Category: Old school lies

Those who voted to leave the EU in order to ‘reclaim’ the UK’s ‘independence’, and not just that bunch of clowns in UKIP, have clearly not been told that the UK has not been independent since WW2, when it was sold to the USA in return for some of their hardware to fight off the Germans. Technology sharing – began in 1940 with the British Technical and Scientific Mission that handed over most of the advanced research done in the UK, including into nuclear weapons and jet engines. While this was supposedly a one-off deal, there is little reason to suppose it ended there, particularly in the areas of cryptography, surveillance, nuclear technology and new materials. Traffic the other way is limited at best. So many UK companies are owned or controlled by US corporations, that any idea of their independence is nonsense. Then there are UK firms, like BAE Systems, with US subsidiaries that are governed by US nationals under the Special Security Agreement, which allows them to operate in the States, while “The British members of the corporate leadership, me included, get to see the financial results; but many areas of technology, product and programme are not visible to us…” (a quote by a British board member). Intelligence ‘sharing’ – 1943 the British–U.S. Communication Intelligence Agreement, BRUSA, that connected the signal intercept networks of the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) and the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) at the beginning of the Cold War. NSA still has a ‘first peek’ option on all the intelligence that GCHQ obtains. Nuclear weapons – any idea we can use our ‘independent deterrent’ independently of the US is fairyland – they control the buttons. Then again there’s the media – most of ours now controlled by a megalomaniac Ozzie pornographer with US citizenship who wants to take over even more of our TV viewing, especially the news. As for finance, the USA effectively controls the IMF and US-based credit ratings agencies control the value of our currency, as well as that of the UK’s stock and bond markets. ‘Brexit’ has delivered us even more firmly into their hands and any ‘free trade deals’, whether TTIP, CETA, TiSA, or separate ones with the USA, will sew up the whole package completely. As puppets go, Pinocchio had more independence than the UK.

It never stopped being great – Great Britain is just the name of the island that comprises most of England, Wales and Scotland. It’s a geographical term to distinguish it from little Britain (Bretagne) in north-west France. So, sorry you Northern Irish Unionists, you’re not British – check your passport! Why the hell else would everyone else in Europe translate Great Britain into their own language? They don’t all think we’re so wonderful.

… and other hallucinations. This personification of the ‘land’ is common with politicians and most often with those of a nationalist tendency. The fact is that, in the case of the EU Referendum, 75% of the electorate voted and those votes were divided almost half and half. Yes, there was a slight majority for leaving but, if you factor in those who didn’t vote, their silence implies as much their acceptance of the status quo as agreement to leave. That the government didn’t insist on a 2/3 or ¾ majority, as most organisations do for significant changes to their rules, shows their rank stupidity. So, while we watch and wait for the conclusions of this farce to unwind, the next time ‘the country’ is called on to speak, make sure it’s been listening more carefully.

This will be an ongoing feature which lists and decodes words and phrases that are commonly used, especially by journalists, in total, and often deliberate, ignorance of their true meaning. You may disagree; you may wonder if I’m right. Best thing is to go look for yourself and find out. They are in no particular order – just as they come to me or seem appropriate to the current headlines. If you can think of any more, please let me know.