City of Culture "shock". Reality bites ?

[LurkingHusband]

Whilst a lot of things have been happening under the table out of sight, the recent decision by the EC to reject bids from the UK could be argued to be one of the first tanglible and widespread intimations of a post Brexit life for many that were not really aware of what "Brexit" means.

Obviously the Brexit Bias Corporation will spin all the "nasty EU" stories it can find. But that said, how will the decision - and it's reverberations through the affected communities - play out ?

From memory, when previous UK cities have bid, there's been a strong educational element. Am I alone in picturing quite a few schools having to explain to their pupils why all the work they put towards the bids was wasted ?

I'm probably thinking the wrong way, now I type. It's probably a good idea that our next generation of citizens gets used - and gets used early - to being fucked over by a minority elite.

It just shows the illogicality of some Leavers position. They want nothing to do with the EU, leaving can't come quick enough, but something like this where the EU says we are not eligible and suddenly they do like the EU after all. I do wonder what advice any of these cities took after 30th March when A 50 was invoked. I doubt if we will get an answer to who told them to continue to go ahead.

Sorry, I mean, they do like EU institutions or cultural events, but of course blame the EU for all their ills.

The UK largely bank rolls the Eurovision, along with France. Neither country has to qualify, unlike all the others.
I can’t see them throwing us out if that.

Anyway, I think it started before the EU existed so isn’t linked to the EU (not sure about that though)

Australia Bebe been in it for the last couple of years.

I was in Nottingham recently and was really surprised to see all of the publicity around the bid. It seemed self-evident to me that there was little point in pursuing it.

We voted to leave. That means leaving all of the good bits as well as the bits that we may not have liked. I'm surprised that people weren't intelligent enough to realise that. No point in blaming the EU.

Eurovision is completely irrelevant to this issue, because it isn't really anything to do with the EU, unlike the European Capital of Culture which is both funded and run by the EU and only open to countries that meet specific criteria.

The only people I see being outraged are the Remainers looking desperately for a reason to say the Brexiters hadn't thought it out. Tonight's biggest laugh for me was hearing a Stoke on Trent MP saying they thought they'd be in with a chance. The only chance you get is to have a years worth of decent acts visiting your city. There are no long term benefits for spending a fortune on shite like this. Same as the Tall Ships. Local money wasted on fucking vanity projects.

I'm pretty sure that the people in Stoke voted Leave in a big way - which rather contradicts your statement that it's only Remainers who are outraged. I don't think Remainers are outraged at all - it's a question of why do you want to partake of an EU event, when you don't want anything to do with the EU?

Does this mean no Eurovision then?

Israel and Australia were in the last Eurovision. When did they become part of the European continent?

Leavers are outraged by the EU "spite". Check out Iain Dale on Twitter.

It's just an example of the total delusion madness suffered by Leave voters. They think they can cherry pick and that the world will give them everything on a plate.

And the outrage will continue but strangely, not particularly over things like the EMA or EBA leaving London....

Stoke is bidding for UK city of culture, not European, so not really relevant to this case! It’s estimated to bring a £75million boost to a desperately depressed economy if it won, so not merely a vanity project.

Having lived near Stoke, I think it could do with a boost, but it's hard to think of it as a City of Culture. It does (did?) have a Pottery Museum, and then there's the New Victoria Theatre which is very good, but that's in Newcastle-under-Lyme.

I heard the interview with the MP from Malta too. I think she did very well, AFAIR she didn't actually use the word stupid.

I do wonder how these cities got to this stage without anyone checking eligibility, so I guess it depends what they were told and by whom during the process.

@Peregrina - the bid website has lots of events going on, it’s worth a look. I don’t think we’re any worse off culturally than any of the other candidates and the creative industry in Stoke seems to actually be doing pretty well

Plus, Milton Keynes were bidding for the European one. Milton Keynes!

I really can't understand why this is a surprise to people, it seems pretty obvious to me!

It makes me wonder if these cities did check with someone in authority and were told to carry on preparing their bids. So were they misled or deliberately lied to?

The only people I see being outraged are the Remainers looking desperately for a reason to say the Brexiters hadn't thought it out.

Me too!

I couldn't give a rats ass about 'city of culture' - I'd rather be out of the EU & not pumping money into it to fund vanity projects.

I've yet to see ANY outrage by anyone who voted Leave, and I'm from one of the 'shell-shocked' cities.

There's a fair bit of outrage from the people who invested time and money in the bids.

To clarify:

Outrage from anyone I know - random strangers being outraged on the internet are not included in that statement, as there are always outraged people on the internet for every side of every subject.

There's a fair bit of outrage from the people who invested time and money in the bids.

I can't understand why they pursued the bids tbh.

Apparently it's all there in the rules & small print.

Bit silly to get cross because you didn't read the rules.

I am a Remainer but I don't really care about being kicked out of Capital of Culture contention or Eurovision.

I couldn't give a rats ass about 'city of culture' - I'd rather be out of the EU & not pumping money into it to fund vanity projects.

Ask the people of Liverpool if they give a "rats ass" about the captial of culture. It completely transformed Liverpool after being ravaged by Tory policies in the 1980's.

Ironic isn't it? The EU takes the blame for problems caused by UK governments. EU tries to fix these problems but leavers still won't have it and instead put faith in a domestic government that has spent 7 years cutting services to the bone.

Here is an article from 2010 - so long before Brexit about Lpool benefitting from capital of culture;

A five-year research programme published today analysed the social, economic and cultural impact of the 2008 title and found that the festival year saw 9.7m visitors to the city, an increase of 34%, and generated £753.8m for the economy.

www.theguardian.com/travel/2010/mar/11/liverpool-profited-from-being-culture-capital

I think Liverpool voted Remain, didn't it? Which is probably why some people don't give a 'rats ass'.

I feel sorry for all the people who worked so hard on the bids. They probably took the best advice they could. So much wasted time and money. :(

What other losses are on the horizon that people didn't realise would happen post-Brexit?