The Overton window describes the range (or window) of policies that the public will accept. It is used by politicians to win elections through campaigning on issues that lie inside the window. Although the concept is neutral, like most things, mankind and especially politicians have attempted to manipulate things inside and outside the window for their own personal gain since humanity began. A few examples illustrate the problems of moral hazard.
The Overton window.
Brexit manipulation
In 2014, hardly anyone cared about our membership of the EU, apart from a few politicos in the Tory party and some think tanks who feed the media with lies. In doing so they feed popular culture about what people care about through the media. Fast forward to 2016 and David Cameron completely misjudged the Brexit referendum on two counts : He thought he would lose the GE and not have to keep the promise of a referendum and ; He did not see how Nigel Farage would weaponise 6 years of austerity through blaming foreigners for people’s feelings of being left behind. Result : a 52:48 vote instead of 60:40 in favour of remaining (source UKICE).
The illusion of small boats
In 2020, the perceived problem of small boats was almost non-existent. The far right moved the boats into the Overton window through manipulation of the press when the actual problem of illegal migration remains relatively small. At the same time, ALL the political parties have moved BREXIT out of the window with the illusion that “Brexit is done” when the truth is far from this. All have colluded in this piece of mass manipulation since they do not wish to fight another General Election on the “B word”. However, we are living with all the offspring of Brexit as our iceberg demonstrates. The issue does not go away just because politicians and the media have airbrushed it out of existence. And it is always best to deal with root causes of problems. Brexit remains a major contribution to broken Britain, when Sunak, Starmer, Davey et al would rather have you believe that we are at war and so on.
The Brexit Iceberg.
When one considers the global finding that the majority of people who voted for Brexit were more susceptible to being lied to, due to general intelligence levels, the Overton Window is an important concept. It’s even more important that our politicians and media people tell us the truth about difficult issues.
It is well known that it is much easier to influence people of lower general intelligence. It’s not decent tho.
Who moved my Overton window?
The lessons here are :
Do not let Brexit slip away from the Overton window. It’s a one way trip!
Always ask questions when politicians try to move issues into the public consciousness. What do they NOT want you to think about?
Continue to mass Brexorcise people using our guide to the process.
BEWARE : By writing this article, I myself am trying to move the Overton window back to the long term issues facing our children. In other words to counter lies with the truth.
Movers and shakers of the window
The latest gaslighter is Kemi Badenoch, a major racist, hiding under the cloak of equalities minister. Watch this superb film from Rob Burrows, which exposes her Overton window-shifting ways:
The decision by Keir Starmer to charge inheritance tax will affect a number of farmers who are, in the vernacular, asset rich, but cash poor. For example, a farm with an asset value of £8 million but average profits of £19 000 pa will face a tax bill of £1.2 million on the death of its owner. This is yet another example of a Government looking round desperately for cash to drive recovery, although the actual amounts gained are relatively small.
Many farmers were duped by the Brexit sales pitch in 2016. It is at the root of the problem. The Conservative Government’s promised replacement for the Common Agricultural Policy was very poor in comparison with what we had in the EU. Today, the far right and Deform UK are to hijack the farmer’s protests, instead of admitting that it is THEY who the root cause of farmers’ problems, having sold them the lies of “BSE” (Brexit Surrealistic Exaggerations).
Dr Charlie Clutterbuck writes on the Brexit mistake for food, farming, land and labour. Here’s an extract from our White Paper on the topic.
If we were to admit that the Brexit elephant is at the heart of our problems and apply to Rejoin EU, we would not need to be doing this, nor punish other groups through measures which don’t help Britain grow.
Write letters to MPs, Lords and influencers using our white paper, exec summary and template letter. All details via Rejoin EU.
This excellent piece by Sumi Olson:
Sorry (not sorry) but those pushing the farming hysteria need an absolute fcking reality check. The very same group who ignored strong warnings about the devastating impact brexit would have on farming, and who voted time and again for the actual political party that signed international deals that undercut UK farmers, undermined our food and environmental safety standards, are now reaping what they sowed.
