#PopularVote..Giving the People a Real Choice.. #Brexit #EU #Euromerta #NATO #WiderEurope #TTIP

I suppose that it should come as no surprise that in our increasingly polarised world where, "divide and rule" has come to such an ascendancy that the process has spread into the heart of the body politic of the "Old" (via our market-driven concerns), from the bi-polar dictatorship of the "New", we should find that neither the left or right-wings in this country are able to offer any real solutions to the Brexit conundrum. We may observe the true nature of the affliction in most (if not all), of our major institutions, the antagonisms are apparent everywhere; the Democratic Unionist Party vs Sinn Fein, the Brexiteers vs the Remainers, the Labour Party vs the Conservatives  and the "Alternative Vote" vs First Past the Post being fine examples. Are we so blinkered and subservient as a people now that we cannot voice our desire for more choice? Orwell's "double-think" (Orwell defined double-think as; "To know and to not know, to be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling carefully constructed lies, to hold simultaneously two opinions which cancelled out, knowing them to be contradictory and believing in both of them, to use logic against logic, to repudiate morality while laying claim to it," go to: https://study.com/academy/lesson/doublethink-in-1984-definition-examples.html)
, requires that the populace are presented with simple either/or options, any "third way" (with apologies to the rest of the populace for Mr.Blair who has never either presented the populace with or personally represented anything of the sort, instead -arguably having learned the lesson of history-, he masquerades as the liberal option whilst filling his pockets from the wallets of the vested interests of the status quo), would be too disruptive and might (God-forbid), encourage the electorate to think for themselves, certainly such polarisation presents organisations such as Cambridge Analytica with the kind of low-hanging-fruit the harvesting of which in no wise justifies their personal wealth, status or reputations. The media organisations too have been at-each-others-throats with Russia Today and the West's mainstream hurling abuse back and forth like teenagers in a refectory to the terrible detriment of both the truth and decent journalism. It seems that one either believes that Putin and Trump are the pilloried innocents of a Nazified media or that they are the arch manipulators of an equally fascist agenda, the truth of-course exists somewhere inbetween. It should come as no surprise then that neither of the leaders of the two major political parties in Britain can themselves offer any sensible solutions which might help prevent the rapidly approaching catastrophe.
 The situation we now find ourselves in has been developing over many decades and has it roots in an equally polarised conception of what the E.U itself should represent, there has always been conflict between those (in the ascendancy at the moment), who want the E.U to be purely and simply a "businessman's club" and those who see the union primarily as a way to repair past hurts and ensure that war never again breaks out between the member states. Much of this apparent dichotomy has been determined, exploited and manipulated by the outside-force of a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation that is indeed fully conversant with the principle of divide and rule, for surely the notion of the creation of a solely European military force has never previously been accepted (NATO having now extended its influence to the very borders of Mother Russia may indeed consider that its military objectives have been achieved and is therefore now prepared to accept even Britain's possible membership -post Brexit-, of a joint European defense force -go to: https://www.politico.eu/article/emmanuel-macron-angela-merkel-endorses-eu-military-plan/-, if such does not necessitate NATO's own demobilization and disbandment*), by the transatlantic military/industrial elite since they discovered what a useful tool the E.U could become in the post Cold War world, quote;

"the "omerta" concerning discussion of the true nature of The Yugoslavian conflict and the economic, social and political consequences of "The Wider European Union" that is so rigidly adhered to and enforced by The European Media applies to R.T and Al Jazeera as-well (whose collusion indicates both the true extent of the omerta's influence and it's source).  Russia's behaviour (and that of the westernised arab states), which is similar to that of America with regard to foreign and domestic policy dictates that such should be the case, for just as it is not in N.A.T.O's interest to encourage stability in the middle east it is not in Putin's to encourage the formation of an Eastern European economic and political community (whatever did happen to ours?), Russia's embrace of monetarist values and "laissez-faire" ensures that her foreign policy decisions are taken solely in order to maximise short term profits for a small group of people in just the same way as are those of the member states of N.A.T.O.

