The negotiations are underway and the UK government is revealing its lack of proper preparation and how it’s papering over the cracks of internal tory party politics for the article 50 process.
However in general I find the mainstream media’s lack of critical analysis of the government’s thinking and processes incredible. The lack of in depth understanding of how the EU works, the complete ignorance of detailed differences between EEA / EFTA, single market / customs union, FTAs / MRAs, tariff / non tariff barriers, and so on by just about all parts of the media and the political class is astonishing when virtually nothing else has been spoken about for well over a year now.
Yes of course it’s complex and of course people can’t be expected to understand all the ins and outs of such a complicated structure as the EU and its associated bodies, but isn’t that what those much derided experts are for ?
Although I voted remain I’ve taken to reading blogs by well informed Brexiters (who can’t be accused of talking the country down, trying to sabotage the deal, blah, blah, blah) and it is really eye opening the complete mess that is being made of the process so far and the disaster that is rapidly approaching. It’s just astonishing.
Anyone of a strong disposition that wants to look at some of the issues in greater depth can read these very informative blogs:
I think it’s important to differentiate between “information” and “opinion”.
Factual information on the progress of negotiations I get from the EU website.
Background information I pick up from various sources but take it with a large pinch of salt and if there’s anything that interests me particularly, I spend time trying to track it back to an authoritative source…
Opinion, likewise from various sources - it’s more a case of dodging it than going looking for it - forums, blogs, media headlines.
I belong to ECREU which is part of the 3 million pressure group.
They also highlight how little is known by the Brexiteers and the government.
I find it amazing that the government is rolling out its standpoint on various matters when they haven’t agreed what will happen to UK citizens in the EU or EU citizens in the UK.
They are miles apart and the EU will go no further until these matters are agreed.
I get my information from my bank statement. Every four weeks my UK State Pension seems to lose another €20. When we moved here around 15 years ago, we were getting €1.50 to the £ Sterling. Now it’s down to €1.08. No good telling me that it’s all going to be wonderful when the UK finally emerges into the sunlight of a brave new world, I am 80 years old and don’t expect to be around.
But it isn’t really about the money, though I do resent the fact that greedy speculators are benefiting from my loss of income. What really, really annoys me is that the UK belongs in Europe. They liked us, they wanted us to get more involved, we could have worked to make a better Europe for everyone. We shouldn’t be ducking out of our responsibilities and betraying our closest friends.
I am one of those people who think that the BBC reports in a pretty, middle of the road and accurate way. I certainly prefer their format to that peddled by the far right press but I don’t know how central or impartial they are as I never see the far left headlines.
Today I had a chance to test my beliefs, I read the BBC’s opinion on the first programme in the new series of the Great British Bake Off broadcast on Channel 4. What an opportunity for bias. Was the report biased? In my opinion not one bit. The report was factual and fair and the only real negativity was regarding the numerous advert breaks and they quoted viewers opinions when referring to that.
My faith was upheld and the BBC will remain a valued source of information for me.
David, I don’t think the BBC is biased. In fact it goes out of its way to present both sides of the argument which can be problematic when both sides are presented equally even though they don’t deserve to be. Their treatment of climate change for example has come under a lot of fire for presenting the views of sceptics like Nigel Lawson and others as equal to those of the vast majority of scientists. That’s not to say that scientists shouldn’t face criticism and questioning of their theories, of course they should, but if 99% of scientists say one thing and 1% say something else, should their views be given equal weight ?
However my main beef with the BBC is their superficial treatment of the issues involved. When has there been any real analysis of what a no-deal Brexit would mean ? And why are politicians allowed to get away with saying things that are simply untrue, without being challenged ? For example I’ve seen politicians saying that you can’t have left the EU if you’re still in the single market (wrong - ask Norway how they feel about that statement), you can’t enter into trade deals outside the EU if you’re in the single market (wrong), you can’t enter trade deals if you’re in the customs union (depends, Turkey is in the customs union for goods only so can enter into trade deals for other aspects like agricultural products & services) and so on. It’s appalling and you would expect more from a national broadcaster. There are a few presenters that have a better understanding - Faisal Islam on Sky News seems the best - but on the whole the standard is very poor.
It strikes me that the EU press and the EU movers and shakers keep tabs on the British press, but not vice versa. I’ve often seen references in the French press to particularly inflammatory stories in the UK press, and obviously Barnier et al keep their ears to the ground, eg the rapid witty reactions to BoJo’s"go whistle" comment. But today, with the French press full of Macron putting his commitment to the EU top of his new agenda after the fight against terrorism, and his plans to work with Germany to knit the EU tighter together as soon as the UK has been shunted off, the UK press is reporting that Macron is prepared to go behind the EU’s back and May is going to meet him to do a hush-hush trade deal between France and the UK,
Are the UK media taking advantage of the fact most of the UK can’t or don’t read newspapers in funny languages, so they can tell the Great British Public whatever they like, safe in the knowledge that there is not much danger of the EU perspective filtering through?