And aided by the right wing media pumping out misinformation/disinformation fed by the tories and the millionaire agricultural land investing tax dodgers, they’re gaslighting everyone into blaming Labour for their current difficulties. I simply refuse to wring hands for people who are blaming others for a crisis of their own making (in that voting has consequences). Labour’s October inheritance tax measures are not responsible for the last eight years’ worth of farming difficulties.
Yes, things are very, very hard for farmers- as Remainers told them it would be if they voted for Brexit (and the tories), and urgent measures have to be done to help them. But get a fucking grip. Don’t let those who made policy these last 14 years play you into blaming a party which only took power before Summer Recess.
I’m fully aware commercial farmers work extremely hard to produce their harvests for domestic and overseas consumption. And every nation needs to be able to feed itself as much as possible. I am very supportive of farmers who farm ethically and sustainably. I’m very supportive of vocational, family business, small farmers. But I’m not prepared to swallow this narrative that this is all Labour’s fault and farmers are Labour’s victims. No, many farmers played a hand in this situation, and need to acknowledge it.
Analysis from Farmers’ Weekly: 7 years after Brexit, farmers count the cost: Increased red tape, a worsening economic situation, damaging free-trade deals, a trail of broken promises – it seems that farmers and those working in the ancillary industries are far from satisfied with Brexit.
That is the inevitable conclusion from a new survey by Farmers Weekly into how the agricultural sector now perceives Brexit, seven years on from the historic referendum of 23 June, 2016.
A group of us from all over Europe have just written to Lord Darroch about our white paper on Rejoining the EU after he published a piece in the Observer about Trump and our place in Europe. Here is the letter on Rejoining the EU, which you may adapt for your own purposes for use with Ambassadors, Lords and influencers:
Dear Lord Darroch of Kew KCMG,
We read with great interest your piece in The Observer on Sunday, where you mention the UK’ relationship with the EU. We are Reboot Britain, a network organisation that campaigns for a Better Britain in a Better Europe for a Better World
We write to appraise you of a comprehensive cross-party white paper on the question of rejoining the EU by 60 members of our network. You are right. The government’s painfully slow and minimalist reset towards the UK EU reset is not good enough. It amounts to a slow decline of Britain by 1000 ameliorations.
Public perception is now at the point where a number of polls suggest that 2/3 of British people realise that Brexit was a mistake and that we should rejoin as a priority. Sadly political paralysis accompanies the apparent “will of the people” in this respect. It is unlikely that UK growth will be possible by “ignoring the Brexit elephant in the room”. We are sure that, particularly given the likely governance inclination of President Elect Trump, you will agree the much needed “growth” in the UK economy is impossible outside of Europe. We potentially face a further depression in the Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) growth predictions for the next four years.
We would urge you to read the report and would be very happy if you were to circulate it to interested parties that you know. A two-page Executive Summary is attached also. If at all possible, we would like to meet for an open dialogue without prejudice in Westminster or at a place of your choosing. Would this be possible?
Yours sincerely.
Alan David – MBA, Member of the International Systems Dynamics Society,
Fellow of the Institute for Teaching and Learning 07729 828360
Michael Hindley – Three term MEP, Vice President of the European Parliament’s Trade Committee. Coordinator of the Former MEPs’ Guest Lecturers Programme.
Colonel Terence Knott MC – President, Amicale Europe Pays de Fayence, France
Peter Cook – MBA, MRSC C. Chem, FCIPD, Leader, Reboot Britain 07725 927585
This is an extract from our white paper to Rejoin the EU. The piece on the white paper is heavily referenced and has been edited to suit more gentle minds. This piece is the unvarnished truth, without window dressing of apology from a cyber / security specialist who has been operating in Ukraine and other places behind the wire. It reads more like a murder mystery than an academic paper, hence the title. Read on.
Download the white paper to send to MPs by clicking the image.
The Deceit & Russian interference;
Kipling’s Six Serving Men, KYE and How the Disinformation monolith is taken down & positive hope
Introduction – Situation Report
The aim of this document is not to look back at the criminal travesty inflicted on the UK by Brexit, but it is essential for us to review and understand the state level resources who were and are ranged against our legitimate and reasonable aims to rejoin the EU.
