zoogs
New member
Watched bits and pieces of the House of Commons discussing Brexit. In summary, Prime Minister David Cameron has brought back a deal he's recently hammered out in advance of a public referendum on whether or not they should stay in European Union.
For example, starting at the 1:33:10 mark (how can I embed just that?) above we see one of Cameron's fellow party members stand up and express sharp concerns about the quality of the deal (many of the conservative party members seem to fall in this camp), and Cameron taking the podium again to address them.
That's basically the whole thing: speakers from various parties standing to say their piece, lots of "hear, hear" and jeering, and the British P.M. responding to each speaker At a few points he said something like "I'm happy to write you with the details later." It seems like a very active, informal, and productive discussion.
Here there are opposing party members who seem capable of listening to one another -- because it would not be political suicide -- and who frequently emphasize their common ground to one another, presumably because that is rewarded rather than punished and there is a possibility they'll actually convince somebody. Is our Congress as functional?
It's something that makes me hope for a U.S. that doesn't have two-party gridlock where parties can build rigid boxes around themselves on almost everything and refuse to budge. Maybe we could have flexible coalitions instead where sanity usually bears out.
For example, starting at the 1:33:10 mark (how can I embed just that?) above we see one of Cameron's fellow party members stand up and express sharp concerns about the quality of the deal (many of the conservative party members seem to fall in this camp), and Cameron taking the podium again to address them.
That's basically the whole thing: speakers from various parties standing to say their piece, lots of "hear, hear" and jeering, and the British P.M. responding to each speaker At a few points he said something like "I'm happy to write you with the details later." It seems like a very active, informal, and productive discussion.
Here there are opposing party members who seem capable of listening to one another -- because it would not be political suicide -- and who frequently emphasize their common ground to one another, presumably because that is rewarded rather than punished and there is a possibility they'll actually convince somebody. Is our Congress as functional?
It's something that makes me hope for a U.S. that doesn't have two-party gridlock where parties can build rigid boxes around themselves on almost everything and refuse to budge. Maybe we could have flexible coalitions instead where sanity usually bears out.
Last edited by a moderator:
