Where’s the “BBC” - reporting of this then ? - Every weekend for over a year now !
"…Paris police fired tear gas in northwestern Paris on Saturday to drive back protesters on the first year anniversary weekend of anti-government “yellow vest” demonstrations…"
@forexforexforex Lets see you cover THAT from “both sides” 
Just 4 minutes of truly great redemption !
BRING IT ON !
Have a break, have a brexit
Arh No! Have you ever heard of the Commonwealth Games played only by those that are still in the British Empire or the Commonwealth.
We in Australia have the Queen as our head of state. When I was at school we sang “God Save the Queen” We still fly a flag that proudly has the Union Jack in the top left hand corner as does New Zealand. Our navy fly the union jack.
So the Empire or Commonwealth is still alive.
Cheers
Blackduck
Apologies - are you guys still subjects of the British Empire then?
Also didn’t realize that the Commonwealth and British Empire are the same thing.
I know about the games every 4 years, next one is not far away in Birmingham in 2 years time, should be good.
Long live the Empire 
Edit - just checked, the Australia Act 1986 made you guys “a sovereign, independent and federal nation”. (quote from act)
That law cut all legal ties with the UK, a mirror act was legislated in Westminster.
The Commonwealth is defined as an “association” of independent states or territories.
Good luck in the next games.
On the very day I am celebrating the good sense of my countrymen And countrywomen in voting overwhelmingly to set themselves free from the evr increasing totaitarianism which the EEC has morphed into - you expect me to defend slavery ?
Show me what I have said which leads you to make such an assumption !
The past is the past and our progress into Enlightenment and Modernism historically led us to free those countries which we had previously settled - so they could make their own decisions and decide their own fates - Some have done it rather better than others - but they are entitled to be free. As I pointed out above.
The current drive of “Postmodernism” seems to want to reverse that trend and make “All the slaves of the few Beurocratic Elites” - A comarison with the “party” of USSR and China seems unavoidable.
I am gratified by the loyalty felt towards us by those such as @Blackduck and the sense of connection which is clearly still extant throughout the Commonwealth.
I can only state here as I have before that I am very sorry that we allowed the joining of the EEC to dictate that we cut off most of our trade with those countries. - We were wrong to do so and all I can say in mitigation, is that we sincerely were not aware of that requirement when we voted to join the Common Market. However as I have said, the past is the past and we shall jointly strive to become a Nation of independent people and trade on equal terms with all.
Our Natural affinity towardsthe people of our former Colonies is strong in the “uneducated” parts of our country as well as well as in yours.
Yet we have no animosity towards the other people of Europe either and happily hope to trade and co-operate with those people too.
We simply refuse to be ruled with by the ever increasingly totalitarian “Iron Fist” of what our “Common Market” has become. This was never our intention and we expect that unless the Beaurocracy reforms and becomes more universally accepting of the needs and wishes of it’s constituent Nations, we shall not be the last to reject it.
Sadly however, the unilateral imposition of the “Rule” only last week, that “National Flags are banned” within what they call the “European Parliament” by the Unelected ruler Ursula von whatever her name is - does not seem to imply any learning or movement in that direction at all.
Her vision of “reform” of the excesses of the EU seems to mean simply “More EU”…
Was out in london, having more than a pint! Started the night with a tequila 
Mairead McGuinness - elected as an MEP (same as Nigel Farage) is the VP, was in charge of the sitting and switched off Nigel’s microphone.
That was after Ursula von der Leyen said “we will always love you and we will never be far”.
Not sure where slavery came into the conversation.
You are aware that we didn’t get a vote on joining the EEC, it was decided for us by Westminster. The then ruling Conservative party did not have enough votes in the house to get the bill through due to Eurosceptic MP’s within the party, they needed Labour MP’s to vote with them.