In this section we seek to understand how they achieved their long term aims & massive investment in the damaging and weakening of the UK & EU, how they sowed and continue to sow and propagate disunity, the by-product of which is the UK equivalent of the US MAGA cult.
They are led and grifted to their rage by the agents of chaos, in the pay of Russia and the fossil fuel industry.
We can gain perspective that they are not to be feared, that their downfall is written into the script they follow, with the hope that escalation and global conflict will be avoided.
Once we have that valuable insight – How do we proceed in the short / medium / long term?
Are there any examples of ordinary, decent people fighting back and reclaiming the realms of reasoned debate and civility, with a view to showing the agents of chaos back to the rocks they crawled out from?
Can we align and link up meaningfully with these organisations or follow their highly successful “business model“ ?
I highly recommend the works of the esteemed Professor Timothy Snyder particularly his “On Tyranny: 20 Lessons from The 20Th Century” and any of his own channel videos on YouTube or recorded presentations, lectures or blog postings.
Some insight into Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, better known as ‘huilo’ is in order. Born in St Petersburg, of dubious parentage, he has a fabricated and much-fabled childhood, with stories of his mother being noticed by his father in a pile of bodies after a battle with the Germans and revived, him as a small child confronting a cornered rat etc. The facts are he was enamoured by a radio series about a spy and aspired to join the KGB. He achieved this, excelled in the German language but failed to achieve a serious & meaningful posting, ending up in the backwater of the Kommandatura in Dresden under the cover of a translator. The stark fact remains that he ended up there, and not in some leading role in the organisation, because of his security risk due to his alleged paedophilia.
Post German reunification and the end of the Soviet Union, Putin achieved power in St Petersburg through grand fraud and corruption and working with organised crime groups in a time of crisis; natural resources were sold (wood) for food, but he never delivered, and he tasted corrupt wealth.
As deputy mayor, he developed kompromat on his senior and usurped him.
During another time of crisis with Yeltsin he was selected as a grey and controllable vessel by a group of oligarchs, led by Boris Beresovsky, (who would later be suicided in the UK by Putin) with his agreement to spare Yeltsin and his family from prosecution being agreed in advance before his succession. This plan to have a puppet controlled by the oligarchs backfired completely, as Putin simply upscaled his St. Petersburg model on his appointment to president.
The biggest mistake we can make on Putin and his regime is to think it is, as his publicly stated aim is, to restore the communist federation of the Soviet Union. He oversees a partnership between the state and organised crime, where he allows his oligarchs and siloviki (inner circle) to carve up ownership of and profits from natural resources, providing him with a percentage, in exactly the same way as any mafia boss operates. This makes him the richest man on the planet, owning a vast portfolio of properties and luxury items, registered through family and friends as cut outs. The obscenity of this wealth was exposed by Navalny, with the Pink Palace featuring an aqua disco and gold toilets, he also has a significant number of luxury homes in the UK, some in the name of his daughter.
Every country has organised crime groups that operate on a national / international / intra national level. Russia is a country owned by organised crime, and Putin is a fascist – witnessed by his adoration of Ivan Illyn (his devotion extending to disinterment of Illyn from Switzerland and reburial with honours in the motherland ,gifting his works to Russia’s ambassadors and promotion of the modern Alexander Dugin.
To further his kleptocratic aims, he has followed the Gerasimov principles of asymmetric warfare, and the Surkov ethos of sowing chaos, backing all sides politically, but focussing heavily on the right wing “populist” movements. This entails provision of direct funding through cut outs, individuals, or organisations, expertly detailed by the OCCRP’s Russian Laundromat investigations.
This is how Salvini, Orban, Le Pen, Fico etc are funded, and political fringe nothings like farige have achieved prominence.
Putin’s investment in subverting the UK has been a long and thoughtful one; the capture of Londongrad, to use our capital as a money laundering hub and safe haven for oligarchs and siloviki to hide their money and educate their brats has been carried out over decades. The purchase of the tories was easy, direct donations, sidling alongside, indirect funding, easily obtained British citizenship and patronage of and funding by people like Lebvedev, pere et fils and of course the “Conservative Friends of Russia”. Johnson, like Trump, is an ideal vehicle for Putin’s aims – easy to flatter narcissist, sexually incontinent and constantly in need of money. The amount of dirty Russian money the tories have received from Russians and as freshly minted British citizens is staggering.
