Ireland 'has undermined Britain for over 100 years'

Most read story on The Irish Times this morning:

Ireland 'has undermined Britain for over 100 years'

TV presenter Robert Peston has suggested that Ireland has “undermined” British governments for at least the last century.

In an interview with prominent Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg, Mr Peston described the Tory as a keen student of British history, before saying: “Ireland has undermined, the issue of Ireland in so many different ways has undermined, British governments, you know, going back well over 100 years now.”

Mr Rees-Mogg responded by suggesting that the issue of Ireland had undermined British politics for “much more than 100 years. It’s a very long and complex history.”...

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The Brexit "We are victims" scapegoating psychosis is getting much worse and at a faster pace than even I expected. This British rightwing overthrow of reality to portray the perpetrators as the victims is little but an intellectual extension of their "white man's burden" mentality where a huge number of Brits viewed themselves as selflessly running an empire to help others. And the 2018 puppeteers like the ridiculously wealthy Rees Mogg, Boris Johnson, the vast majority of the oligarch-controlled British media and all the rest are onto a winner by playing this modern-day 'Orange Card'.

How can pro-EU leaders expose/defeat these people and their dangerous populist, jingoistic politics?

Phoebas

Fuaranach wrote: »

How can pro-EU leaders expose/defeat these people and their dangerous populist, jingoistic politics?

Defeat some journalist hardly anyone in Ireland has even heard of?

Probably best to just ignore him .

TheValeyard

I was with ya up until 'white mans burden'. Then you stopped making sense.




But hopefully these brexiteer types just die out

pleas advice

It was 'the issue of Ireland' he was referring to, or moreso British attitudes to, and handling of the issue of Ireland, that has undermined British governments...

s7ryf3925pivug

He makes us sound more like someone who won’t give the car keys to a drunk.

TheValeyard

mikemac2 wrote: »

Ah Mr Rees Mogg. Not long ago he thought Michael D was a hardline republican who was pushing an agenda

Ress Mogg......sounds like the name of a Klingon

Phoebas

pleas advice wrote: »

It was 'the issue of Ireland' he was referring to, or moreso British attitudes to, and handling of the issue of Ireland, that has undermined British governments...

That's right - his words were 'the issue of Ireland' not Ireland itself.
Obviously completely different meanings.

Kermit.de.frog

That is NOT what the presenter said.

He corrected himself and said "the issue of Ireland". As said completely different.

Non story.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

He's right though. The Irish issue has been a thorn in the side of British politics for over 100 years. But, rant away we'll feel your outrage.

uck51js9zml2yt

Kadence Nutritious Book wrote: »

He's right though. The Irish issue has been a thorn in the side of British politics for over 100 years. But, rant away we'll feel your outrage.

That's what they get for letting us have our independence!

badtoro

Long may it continue that we live rent free in their heads.

Hector Bellend

Jacob Rees Mogg.

Give me one good reason to give this posh tosser the oxygen of publicity.

Also, it might be an idea to stop trying to steal other countries and their resources. It's their problem. They created it. Let them solve it.

razorblunt

Hey Peston ...

blinding

Its time for London to stop interfering in Irish affairs / business .
They have enough to be getting on with . Time for the people on the Island of Ireland to run Ireland .

Harry Palmr

What the feck is the OP on about - Peston, who is a thoroughly nice chap and certainly not a lunatic or a bigot in any measurable way, simply misspoke and then corrected himself.

Christ someone was talking about After Hours going to hell - well this why. Not anything to do with moderation.

nullzero

There will always be a section of the British public who detest the fact that we had the nerve to seek independence and then go on and have the neck to do reasonably well for ourselves. It doesn't chime with the notions they've been brought up to believe about us as a people that are informed by the dehumanisation of the Irish in the British psyche over generations. Boo hoo for them.

Kermit.de.frog

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

That is NOT what the presenter said.

He corrected himself and said "the issue of Ireland". As said completely different.

Non story.

ssshhh, don't let facts get in the way of a good old Fuaranch rant

Charles Babbage

Omar Weak Rating wrote: »

That's what they get for letting us have our independence!

Actually that's because they have continually tied to stop Irish independence. If they hadn't kept part of Ireland they would have a much simpler job to Brexit.

dr.fuzzenstein

SnazzyPig

The issue of Ireland has 'undermined' Britain?

That's the key word in this pathetic nonsense, 'undermined' as though the Irish were dead set on bringing Britain tumbling to earth from it's lofty place in the world.

Franz Von Peppercorn

Kadence Nutritious Book wrote: »

He's right though. The Irish issue has been a thorn in the side of British politics for over 100 years. But, rant away we'll feel your outrage.

