Referendum question

hungrymark

There's a lot of talk about the referendum question being too simplistic. Nobody that I've seen has advanced any ideas about a preferable question though. How would you have phrased it?

Sporky

1) I want the UK to stay in the EU, and nothing should change at all

2) I want the UK to stay in the EU, but with significant changes (fill in box A below, block capitals, no more than 100 words)

3) I want the UK to leave the EU but still have all the trade agreements and cheap mobile roaming

4) I want the UK to leave the EU and have thought it through (fill in box B below, block capitals, no more than 100 words)

5) I want the UK to leave the EU and build a giant concrete wall around the coast. Maybe a dome to stop airyplanes getting in or out too.

6) I want the UK to set sail away from mainland Europe itself and anchor somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic.

7) I have no idea what's going on but want to stick it to some politicians - any you've got will do

8) Hey, I ordered a cheeseburger!

quarky

Would you like to see the Government discuss and negotiation possible scenarios to leave the EU?

1) Yes

2) No

Fretwired

I think there should have been different ballot papers depending on your wealth, class and location.

Middle class luvie ballot paper in Notting Hill

Do you still want to be able to visit your holiday home in Tuscany without queuing at the airport, buy delicious French and Italian wine without tariffs, get access to cheap foreign tradesman and a nanny for your precious children?

Yes

No


Working class UKIP ballot paper in Margate

Do you want to tell Johnny Foreigner to bugger off home?

Yes

No

stimpsonslostson

http://67.media.tumblr.com/e3a8704274795c0630a9debae1ec532a/tumblr_o94v1b9At71qf0i9eo1_1280.jpg

Bogwhoppit

Fender or Gibson

ICBM

Bogwhoppit said:

Fender or Gibson

Rickist

TTony

To be serious for just a minute ...

1. Stay in the EU and be committed to its aims of enlargement and integration.
2. Leave the EU, invoking artlcle 50 before the end of 2016.
3. Reopen negotiations and ask us again when you have a better deal.

I predict that you'd get roughly 20% voting for the first 2 options, and a clear majority for #3.  That would have given our negotiators a clear mandate from the UK population.  

I see that Merkel & Juncker are having "discussions" about the future direction and management of the EU.  She's not happy with him.  As I've said before, that's only going to end one way.  

Start learning German now.

axisus

If you want to piss off half the nation tick here

If you want to piss off the other half tick here

Clarky

TTony said:

To be serious for just a minute ...

1. Stay in the EU and be committed to its aims of enlargement and integration.
2. Leave the EU, invoking artlcle 50 before the end of 2016.
3. Reopen negotiations and ask us again when you have a better deal.

I predict that you'd get roughly 20% voting for the first 2 options, and a clear majority for #3.  That would have given our negotiators a clear mandate from the UK population.  

I see that Merkel & Juncker are having "discussions" about the future direction and management of the EU.  She's not happy with him.  As I've said before, that's only going to end one way.  

Start learning German now.

will Merkel get to point at him and say "you're fired!!"

Sporky

TTony said:

To be serious for just a minute ...

Some of mine were serious!

I'd have liked an option that was stay, but with a very serious "Oi, Juncker, NO!" sort of thing. I don't want the UK to have the Euro, and I don't think I want more integration, but I'm not particularly unhappy with most of the current arrangement and I accept that there has to be some compromise.

TTony

Clarky said:

TTony said:

To be serious for just a minute ...

1. Stay in the EU and be committed to its aims of enlargement and integration.
2. Leave the EU, invoking artlcle 50 before the end of 2016.
3. Reopen negotiations and ask us again when you have a better deal.

I predict that you'd get roughly 20% voting for the first 2 options, and a clear majority for #3.  That would have given our negotiators a clear mandate from the UK population.  

I see that Merkel & Juncker are having "discussions" about the future direction and management of the EU.  She's not happy with him.  As I've said before, that's only going to end one way.  

Start learning German now.

will Merkel get to point at him and say "you're fired!!"

I think he's more likely to just "disappear" one dark night.  