Quite simply Putin bought the conservatives, but he needed another vehicle to sow deep division and hatred. The ultimate aim – destruction of the EU, enabling him to march into any country previously part of the Soviet Union or Warsaw Pact at will, was to be lead by a raft of Brexit style “revolutions” , hence the “Grexit“, “Frexit“ farces, all fell flat because of
A. The respective governments putting country before personal profit and
B. The abject failure of Brexit
Ahead of a French presidential election the Russians attempted a huge data dump disparaging Macron & his wife, this fell flat because the French Security Service were prepared for this by deploying appropriate resources in counter intelligence and the Russians making the drop in English for some bizarre reason.
Back to the UK – Step up the loathsome, vile fascist revenant from Kent.
Examination of this creature’s voting record whilst an MEP (when he bothered turning up of course) shows absolute regurgitation of Russian propaganda, toeing their disinformation line with dogged devotion, for money.
The £700,000 fees from Russia Today (RT) that we know about are the tip of a deep iceberg (the full extent of his funding from Russia will be available when Putin falls unless the data is bought in Belingcat style ). The more recent blaming of the EU and Ukraine for the 2014 & 2022 Russian invasions shows that this agent is still in the pay of and active for Putin.
So let’s bring this completely up to date – in the run up to the UK General Election in July 2024, we were all subject to that twisted Twitter/ ‘X’ algorithm that meant we saw nothing but the Reform Ponzi Scheme templates along the lines of
“I’m a 73-year grandma from Nottingham, traditional Labour voter etc, but because of blah Nigel saviour blah reform “
There were thousands in the run up to July’s General Election, the template credible enough in tone and style for the actual gammon to copy them, suggesting they were prepared by Reform beforehand and signed off for use by Russian Troll Farms like St Petersburg’s Internet Research Agency.
Sharp eyed Twitter users found instances of deceased people’s photos – some harvested from BBC news stories – being used in the fake Russian profiles to vilify the tories and Labour and promote Reform.
We now know that the pro-Trump Elon Musk bought Twitter with financing from Russian oligarchs, removed it’s moderators and proceeded to mould it into a pro Putin / Trump cesspit. There are further revelations that Musk has met with Putin, there can be no doubt that the capture of Twitter is seen as a good investment and the massive loss in the value of the company is of no interest if it achieves its Russian propaganda aims.
The Fightback – Hope in the response to Russian propaganda & Putin’s fall
So far, we have painted a grim picture – we have the 21st Century Hitler, waging both a full genocidal war in Ukraine and a full on destructive attack on democracy using asymmetric Chekist principles.
Can we hope, as decent people, to fight back?
Has anyone been successful in countering the tidal wave of division and hate?
The answer is a resounding yes to both questions.
The Baltic countries, Ukraine and Georgia have been long term targets of Russian information warfare and they have become the best equipped and experienced in combatting the hydra like attacks on their nations. The Elves academy was established as a joint venture to combat Russian trolls and they have been very successful.
There is a story of ordinary, decent people stepping up, facing off and defeating Russia in their hate campaigns that was recognised with an award of the Lithuanian Diplomacy Star for the tireless work and countless hours that volunteers have put in since Russia’s 2022 full scale invasion of Ukraine.
That organisation is NAFO (The North Atlantic Fella Organisation) and is estimated to be comprised of more than 250,000 people from around the world.The members of NAFO are called Fellas as each one has a NAFO-forged avatar, primarily Shiba Inu dogs or cats, adopting a wide range of personas.
NAFO started by a response to a propaganda tweet by the Russian Ambassador to the UN. This was swamped by people in response, and the ridiculing of blatant lies (known as shit posting) followed, with #NAFOArticle5 being invoked to bring other NAFO Fellas into the response and to mass report terms of use violations, resulting in the suspension and banning of perpetrators.
Along the way, NAFO has developed into an organisation that funds good causes in support of Ukraine and has plugged gaps where delay and dithering has left Ukraine short of supplies and support.
