The U.K. is on the verge of leaving the EU without any kind of trade deal, it’ called WTO Rules, or World Trade Organisation Rules. Nice considering we were all told that by Boris Johnson the deal was ‘oven ready’. Some of you will remember Theresa May who frequently used the phrase ‘Brexit means Brexit’. But actually that’s not what it means at all. Brexit means something different for many people, for some it’s their job they will lose, for others, their business turnover will suffer, for others it means holidays will not be as convenient. I’m Dutchman and have been in the UK for over 40+ years, still have my Dutch Passport and yes I applied and received approval to stay in the UK indefinitely and I’ve never been a big fan of Brussels, however I do believe the whole Brexit matter has been unbelievably badly dealt with. So what does Brexit mean for you?
This is a very strange one. I’m sure you’re all familiar with the famous Brexit event. How a group of countries that all speak different languages, have different cultures, lifestyles and have very different views thought they could join together and pretend they all live in one community was a huge ask.
The U.K. have never felt part of the EU, we’ve always described the countries on the mainland continent as Europe, we’ve never included the U.K. as Europe. It’s a very subtle thing but it has always existed.
Okay so you’re wondering why I am using the royal ‘we’, seeing as I’m a Dutchman? Well I’ve lived nearly 43 years in the U.K., so all my adult life has been outside The Netherlands. And by the way in case you didn’t know the Dutch and the Belgians have never really seen eye to eye. So leaving the EU has never been an issue for me, seeing as I do not trust Brussels and their unelected officials. In case you’re also wondering, I still have my Dutch passport, which means I’m not able to vote in the U.K. only in the EU elections and for the U.K. they will end soon I’m guessing.
So the other day I was listening to BBC Radio 5 Live, which is a talk and sports radio channel in the U.K. They mentioned that a video mocking the whole Brexit debate here in the U.K. was going viral around Europe. The video was a very badly copied clip, from an old movie by Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, aka Laurel and Hardy depicting them with some other folks in a car going on a holiday or picnic. After they load the car in classic Laurel and Hardy comedy style, they stop and say goodbye to onlookers. After saying goodbye many times they drive off and the car tyre is shown as driving over a nail, which means their car suffers a flat.
You can watch the clip below, it is actually quite funny. I recreated the clip myself because I felt I could do a better job compared to the original, that was screen recorded on a mobile phone. Never mind though that badly recorded clip has at the last count (at time of writing) had over 20k+ views. It wasn’t the quality, it was the mocking of the U.K. and Brexit.
[embed]https://youtu.be/ETPN9cFUo58[/embed]
I found the different clip on YouTube and discovered it was slightly longer compared to the original and actually it told a better story. The loading of the car was quite significant in the story and the comparison to Brexit, especially the slapping of each other in the process. Exactly like what is happening in the U.K. parliament. At time of writing my clip has had over 12k+
So I decided to use the longer clip and I added one other thing, the end screen shows a sad emoji. Because although it is a funny comparison, it’s turning out to be a very sad issue here in the U.K.
There also was a major error in the caption on the video, ‘How England plans to leave the U.K.’, the error being ‘England’ of course. It’s not just ‘England’ leaving the EU, it’s the whole of the United Kingdom, which includes, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. But Northern Ireland of course is the whole issue of the Brexit debate. I’m sure you have heard everyone mention the backstop and now the border in the Irish Sea.
Below is the original video clip that gave me the idea to produce mine.
Unfortunately there have been many comments on my video and some of them not so nice, so I do feel bad about posting it, because it has invoked feelings in people that might not have been the best feelings, which is not great. But the whole Brexit debate has done that and although we avoid speaking to friends and family about it, the feelings are still there. A nation divided about divorcing the EU, it’s how children must feel when their parents split up. Not everyone can get to terms with the anger on both sides of the debate, quite frankly they are as bad as each other. It’s as close to a civil war we will ever get. A civil war of words that is.
It was an experiment, I wanted to see what happened and now I know. Sometimes recreating something, maybe even copying and improving what someone else has done is a good way to get noticed, a marketing masterclass I guess. I’ve never ever had that many views on a video on my YouTube channel, I don’t even have enough subscribers to be able to monetise it. I need 1000 as a minimum and I only have just over 300.
Who knows where it will all end. One thing is for sure, millions of people in the U.K. will be very unhappy for many years to come.
