Which one is too unpopular?
This brexit shite is now at risk of affecting my summer. Fuck em, need a remain vote
Where Britain leads, Ireland will follow, out out out
I see John Oliver has released another âhilariousâ viral video about Brexit. Much like his Donald Trump videos that will change everything. 
This could be @ChocolateMice in a few yearsâŚ
Johnson and Farage show âworst of Britainâ
When Roy Foster moved to Britain in the 1970s, it was at a time when much of the political argument was around Britainâs membership of the European project. The reticence among large swathes of the British people regarding that relationship lasts until today.
âA friend whose background was British but who had lived in Ireland said, âYou will never understand that depth of prejudice against Europe amongst ordinary British peopleâ. It was a depressing thing to hear and I have slowly come to realise this is true,â said Foster.
It is not a view that the academic from Waterford shares. Along with 300 other historians from Britain and wider Europe, he signed a letter calling for a Remain vote in Thursdayâs referendum, so as to âreaffirm our commitment to the EU and stiffen the cohesion of our Continent in a dangerous worldâ.
Carroll Professor of Irish History at the University of Oxford, Foster is passionate about Britain remaining inside of the EU and ferociously critical of the figures spearheading the Leave campaign.
âIt just seems to me incredible that when there is such an overwhelming consensus from business leaders and an overwhelming consensus from economists â who never agree about anything â that it would be a dangerous, uncharted disaster to leave, that so many people still want to do it,â he said.
âVoice of the alienatedâ
âAs is clear, it is the voice of the alienated, of the disenfranchised â people who feel they are disenfranchised â the depressed, the people in post-industrial rust bucket cities. But if they think that leaving Europe will put the clock back, it is a pathetic delusion. What they are suffering â and I donât underestimate the sufferings of the people on the island outside of the southeast â is all sorts of global factors and globalising factors which leaving Europe wonât affect, except I think it will accentuate the depression in such areas.
âI also have to say that the people heading Brexit - there is not a single figure among them who I would see as intellectually reputable or worth listening to. I think the repellent opportunism, superficiality and implicit racism of Boris Johnson and Michael Gove and Nigel Farage is the worst of Britain.
âAnd I also reserve a special fury for the dimwitted secretary of state for Northern Ireland, the incredibly inadequate Theresa Villiers, who has, purely for opportunistic political reasons I should think, put herself in the front row of the Brexit people when, as everybody knows, this is one of the most divisive issues in Northern Ireland and a Brexit vote would be a disastrous setback for the advances that we have seen in the province and in relations between the Republic and Northern Ireland.â
Foster rejects strongly any suggestion that a Brexit would reverse âinevitable processes of changeâ that have been happening in British society and says the most frequent topic within the debate â the extent of immigration â is misleading.
Plus side
âAll the statistics show that the balance of what immigrants bring and indeed what they pay into the country is on the plus side rather than what they take out of the country.
âAgain, it is a misdiagnosis on the behalf of angry and alienated people who seem to think that when they lose their jobs and they lose their industries, it is because in some peculiar way of immigration.
âThe immigrants on the one hand seem to be blamed for taking peopleâs jobs and on the other hand they are blamed for scrounging off benefits. You canât have it both ways.â
As a project, Foster describes the European Union as a success in diplomatic terms and in reconciling neighbours, but less so in other areas.
âEconomically, clearly the record is far more mixed. And bureaucratically there is far more reform needed - nobody would argue that for a moment. I think the EU has over-extended itself. I think the euro wasnât a policy thought through as carefully as it should have been.
âI think there has been a recognition that extending membership of the EU cannot be done lightly and should be done with far more rigour and care.
âThe tragedy that is modern Greece has shown that. But no institution is incapable of reform and I think the quantity of disillusionment with Europe that is showing itself in various new parties that have sprung up over the Continent is going to enforce rethinking and reform.
âBut I would far rather see Britain stay in the EU as a leading voice for reform and enjoying its own partially semi-detached approach. I think that is far more what the future should be.â
Brexit vote: Johnson and Farage show âworst of Britainâ
Polling has been all over the shop in the last few weeks.
Looks like the murder of that one has swung it back in favour of remain but itâs still touch and go.
What way would you vote if eligible?
- UK in
- UK out
0 voters
Iâd like to see them leave for the craic, out of curiosity really, see what happens.
I think it would be good for Ireland long term, weâd be the only English speaking access point to the EU & we would attract a serious amount of banking jobs. Be a bit messy short term alright.
You say it like it would be a good thing
I would vote in, Mainly on economic grounds. However, as @glasagusban pointed out a few weeks ago, there is a lot not to like in how the EU operates nowadays. I think the referendum is pointless, a sop by Cameron to a few wankers in his own party when he was under pressure from UKIP. He is finished now.
âRemainâ to squeak home youâd think. Theyâll have mobilised the youth vote after the murder and enough of the grey vote will come back to remain.
The murder has been the worst thing to happen to a referendum campaign Iâve ever seen. âLeaveâ with Gove had managed to pivot away from all the economic issues and no direct hits were being landed on them. He was so comfortable on Question Time last week.
I voted to stay in. I like being a European by and large. EU by birth, Irish by grace of God, to coin a phrase.
Short an medium term. Weâd need the IMF in again before it would improve id say
Beckham statement for remain today probably swing more votes than any politicians
Why do you reckon that? Itâs not like the UK will be able to say straight away we arenât importing from Irish exporters anymore. Why would they anyway? In a post brexit scenario the most likely outcome would be trade agreements very similar to the ones we currently have. Itâs in no ones interests for them to change dramatically.
We actually have a trade deficit with the UK, that is we import more from them than we export to them. Why would they want that to stop?
BBC pushing the fear agenda strongly
I heard something about Members states not being able to create their own individual trade deals. Would have to be done with the EU as a whole?
Ya but itâs the same for everyone else, the UK imports huge amounts from Ze Germans, they wouldnât want to fuck that up