Harold Wilson couldn’t make up his mind which way to go. Enoch Powell gave a roaring speech on the imminent loss of sovereignty. It was only after James Callaghan made his famous “Non, merci beaucoup” speech that Wilson finally came off the fence and instructed his Labour mp’s to vote ‘NO’ (i.e. no entry to EEC)
Of course many labour mp’s ignored him and the entry bill was passed by a huge majority.
We as mere citizens had no say in the matter for a number of years.
Edit: I think Ursula’s speech was directed at the British people and not Nigel - hmmm…well I hope it was.
Not sure what that has to do with my point.- the “No flags rule” was only a few days old and as I said. and is just another demonstration of the ever more anti-nation state stance being driven towards by the “Elites” of the “Inner Party”
Not sure what all that minutiae about Wilson etc is for.
Fact remains we got a vote !
I’m not sure we can say that the “Party Elites” ARE in fact democratically elected under a PR system ? - those lower down the pecking order -? yes I can see an argument for that ! but as for Ursula van woossername ? Then she was “elected” by the MEPs with only a single name on the “Ballot Paper” and was within a very few votes of being rejected even so ! Where’s the “democacy” in a President of Europe we had imposed on us and cannot sack ?
A more cynical man than I might suggest that the “Irish woman” only got 2nd in command the job as a bribe to Varadkar ?
Fact is we did not, I’ll quote:
No referendum was held when Britain agreed to an accession treaty on 22 January 1972 or when the European Communities Bill went through the legislative process, on the grounds that to hold one would be unconstitutional
Can you not remember that?
This is becoming a little boring - the “Irish Woman” became the first VP of the European Parliament in Jan 2017 - Varadkar didn’t become Irish PM until the election of June 2017
The fact is we got a vote ;
"…1975 United Kingdom European Communities membership referendum
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
United Kingdom European Communities membership referendum
“ The Government has announced the results of the renegotiation of the United Kingdom’s terms of membership of the European Community.
Do you think the United Kingdom should stay in the European Community (the Common Market)? ”
Location United Kingdom (pop. 56.225m)
Date 5 June 1975
Results Votes %
Yes 17,378,581 67.23%
No 8,470,073 32.77%
Valid votes 25,848,654 99.79%
Invalid or blank votes 54,540 0.21%
Total votes 25,903,194 100.00%
Registered voters/turnout 40,086,677 64.62%
Results by county
United Kingdom European Communities membership referendum, 1975.svg
Yes No
Referendum held on 5 June 1975. The electorate of 40.087m represented 71.3% of the population of 56.225m)
At the time of the referendum in June 1975 the UK was just one of nine member states that made up the European Communities.
The United Kingdom European Communities membership referendum, also known variously as the Referendum on the European Community (Common Market), the Common Market referendum and EEC membership referendum, took place under the provisions of the Referendum Act 1975 on 5 June 1975 in the United Kingdom to gauge support for the country’s continued membership of the European Communities (EC) — often known at the time as the European Community and the Common Market — which it had entered two and a half years earlier on 1 January 1973 under the Conservative government of Edward Heath. The Labour Party’s manifesto for the October 1974 general election had promised that the people would decide through the ballot box whether to remain in the EC.[1]
This was the first national referendum ever to be held throughout the United Kingdom, and would remain the only UK-wide referendum until the 2011 referendum on the Alternative Vote system was held thirty-six years later. It was also the only referendum to be held on the UK’s relationship with Europe until the 2016 referendum on continued EU membership.
The electorate expressed significant support for EC membership, with 67% in favour on a national turnout of 64%. The referendum result was not legally binding; however, it was widely accepted that the vote would be politically binding on all future Westminster Parliaments. (However, in 1983 Labour’s 1983 general election manifesto pledged withdrawal from the community.)[2] In a 1975 pamphlet Prime Minister Harold Wilson said: “I ask you to use your vote. For it is your vote that will now decide. The Government will accept your verdict.”[3] The pamphlet also said: “Now the time has come for you to decide. The Government will accept your decision — whichever way it goes.” …"
Jeez - MINUTIAE Again !
Why can’t you debate something interesting - like this bit ?