 The degree of influence our de-sublimated politicians now have on The Market deconstructs laissez-faire but adds both energy and mass to the fiscal momentum generated by the acceptance of capitalism's "Manifest Destiny" (which process can of-course only take place following embrace of the concept)."..   
.."In our current economic and political climate the market has almost generated sufficient power to silence dissent completely, untrammelled capitalism ("monetarism"), has facilitated the penetration of Social-Darwinist surveillance into every aspect of our individual existences. What are "they" looking for? Do you keep it under your bed with your socialist sympathies or in the freezer with your liberal values?

 Silence of this kind is bred by egocentrism, guilt and denial, plenty of which are on display when it comes to the constitutional issues which concern (and boy don't they!), the "Now Actively Treacherous Oligarchy" ("The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation" -clues in the title-). Talk about "above the titles" though! For both in the microcosm of this argument and the macrocosm of geo-politics The United Nations (supposedly the most powerful of all international institutions), plays understudy to N.A.T.O's fading matinee idol. The old studios and their retinue of ageing film stars, directors and producers clearly feel that their audience will now swallow more-or-less anything".."Hitler described "the masses" as "sheep-like" and it seems that the Machiavellian "global" financial hegemony that manipulates institutions such as N.A.T.O believe this to be true of the electorates which provide the mandates for their facilitators. The lack of community values that infests The Darwinist Society (an oxymoron that indicates the degree of thanotic inactivity occurring within the body politic), is endemic to cultures which have accepted that Capitalism's destiny is indeed "manifest". It is this contagion to which America's Aunt Sally has been over exposed, for not only does the U.K display the symptoms of acute monetarism but these are aggravated by her underlying chronic condition (something that even the most cursory examination of the content of our mainstream political, economic and social media confirms immediately). Take for instance a recent Daily Politics hosted by Andrew Neil, when affairs of the realm regarding the succession or similar issues were being discussed no mention was made what-so-ever of the arbitrary exclusion of all but the most mild (and secretive), of religious dissenters from the highest office in the land. This process is duplicated by the refusal of The British Labour Party to address the need for significant electoral reform and the failure of the other major political parties to properly consider the consequences of Scottish independence.

 For those of us who were conscious during the process of the "Sophie's Choice" of a referendum on electoral reform that the post Yugoslavian Conflict British electorate were encouraged to accept as a true expression of their democratic freedoms the notion that a transcendent N.A.T.O does not control the economic, political and social direction of our country is ludicrous (is it not Mr.Ashdown?).".."whilst the anti-European lobby postures pro-Europeans (and this is true throughout Europe and beyond), simply refuse to accept the idea that "The European Adventure" has been hijacked by imperialist brigands whose ridiculous notion of a Wider Europe is as".."disturbing as was Hitler's of Germania"..

.."Silence (quite apart from being "golden" -"Maam"-), speaks volumes, in this case about the Mafiosi who are attempting to achieve dominance over the global market place. The poisonous hypocrisy of journalists, politicians, commentators and institutions with regard to these "constitutional difficulties" is somehow however a worse betrayal than is that of those who instigated or perpetuate them, those neo-conservatives and free-market liberals who have always worn their hearts on their sleeves seeming far less dangerous than those who claim impartiality or to have "no interests" whilst colluding in these conspiracies (or "conspiracy" the appearance of separateness being purely illusory).

 It has become far too easy in Britain to simply enage in crass sectarianism whenever one wishes to demonise dissent. The entropic slough that is the B.B.C has been indulging it's thanotic predilections with regard to these "constitutional issues" for years"..

  ""The Wider European Implosion" is now inevitable, it is however (as our transatlantic friends would have it), "time to wake up and smell the coffee" (before there ain't no croissants left)!" From; ""The European "Omerta.""" Arafel, 5 February 2013 go to: http://www.arafel.co.uk/2013/02/the-european-ometa.html Post subject to edit.

