Iraq war parallels, are they trying to Blair us?

[Spinflight]

Is it just me or do the hysterical warnings of impending doom remind you of the lead up to the Iraq war?

A dodgy dossier from the treasury which probably wouldn't even have received a pass mark as a university thesis.

Dire warnings of economic collapse endlessly repeated, just as weapons of mass destruction and forty five minutes.

The entire establishment of political appointees telling us that it has nothing to do with oil, or JP Morgan, or Goldman Sachs. These are not the droids you are looking for.

We are told to trust the experts, or rather the political appointees who toady up to the establishment.

And then of course there is an undemocratic state whose unelected leader seeks regional domination and speaks in belligerent Tones about his neighbours.

If Boris is bumped off in the next couple of weeks then the parallels will be remarkable!

[OhtoblazeswithElvira]

Yes, it's just you

[Appletreeblossom123]

For me the big differences between EU warnings and Iraq warnings are the breadth of support that Remain has. For example, in relation to business, a significant majority of CBI members are in favour of Remain due to the damaging effect a Brexit would have on their business. The picture among smaller businesses is more mixed, but in a survey carried out by the Federation of Small Businesses in Summer 2015 found that more of the business owners they surveyed would vote Remain that would vote Leave (although Remain did not have an actual majority as over 10% of those surveyed were undecided). A lot of the large unions are in favour of Remain due to concerns about workers' rights being lost under a right wing UK government with no overriding EU law protection for such rights. I don't recall the trade union movement or the business community generally speaking up in favour of the Iraq war! Friends of the Earth (and other wildlife charities) are also supporting Remain due to EU measures which protect the environment. I don't recall environmental campaigners speaking up in favour of the Iraq war! There are also very high levels of agreement among economists about the damaging effect of a Brexit (with a MORI survey of economists finding that 90% thought it would be damaging to the British economy, a remarkable level of consensus for a profession notorious for its normal inability to agree). The major credit ratings agencies such as Moody's and Fitch are also predicting that an exit from the EU would be credit negative for Britain. So actually, a remarkable level of consensus from various people who you wouldn't necessarily expect to agree! So interesting question to raise, but I don't think parallels with the Iraq war scaremongering are valid. I intend to vote Remain, but it's certainly not because I trust Cameron or Osborne. However, I have looked beyond the politicians to see what others are saying.

[Appletreeblossom123]

And OP, if you don't trust "the establishment" why on earth would you put your faith in Boris Johnson, old Etonian, grandson of a knight, son of a senior Conservative politician. Do you really regard Boris Johnson as outside "the establishment" ?

[Spinflight]

Whilst it is true that 90% of respondents to the economists survey sided with remain only 17% of economists responded.

Hence its a bit of a distortion to say that as 83% of economists surveyed expressed no opinion at all.

Not sure I agree with you about ecologists not supporting the Iraq war. I recall Iraq sending an oil slick down the Gulf and many very vocal green types supporting it.

The unions I'll give you, but not economists. Our recollections may differ however I recall many economists and politicians telling us that sanctions had utterly failed, the implication being that we had no other option.

The same wall of sound from political appointees telling us that they spoke for all their experts. Whether that be in terms of human rights, economics or anything else.

Given the military ambitions of the EU president and his posturing towards Russia the only difference is that we find ourselves on the wrong side.

[Spinflight]

I don't put my faith in him, I just happen to agree with him.

Not sure how Boris or any other chinless but eurosceptic tory is relevant as they aren't trying to Blair us.

Whilst I find them (tories) to be a subreptile breed in the main I welcome their support in this matter.