depending on your viewpoint) will do if they don't like the decisions.

    Religion is responsible for more wars, more deaths and more instability than any other factor in history. It is rivalled in the modern world only by greed and the pursuit of wealth.

    I can offer no solution which will work for all parties. It's all very depressing tbh. But one thing is for sure - the underlying issues have got nothing to do with the UK's membership or not of the EU.
     
    #155
  16. lardiman

    lardiman The truth is out there
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    I don't know what the solution is either.

    But our current Government has accepted responsibility for maintaining peace and civil order within the Union. It is their sworn duty to ensure that the peace in NI which has held (more or less) firm for 30 years now does not descend into a new era of Troubles.

    In my mind, that obligation comes before the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland's membership or otherwise of the EU.
    And it always did.

    If the peace fails in Northern Ireland, it will be a failure of complacent politicians as much as anybody else. On the EU side as well as ours.
    An unforgivable disgrace and a betrayal of trust. I trusted our leaders to be able to deliver Brexit without the consequences destabilising an entire region of the Union and destroying decades of efforts to permanently resolve centuries of conflict.

    It still is not too late to deliver economic and political freedom without the price being more innocent blood. But time is running out.
     
    #156
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  17. Ubedizzy

    Ubedizzy Well-Known Member

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    Unfortunately in order to maintain peace and civil order within the Island of Ireland successive UK governments (both Labour Conservative and Liberal) have gone for appeasement and allowed continuing undermining of what we on the mainland think of as the rule of law. There are those on the island who can only continue their power over others if the normal rule of law is watered down and therefore they don’t want a return to the strict rule of law. If the UK government of any political persuasion ever tried to enforce law and order in the same way that it does on the mainland then we would return to the bad old days of the 60’s and 70’s and it wouldn’t be long until attacks and bombings started occurring on the mainland again.

    Both Labour and Conservative governments have avoided this by avoiding confrontation with the paramilitaries. It has largely worked, in preventing the troubles spilling on to the mainland and outwardly conveys a sense of peace on the island of Ireland, but in truth they have both turned a blind eye to the criminal activity that blights many of the law abiding people of the island.

    I’m not saying that that policy is wrong, as it may be the lesser of two evils, but let’s not think that the problems on the island are only caused by the changes taking place as a result of Brexit. The democratic result of the referendum MUST be carried through. You can’t backtrack on it because a small group of criminals don’t like the consequences and threaten violence and terror.
     
    #157
  18. The Penguin

    The Penguin Well-Known Member

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    We signed up to the Good Friday Agreement, which has bought years of peace after all the years of troubles. We should not renege on it. Johnson was scathing about Theresa May's proposals but for all his bluster he never had an alternative. Of course Brexit has caused a problem, namely the border issue. It's important to the Irish.
     
    #158
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  19. Ubedizzy

    Ubedizzy Well-Known Member

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    The Good Friday agreement was just an appeasement. It brought peace, but it didn’t bring the proper rule of law and order. The UK couldn’t win the war with the IRA so decided on another course. That course brought peace to the mainland (largely) but didn’t begin to address the underlying issues which have continued to this day. Brexit is Brexit, like it or not and any consequences of Brexit are just that. They haven’t caused the underlying problems in the island of Ireland.

    I agree that neither Theresa May nor Boris Johnson had a solution to the border problem, but who does ? No one, because there isn’t one. In any other situation where you have different economic areas with different rules, you’d just have border controls. The only reason we can’t have this is because of the threats of terrorism and violence that came from within the island. Is that somehow a reason to reverse the biggest democratic vote this country has ever undertaken ? If so then that is a very slippery slope to start down, which only ends one way - the end of democracy and the descent into rule by whoever has the most weapons. Is that what we want ?
     
    #159
  20. The Penguin

    The Penguin Well-Known Member

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    Call it what you like, we are legally signed up to it, and America played a large part in bringing it about. In the long term the only solution I see is a united Ireland, and I believe the young people of Northern Ireland will be increasingly in favour of it.
     
    #160
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