The key here are the dates:
The UK agreed to join the now EU in Jan '72 - but it was deemed unconstitutional to ask the people’s permission.
Three years later, long after we had turned our backs on the Commonwealth - and when you consider that joining of words - common wealth - we then had our government say ’ well actually it’s not unconstitutional after all’.
So the vote we got was not whether to shaft any trade agreements with our former colonies and join the EU but whether to continue doing same.
As you say - we voted overwhelmingly to continue - and yes I too was swayed by the British to forget about the Commonwealth, particularly the emerging economies.
You say in mitigation that we didn’t know - of course we knew, but did we care?
Just listen and watch the few minutes History will return to in perpetuity when making up it’s mind about the way to report the rise and fall of teh EU !
See the way the Irish woman deals with the truth when it is presented tio them ! 
Just love it when someone just has to prove they are right. I don’t know what part of the world you hail from but the definition of just one piece of legislation does not constitute an open and shut case. I have worked as a prosecutor in the courts and have prosecuted cases both at state and Commonwealth level and never relied on just the definition of the legislation as proof of guilt or innocents.
Yes it is true that we are an individual country but you need to look at that individuality in context. Australia is divided into six states and two territories. Each of these states and territories have, in their own right, complete individuality and sovereignty. They are able to legislate and inforce their own laws. They have separate governments each with a lower house and a senate. But they are still constitutionally bound and subject to our national laws known as Commonwealth Law and they still have to abide by the decisions of national interest as directed by the Federal Government.
This is the same as Australia’s connection to Britain. Our Governor General is the representative of the Queen. If we want to dissolve our parliament the Queen has to approve it. Our legal system is the Westminster system. Many want Australia to become a Republic which would completely remove all ties with Britain but that would mean completely re-writing our constitution. It would mean changing our flag to remove the union jack as well as many other things that indirectly tie us to the Commonwealth or the British Empire. There is no appetite for this in Australia as most Australians are still loyal monarchists and still want that connection to the UK.
Australia and Australians’ are more connected legally and culturally with the UK than you think.
Cheers
Blackduck
This has been the biggest constraint on the economic prosperity of Great Britain. What started as possibly a good idea of pooling a number of countries together to create a competitive force when negotiating trade deals with other major trading partners, quickly turned into a way for Germany to become much bigger and richer than the much smaller countries suckered into joining the EU. Just look at Greece, Spain and Italy who have had their economies almost destroyed by the EU.
It also gave strength to the globalist elites to enforce their will onto much weaker nations. When you look at who controlled the EU it was just a few people. Merkal, Jean Claude Junker and Macron. The rest of the EU countries had to dance to the fiddle of these three who were hell bent on mantaining power and control.
Fararge is right. The EU is a failed experiment that has gone on for too long.
Cheers
Blackduck
It was the Brits that found and settled Australia. It was the Brits that gave us our constitution, our parliamentary system and our legal system. It was the Brits that founded our way of life and our culture.
We fought 2 world wars together. We are as one and we have a lot to thank Britain for. Most of my heritage is from Scotland but there are some of my ancestors who are Brits. Thank god for that. 
Cheers
Blackduck
Sad kind of statement, how is it possible to be right or wrong?
Not sure why you are telling me re the UK link to Australia
Standing on a packed Irish graveyard In May (it is known as the ‘Graveyard Mass’) the old man to my right whispered in a thick accent ‘Peter that’s not an Irish name’.
He gestured toward a headstone that had a Spanish surname inscribed.
Only because i had come to understand my old friend’s accent I would not have understood a word. I smiled but didn’t answer. Instead I thought of him as a young boy, fearful, in the dead of night.
His family, along with many of the villagers slipped quietly onto a small boat, they left the shores of Croatia then part of communist Yugoslavia and sailed first to Italy and then ultimately Australia.
Now his Grandchildren return to Croatia each European summer, they don’t speak Croatian like their Granda - but one thing they do know - the world is small.
Just figured how to not see some notifications which is good, take care guys.