Most importantly, NAFO has show that the vast pernicious forces of division and hate, operating directly from Russia or through their agents here, and be faced down and defeated.
Almost to a person, the vast and nebulous network that is NAFO knows the full roster of traitors working for Putin, and by way of example, farige, Banks and Galloway are well documented:
It is very easy to become a NAFO Fella, it is also very easy to adopt the ethos of NAFO and strike back at the people working directly for or as agents of Kremlin propaganda or disinformation.
The Rejoin community has much in common with NAFO & an alliance would be a strong, supportive and cohesive way forward.
One thing that defines NAFO is a collective sense of humour that pierces the fascist conceit with deadly accuracy – a tradition that can be traced back to Charlie Chaplin and his Adenoid Hynkel character in The Great Dictator.
We all know that fascists with their dedication to “othering” and obsession with their racial superiority can’t bear to be laughed at, the “Splash the Fash” campaigns prove that.
One of Professor Timothy Snyder’s recommendations is that we can all, however minor or modest, play a part in stopping those trying to destroy democracy and piling in to correct Reform lies and their promotion of Russian interests is a good place to start.
Putin’s Fall – is not far away, his greatest hope that Trump is re-elected has come to pass.
The fallout from Putin’s fall, for his international agents and puppets, will be rapid.
In the endemically corrupt Russian state, anything is for sale, and the prime examples of Belingcat’s purchase of data that provided the evidence on both the shooting down of MH17 and the Salisbury poisoners amply demonstrates that.
A major boost came in September 2024 during an interview with Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was freed in the prisoner exchange. In his Guardian interview he said:
“These guys keep meticulous records. When the end comes – and it will – and the archives will open, we will find out about Marine Le Pen and your British guys too “
There are constant, exceptional efforts to combat the agents of chaos – there is a positive outcome, closer than we imagine – and we can all play a vital, valid part in making that day happen.
It’s Rejoin Day 11th November. Please read our newsletter via Reboot Britain : Rejoin EU and subscribe for updates. In this issue:
Send our 89 page white paper and two page executive summary to your MP. A template letter is provided, so a few clicks and you are all done. It matters not if your MP is a Tory, a Brexiteer etc. It will be read and shared by others, eventually finding its way to the Civil Service, hence the 89 page version. Share the summary online with an invite to ask for the white paper via reboot@brexitrage.com
Over time we will provide you with graphics, films and other ways to persuade your chosen targets.
We need a tsunami of letters a la opening scene from Harry Potter … all political parties have attempted to airbrush Brexit out of the conversation. Rekindling a fire is much harder than fanning the flames of one that’s already raging … and most of the major political parties are trying to ignore the Brexit elephant in the room, SO
Share the Reboot Britain : Rejoin EU newsletter with friends by e-mail and ask them to write letters to MPs as well. Share again and again on all platforms in the coming weeks and months.
Join us on ZOOM this evening Monday 11 November at 8 pm UK Time via ZOOM.
We need a tsunami of letters to MPs / Councillors and others spread out over time ….
If there wasn’t a 20 mile strip of sea between Dover and Calais I suspect that Michael would not have written this book and I would be reviewing it … Michael Hindley is a former Labour politician and MEP over many years and writes from years of experience of our turbulent relationship with Europe.
The Semi-Detached European describes our hokey-cokey relationship with Europe and the EU. Importantly it gives us a lesson in history for those who appear to have forgotten or distorted the truth about our relationship with Europe. From Winston Churchill to Margaret Thatcher, Jacque Delors, Clement Attlee, Theresa May, Charles De Gaulle, David Cameron, Jean Monnet and many others.
We continue to suffer catastrophic losses from our so-called freedoms from the largest market and successful experiment in large scale democracy on the planet. Our continuing ambivalence towards Europe will finish The United Kingdom off economically, socially and politically. Michael helps us to understand our grand mistake. In his words … ” We had to resort to a referendum to put a complicated question, whose solution had escaped the wit and skill of politicians, to a popular vote.
The Semi-Detached European will help you explain the real value of the European project, warts and all, to the few remaining doubters who believe that we should erect more walls to make us feel secure rather than building bridges.