*Nb. Loose Cannon?

Donald Trump has waded in to this debate recently by voicing his support for NATO and coming out against the formation of a, "European Army" Tweeting; "Emmanuel Macron suggests building its own army to protect Europe against the U.S., China and Russia. But it was Germany in World Wars One & Two - How did that work out for France? They were starting to learn German in Paris before the U.S. came along. Pay for NATO or not!" Unfortunately for both Macron and Merkel; "a house divided against itself cannot stand" and both will have problems forming a European force whilst the Wider Europe dominates the agenda. The Wider Europe is NATO's Europe, Trump is simply reasserting the U.S State Dept.'s interests in the region and demonstrating the true nature of the NATO-ised agenda. I am forced to admit to a certain amount of wishful thinking on my part concerning the withdrawal of NATO from the European Theatre (and "drama" it certainly is now-a-days if not actual soap-opera), but as I am not (and never have been), in favour of the expansion of the European Union I see no interest in continued adherence to the NATO-ised narrative, Macron and Merkel are, however, hoisted by their own petard with regard to this issue as both will find that if they don't embrace the notion of the formation of an Eastern European Union ("EEU"), the removal of the parasite that is NATO will prove very difficult indeed. 
 Putin's involvement in the funding and promotion of separatist and nationalist groups is designed to weaken NATO's power-base but an EEU would undermine this strategy and lend credence to more moderate patriots (whose voices should be heard), within the Eastern European states who do not feel that it is necessary to resort to fascism in order to protect either their cultures or ethnic identities.

Quote; "The biting words represent an escalation of the attack Trump made on Friday in which he said Macron had been “very insulting” by suggesting Europe needed its own army to protect itself against the US, China and Russia. Trump appeared to be conflating, however, Macron’s desire to strengthen Europe’s military forces – an ambition Trump himself has demanded as he seeks to reduce US contributions to Nato – and comments made by the French president in a radio interview about the threat of cyber-hacking from other countries including the US.
Guy Verhofstadt, the chief representative for the European parliament on Brexit, shot back at Trump.
“What Trump doesn’t seem to realize is that without French money, the USA would not even exist as France financed the American revolution. They even gave you the Statue of Liberty to celebrate this!” Verhofstadt tweeted.
Trump has also been riled by Macron’s warning on Sunday, at a ceremony to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of the first world war, about the thrust of global politics. Macron, clearly with Trump partly in mind, denounced those who embrace nationalism and put “our interests first”, adding that “our demons are resurfacing”.
In a rally in Houston, Texas in the final days of this month’s US midterm elections, Trump called himself a “nationalist”. One of his mantras throughout his political rise has been “America first”.
 On Tuesday morning, the president’s tweetstorm continued. He said Macron was suffering low approval ratings while France suffers from high unemployment, then added: “By the way, there is no country more Nationalist than France…”
He finished the sequence by taunting, in capitals: "MAKE FRANCE GREAT AGAIN!" Go to: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/nov/13/trump-macron-eu-army-german-second-world-war for full article.

 “MAKE FRANCE GREAT AGAIN!” is a taunt Trump can make precisely because France is such a vacillating economic and political vassal state. Germany too is caught between the devil and the deep blue sea but it is a situation of her own making, when one dances with that devil one must wait for the piper to stop before doing so one's self and until Germany admits (esp. to herself), her deep involvement with both the U.S State Dept. and NATO (and esp. concerning the ignition of the Yugoslavian conflagration), she will always be caught in a Janusian position unable to act because the contradictions of her fostering of the Wider European Adventure and her wish that the E.U be independent militarily cancel each other out.
  

