Vocal Voices

One of the French ministers said that the UK, if it left the EU, would have the same significance, on the world stage, as Guernsey.

Perhaps, in the light of the current Olympics results, that French minister might want to re-visit his assertion and remind himself that it is France which is becoming more and more a cog of an increasingly integrated EU and not the UK. Especially in the light of the extremely poor showing of France in the Olympics compared to the UK.

Say what you might about sports events, it absolutely IS the world stage. For those of us who grew up with the USSR and the US essentially extending the cold war into the Olympics, we know the profile coming second in the Olympics brings on the world stage.

Immediately after the Brexit vote I don't think the UK could have had a better result for our profile in the world we are emerging into.

Admittedly I did notice that if the EU countries (minus UK), were to compete as a single country, they would beat the US. I do not want imagine the jealousies and rivalries of that little competition in the EU, where the vast majority of the funding would go to the countries with the least medals.

Also here's another little "non EU" message about the Olympics and sport in general. It is a very strongly held EU message that "taking part" is the most important thing and "winning" is only secondary.

Great. So why did the UK start a regime of targeting funding at the winners? It has been brutal and it has been Darwinian. We only have so much funding. You want some of it for the Olympics and sports? Win. Because that is what we fund now, winning. The results are clear and the message of "participation" is dead and in the dust. You want to win at the Olympics? Prepare to win.

During the referendum there was a statement from a German minister who was very despondent. He said "If the UK leaves we'll become known as the Losers Club".

Quite....

I am overjoyed at GB's results in the Olympics.

It is just what we needed to re-kindle our belief in this wonderful country of ours.

Well done the GB team.

The problem with the EU has always been that it is an elitist project. The way the current EU leadership rails against nationalism and "populism" bears this out.

It's a bit like a cult. The ideals of the EU were formalised in the 1950's but kicked around for a long while before that, and they are a bit like a cult.

"Ever closer integration" is the answer to everything. There will be a european currency, it will be called the euro and it will be a success, as will the EU, and anyone who wavers from that in any way is a heretic. People like the American economist Joseph Stiglitz, who point out the weaknesses in the Euro go unlistened to.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... s-the-euro

When you have this mindset of immutable correctness you are entering the same territory as religious fundamentalists. The word of Jean Monnet replaces the word of God or Allah.

Any way, the Olympics - well done TeamGB!

I love it when Yanks preach to us Europeans.

They have been at it, what, 240 years, or thereabouts. Their European forebears conquered the native Americans with their technology. From the inception of the Yankee dollar they had a common currency. Only twice in their history have they accepted other states, Hawaii and Alaska, both rich, and in Alaska's case, rich in oil, minerals and other things bestowed by mother Earth... and they are still at it. The USA has poor States, and in those poor States unemployment is higher than in the rich States.

Then there is Europe. It has been riven for centuries with plagues, strife and wars. Then, after WWII, we said "enough is enough". We had the Cold War and the Iron Curtain. They divided us like never before, but Free Europe decided it was better to work together, so we tried. Eventually the Iron Curtain fell and Free Europe avowed to help those behind it as well. We took them in as equal partners, even though their economies were old Soviet models.

Unlike the Yanks, who conquered what were basically "savages", in their terms, the EU is trying to assimilate disparate millennia old Nation Sates with different cultures, economies, religions, languages and monetary systems. To claim that is has failed is risible. Come back in 240 years, Mr Yank, and see how things are getting on.

I didn't see much from TeamBrexit because I was not interested, but I thought that their Lottery, not government, funds were in place long before the referendum and that they were going for "individual" medals not Brexit or Remain ones.

Not quite the point I was making WM.

I was stating that the EU pundits tried to scare British voters into voting the way they wanted with scare stories of how the UK would suddenly vanish from the world stage when we left the EU.

To come SECOND in the Olympics table, to increase our medal count from the host nation Olympics, which has never been done before, is not a low profile thing. It is a Very high profile thing for the UK.

The other point I was making is that the UK approach to sports funding is totally and completely against the EU led culture of "happy losers" where competition is more important than winning. A position the rest of the EU countries have bought into in a really BIG way. Leading to poor results at the Olympics.

Two key points which were lied about a lot by the Remain camp.

We ARE a world power with world standing.
We ARE NOT a fit for the rest of the EU and the rest of the EU see's no good reason to change so we can fit.

Notably none of the press are making the connection.... I was just connecting the dots.

Suff, the main point I was making was that the Yanks always know best because, as they are so fond of telling everyone, they are the best at everything. So the piece in the Guardian was totally as I expected.

However, when it comes to the Olympics, and sport in general, the participants are obviously going "off messsage" the way they keep winning things in rugby, football, hockey, bobsleigh, skiing..... And talking of skiing, part two of the Olympics is in 2018 where all those 'happy losers', some from very tiny places indeed, will gladly stuff us, as they normally do. Not one gong, not one, will be secondary to winning (2nd, 3rd), and the only aspect of 'taking part' will be that they have to take part in order to "win".

Well my experience of the US is that 20% of them are pretty much the best at almost everything. And at 300m that's pretty much the entire population of the UK. So it's no surprise. It's just the sermon which is boring from time to time.

As for the Winter Olympics.... Every country on the planet has enough weather to produce the sports for the Olympics, even if they need indoor facilities. However for the Winter Olympics you need the climate to produce the athletes.

I don't put the Winter Olympics in the same category at all. It's a niche thing for those who have the climate to generate the competition. Not the same at all.