Happy Article 50 Day

[Brian]

Now the negotiations begin?

[Jetsun]

Oh Lord please save us from the Brexiters , somehow they forget what happened in the 1970's when Britain was "the sick man of Europe", when we couldn't pay our debts or even empty our bins. To our rescue came our entry into the world's largest single market, which has led us to being one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Now we turn our back on our saviour and enter the unknown, it could well be a return to the 1970s, nobody really knows what will happen - especially those who have led us here, who literally have no plan or clue what to do next

Edited March 29, 2017 by Jetsun

[Apech]

Just out of interest I was listening to a history podcast yesterday about the Elizabethan era - when because Elizabeth I was excommunicated, England was excluded from trade (particularly wool) with the rest of Europe.  This led to an expansion in trade with North African states e.g. Algiers, the Levant e.g. Syria and particularly the Ottoman Empire in Constantinople.  The formation of companies to manage this trade with royal assent were precursors to the East India Company.  Many English travelled to the middle east and even converted to Islam and set up home there.  Even though eventually England, under James I made peace with Spain and thus effectively reentered the European trade area - the old ties with the middle and far east did not completely go away.  And remarkably up till 1922 when the Ottoman Empire collapsed (and the British Empire was declining) the most lucrative trading partner that Britain had was with the Turks!  This despite India etc.  There are tapestries showing Eliz. I holding the Koran and many noble men used to dress as sultans for show.

 

Book on subject :  https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Books/This-Orient-Isle-Elizabethan-England-Islamic-World/0141978678/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1490790089&sr=8-1&keywords=this+orient+isle

 

I'm not saying this because I think Brexit is a good thing - I think it is a ridiculous policy - but it seems somewhere buried in English psychology is that we are better off being globalist than being European.  Time will tell.