Quote; "The picture of the German Chancellor and her French counterpart in Compiègne, jointly
marking the centennial of the Armistice that ended World War One, has made headlines – and must have left a mark on Merkel.
Recalling the lessons of the First World War and the divisions that led to the conflict, Merkel in Strasbourg endorsed the idea of a common European defence concept, clearer than she has done ever before.
“We should work on a vision of one day establishing a real, true European army,” Merkel told MEPs during her speech, drawing applause – and booing – in the chamber.
Although Merkel left open how such a step could materialise in practice, she backed the forming of a European rapid reaction force and a common arms acquisition policy. According to a previous French proposal, a small group of states could go forward and build up a powerful intervention force for crisis operations, for example in Africa.
Echoing Macron’s catch-phrase of a “European army”, she also made a huge step towards Paris. Only last week, the French president argued for more European strategic autonomy when urging that the EU should be able “to protect itself with respect to China, Russia and even the United States.”"..
 "Although her position represents a trend of Europeans answering calls by US and NATO to enhance their capabilities, Merkel clarified: “This is not an army against NATO, it can be a good complement to NATO.”* Go to: https://www.euractiv.com/section/future-eu/news/in-strasbourg-merkel-brings-european-army-one-step-further/
for full article.

*Italics mine. This exemplifies the double-think Merkel has always indulged when it comes to Germany's position in Europe; "Ah chancellor it was ever thus but surely if one learns from history one does not repeat the mistakes of the past!"

Also see; "Don't forget Yugoslavia" go to: http://johnpilger.com/articles/don-t-forget-yugoslavia & "GERMAN AND U.S INVOLVEMENT IN THE BALKANS: A CAREFUL COINCIDENCE OF NATIONAL POLICIES?" go to: http://www.emperors-clothes.com/articles/carr/carr.html

Also, quote;

"The IRA may turn away and mumble into their hands whenever the subject of the deaths at The Mull of  Kintyre are mentioned but that merely exemplifies the maxim that "all terrorism is treason" ("yesterday's terrorist" may indeed be "tomorrow's freedom fighter" but not without an evolution in the consciousness of both State and Self). Is it such a strange irony that the republican movement in Ireland should be supported by U.S Democrats and the Loyalists by the Republican Party? What this also means is that the Labour Party perforce must perpetuate (and even proselytise for -quietly but whilst never doing "the other"-), the First Past the Post electoral system (so one can't blame it all on Mr.Patrick Ashdown). Clearly they do this because they feel that they must enforce the Balmoralisation of the British public in order to maintain (even the possibility now of), power, why they think this is the case is interesting for they obviously have no faith in the British public to come to similar conclusions concerning their own welfare on a significant enough basis to enable the Labour Party to come to power in England under a proportionately representative electoral system. "One" could perhaps ignore this (not "correctly" but at least such an oversight might at least be possible),  if such a posture did not also have rather more obvious deleterious consequences.
 David Cameron perpetrated on the British people one of the nastiest and cheapest bits of political slight-of-hand we've seen in these fair Islands for a while, something he could not have attempted without the support of? The Liberals, who (conveniently stuffing 200 years of "Liberalism" down the plug-hole), abandoned their principles to shake the hand of every neo-con nonentity in the Tory Party, their "respect" for our electoral and political system even extending to The House of Lords ("I had no idea so many Liberals were Papists Maam!"), where they are being encouraged and enabled (and funded too? Not officially of-course), to remove any lingering vestiges of democratic process from the patient."..

""Maam with these European turds you are spoiling us!" Undoubtedly cher cousin...and she's been doing it for a while now..but do you know the real reason both "we" and her majesty have been clinging on so long? We don't want to end up like you....! It's true for the British people are well aware that if we are to salvage anything from the wreck of the anachronism ("whose?"), it will be 60 years of work trying to maintain the welfare of her people, for if ;"by their works shall ye know them" the great experiment that is American Independence has resulted only in social unrest, inequality and death.
 "Phishing" in the European pond by the U.S State Dept. does highlight the problem though for it has thrown into sharp relief the 21st century's antagonisms between the Wider Europe and the self-determination of its peoples and it is these obvious contradictions which identify the effects of the British Labour Party's reliance on the creaking constitution of the realm. The fact is that the British Labour Movement does not now (neither ever has been able to), properly represent the electorate's interest's in Europe, the truth is that they fear European democracy for her eyes are led straight to the dichotomy between Labourite power and self-governance. Unfortunately Mr.Corbyn (who I otherwise support wholeheartedly in much of his campaigning), suffers from a touch of the Jehovah Complex to which Tony Blair succumbed so successfully (and many such well-intended social reformers do), that engenders in the sufferer a penchant for self-martyrdom far more painful to the witness than the patient, as Yoda might say; "realise that they are not the ones that suffer they must!"" From; "A Place to Talk" Arafel, 25 December 2016, go to: http://www.arafel.co.uk/2016/12/a-place-to-talk.html

