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> There was criticism of the democratic deficit. Now we have Ursula von der Leyen running the show and (figuratively speaking) no-one is quite sure how she got

> There was criticism of the democratic deficit. Now we have Ursula von der Leyen running the show and (figuratively speaking) no-one is quite sure how she got there. There was criticism that the EU was excessively bureaucratic, litigious and slow-moving, and that member states were fair weather friends. Then we saw the handling of the COVID/vaccine and immigration/refugee issues. And the more extreme predictions of British life as we know it coming to an end haven't happened either (at least not because of Brexit). Much like how criticism of Darwinian evolution doesn't automatically support arguments in favour of creationism, let alone "prove" it - neither does (quite legitimate!) criticism of the EU automatically make a case for leaving the EU. My impression is that those newspapers were basically making that argument: "the EU sucks, we should leave" - it was never "the EU sucks, let's make it better". > It's perhaps worth remembering that the older generation who voted more in favour of leaving in the Brexit referendum were much the same generation whose younger selves voted to stay in once before. Indeed, and this does perplex me - but again, consider that the arguments for Leave were nothing like the arguments for not joining the EU back in 1973. Also, don't forget the public's near limitless capacity for political amnesia.

Silhouette 5y ago
I agree there was plenty of silliness in certain parts of the UK press, though there was also a more reasonable point made that the people advocating change from within had had decades to make progress and had not successfully addressed the criticisms being made so their arguments looked unconvincing. Once Cameron came back with what most people seemed to consider token concessions at best despite being in possibly the strongest negotiating position a UK PM would ever have, the reform from within advocates had little wind left in their sails. I agree that political amnesia is a strange phenomenon. On this kind of issue, that can shift the balance of popular opinion either way over time.

Silhouette 5y ago

I agree there was plenty of silliness in certain parts of the UK press, though there was also a more reasonable point made that the people advocating change from within had had decades to make progress and had not successfully addressed the criticisms being made so their arguments looked unconvincing. Once Cameron came back with what most people seemed to consider token concessions at best despite being in possibly the strongest negotiating position a UK PM would ever have, the reform from within advocates had little wind left in their sails. I agree that political amnesia is a strange phenomenon. On this kind of issue, that can shift the balance of popular opinion either way over time.