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  • About Walter
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      • Arrival and First Impressions
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      • Training
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      • Getting on the Streets
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      • Jumpers, pill poppers and the indoor BBQ
      • Into a Minefield.
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      • Baptism By Fire
      • Kai Tak with Mrs Thatcher.
      • Home; The Boy Returns
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    • EOD - Don't touch anything
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    • Riding the Iron Horse
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    • Triads
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    • Getting About - Transport.
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Walter's Blog

"But how can you live and have no story to tell?" Fyodor Dostoevsky
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Reflections on recent events, plus the occasional fact free rant unfiltered by rational argument. 

"If you want to read a blog to get a sense of what is going on in Hong Kong these days or a blog that would tell you what life was like living in colonial Hong Kong, this blog, WALTER'S BLOG, fits the bill."  Hong Kong Blog Review

21/10/2018 4 Comments

Brexit - enough!!

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This weekend an estimated 700,000 people marched through London demanding a second referendum on Brexit. This massive demonstration is the likes of which not seen since the anti-war protests in 2003. Tony Blair ignored that protest leading to the Iraq debacle. We’re still dealing with the fall-out.

Let me say from the outset, I never favoured Brexit. Had I voted, which I didn’t, it would be to remain in the European Union. Yet, that comes with a substantial caveat. That the UK needs to reassert control over its borders and grapple back the power of legal issues. 

As a nation we never signed up for the levels of control of the EU is now exercising over the United Kingdom. The initial deal was about trade. What's evolved since is much broader, leading to the de-facto erosion of  British sovereignty. 

Having said that, I do not agree that the country should have another referendum. We have a democratic process in the UK that elects members of parliament to represent us. That process gives them the legitimacy to govern and negotiate on our behalf. Every four or five years we vote to affirm the legitimacy to rule. That the politicians are paralysed doesn’t mean they should throw the decision back to the people. The politicians need to deliver or step aside.

A vote took place in 2016. That referendum had the majority, albeit by a small margin, opting to exit the EU. That Theresa May and the conservative party are unable to negotiate a deal does not mean another referendum. Instead, it is clear that because of these failures there is a need for a general election. 

Why do I say this? For the reason that the impasse is primarily down to ideological disputes within the Tory party. Besides, the likes of Boris Johnson have acted with pure self-interest to forestall a deal. Plus, it was not a good idea to have a prime minister negotiating on our behalf who herself wished to remain in the EU. She’s hardly an honest broker. 

Further, Mrs May no longer has a mandate. The reality is her party is against her, while she only remains in power because of fear. The fear that Corbyn could win a general election. Although, I’m not so sure about that. 

Corbyn’s position on Brexit is a mystery. A general election would flush out the inconsistencies within Labour’s agenda. In any general election, the first item up for debate would be how to proceed with Brexit. Both Labour and Tories would need to enunciate a clear agenda. Then the public can decide.

The current position is that Mrs May is seeking to extend the transition for the EU exit. This is nothing more than kicking the can down the road. Let's face some hard truths. Despite claims to the contrary, the EU is holding most of the cards in this game.

Moreover, they're united. Mrs May cannot even unite the Conservative Party never mind the country. In fairness, she has shown great tenacity to hang on this long. The lady has given her best. But the game is up, and she needs to go.
4 Comments
Ron Abbott
22/10/2018 10:13:46 am

......."she needs to go".

So does the Disunited Kingdom. Time for the unequal union to come to an end, the sooner the better; and for the Butcher's Apron to be hauled down the flag poles in Scotland forever. A Scotland whose electorate voted by a very clear majority to remain in the EU.

Reply
Gloria Bing
23/10/2018 09:27:43 am

A Scotland that also voted very clearly to remain in the UK.

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Chris Emmett
22/10/2018 02:16:58 pm

The marchers and their supporters undermine the bargaining strength of the British negotiators. Furthermore, Corbyn has laid out six tests for government to meet in their negotiations. They include staying in the customs uniion, which would mean Britain could not negotiate our own trade agreements. In short, Corbyn will only support a deal that means we effectively stay in the EU.

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Gloria Bing
23/10/2018 11:09:32 am

Referenda, contrary to what many Remainers claim, have a long and venerable tradition in the British parliamentary system. They are intended to settle issues of lasting consequence to the nation 'for a generation'. This was certainly true of the EEC membership referendum (I think 41 years qualifies as 'a generation', don't you?) Much of the demand for a second referendum is based on the flimsiest of polling, as paid for by Remain lobbying groups. More independent polling shows that opinion has hardly moved on the matter.

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    Walter De Havilland was one of the last of the colonial coppers. He served 35 years in the Royal Hong Kong Police and Hong Kong Police Force. He's long retired. 

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