(subject to edit)

It is difficult to see-the-wood-for-the-trees especially through the tangled web of U.S and European politics (both foreign and domestic), now-a-days which is why I must amend my comments concerning David Cameron's own particular contribution to the debacle from the same post (quote; "Cameron's terrible blunder over Europe exemplifies same. It seems clear that the vested interests in Britain and America thought it was worth gambling on the predilections of the European electorate but as with America's interventions elsewhere our global-flatfoot made a rookie's mistake, "never bet on money over land" or "the dollar over blood"!"), for it seems that the balance might have been TTIP-ed by the increasing intransigence (at least as far as the U.S is concerned), shown by most of (esp. mainland), Europe by its policy of the non-acceptance of less regulated produce such as genetically modified foods and chemically and/or pharmaceutically "enhanced" produce from America finding their way on to the shelves, such opposition to the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership may well have been the issue that weighted the scales in favour of electoral intervention by the Trump/Farage/Mercer/Johnson/Putin alliance and the machinations of the "home-grown" talents of Cambridge Analytica.

 

These people simply exploited an already unstable Europe though as the Wider European Adventure had already stretched the tolerance of both the former E.U's member states' domestic populations and economies further than either was comfortably able to tolerate" (also see; ""Sophie's Choice" -again-. #Brexit #EUReferendum #VoteYes #VoteNo Montage" go to: http://www.arafel.co.uk/2016/06/sophies-choice-again-brexit.html Quote; ".... Why should not the Poles (who "don't like" the Germans and consistently produce the lowest turn out of any E.U nation in European elections), the Western Ukrainians (bye bye Crimea!), and the other recently assimilated Eastern European States attend to their own affairs? Such would surely be both socially and financially better for all of us.
Take the debacle over the Shengen agreement. Really Mr.Major? Your country's citizens got nothing out of that, is Europe only for the businessmen then? It seems so (quote; "The free movement of persons was a core part of the original Treaty of Rome" go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Agreement ). One would think that it would be the job of our country's "liberal-left" to point out the "diminishment of persons" that not becoming signatories to the Shengen Agreement represented but noooo as so often where European politics is concerned there was a terrible silence in the "oppositional barn"").

 So how to resolve the impasse? The simply expedient of a third choice (as should also have been presented to the British people with regard to our recent referendum on electoral reform by including the option of proportional representation on the ballot papers), whereby Britain would choose not to rejoin unless a process that would reform the current structure by fostering the creation of an Eastern European Union (consequently addressing the issues of the wider union and the influence of  NATO), was entered into by all member states, might well give a truer representation of the electorate's wishes and concerns and encourage real debate on the nature of the union that people wish to see, such would surely better serve the interests of democracy.

Quote; "Among those who first called for a “United States of Europe” was Sir Winston Churchill, in a 1946 speech, and the impetus for him and for Jean Monnet, “the father of Europe,” was primarily peace and security." Go to: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/20/opinion/rip-jo-cox-may-britain-remember-your-wisdom.html?_r=0

For full article." Go to: http://www.arafel.co.uk/2016/07/the-nuremberg-defence-jo-cox-rip.html
 

Update: TTIP and Cambridge Analytica 

Quote; "Brexit bankroller Arron Banks’s close relationship with the controversial data firm Cambridge Analytica – and the key role played by former Trump chief strategist Steve Bannon in the early days of Banks’s Brexit campaign – have been laid bare in explosive new emails obtained by openDemocracy.

