Westministenders: A LOOOONNNGGGGGGGG Hot Summer

[RedToothBrush]

May has officially demoted Raab and the Brexit Department to just being responsible for practical implimentation in the UK and not negogitions.

This shouldn't be a surprise, its been the case in reality for some time, much to David Davis annoyance.

The official government position now seems to be scare the shit out of everyone about the possibility of No Deal in order to force the EU to make a deal. Jeremy Hunt has been dutifully spelling this out, by talking about an 'accidental' Brexit.

The government are already outsourcing responsibility for this potential eventuality to industy and business by telling them they need to stockpile food in order to keep supply lines going. This WILL mean price rises will start to happen soon. It also means there is no coordinated government plan and if businesses can't afford to do this as its heavily dependant on having sufficient cash flow in reserve to be able to do it, or don't want to, then you, me and everyone else is going to be well and truly on their own. Whilst the public are not being told to stockpile, its hard to justify not doing so, if this is the current government line.

The government has also done a u-turn on when the repeal of the European Communities Act will come into force. They fought hard to have it fixed for 29th March 2019. Thats now been rolled back to Dec 2020. This is fine, but in practice, makes no difference what so ever if we have no deal or the EU refuse to honour a transition deal on the terms the UK want. The ERG will also go nuts at it and try to get May to roll back on it.

Raab has also made a point of saying that if we don't have a deal by October (rather than midnight 29th March 2019) we are going into No Deal land by default.

Parliament has now broken up for the summer, with May surviving, so things are likely to be a little quieter for a few weeks, but come September this is all going to blow up with avengance.

If you think the last few weeks have been a rollercoaster, just wait for the Autumn.

Food hacks (should have said)

Sadly, popular culture will entirely look away from the continent.

Place marking

All this reminds me that there hasn't been much written about the cultural impact of Brexit.
I think one reason brexiteers steering this aren't worried about the young is probably because they're quietly confident that culturally, the UK will 'feel' much more distant from Europe very quickly. The food we eat will be different, the shows we watch, etc. So they think young people are highly adaptable and won't be fussed for long. Maybe I'm wrong but that's my sneaky suspicion.

Red I was wondering about all those 'Place in the Sun' type programmes.

Escape to the caravan park in Wales.

Or for younger people

How to get a job out of this shithole.
Or
Fruit picking holiday reality tv shows

Brexit is a far-reaching, deep break in UK culture and identity. For those who say 'we'll still be Europeans' I just don't think so. It'll be the end of European identity (in a general sense) here.
Last time such a culture-defining break happened was the Reformation.

BBC reporting on plans to extend blue parking badges to people with "hidden disabilities". No doubt a truly worthy idea, but then they have to go and spoil it by showing a picture of the permit with a horrifyingly obvious EU flag (still) containing the letters UK. Something else to add to the list of things to Leave.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-44993036

Quiet, we are all Americans now.

Ha ironic for me as I could have chosen to study in the US.
I chose the UK...

And here I am, middle aged, 21 years later and hoping I'll be able to cope with an economic model I didn't want in my youth.

I think it'd take a long time for UK culture to change away from being 'European'.
We have much more than just food in common. What about history going back millennia; shared faith; art, design & architectural movements; language roots & alphabetic script; fashion & clothing mores; classical & popular music; education movements; sports & sporting tournaments; car designs; attitudes to recycling and the environment; literature in translation; TV programs broadcast across Europe; general attitudes towards women's, LGBT & minority rights; political movements; peace treaties; mutually recognised qualifications and... millions of friendships and relationships?

They're not really a product of being in the EU, but because we are, and always have been, close neighbours. You can't wipe out shared history and culture easily or quickly. And I believe many young people feel 'European' and won't forget those ties.

Just writing all this makes me feel sad. It's a tragedy to act as if to reject our close partners with whom we share so much.

hester you're right of course, there is much uniting us. I may overdramatise here a bit but don't underestimate the impact on culture, popular culture at least. There will be one. It's a mindset.

Your post actually cheered me up though because it is a long and positive list... I hope I'm wrong.

RE culture.

Are we planning to ban the internet?

I know it’s because I’m a traitor and all. But frankly I think I’ll forever have more in common with some of European culture, than I ever have or will with the people who voted for Brexit and continue to cheer and mock in the face of parents’ fears for their children’s medical conditions.

I am not entirely convinced Hester except that most of us value the NHS and do not want American style health care. Politics and religion are still different here, I feel.

red lol yes, it's not North Korea.
But there will be subtle shifts. And the internet as we know is a great influencing tool.

I think the main factors will be less mobility (less travels and exchanges, less opportunity to work on the continent etc) and that will certainly have a cultural impact.
I've had the chance to travel to both Finland and Russia. Finland (in the EU, with FOM) feels European (despite the devilishly complicated language), Russia does not. Finland has only celebrated its 100 years of indepence from Russia this year and have a long and complicated history with their neighbour. I would argue the exchanges with other EU countries have helped bring Finland 'closer' in all respects.

Maybe it's me. I've travelled a lot in Europe and have always felt 'European'. I identify more with Europe than America. For example, I really like World and European cinema, often preferring it to US blockbusters.

But I really don't think you can obliterate shared culture that easily.

I've worked with Europeans and Americans (texans). I have much, much, more in common in terms of culture, mindset and outlook than our friends across the pond.

I think the main factors will be less mobility (less travels and exchanges, less opportunity to work on the continent etc)

I did a working holiday visa and mixed with young people from all over Europe.

The irony was I did it in Australia. I didn't mix with Australians. And there were few Americans.

No easy jet flights to Australia either.

I did it 15 years ago. So not ancient history and not before cheap flights to Europe either. I saved up to do it later than a lot of others so I was a bit older than most.

The door isn't closing to this.

Indeed the trend is for young people to do things which are an 'experience' simply because they are price out of housing. They do 'trival' rather than live off baked beans in order to live the dream of owning their own home.

This trend is certainly NOT reversing. Indeed, you'll probably find that grandparents will leave money directly to grandchildren too. Its the squeezed millenials and gen x in the middle who have to suck up the shit, not the youngest.

red ok, I see I may have been a bit pessimistic which the cultural impact... 😊

When I was younger I think we were quite in awe of american modern culture. Perhaps a leftover from all the GIs coming here in WW2. A lot of programming was american, as well as film and music.

Then we got our act together and there was a massive upsurge in British arts, the whole cool Britannia thing. And since then I think we've become more european minded. We watch subtitled european tv shows, and it's considered a normal thing to do so for example. Football fans will watch a match between two european football clubs.

That's not to say we haven't branched out in other ways, with more global cultural imports as well, but I do like the european imports.

Visiting a lot of places in Europe the streets and the surroundings often feel very familiar.

Going to places in the US however can feel vastly different. Even though you might be more used to seeing them in films.

Barring, Total Brexit Armedeggon, I think the big change for us, is its currently cheaper to visit lots of places Europe than visit London. Plenty of holidays are still a lot more expensive. We've joked with friends before now, it'd be cheaper for us to meet in Europe than book a hotel in the UK. But I would recommend getting your trips to Scandinavian countries in now... we have Lapland planned.

The thing that put me off the USA was meeting all the young men who had left to avoid the Vietnam draft. In the 1970s they were all over Europe, not sure they would ever be able to go home.