Cable Forum - Brexit

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Quote:

Originally Posted by 1andrew1 (Post 36001896)

Not atall. I've never said we can't survive against the big boys. My ambition extends beyond your apparent ambition of survival to optimising our position in the world both economically and politically.
Singapore is a very small country which can focus on a few things in the same way that Luxembourg does. The UK is far larger with historical industrial legacies so can't follow Singapore's route. It can either be part of a larger bloc like the EU (which helped turn the country around from being the sick man of Europe) or it can be stuck between the EU, China, etc and do its best.

I think I'm correct in saying that you claimed the larger countries would be calling the shots with trade deal negotiations (ignoring the fact that wei are one of the largest economies on the planet). Now you are saying we cannot learn from Singapore because we are too big. This betrays a very defeatist mindset and I don't buy it.

We were indeed the sick man of Europe during the 1970s. Guess who was in power at the time? Once again, Labour had brought this country to its knees.It was Maggie who came to the rescue. :Yes:

Quote:

Originally Posted by OLD BOY (Post 36001906)

Labour were in power all that time, from the mid sixties to very late seventies, it was them that brought in the three day week and them that sneakily signed us up for Europe was it

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheDaddy (Post 36001909)

Labour were in power all that time, from the mid sixties to very late seventies, it was them that brought in the three day week and them that sneakily signed us up for Europe was it

OB does seem to forget facts sometimes conveniently.

Quote:

Responsibility for British policy during the 1960s was shared between the Conservative Government of 1951-64 and the Labour Government of 1964-70. There were three Prime Ministers during the period, Macmillan (Conservative 1957-63), Home (1963-4) and Wilson (1964-70). General elections were held in 1959, 1964, 1966 and 1970. During the 1959-64 Parliament, the Conservatives held a majority of just short of 100; at the start of the 1964-6 Parliament, the Labour Government had an overall majority of just three; and during the 1966-70 Parliament a majority of around 100.

Quote:

The conversion of the Labour Government seemed to complete the construction of a domestic consensus on EC membership. Governments of both major parties had come to similar conclusions about the need to join.

http://www.leeds.ac.uk/politics/cbl/brit/scene.htm

Conservative Government, 1970–74

Quote:

Heath took Britain into the Common Market (later renamed The European Union and again renamed The EEC) on 1 January 1973 after winning the decisive vote in the House by 336-244. It was, says biographer John Campbell, "Heath's finest hour."[60] Meanwhile, on the domestic front, galloping inflation led him into confrontation with some of the most powerful trade unions. Energy shortages related to the oil shock resulted in much of the country's industry working a Three-Day Week to conserve power. In an attempt to bolster his government, Heath called an election for 28 February 1974. The result was inconclusive: the Conservative Party received a plurality of votes cast, but the Labour Party gained a plurality of seats due to the Ulster Unionist MPs refusing to support the Conservatives. Heath began negotiations with leaders of the Liberal Party to form a coalition, but, when these failed, resigned as Prime Minister.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politi...970%E2%80%9374

We're closing this thread until there are actual developments regarding Brexit. It's become too angry and it's causing too many bad-tempered arguments. There is no point going around in circles with increasingly acrimonious disputes about exactly the same points.

We did this at Easter and it calmed things down.

Discussions about Brexit in the Government or Tory leadership threads are allowed so long as they relate directly to another topic in hand but general Brexit talk will also be removed.