I wonder though if the claim was reversed “Britain has undermined Irish politics for 100 years” would you be so sanguine.

padd b1975

I think I'd worry a lot more about what he said if I was a Unionist.

eric hoone

This is great, brexiteers realising we have them snookered

dr.fuzzenstein

eric hoone wrote: »

This is great, brexiteers realising we have them snookered

Well, nobody wins here.
They realise a hard border is all but inevitable, unless they either rescind Brexit or fudge it to the extend that it will be Brexit in name only.
It's always the same blowhard moron tactic.
Get stupid idea, shout loudly and obnoxiously about it until you have convinced enough idiots to back you, implement it against all dire warnings and when it inevitably blows up in your face, shout even louder whilst stomping your feet and be absolutely sure to blame everyone but yourself and especially the people who warned you and try to help you.
Sadly as Trump and Brexit have shown us, there is a ready supply of nitwits and morons who are willing to support any moron, blowhard or idiotic idea to the inevitable bitter and tragic end. And they will blame all the people who tried to warn and help them into all eternity.
Moral is, if you see idiots about to put a stick in their front wheel, don't help them. They will do it anyway and just blame you for it in the end.
Best sit back and enjoy the show.

Agricola

Whenever I feel depressed about the state of Irish politics and the cast of characters we have slouched in the Dail, I think of all the Little Englanders waving their union flags furiously as their hero, a pretend Victorian workhouse owner, tells them how much better off they'll be because Brexit will allow them to buy cheap footwear from third world countries.

Then I think, we're alright!

suicide_circus

TRY 800 YEARS YOU *****

Kermit.de.frog

I think Irish people are far too sensitive about stuff like this and too delicate about what others think of us.

Shows a big lack of self confidence.

RobbingBandit

No to borders or customs

Ní thagann an lá riamh

An Claidheamh

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

I think Irish people are far too sensitive about stuff like this and too delicate about what others think of us.

Shows a big lack of self confidence.

A lack of confidence would be to ignore this sort of ignorance and bizarre behaviour, a policy that the Irish establishment has had for decades.

Time to call bs on their views. Their exceptionalism. Their victim complex.

If Germans suddenly appeared on TV ranting about the Polish, the British media would go into overdrive.

Infernum

Fuaranach wrote: »

How can pro-EU leaders expose/defeat these people and their dangerous populist, jingoistic politics?

That's impossible when the culprits are cutting out the middle man already.

riffmongous

Look if it's been such an issue for them why couldn't they just you know, fück off?

Adamocovic

Sorry if this is a silly question but looking online all I can see is the quote from Peston. To me I'm finding it hard to wrap my head around the quote fully.

Did he go on to explain, or elaborate on the ways he believes "the issue of Ireland" has undermined Britain for 100 years? Or what he was even referring to as "the issue of Ireland". Seems kind of a strange phrase to me.

Seems from his statement he was not insinuating that Ireland had been deliberately trying to cause the British government to collapse, but rather we/it (depending on if he's referring to Northern Ireland or the Island as a whole) were inadvertently weakening their politics.

I really can't tell if "the issue" is referring to the policies of the Republic, the independence and subsequent partitioning of Ireland, the troubles that this caused and the conflict, or even the mindset of the population where there is still a divide whether people see themselves as British or not.

Maybe I'm a bit tired but without hearing him discuss it further I'm not going to pounce on him, as I'm not sure what angle he is going for.

Kermit.de.frog

He said "the issue of Ireland" and then the Moggster agreed with him.

Nothing to be offended about.

riffmongous

"Do you think the issue of the Wicklow Mts has undermined Larry Murphy the last 15 years?"

Phoebas

Franz Von Peppercorn wrote: »

I wonder though if the claim was reversed “Britain has undermined Irish politics for 100 years” would you be so sanguine.

Thats not a reverse of the 'claim' made.
You should listen to what was actually said, not what the OP is trying to spin.

Colonel Claptrap

Adamocovic wrote: »

Did he go on to explain, or elaborate on the ways he believes "the issue of Ireland" has undermined Britain for 100 years? Or what he was even referring to as "the issue of Ireland". Seems kind of a strange phrase to me.

He's referring to it all. The Irish question has long been a massive headache for successive British governments.

Religion, the act of union, obstructionism, the home rule party, land owner boycotts, the mamtrasna murders, phoenix park murders, the the fracturing of the liberal party, the spread of independence as a political movement in the empire, the outbreak of WW2 and the 'nation once again' telegram, neutrality, the economic war, the troubles, the good Friday agreement, the hard/soft brexit border.

Westminster and the british body politic spent an inordinate amount of time trying to solve the Irish question. We have been a huge pain in the arse for Britain.

blinding

Colonel Claptrap wrote: »

Adamocovic wrote: »

Did he go on to explain, or elaborate on the ways he believes "the issue of Ireland" has undermined Britain for 100 years? Or what he was even referring to as "the issue of Ireland". Seems kind of a strange phrase to me.

He's referring to it all. The Irish question has long been a massive headache for successive British governments.

Religion, the act of union, obstructionism, the home rule party, land owner boycotts, the mamtrasna murders, phoenix park murders, the the fracturing of the liberal party, the spread of independence as a political movement in the empire, the outbreak of WW2 and the 'nation once again' telegram, neutrality, the economic war, the troubles, the good Friday agreement, the hard/soft brexit border.

Westminster and the british body politic spent an inordinate amount of time trying to solve the Irish question. We have been a huge pain in the arse for Britain.

If only they’d fook off and let the People on the Island of Ireland run the Island of Ireland .

Kermit.de.frog

But people in the north like Britain and want to be attached to them.

Their wishes must be respected.

riffmongous

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

But people in the north like Britain and want to be attached to them.

Their wishes must be respected.

Except when it comes to Brexit of course, then it's all about the whole of the UK.