Clarky

Sporky said:

TTony said:

To be serious for just a minute ...

Some of mine were serious!

I'd have liked an option that was stay, but with a very serious "Oi, Juncker, NO!" sort of thing. I don't want the UK to have the Euro, and I don't think I want more integration, but I'm not particularly unhappy with most of the current arrangement and I accept that there has to be some compromise.

I'm of exactly the same mind in this..

the prob is Juncker with his 'more Europe' mission, and the EU Commission itself being so out of touch with what the people of Europe actually want.

If I understood what I read in the news correctly, some top German folks are now considering pulling more power back to Germany in a bid for reform

the real shame is that it took such a massive thing like Brexit to get folks to wake up to this

Bogwhoppit

TTony said:

To be serious for just a minute ...

Ok.

Fender, Gibson or Bigsby.

TTony

Clarky said:

Sporky said:

TTony said:

To be serious for just a minute ...

Some of mine were serious!

I'd have liked an option that was stay, but with a very serious "Oi, Juncker, NO!" sort of thing. I don't want the UK to have the Euro, and I don't think I want more integration, but I'm not particularly unhappy with most of the current arrangement and I accept that there has to be some compromise.

I'm of exactly the same mind in this..

the prob is Juncker with his 'more Europe' mission, and the EU Commission itself being so out of touch with what the people of Europe actually want.

If I understood what I read in the news correctly, some top German folks are now considering pulling more power back to Germany in a bid for reform

the real shame is that it took such a massive thing like Brexit to get folks to wake up to this

Which is why I don't think we'll actually leave.

Brexit introduces too much risk of further fragmentation, or even just agitation for fragmentation amongst other national populations.  Germany has always been the power behind the EU, it won't let it fail because of a few inept bureaucrats ...

HAL9000

Do you prefer...
i) Straight bananas
ii) curvey bananas

Clarky

TTony said:

Clarky said:

Sporky said:

TTony said:

To be serious for just a minute ...

Some of mine were serious!

I'd have liked an option that was stay, but with a very serious "Oi, Juncker, NO!" sort of thing. I don't want the UK to have the Euro, and I don't think I want more integration, but I'm not particularly unhappy with most of the current arrangement and I accept that there has to be some compromise.

I'm of exactly the same mind in this..

the prob is Juncker with his 'more Europe' mission, and the EU Commission itself being so out of touch with what the people of Europe actually want.

If I understood what I read in the news correctly, some top German folks are now considering pulling more power back to Germany in a bid for reform

the real shame is that it took such a massive thing like Brexit to get folks to wake up to this

Which is why I don't think we'll actually leave.

Brexit introduces too much risk of further fragmentation, or even just agitation for fragmentation amongst other national populations.  Germany has always been the power behind the EU, it won't let it fail because of a few inept bureaucrats ...

not sure that we won't leave..

to not act upon the referendum result would be pretty dangerous

I guess we'll just have to see how all this pans out

HAL9000

More seriously the problem for me is federalisation. As I recall, when we first joined the Common Market (as it was back then) it was simply a group of trading nations that had various trading agreements. It was not a political entity with its own parliament and law-makers. Over the years we've signed various European deals which people like Thatcher and Blair told us 'didn't really change anything'. I'd like a question along the lines of 'Do you want to be part of a more / less federal Europe?'.

Jalapeno

Marmite definitely

RocknRollDave

axisus said:

If you want to piss off half the nation tick here

If you want to piss off the other half tick here

[/pedant] One should read "just over half the nation", the other should read "the rest"

Sporky

RocknRollDave said:

axisus said:

If you want to piss off half the nation tick here

If you want to piss off the other half tick here

[/pedant] One should read "just over half the nation", the other should read "the rest"

I think it'd be best, to satisfy as many pedants as possible, to have a grid where each square represents, say, 10,000 people.

It could then have a light background shade to indicate whether those people are UK citizens or not, and whether they are registered voters or not. Perhaps there could then also be indication of income and wealth levels, involvement in the political process and so on.

Then the electorate could shade with their pencil exactly which parts of the population they'd like to piss off with suitably granularity.