Michael gives talks across Europe about his work. You are welcome to contact him via mhindley1947@gmail.com
I attended a superb event with Peter Foster, FT journalist, where he examined Labour’s outlook on the Brexit question. The summary of Peter’s talk might be called “much ado about nothing”. In other words, Peter perfectly pointed out that Keir Starmer is indulging in a lot of dialogue about a series of low-grade adjustments to the Brexit deal, rather than confronting the Brexit elephant in the room and facing down the few Remaining Brexit culture carriers. We agreed that what I call “logical incrementalism” adds nothing to our ailing economy. Rather than leadership from Starmer, this is management by focus groups or “driving through the rearview mirror”.
Peter reminded us that Brexit was not considered to be a General Election issue. That’s true as I stood a cat for election in my area. The B word was not uttered much, but this was due to several factors:
Cowardice on the part of politicians.
A vow of silence across most of the political parties due to the toxicity of the B word.
Brexit fatigue on the part of voters who now wish it would go away …
… except it won’t.
To find out about our unusual GE Campaign, scan the QR code.
Whilst Brexit was not mentioned on the doorstep much by voters in the 2024 GE, all the ‘offspring of Brexit’ were: Cost of living, food inflation, NHS, social care, energy costs, UK stagnation, immigration etc. To fix the ills of society, we must talk about Brexit. Our ‘Brexit Iceberg‘ sums up the connections of front of the mind issues in Britain with Brexit as a major causative factor and not COVID or Russia for the most part.
Brexit has at least one foot in each of the visible problems – it must be gone.
Peter reminded us that he is an FT journalist on public policy and Brexit and not an activist or politician. As such, it is not his job to pontificate about what should be and so on. He is there to objectively report the facts as he sees them at this time. I don’t have such restrictions and that’s why a group of around 60 of us have produced an 80 page white paper which proposes an early (that’s NOW btw) application to Join EU Anew, to target politicians, influencers and, ultimately, the public at large. To read a copy of the paper, please mail me at reboot@brexitrage.com
What disappointed me most about the event was not Peter Foster’s excellent assessment of where we are now, but the reactions of the so-called Rejoiners, mostly members of the European Movement and Grassroots groups who have been bludgeoned to death by the likes of Lord Adonis and other apologists with their fallacious ‘step by step’ arguments aka cakeism. They asked questions about having even more of the increments that Peter Foster had suggested were fairly worthless and to which we might be accused of cakeism once again. If they were in a therapy group, I’d say to them that they have Catholic (or any other brand of religious) guilt since they ‘lost’ to Vote Leave and therefore they feel that “we don’t deserve better”. If they did, Nigel Farage and his thugs would “get them”. It’s what I call “learned helplessness” in Reboot Britain and is a systemic condition amongst many snowflakes. Remainers and Rejoiners must have higher expectations of themselves rather than being content with crumbs from the table.
The only good Brexit is a dead Brexit. 2/3 of the public know it. We must help the politicians to catch up. The obstacle to progress remains parliamentary paralysis. We must break that. To read our wide ranging case across all the STEEPLE factors, mail me reboot@brexitrage.com
I responded to a request to attend an event by my local council on the future of the area. At the same time I pointed out that Brexit remains a significant hold back factor to any notions of growth. To my surprise an old musical colleague replied. Bob is a superb keyboard player, but we sit on opposite sides of the Brexit debate. I nearly coughed my dinner up at some of the claimed benefits of Brexit and problems avoided by not being part of the world’s largest trading partner on our doorstep, so I made this short video to debunk the lies, falsehoods and so on. Watch the video in its entirety.
I find that replies on social media are often met with the Dunning Kruger effect so I resorted to a more personal medium. Bob seems lost and I tried to be gentle, but then again Bob is a straight talking guy. I hope he gets a copy of my book Private Eyelines as it corrects the fantasies of the Daily Mail / Express / Sun / Telegraph etc. Buy your copy direct to avoid Amazon’s rip off price.
Here’s how it began …
Bob was incensed by the video and has replied on YOU TUBE. It makes for interesting reading. Feel free to send Bob a comment!
We are putting together a wide-ranging case for Rejoining the EU. Please get in touch via email reboot@brexitrage.com with some details about yourself if you would like to be a co-author or signatory to the final submission. Join us on Monday 30 September 8pm UK time via ZOOM to find out more.
