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shaunjlawson's profile
Shaun Lawson
Shaun Lawson
Shaun Lawson
@shaunjlawson

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Shaun Lawson

@shaunjlawson

Liberal leftie; political and sporting (mostly football) chat.

Punta del Este, Uruguay
Joined November 2012

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    Shaun Lawson‏ @shaunjlawson Jan 3

    Much shorter THREAD (I promise!): Freedom of movement. A few people have mentioned this - and they have a point. To my mind, the end of freedom of movement is far and away the worst thing about Brexit. It's not a 'WIN' - it's a massive loss.

    10:48 am - 3 Jan 2019
    • 194 Retweets
    • 310 Likes
    • Jakey Gilly Carpenter #GTTO 👊 NorfolkAnalytica😉#JC4PM2019 #GTTO Sara W Without Labels sandramorland#RJCOB#WeStandWithCorbyn#Block#FBPE Ilona de Römph Andy James #People'sVote Ida
    24 replies . 194 retweets 310 likes
      1. New conversation
      2. Shaun Lawson‏ @shaunjlawson Jan 3

        1) There's something extremely strange about how the UK's treated freedom of movement. In many EU states, after 90 days in the country, visitors have to register, and need ID cards to pay tax, start a business, claim benefits, access healthcare.

        2 replies . 22 retweets 43 likes
        Show this thread
      3. Shaun Lawson‏ @shaunjlawson Jan 3

        2) Yet when UK discussed ID cards during Blair government, it was part of the whole 90 days detention for suspected terrorists thing. New Labour was, at times, remarkably authoritarian - and the proposal failed because of fears over government having access to private information

        1 reply . 17 retweets 47 likes
        Show this thread
      4. Shaun Lawson‏ @shaunjlawson Jan 3

        3) At no point did how EU member states use ID cards to control freedom of movement ever come up. No-one even mentioned it. No-one bothered to do any research. Typical British politics and media, in other words.

        2 replies . 20 retweets 47 likes
        Show this thread
      5. Shaun Lawson‏ @shaunjlawson Jan 3

        4) I remain astonished that after his 'attempt to gain concessions' from the EU ahead of the referendum (a sham, in which everyone went through the motions), Cameron didn't simply say "let's bring in ID cards and end freedom of movement as we know it".

        1 reply . 17 retweets 42 likes
        Show this thread
      6. Shaun Lawson‏ @shaunjlawson Jan 3

        5) But then, maybe that's because the whole concept of ID cards was toxic thanks to Blair. We have them in Uruguay where I live; they're essential. There's been no invasion into my personal liberty: they're part of being a fully integrated, assimilated member of society here.

        4 replies . 11 retweets 38 likes
        Show this thread
      7. Shaun Lawson‏ @shaunjlawson Jan 3

        6) I assume Britain's interpretation of freedom of movement was so different because we needed constant mass immigration for our low wage, 'flexible' (read: disgracefully easy to fire someone) economy. Another indictment of let it rip neoliberalism; and of both Blair and Cameron.

        4 replies . 18 retweets 54 likes
        Show this thread
      8. Shaun Lawson‏ @shaunjlawson Jan 3

        7) But the problem with this interpretation was: in a country which doesn't invest in services, doesn't build new homes, doesn't create good jobs, it's no good pointing to statistics about how FoM has had little or no impact on low skilled wages. It's worse than useless doing so.

        1 reply . 10 retweets 46 likes
        Show this thread
      9. Shaun Lawson‏ @shaunjlawson Jan 3

        8) Because in an ever more insecure job market, with ever-increasing rents, a health service under more and more pressure and over-subscribed local schools, it involves telling people "what you see every day with your own eyes is wrong - and if you disagree, you're a racist".

        6 replies . 18 retweets 51 likes
        Show this thread
      10. Shaun Lawson‏ @shaunjlawson Jan 3

        9) Naturally, this alienated and angered more and more working class voters: pushing them into Tory and UKIP hands. UKIP especially had a catastrophic effect on Labour in 2015: not least because Miliband opposed EU referendum, so wanted to deny giving the people a voice on this.

        4 replies . 8 retweets 39 likes
        Show this thread
      11. Shaun Lawson‏ @shaunjlawson Jan 3

        10) To win these people back, Labour had to go along with Brexit. Many MPs will tell you that in 2017, they'd have had the door slammed in their faces by voters if Labour had wanted to overturn the referendum. Backing Brexit gave them a chance to persuade them on other issues.

        2 replies . 7 retweets 35 likes
        Show this thread
      12. Shaun Lawson‏ @shaunjlawson Jan 3

        11) The political climate over immigration in the UK is a symptom. Not of horrible racists having taken the place over - but of ordinary working class people having been horrendously let down and ignored for decades. And at times of economic struggle, people move towards extremes

        2 replies . 19 retweets 57 likes
        Show this thread
      13. Shaun Lawson‏ @shaunjlawson Jan 3

        12) Of course, during the referendum campaign, Leave never bothered telling anyone that to end freedom of movement as practiced by the UK, we'd have to leave the single market. Had the public realised this, the outcome might well have been different.

        1 reply . 6 retweets 32 likes
        Show this thread
      14. Shaun Lawson‏ @shaunjlawson Jan 3

        13) As it was, Theresa May's ridiculous, non-deliverable red lines landed the UK in this shambolic mess. Anyone among the EU negotiating team or its many governments will tell you: those red lines caused all the trouble we're having now.

        2 replies . 13 retweets 39 likes
        Show this thread
      15. Shaun Lawson‏ @shaunjlawson Jan 3

        14) What, though, can Labour do? How do they keep that critical working class support - people who've seen so much ineptly handled mass immigration over the last 15 years - without themselves supporting an end to freedom of movement? I don't think they can.

