International law might not always be properly enforced but it’s still real. When it’s not enforced properly I guess there are two obvious ways in which we can respond. We can either say “oh well international law is obviously useless, let’s not bother with it” or we can say “international law should be upheld consistently across all countries - let’s support politicians who will implement this”.

I don’t think China is automatically bad but I do think countries around the world should be careful with China. It seems to me that the PRC government is determined to expand Chinese power aggressively, even if this means breaking international rules. E.g. a UN tribunal ruled that China’s claims in the South China Sea aren’t valid, but China does not respect this ruling, and China continues to seize islands in this region. Then of course you have the PRC cracking down on free political expression, and seemingly mistreating ethnic minorities.

Probably beyond my hoodwinking skills. Also I’m not northern myself, I was just wondering what kind of person they would consider to have a “socially appropriate background”. Posh accent, wealthy family, and from South East England, I would expect.

I was a manager at Woolworths back in the day, I swear… but this family would probably say my accent isn’t posh enough to tutor their child.

the British are brainless

I don’t think it makes sense to make judgements about the intelligence of everyone in a country based on an action done by some people in that country.

I remember the crisis in Sudan a number of years ago, the Brits were still stuck there while the Irish had already been evacuated by the Germans on account of the EU. I believe every EU diplomatic mission is actually supposed to support EU citizens regardless of nationality, although possibly in cases where their home country’s mission is inaccessible.

That’s cool. I guess Brits will have to go without such benefits for the time being. And if Reform are the next government then the UK’s ties to Europe will probably be reduced. I suppose there is time for the public to change their voting intentions before the next election though.

Another advantage of the Irish passport over the British passport is that the Irish passport allows you to live and work in 26 other European countries. But hey ho.

Green energy is good, but I’m sceptical of China’s intentions these days. They seem to have a pretty aggressive stance towards other countries, as seen in their handling of the nine-dash line.

I just get the sense that China is less interested in helping the whole world, and more interested in subjugating the whole world.

Yes that’s a fair point about trying to rejoin with a slim majority in favour. The majority could flip after some time, potentially.

Realistically I don’t think the UK is going to rejoin the EU for the next few years, but I think it could well become a more popular political idea over time, as the effects of Brexit become more apparent. People might start to feel it in their pockets more. So maybe the UK will end up rejoining in the next 20, 30, 40 years. Who knows though.