Written by Elwyn Lloyd Jones, Rejoin Party Candidate for Sevenoaks.
To explore my old haunts since David Cameron called the disastrous Brexit Referendum in 2016, to see how things have changed; and as a kind of a Benchmark before the introduction of EES, Digital Visas, and ETIAS, I took this day-trip to The Hague. The first thing to note is that the British Eurolines is no more; and the formerly proud British P&O Ferries is a pale shadow of its former self. Their places have been taken by the German Flixbus, and the Danish DFDS Ferries who have been growing significantly with new ships and new routes, e.g. Newcastle to Amsterdam.
It was after the School Holidays, so things were quiet. We left Victoria Coach Station at 22:00 BST, arrived at Dover at about Midnight, were whisked through Security and French Immigration to end-up with a long wait for the 02:00 BST sailing. I used my regular British Passport with about 18-months remaining validity. It received a regular French Inbound Visa stamp. The Ferry Company had a young staff who were all very welcoming, and the nice thing about travelling this way, was receiving a free meal-ticket which more than made up for the slightly higher ticket price. We arrived in Calais at 05:05 CEST. There was no French Customs Checks, so we continued our journey, stopping at Bruges and Ghent to pick-up or drop-off passengers. I noticed that we also had brief stops at or near the country borders. I don’t know whether this was a courtesy stop in case migration checks were needed, or simply to change drivers. In any case they were brief, and we quickly continued, arriving at The Hague Central Station at about 20 minutes after our scheduled arrival time of 09:30 CEST.
Rejoin EU
Driving through Belgium at sunrise lifted my heart to see the diversity of daily activities and industries, some even supplying our daily delights back home in the UK, fields were under cultivation, wind turbines were turning, and farmers were doing a good job. – The Netherlands, on the other hand, was a bit run-down with abandoned green-houses, and over-grown solar farms. (The Dutch green-house growers suffered badly with the fuel-price hikes that followed the sanctions on Russian gas.) One surprise was a 5¢ plastics surcharge above the listed price on fast-foods. A number of pro-Palestinian Flags were in prevalence; and on hearing I lived in England, one black guy had a go at me with some ribald comments – obviously venting his frustration at Britain’s treatment of foreigners.
To return, we left The Hague Central Station at 22:55 CEST, stopped at Ghent for passengers. At Calais we went through a thorough Security Scan, French Outbound checks (which included an Exit Visa stamp on my same regular British Passport), and followed by British Immigration, which surprisingly included a quick scan of all Visas, i.e. of all countries ever visited. Two passengers were set aside for interrogation. Again, there was a long wait for the 07:05 CEST sailing. – On board was very pleasant, not at all crowded, and a free meal which included a full English breakfast. We arrived back at Victoria Coach Station nearly a full hour after our scheduled arrival time of 09:00 BST.
Roaming
I only use Vodafone pre-pay, and one of my missions was to exchange my Dutch SIM card for the nano version. The nice thing about having a Dutch SIM Card is that roaming (including the UK) is free, and the number never expires. Not so the UK SIM card, if you want to use it in Europe, you need to buy 100 Calling Minutes for £5 or 200 Text Messages for £4 and they are valid for 8 days, and what you don’t use, you lose. But I was only there for only one day!
If you venture into Data Use, the story is different. At home in the UK you can use unlimited data for £2, which is valid for the rest of the day. (I have subsequently learned that NL also offers unlimited daily domestic data for €4, but you have to buy it.) This is ideal to get one out of a fix! – But, to roam from the UK you need to buy 3GB of Data for £9, which again is valid for 8 days. – To roam from the NL you need to buy 3GB of Data for €15 in a package called a Blox, which can be used throughout the EU, including the UK, and is valid for a whole Month.
In the early days, it used to be quite conspicuous that the smart black guys, almost in unison, would change their SIM cards every time we crossed a national boundary, while the whites from Western Europe would lay back and let themselves be screwed by roaming charges. It’s now been long established that a multi-SIM telephone is an absolute must for the International Traveller, and especially after Brexit. The Telecoms Companies will try and lock you into their Network; but the Indian ‘phone Retailers are the undoubtedly world leaders in multi-SIM devices, with even 7-SIM ’phones being available in India.
