I work in France and live in the UK and really, really wanted remain
But they lost and and it will make very little difference, despite all the whining about the sky falling in. Laws haven't changed, passports still work and contracts are still valid. My guesses for what happens next:

1) Nothing. We never invoke article 50
2) The same as before. We invoke article 50 and agree to the exact same terms
3) We get an extra spesh "associate member status" which is basically the same as we always had

What matters now is stability and that will come in the next few weeks as everyone calms the fuck down. There won't be second referendums or MPs voting against the people because that will cause a constitutional crisis. You don't get to re-run elections just because your party didn't win, so why think you've got the right to overule 17 million people just because you think you are smarter. No-one on the Remain team claimed it was invalid last week when they thought they would win. Grow up, democracy is a bitch sometimes, they all lied and we knew it when we voted. I don't have the MP I voted for either. Leave don't have a plan because they aren't the government, they just campaigned to leave the EU, not what should happen next. We need to wait and see what the government plan next, not Boris (unless he become PM)

As for people making comments about not letting old people vote because they won't be the ones suffering and don't have long to live - why stop there, why not ban the terminally ill too? If you had wanted remain to win, perhaps the 64% of you youngsters who didn't vote should have bothered eh? Just because the pound has dropped doesn't mean it won't come back. If house prices drop, great news. Try thinking of ways to benefit, not lose out. This kind of disruption happens in tech all the time and is considered good, so why complain when it happens now? It creates opportunities if you look for them.

Rant over.
(plankton, Mon 27 Jun 2016, 15:29, 21 replies)

Alright, Earnest.

( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Mon 27 Jun 2016, 15:56, closed)

I wouldn't have banned the old folk from voting...
I'd recommend instead a logarithmic scale of voting where your vote is scaled according to something like the following:

vote-power = log(base y)(x - age), where x = 89.45, and y = 8.45.

That way, you get exactly 1 vote at age 81 (average life expectancy in the UK) , whereas you get double the vote at 18, and it tails off to zero at 90 so that the particularly miserable old duffers don't get any say at all.
(eViLegion Chief Commissioner of the Scottish Lunacy Board, Mon 27 Jun 2016, 16:57, closed)

I like it, penalise people for experience. Can't be doing with experts either
We also need a factor for likelihood of getting down the polling station, let's call it the "can be arsed to vote" factor. Obviously, this is high in old gits and much lower in youngsters who already know everything so there is no point in voting for people more stupid than themselves (excluding the PPE students of course, but they'll still be too busy shagging each other to bother).

Probably also need to factor in a possession count, so as you get more things to lose you need to be penalised too, as you'll obviously be biased. Whereas the free thinking young have no such impediments and can vote for lovely flowers and shit.

Personally I did plan to leave everything to my kids when I pop my clogs, but now that I realise that everyone under 25 hates me, I'll leave it all to the EU who might appreciate the extra bit of cash.
(plankton, Mon 27 Jun 2016, 17:30, closed)

Experience means fuck all.
Or rather, if your entire experience has been living your entire life in a golden age of unprecedented peace, social improvements, technological advancement, etc, then your experience is totally fucking worthless.

Given how stupid almost everyone is, why on earth would a mass of old people be anything other than old and stupid on average?

The whole thing was a knee jerk reaction by a bunch of miserable racists who will mostly not have to live with the consequences of their fucking tantrum. Wouldn't matter if the decision is only for a handful of years. Matters quite a lot when it permanent.
(eViLegion Chief Commissioner of the Scottish Lunacy Board, Mon 27 Jun 2016, 18:08, closed)

The remain loss was caused by the young.
Most (64%) of the 18-24 year age group in this country didn't vote, yet now complain the old screwed up their future. Blaming the old is an easy get out for them, saves having to look in the mirror and admit they fucked it up for the rest of us.

