John Le Carré on Brexit and more

You may agree or disagree with his point of view, but it is worth a few minuts of your time to read this:

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Good, ombugge surfaced again…:wink:

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Another interesting read from the Guardian that I disagree with. It touches on several important historic issues then twists & distorts them to fit into the narrative they want to spin.

Did the majority of the Russian/American people want the Cold War & to die in a nuclear holocaust? Of course not, in hindsight we know it was the military industrial complex, Soviet leaders & power brokers on both sides that wanted that conflict. All the formers Soviets that I meet thought it was stupid too. I think if the citizens of the US & Russia back then were given a vote on the matter & if they thought the results would be followed by their leaders the Cold War would have been over in a couple of years tops. The same for the US’s involvement in Vietnam & our current nonstop wars in the Middle East. But the elitists & power hungry will never put our Middle East problem on a nationwide up/down vote like the people of the UK received for Brexit. Even if 52% voted to pull all US troops out of the Middle East the same type of globalists & elitists who tried to overthrow the 52% majority on Brexit would fight to the death to keep the wars going.

In the article it claims Boris Johnson is one of the greatest liars in the world just like Vladimir Putin & Donald Trump!? This Guardian article is only interesting bullshit. The majority of the population voted to leave the EU 3 prime ministers ago. Bringing up Vladimir Putin or Donald Trump goes to show what a complete propaganda piece is shit the article is. Johnson is only giving the people what they voted for. The elitists & globalists shouldn’t try to destroy the democratic process of the UK but should pull strings in the background, get another nationwide vote & rig they election like they usually do.

Good for the UK for Brexit IMO. At least they got a vote, something the elitists & globalists detest.

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John LeCarre is the author of the most famous series of spy novels in history (granted the genre only started around 1900 with Riddle of the Sands). I expect he wrote what he thinks. That doesn’t make him right, but I’m pretty sure he’s not writing to The Guardian’s order.

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Doubtlessly true, however, le Carre’s opinion is in line with the Guardian’s left of center editorial stance and opposition to Brexit. They might not be so eager to provide such a platform for a novelist holding opposite views.

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True dat.

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As much as I enjoy
LaCarre’s novels and respect his craft as a master story teller; he is a fiction writer.

His real name is David John Moore Cromwell. He is a real deal spymaster who worked for both MI-5 and MI-6.

It’s no surprise that he comes from a rather posh upper class background. He attended Sherborne which was founded in 705 (1300 years ago) making it one of the oldest schools in the UK. It’s part of the Eton Group. He also attended the University of Bern in Switzerland. That would be a very elite education today, but try to imagine how elite it was back in the 1940’s and 50’s.

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I liked John Le Carré until his later books, where he delivered his political messages.
The ‘Guardian’ is a serious newspaper, as far as it never digressed from its socialist origins.

Some 50 years ago, the other European newspapers used reporters at London who copied either the ‘Times’ or the ‘Guardian’ opinions (as today). The then state owned European televisions were all for the Guardian’s interpretation of the truth; I preferred always the few newspapers relying on the Times’ truth.

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I like Farley Mowat’s books too, but I certainly don’t share his socialist views.

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“We Brits are all nationalists now. Or so Johnson would have us believe. But to be a nationalist you need enemies…”

He is talking utter rubbish.
Americans don’t need enemies to be proud of being American. The French are very proud of being French. But he insists that we Brits need an ememy to feel proud of being British.

He is a typical elitist who dismisses aid disparages anyone who holds a different opinion. His attitude is part of the reason the UK voted to leave.

I understand that Johnson will take a Thatcher-like approach in his trade negotiations with the EU. Go into it with a ‘stretched leg’ as we say. It will get him nowhere also because the one year to complete that is much too short.

The negotiations with for instance Canada were first announced in 2009 and were completed in 2017. At the end of Johnson’s one year time limit the Brits will leave the EU with a no deal, I suppose that this is something where he is aiming for for some reason.

It’s too everyone’s advantage to have fair trade with their neighbors.

Over a reasonable period of time, as the bitterness fades, it’s hard to imagine that the UK won’t end up in a trading position with the EU similar to Norway. That seems like a good thing.

The US will give the UK a generous helping hand on trade, at least until EU / UK trade gets worked out.

The thing that drove Brexit was excessive EU (from the poorer countries) to UK immigration. The fact that the EU was far too open to Mideast refugees certainly drove Brexit too.

I wish the UK success after Brexit.

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the UK didnt sleepwalk into brexit, the stupid EU slowly convinced them that the disadvantages of all the crap that was slowly added to the original free trade zone far outweighed the advantages.
The single currency has created more misery to poor countries than ( after) WWII did which was the obvious result of it.
Australia and NZ have a very similar agreement as the EU nations do yet they both know full well a single currency would trash NZ as its far smaller than OZ

I would agree with you except you put your insane comment comparing the Euro to WWII. Really? WW2 killed 40-60 million people. I think the EU is bad for the original citizens of the UK but bombs aren’t falling on London.

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Here the autocratic Wilders preaches against an ‘undemocratic’ EU, the unchosen ones that are now running our country for a large part and telling us what to do and what not. There is a growing sentiment against all that bossing of our lives and an important reason that his Party of Freedom is now second in the polls.

One of the main issues is the immigration problem which is probably going to break up the present coalition, people are fed up, the streets donot look the same anymore. A country without borders is no country. The EU has done zero to do something about this and as a result a Nexit sentiment is rising. Something has to break…

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Big government is inefficient. We certainly see that in the US Government.

Now imagine a big government for 28 countries that must conduct its business in 24 different languages. That is the EU.

Then with a common currency you have different countries with vastly different economies, cultures, pension schemes, subsidies, etc. For the Euro the result was PIIGS that couldn’t fly.

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Outside the major cities much of Britain felt that their way of life was being trashed and were concerned about the level of immigration. If the bureaucrats in the EU play rough they are in danger of alienating Germany, a major exporter to Britain. I can also confirm that the large ex.pat population from the Netherlands living nearby is most unhappy with the situation back in Europe.

sorry didnt count the dead just the survivors after the war, the misery Germany inflicted on Greece for example today might be worse than after WWII
Italy that has stood still since it converted to the euro
youth unemployment everywhere except Holland uk and Germany who do ok in that area.

As a Brit reading a mostly American forum, I find the above comments very interesting.

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How so tomahawk? You being from there, I would love to hear your take on it because it’s only yours & your countrymen’s opinions that matters.

For me, my ship ties up in a port where cruise ships visit as well. The pub I visit the most is perhaps the closest to the terminal & I get to shoot the shit with many jolly UK retirees on holiday. Of the 8-12 people who discussed Brexit all were in favor of it but more than a few were against Mays plan. What didn’t surprise me was how all were in favor of freer or completely free trade with historical UK trading partners which so happens to be former UK colonies.

Please let us know.

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