Banks, who is currently under investigation by the National Crime Agency over the sources of his £8.4m Brexit donation, told parliament in June that he had “initial discussions” with the controversial data firm Cambridge Analytica but “did not take up their services”.

Commenting on openDemocracy's revelations, Damian Collins, chair of the UK parliament's inquiry into fake news, said: "This is more evidence that Arron Banks misled the select committee when he gave evidence to parliament.

"Here we can glimpse how these secret connections were being planned and discussed; the incubation of a political virus involving key people, data, money and consultancies like Cambridge Analytica," Collins added.

Emails and documents obtained by openDemocracy show that:

• - Far-right guru Steve Bannon, Trump’s former campaign chief, personally introduced Cambridge Analytica to Banks’s Brexit campaign, which is now under criminal investigation.

• - Banks asked Cambridge Analytica “to come up with a strategy” for his Leave.EU campaign to raise funds in the United States months before the Brexit vote. Donations from overseas are not permitted under British law.
• - Cambridge Analytica was given access to personal information about British voters from Banks’s Leave.EU campaign, including access to social media accounts and call centre data. Banks has previously claimed to parliament that "the only data that was ever sent to Cambridge Analytica was from UKIP”.
• - Cambridge Analytica discussed working with Bank’s Eldon Insurance company. Leave.EU had previously said “we never involved the insurance company and Cambridge Analytica ever.”

The revelations come as Banks is poised to play a key role in pushing for a hard Brexit. On Twitter, Banks’s Leave.EU campaign has declared “May must go!” and has encouraged supporters to join the Conservatives to force the prime minister out of office.

A number of the emails obtained by openDemocracy are expected to be published as evidence by parliament's inquiry into fake news this coming week. Damian Collins added:

"Why was (Banks) seeking support from Cambridge Analytica with fundraising in America if all the money for Leave.EU came from his own resources? These emails should form part of the NCA investigation into Arron Banks’s finances.

"The emails also show that contact between key Trump aides like Steve Bannon, and men like Arron Banks, was not just passing, but that they were working together through and involving common businesses, like Cambridge Analytica."

Dr Emma L Briant, who has submitted similar evidence to the parliamentary committee, said: "Leave.EU funder Arron Banks denies claims that he may have received Russian money for Brexit. This new evidence shows that Banks was seeking foreign funding for Brexit from the very beginning."

"The emails also reveal new evidence of what constituted Banks’s ‘two stage’ plans for LeaveEU involving Cambridge Analytica. If he did not need their services, why did he go to them? The Electoral Commission must re-open their investigation into Leave.EU, as this evidence reignites questions of whether undeclared services were part of the campaign."

Cambridge Analytica, which initially came to prominence for its role in the 2016 Trump campaign, was wound up after the Observer newspaper revealed that it had harvested data on tens of millions of Facebook users and engaged in ‘black ops’ political campaigns around the world.

The National Crime Agency announced that it was investigating Banks earlier this month after the UK elections watchdog reported concerns that the £8.4m Banks spent on the Brexit campaign – the biggest single donation in British political history – came from impermissible sources outside the UK. Banks has denied this.

openDemocracy recently revealed that Banks misled parliament by saying that Leave.EU and his Eldon insurance business were separate businesses. We also showed that his insurance staff had access to personal information on tens of millions of voters of British voters gathered from electoral rolls from across the UK. Banks has denied misusing any data.

However the new emails leaked to openDemocracy provide a much clearer picture of the relationship between Arron Banks and Cambridge Analytica than has previously been known." Go to: https://www.opendemocracy.net/uk/brexitinc/peter-geoghegan/brexit-bankroller-arron-banks-cambridge-analytica-and-steve-bannon-expl

for full article (recommended).