Mind you, if calling 17 million people miserable racists having a tantrum helps you feel better, then go ahead. Much better than facing up to the truth.
(plankton, Mon 27 Jun 2016, 18:55, closed)

I'd agree.
These will be the people waving placards in 12 months asking to have a voice. They did, or they could have had.
( The Disappointed Caravanner of the year, Mon 27 Jun 2016, 19:18, closed)

The same poeple who protested about the tories getting in with 37% of the vote.
They didn't say much when Labour got in with 36% last time. I guess democracy is OK as long as you get the result you wanted.
(plankton, Mon 27 Jun 2016, 21:45, closed)

Also, how will your commute be affected when they brick up the Channel Tunnel?

( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Mon 27 Jun 2016, 18:01, closed)

I fly
No problem
(plankton, Mon 27 Jun 2016, 18:50, closed)

So how does anyone come up with statistics about what age groups voted for what, exactly?
All I know is that you turn up at the polling station and they tick off your name and address. Other than how many residents over 18 are in a given property, local authorities don't have anything to give the government. A load of bodies like the DWP, HMRC etc could all theoretically start data sharing but I doubt this would be allowed for anything short of national security. Certainly not statistics compiling.
Also the only way a record could exist of who voted for what is if each booth had CCTV over the top, or the number on the back of each form is recorded against your name.
( drimble he'd been white, he'd been black, Mon 27 Jun 2016, 20:52, closed)

There was a YouGuv poll based on a sample size of 4,772 people that illustrated this.
It was illustrated in the FT and quoted in this article blogs.spectator.co.uk/2016/06/brexit-political-awakening-young-people/.

In summary, Oxford and Cambridge people below 25 got up and voted, but most people in that age range didn't. They possibly feel disenfranchised or left behind by globalisation, but what is key is that it wasn't the old fucking it up for everyone, it was a huge chunk of Britain's younger generation saying they don't give a shit. That of course doesn't fit the narrative of bigoted UKIP tossers and is a bit harder to explain away with trite slogans.

Of course you can say polls are unrepresentative or other excuses, but the fact is that most people on b3ta got a nice education, are traveled with a open mind and are doing quite nicely thank you, so feel they have the moral high ground and can speak for an enlightened nation, but a sizeable proportion of young adults don't feel they have a future no matter who is running the country. That's a big problem and ignoring it won't make it go away.
(plankton, Mon 27 Jun 2016, 21:40, closed)

My point being, 'a lot of people in this town are old, therefore all the votes here are probably from old people' is hardly scientific.

( drimble he'd been white, he'd been black, Mon 27 Jun 2016, 21:52, closed)

it's done through exit polls
which are pretty accurate
(plankton, Tue 28 Jun 2016, 11:00, closed)

Ask a certain selection of people, between 2pm and 3pm, at one polling station per town and only ask people that look like they'll tell the truth. Great.

( drimble he'd been white, he'd been black, Tue 28 Jun 2016, 19:48, closed)

exit polls are far more accurate than other polls
they got the last election right when all others got it wrong. I am sure they conduct it in a far more scientific way than you suggest, there is tremendous value in calling it right as early as possible. That's why the city conducts its own polls.
(plankton, Wed 29 Jun 2016, 8:17, closed)

Number 3 is never going to happen.
There's no way the UK will ever get access to the Single Market while gaining control of freedom of movement or not paying its way. The reason being if they did, half the EU would leave the EU.
( The Awful Puppy Bakery is still bored, Wed 29 Jun 2016, 0:33, closed)

I'd wait and see
If other EU countries start demanding referenda (which they are doing, 40 so far) then the EU may be keen to cut a deal quite quickly to quieten things down. Never underestimate the willingness of bureaucrats to protect their personal fiefdoms and benefits by doing backroom deals, in spite of what might be said in public.
(plankton, Wed 29 Jun 2016, 8:19, closed)

40?
There are 40 referenda in 27 countries? Sorry if I'm missing something really obvious.
(Bosch balls, Wed 29 Jun 2016, 16:38, closed)

actually it turned out to be 34
you can have more than one referendum going at the same time in a country. And I am told it is referendums, not referenda. Only ponces say referenda, so I guess I am one.
(plankton, Wed 29 Jun 2016, 19:11, closed)

Americans tend to say referenda,
British people tend to say referendums. I'm with the British ob this one.
( The Awful Puppy Bakery is still bored, Wed 29 Jun 2016, 19:33, closed)