Booze Cruise
I tried to do a price comparison by dividing Wines into three categories: Fine Wines (Burgundy), Popular Wines (Beaujolais), and Cheap Plonk. There is no point in comparing cheap plonk, because I know from experience that cheap European wines are much cheaper (and better quality) than UK cheap wines; and this is because of Duty, which for typical wines is £24.77 per litre of alcohol, so at the low end of the market, all the money goes to the government, leaving nothing for the suppliers. In my travels, I did not find Beaujolais in any of the shops. But for Burgundy, I looked at Bourgogne (White Burgundy), which came out at about £18 to £20 per bottle in the UK, and €12 per bottle in The Hague. But this is not entirely a fair comparison, because there are many different Estates, Vintages, and Brands of Fine Wine – and I’m no expert.
For a sample of Lady’s Cosmetics, I found the on-board shop price to be the same as the UK shop price.
The problem with the on-board shopping is that everything you buy, you’ll have to carry to the car by hand. This means that they concentrate on high-value spirits where the savings are a maximum. They offered a wide range of spirits at £10 per litre bottle, but if you shop around, you can find the same price in the UK. Then, on top of that, they offer two for the price of one; which is great if you are into drinking the hard stuff. But, it’s a bit self defeating, because with such quantities, you won’t need to come back for quite a few months.
My favourite beer is Leffe, but I’m getting quite suspicious about the Leffe you can buy in the Supermarkets here. Who would buy a 750 ml Bottle? And who would drink it out of a one pint Chalice? And also 6% proof is not right for Leffe. – So, I bought a bottle there and looked very closely. Yes, the genuine EU Leffe is 6.6% proof and sold in a 300 ml bottle (our regular bottle is 330 ml); so yes, they’ve been watering it down by 10% for the UK Market. The price was €1.37, but at Sainsbury you can get 12 bottles for £13, which is even cheaper. – I was not able to buy a proper Chalice, and Internet shopping has always been problematic. But hey, Amazon is improving all the time, so in the future we may not even need to travel to do our European Shopping.
Conclusion
EU price differences are generally small, and bringing goods back for personal use is easy, but otherwise it is difficult to know you’re getting the genuine product of satisfactory quality. While we worry about our own situation; businesses don’t care, and will always compete; and in business, size matters. While UK businesses struggle, we’ve seen how: DFDS BV, Flix SE, AB InBev, and even Amazon are slowly improving their position day-by-day. We have a Government that either protects Shareholders, or Trade Unionists. But a good business listens neither to the shareholder nor the trade unionist, but is a combination of one or more highly skilled individuals (each in a class of their own) working together as a team. They need resources and defences, but we’ve never really had a Government that understands that. – I can only see the decline continue as skills leave the country and entities from outside take-over. This is the true cost of Brexit.
The Tory MP Kevin Hollinrake is moaning about giving worker’s rights. I suggested that he stop whingeing as he’d got his Brexit. Then “Dave Gilmour” entered the fray. No, not the brilliant Pink Floyd guitarist and singer/songwriter but Dave, cynic, affiliate at Mundo Cognito Ltd, author of “Privacy Architecture – guided by TOGAF®” according to his LinkedIn profile. The online conversation that ensued was comedy gold. Dave claims that he does not need any benefits or problems solved by Brexit and then goes on to pretend that he voted Remain.
Hollinrake’s original post.
Another prick in the mall.
Comfortably Numb.
Wish EU were here.
Angry Dave needs to chill.
Paul got no reply from Dave. Too busy promoting his new album I guess.
When you lose the argument, go for the gut. Very Trumpesque.
Dave makes a false claim that he voted to Remain but lets himself down with his grammar … “get over it”, “embittered losers” and so on are the ‘grammatical ornaments’ of Brexit extremists. I await the trial.
This rather reinforces the poverty of trying to influence people online. Brexorcism is a face to face discipline as I explain in Reboot Britain.
Don’t be like Dave. He just made a fool of himself in front of all his LinkedIn contacts.
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