        3 replies . 8 retweets 32 likes
        Show this thread
      16. Shaun Lawson‏ @shaunjlawson Jan 3

        15) They can certainly speak up for all those EU citizens in the UK, or UK citizens in the EU. They can certainly rail against the government's mad immigration policies which are thunderously inept and economically illiterate beyond belief. But they can't stop FoM ending.

        3 replies . 7 retweets 31 likes
        Show this thread
      17. Shaun Lawson‏ @shaunjlawson Jan 3

        16) What can they do instead? Well, once again, it's about values. It's about rebuilding the country. If a Labour government successfully does that, just watch all that anti-immigration sentiment melt away. That's what happens when people feel their lives getting better.

        2 replies . 15 retweets 54 likes
        Show this thread
      18. Shaun Lawson‏ @shaunjlawson Jan 3

        17) And when in government, they can also end the disgusting violence of our current policies towards refugees and asylum seekers: policies which amounted to 'let them drown' in 2015, and which send Afghans back to their deaths, or Nigerians into sex trafficking. Monstrous.

        1 reply . 12 retweets 48 likes
        Show this thread
      19. Shaun Lawson‏ @shaunjlawson Jan 3

        18) Just as they can end the utter lunacy of sending overseas students away from the UK the moment they graduate - and making their lives a misery, treating them like virtual criminals, while they're here. This isn't just vile; it's economic madness.

        1 reply . 11 retweets 42 likes
        Show this thread
      20. Shaun Lawson‏ @shaunjlawson Jan 3

        19) A Labour government can control our borders but be humane, dignified and compassionate with it. By contrast, I don't think Theresa May regards foreigners - apart from rich ones, that is - even as fully paid-up members of the human race.

        4 replies . 16 retweets 56 likes
        Show this thread
      21. Shaun Lawson‏ @shaunjlawson Jan 3

        20) You know what one of my biggest dreams for a Labour government is? It's that they change the country so completely - restoring its values, its empathy, its basic decency - that The Sun, The Mail and The Express, vile peddlers of hate, go out of business. Imagine that!

        3 replies . 26 retweets 120 likes
        Show this thread
      22. Shaun Lawson‏ @shaunjlawson Jan 3

        21) But it's a process. It takes time. All the failings of so many governments of the past 40 years are the reason for that. So when you come across anti-immigrant attitudes, don't point the finger. Don't hector. Listen, engage, try and change minds and take people with you.

        4 replies . 9 retweets 55 likes
        Show this thread
      23. Shaun Lawson‏ @shaunjlawson Jan 3

        22) I'm not always the best at that myself. I get angry way too fast - as do so many on the left, as injustice towards our fellow humans is what gets the steam coming from our ears quickest. But many of those worried about immigration are themselves often victims, often ignored.

        2 replies . 8 retweets 45 likes
        Show this thread
      24. Shaun Lawson‏ @shaunjlawson Jan 3

        23) My heart bleeds for all those stuck in limbo right now: including my sister, who lives in the EU and has a very uncertain future. That they're in this situation is an absolute disgrace, and a whopping indictment of this appalling government.

        2 replies . 8 retweets 39 likes
        Show this thread
      25. Shaun Lawson‏ @shaunjlawson Jan 3

        Shaun Lawson Retweeted RemainerNow #peoplesvote

        24) It doesn't bleed for arrogant muppets like most (but not all) of those in this video ----> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9FggJE1HjY … And it certainly doesn't bleed for ABSOLUTE NUMPTIES like this chap here -----> https://twitter.com/RemainerNow/status/1076096196932968448 …https://twitter.com/RemainerNow/status/1076096295356506112 …

        Shaun Lawson added,

        1:13
        RemainerNow #peoplesvote @RemainerNow
        He explains how he now wishes to retire to Spain and he has realised the problems he will now face due to brexit & loss of Freedom of Movement. We know that #BrexitIsPersonal and stories like this show that. Respect to him for speaking up as a #remainernow (Part 2 of 2) pic.twitter.com/pfLElCjPTk
        Show this thread
        1 reply . 5 retweets 19 likes
        Show this thread
      26. Shaun Lawson‏ @shaunjlawson Jan 3

        25) See - told you I wasn't the best at not judging others! 😇 Of course, the example above is of someone who didn't realise what he was voting for. But we are where we are. Only a Labour government can create the kind of open, welcoming UK people feel proud of again.

        1 reply . 7 retweets 33 likes
        Show this thread
      27. Shaun Lawson‏ @shaunjlawson Jan 3

        26) And you know why that's so crucial - even beyond humane, moral grounds? We have an ageing population. We NEED immigration, plenty of it, to pay for healthcare and pensions. That's one of the greatest ironies of all: old people effectively voting against their own interests

        4 replies . 12 retweets 54 likes
        Show this thread
      28. Shaun Lawson‏ @shaunjlawson Jan 3

        27) Anecdote from some years back: two old people sitting in my local GP surgery complaining about immigration. I asked who their doctors were. "Dr Shah" said one. "Dr Patel" said the other. You couldn't make it up.

        3 replies . 17 retweets 43 likes
        Show this thread
      29. Shaun Lawson‏ @shaunjlawson Jan 3

        28) And this from the mighty Beast of Bolsover tells its own majestic story. Dennis Skinner: We Are Not Worthy.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5CcTGN0a8M …

        2 replies . 10 retweets 38 likes
        Show this thread
      30. Shaun Lawson‏ @shaunjlawson Jan 3

        29) But as I say, it'll take time. Maybe not as long as some might fear - but rebuilding Britain from bottom up will be an ongoing process. A bold one, an exciting one, an energising one. Don't despair. With Labour, this country will become a beacon of light and hope again. /ENDS

        8 replies . 17 retweets 86 likes
        Show this thread
      31. End of conversation

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