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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/live/2016/nov/25/are-we-too-quick-to-blame-brexit-for-everything-join-our-live-look-at-the-week
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| Are we too quick to blame Brexit for everything? Join our live look at the week | Are we too quick to blame Brexit for everything? Join our live look at the week |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 12.43pm GMT | |
| 12:43 | |
| Whatever your opinion, Brexit is not going away (or even coming ... ?) any time soon – and, in line with that picture of former prime minister David Cameron, the most commented piece on the Guardian today is this on John Major’s recent comments: | |
| Updated | |
| at 12.44pm GMT | |
| 12.25pm GMT | |
| 12:25 | |
| Readers are sharing their views in response to Anne Perkins’ question below – share yours in the comments or click the links to get involved in the conversation | |
| Are we too quick to blame Brexit for everything | |
| It may be true that reasoned and nuance discussions are few and far between these days, and that people will lash out at a target that best suits whatever opinions they already hold. I think there's been a surge of this kind of reciprocal shouting because of the recent furore and hyperbole around the referendum campaign, which politicised a large group of people who previously had little interest in the system. In other words I blame Brexit. | |
| "Are we too quick to blame Brexit for everything?" | |
| "We"? | |
| Five months on, there's no evidence of great popular opposition to leaving the EU. The Lib Dems are the only major party in Eng and Wales opposing Brexit and their poll ratings are stuck in single figures. | |
| It seems to me that Cameron, Osborne, May et al are to blame. There was no need for a referendum. It was reckless, it was political vanity, it was irresponsible and without a contingency plan they are negligent. And Labour are to blame for (still) not providing a credible opposition and alternative narrative. Brexit voters are to blame for being gullible and fantasists. | |
| Are we too quick to blame Brexit for everything? | |
| Yes. In fairness it's not a new trend - newspapers are always keen to blame long term economic trends on the most recent event. | |
| The same bad news stories which are currently all being blamed on Brexit, would have all been blamed on Conservative government policies before the referendum, and before 2010 they would have all been blamed on the global financial crisis. Simple narratives are seductive, but usually wrong. | |
| 12.05pm GMT | 12.05pm GMT |
| 12:05 | 12:05 |
| An astonishing autumn statement | An astonishing autumn statement |
| Anne Perkins | Anne Perkins |
| The autumn statement was astonishing. Nothing for the so-called Jams, the families who are just managing. And, maybe even more shocking, nothing at all for the NHS or, more specifically, for councils so they can afford to provide social care for older and vulnerable people – even though it is the biggest single cause of the NHS crisis. | The autumn statement was astonishing. Nothing for the so-called Jams, the families who are just managing. And, maybe even more shocking, nothing at all for the NHS or, more specifically, for councils so they can afford to provide social care for older and vulnerable people – even though it is the biggest single cause of the NHS crisis. |
| But just when it seemed things couldn’t be worse, along came the Institute for Fiscal Studies’ analysis of what the numbers mean for real people. The single most striking conclusion was that by 2021, for most families pay would only just be back at pre-2008 levels. | But just when it seemed things couldn’t be worse, along came the Institute for Fiscal Studies’ analysis of what the numbers mean for real people. The single most striking conclusion was that by 2021, for most families pay would only just be back at pre-2008 levels. |
| Meanwhile the same crew that rubbished the judges for doing their job of adjudicating on a legal row – also known as judging – was back on the airwaves yesterday heaping scorn on the IFS for doing its job of studying budgets and mapping their consequences. There are some senior politicians who are beginning to sound like the Tories’ Breitbart wing. | Meanwhile the same crew that rubbished the judges for doing their job of adjudicating on a legal row – also known as judging – was back on the airwaves yesterday heaping scorn on the IFS for doing its job of studying budgets and mapping their consequences. There are some senior politicians who are beginning to sound like the Tories’ Breitbart wing. |
| Or do you think they have a point? Are those of us who voted remain too quick to blame Brexit for everything (after all, the other EU economies are not exactly booming)? And is it legitimate for the 48% to keep fighting for what we believe in, or does there come a point when we have to get on and live with it? | Or do you think they have a point? Are those of us who voted remain too quick to blame Brexit for everything (after all, the other EU economies are not exactly booming)? And is it legitimate for the 48% to keep fighting for what we believe in, or does there come a point when we have to get on and live with it? |
| 11.57am GMT | 11.57am GMT |
| 11:57 | 11:57 |
| Welcome | Welcome |
| Sarah Marsh | Sarah Marsh |
| Hello everyone. We’re looking forward to starting our weekly social, where we gather with readers to discuss the week’s top stories. We will have lots of expert comment and views from journalists above the line. If you want to talk about anything specific, however, let us know in the comments or by emailing: sarah.marsh@theguardian.com | Hello everyone. We’re looking forward to starting our weekly social, where we gather with readers to discuss the week’s top stories. We will have lots of expert comment and views from journalists above the line. If you want to talk about anything specific, however, let us know in the comments or by emailing: sarah.marsh@theguardian.com |