#weeklycartoon — Boris and Gove in Amsterdam — Michael & Josh
Over the weekend here in the UK we heard how at least 6 politicians, who are standing to be chosen as Britain’s Prime Minister, admitted that they’d taken illegal drugs at some point during their lifetime. A massive debate has ensued whether they are fit to be in office or whether we forgive them for their past mistakes. Imagine if one of them gets selected, the fact that they took illegal drugs will be forever in the forefront of our minds, correct? Forever…
Anyway it inspired us to create this little cartoon. Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, both forerunners in the contest admitted to both being weed smokers. I imagined that if we never leave the EU, it would actually be in their favour!
The Wild West in the UK — Michael & Josh — #weeklycartoon
It has been a few interesting weeks in the UK. The UK prime minister Theresa May resigning, EU Elections and the Brexit party winning (or losing?), you name it, we have had it all. UK politics remind me of the old Wild West and cowboys fighting it out with each other and that gave us the idea for our latest cartoon.
Last Chance Saloon.
For non-uk viewers, scene explanation; Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, UK MP’s are shooting it out to see who wins the leader of the conservatives/temporary prime minster position. There are many more in the race, but I am taking a punt, that it will be these two who will be fighting it out in the last rounds. After all, Gove stabbed Johnson in the back when the last race took place. I’m assuming that their campaigns will be based on ‘No deal’ for Johnson and ‘Withdrawal Agreement’ for Gove, but It is a wild wild guess. Vince Cable (outgoing Liberal Democrat leader) is holding his yellow handkerchief out, so when it drops to the floor they can shoot! Of course his campaign is for a 2nd vote. Nigel Farage (Brexit Party leader with largest EU parliament members voted in), is sitting on the bench drinking a milkshake and of course shouting, as he regularly does; ‘Brexit means Brexit. Note that Jeremy Corbyn is missing, he’s still making up his mind up what the Labour Party policy is going to be over Brexit, so far it has been painful.
Theresa May as the Pied Piper — #weeklycartoon — Michael & Josh
Lots happening in the UK Parliament today (27 March 2019). Nobody knows what will happen next, however I got an image in my head of Theresa May (UK Prime Minister) as the pied piper with just a few rats, oops I mean politicians, following and the rest of the rats way behind and going in opposite directions. History is being written right now. Enjoy!
I wonder if David Cameron (Ex Prime Minister) gets a good night sleep to think that he persuaded the UK electorate to vote for the Tories (Conservative Party) and would make sure we would get a referendum to decide whether to stay in or leave the European Union. We are actually all Europeans, we live on her continent, but we may not all be ‘Europeans’.
The EU government run by non-elected officials who are at best administrators have never really had the UK interests at heart.
If their reaction and language has anything to go by, it proves that the UK should not be part of their administrative process. The cultures between the countries in the EU are so diverse and apart from having the same currency and some of the same labour laws, basically the countries and its people are very very different. A united EU has never been a true possibility and now with the UK out of it, it will never happen.
That Theresa May (Prime Minister at time of writing) believes that she can force the elected members of parliament and the UK constituents to lay down and accept a deal that she agreed, without initial consultation, is unacceptable to the democratic process in the UK. To then complain that MP’s use their democratic right to vote against an unacceptable deal means that she is lost in her own power.
Words like ‘you the Public’, in a recent address on TV (20 March, 2019), shows that she is so far removed from the ‘Public’ and our lives and how all this seems to be about her. I say this because if you listen carefully Theresa May uses the word ‘I’ very often.
In scrolling through Twitter, I discovered a tweet promoting a petition to revoke article 50 (Brexit) and when I clicked through to it, the amount of signatures that were being added were running at some pace. I looked in the morning at around 6.30pm and there were 392k signatures, now looking 3 hours later, there are 632k signatures, 240k added in just 3 hours.
The government must have a debate in the house if it reaches 100k signatures, I think this has been surpassed 6-fold and it will likely reach the millions.
Eros & Manneken Pis — #weeklycartoon — Michael & Josh
Listening to all the nonsense discussions between the EU and the U.K. in connection with Brexit, I imagined the Eros statue in London Piccadilly Circus, shooting arrows at the Manneken Pis statue in Brussels and that’s exactly what our latest cartoon shows. Enjoy!
Theresa May & Donald Tusk — Wonderwoman and Hellboy — #weeklycartoon — Michael & Josh
“I’ve been wondering what that special place in hell looks like.” ~ Donald Tusk — EU Council’s President. Guardian article. His comment inspired our latest cartoon; Hellboy (Tusk) meets Wonder Woman (May).
Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May — A Dog’s Brexit — #weeklycartoon — Michael & Josh
It’s not boring in the U.K. is it? We have a Brexit shambles. It took me days to think of a cartoon to sum up the current state of ‘fear and doubt’ in this country and then it came to me a ‘Dogs Brexit’. Enjoy!
Theresa May like Oliver Twist — #weeklycartoon — Michael & Josh
Theresa May has had to go begging to EU ministers to get more clarity on the Northern Ireland ‘backstop’, she also went begging to her own conservative parliamentary party to remain confidence in her. It reminded us of Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist. The question is does she actually deserve more? It inspired our latest cartoon. Enjoy!
#weeklycartoon — Theresa May #Brexit — Michael & Josh
Cartoon 48/2018.
The biggest national (UK) debate is #Brexit. Sigh, it’s getting to everyone and most of all it’s weighing down heavily on the UK Prime Minster Theresa May. Her ducking and diving and trying to stop the publication of legal advice, reminded me of a cartoon we did earlier in the year. We just changed the words. Enjoy!
Whilst witnessing the hashtag#brexit fallout, the debates and hysterics in the media, the finger pointing among politicians, the fear amongst business leaders, the doubts discussed in homes and at business networking events, the great guru Yoda came to my mind and his famous quote: ‘Do or do not, there is no try’. It sums it up perfectly for me. It inspired our latest cartoon.
There’s a group of 5 MP’s who are in the UK government and are plotting against the Brexit withdrawal agreement. They have been given the name ‘Pizza Plotters’, which is such a great title. Presumably, because they get together plotting their plans whilst eating Pizza. It conjured up this image in my head of a man standing on Regent Street, London, dressed as a Pizza and promoting a discount Pizza. Michael Gove has the best face for such a Pizza man!
Theresa May and Michael Barnier — Michael & Josh #weeklycartoon
The current debate at the moment gave me a sense of the ‘Wizard of OZ’. Theresa May is the ‘Scarecrow’ (a scared crow) and Michel Barnier is the ‘Tin Man’ (inflexible).
I then saw them on that famous game show, ‘Deal or No Deal’.
It inspired our latest cartoon, enjoy! And the media are whipping up a ‘fear frenzy’.
Boris Johnson — ‘Dad’s Army — Michael & Josh #weeklycartoon
“You’ve got to face the fact there may now be a meltdown. OK? I don’t want anybody to panic during the meltdown. No panic. Pro bono publico, no bloody panic. It’s going to be all right in the end.”
This was the secretly recorded statement Boris made during a debate on Brexit. It reminded us of Dad’s Army’s famous statement by Lance Corporal Jones, ‘Don’t Panic, Don’t Panic!’.
William The Conqueror defeats King Harold in 1066 — Michael & Josh — #dailycartoon
In one year’s time the UK will leave the EU (Brexit). I listened to a radio programme on the BBC and it shared a couple of history lessons. One of those was the story of William the Conqueror, a Norman from France, who at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 defeated King Harold and became King. So, if you were to begin by asking, in Monty Python style, “What have the Normans ever done for us?” Without the Norman Conquest, Shakespeare would not have been Shakespeare, because his language would have resembled 16th-century German or Dutch.
A not so common known fact is that 50% of the population will not agree with you. This doesn’t always sit comfortably with most of us. We believe of course that we are right and everyone else is wrong.
You only need to look at the evidence of the US presidential election and the Brexit referendum. Both of those events were miss judged by the media and politicians alike. The polls gave us the wrong data and nobody expected the results.
Pretty much the votes were 50/50.
Now take this into your own life, your work and community and you will experience the same even in your own family.
In my family there are 4 kids, now of course adults. 2 of them don’t agree with the other 2 and as a consequence don’t speak to each other. When my parents were alive you could split the family unit exactly into 2. 50% of the unit were predisposed to be mostly negative and 50% were predisposed to be mostly positive.
If you are regularly commenting on Social Media, you will definitely have 50% of your readers that will disagree with you, unless they know you very well, in which case they probably keep quiet.
Recently I made a comment on LinkedIn on a post by one of my connections. I noticed a few days later they had disconnected from me. Interesting.
Everyone has an opinion, just because you think you are right, it doesn’t make the other person wrong.
