Mastodawn

Emeritus Prof Christopher May

Ten years after Brexit vote what's been particularly notable is that after an early flurry of other members flirting with their own 'exit' movements, as the disaster of Brexit has become clearer the appetite of politicians in existing EU members to engineer their own exit has quietly disappeared

Brexiters told us we would be first of many, but what has actually happened is Brexit has served as a telling example of political folly - an unexpected political service to the EU?

#Brexit #politics

@ChrisMayLA6 maybe people gradually realise that anti eu propaganda does not serve the interests of those who live in the European continent.

@ChrisMayLA6 on a second thought reform is polling as the next British government right now so maybe not

@nickapos @ChrisMayLA6 The extreme right wing parties are always the correct choice if you prefer to avoid a decent education, healthcare and a stable economy.

🟥 Eveline Sulman 🇳🇱🇪🇺🇺🇦Apr 16

@ChrisMayLA6 yes, indeed. Geert Wilders never mentioned Nexit anymore after the results became clear.

Jeff McNeill Apr 16

@ChrisMayLA6 @ianbetteridge just another "Britain is the bad example" lesson for others. Always a teacher, never a good pupil.

@ChrisMayLA6 British person here. Can confirm that nobody, and I mean nobody, mentions Brexit as they did. Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and all others swerve past this discussion like it never existed, all is simply water under the bridge. Please move along.

Right wingers across all of Europe picked up this burning flame like a promise of a path to the Holy Land. It's all gone quiet over there too.

Eggs now in different baskets.Apr 16

@Gazumi @ChrisMayLA6 Not forgetting that Orban, who was in power when the Brexit referendum happened, and lead Hungary into the position as the most Euro-sceptic country in the EU has now been resoundingly defeated in the general election.

And his successor Magyar has already made it clear that he is much more interested in good relations with the EU than Orban ever was.

@ChrisMayLA6 I remember the Brexiteers talking about Swexit - Sweden leaving. With the exception of the far right Swedish Democrats (they are the Nazis so 🤷‍♀️) every political party is pro EU and the EU has the strongest support among the population it has ever had.

It's pretty much never discussed these days, everyone saw what happened to the UK and you would have to be suicidal (or a nazi) to leave.

So yes, the UK leaving has made the EU stronger. The one silver lining.

Ferryoons Apr 16

@ChrisMayLA6 and we need to rejoin SO badly

@ChrisMayLA6 @hypebot „No matter how badly you screw up, you can at least serve as a bad example“ holds for countries as well.

Androcat Apr 16

@ChrisMayLA6
There's a weird tone to this, as if the collapse of the EU would have been a good thing for the UK.
Then again, anti-EU propaganda has been everywhere in the UK since before the EU even existed...

David Chisnall (*Now with 50% more sarcasm!*)Apr 16

The other benefit of Brexit is that many of the absolute worst policies in the EU were pushed by British governments. For at least 20 years, they realised that the best way to pass an unpopular policy was to publicly announce that you’d listened to feedback and weren’t going to push it, then put on your Council of Ministers hat and pass it as an EU directive, then add it to UK law ‘as legally required’ and blame the EU.

The biggest benefit from the UK side is that this stopped being possible and now ministers have to own their terrible policies.

Emeritus Prof Christopher May Apr 16

@david_chisnall

Yes, and for the EU, the pressure of the UK mindset has also been removed

RE: https://ec.social-network.europa.eu/@EUCommission/116408720976324749

@ChrisMayLA6 You won't appreciate democracy until it is gone. Papers please!

https://toot.wales/@[email protected]cial-network.europa.eu/116408720985592859

@jtb @ChrisMayLA6 I'm 65, have committed no crime, so why should I have to prove my age? Instead of cracking down on criminals, government seems to be cracking down on the innocent.

Serge 🔻Apr 16

@jtb @ChrisMayLA6 @EUCommission the children raised by EU regulations will probably not care.

Anarchic Teapot ⚧️Apr 16

@jtb @ChrisMayLA6 Extra ticked box: doesn't protect your privacy either

MidgePhoto Apr 16

@ChrisMayLA6 The enemies and criminals involved then will be making other attacks on us and perhaps others.
There's the effort to prevent electricity of course, and the hanging of flags, and various grifts.
But I think there'll be plans, and money trails.

Nicole Parsons Apr 16

"Smart people learn from their own mistakes.

Smarter people learn from other's mistakes.

Then there's the folk who touch the electrified fences, each & every time"

Bigots, fascists, & oligarchs are the electric fence folk.

@ChrisMayLA6 People can learn from bad examples as well as good examples. So, there's that.

Just some humor I found in a UK page:

Andy Fletcher Apr 16

@hadon @ChrisMayLA6 It is worth noting he killed /queen Liz when he came to the UK. She died 24 hours after seeing him.

@X31Andy @ChrisMayLA6

I believe the last visit Queen Elizabeth had was Liz Tuss, isn't it? Maybe I'm wrong?

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/apr/22/pope-last-sacrifice-granting-an-audience-to-jd-vance

Pope Francis’s last sacrifice in a lifetime of sacrifice: granting an audience to JD Vance

Imagine spending some of your remaining hours on Earth with the US vice-president – or, as Queen Elizabeth did – with Liz Truss

The Guardian

Cleethorpes Info Bot

ms_robot_loading

@ChrisMayLA6 Yet one of the main proponents and architects of this disaster, Nigel Farage, is riding high in the polls. Are we a bit thick in this country?

Tim Schofield 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🇬🇧 🇪🇺🗺Apr 16

Even these readers have changed...