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The answer's Nee

H'ethetheth said:
:D It's from Monty Python's Quest for the Holy Grail. It's one of the sacred words kept by the "knights who say: Nee!"
With this knowledge, would you?
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Ah, that explains I'll have to lobby for that option being included on the ballot. :p
 
richardm said:
Why so cock-a-hoop? It probably means we'll never get to vote on it.
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Which I think is good. I've been reading a lot of the online press articles and so many of them seem to manage to slip in something like "And if the referendum returned a no Blair would have to resign". I could see the media in the UK running with "Vote no to get rid of Blair" rather then providing a voice for a national debate on the pros and cons of the treaty. (It's beyond me why when a government asks its people for a decision on policy someone should "have to" resign if a certain decision is returned.)

I do think it would now be ludicrous for the UK to continue with a plan to have a referendum. What would the referendum be about – it can’t be “Should we ratify the treaty?” since the treaty cannot in its present form be ratified because of the two “nees”? To hold a referendum for a now meaningless document is meaningless and a total waste of everyone’s time and money.

We should only have a referendum if and when a new or just revised treaty is agreed upon.
 
Darat said:
Which I think is good. I've been reading a lot of the online press articles and so many of them seem to manage to slip in something like "And if the referendum returned a no Blair would have to resign". I could see the media in the UK running with "Vote no to get rid of Blair" rather then providing a voice for a national debate on the pros and cons of the treaty.
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... which is why I thought AC would be all for it ;)


(It's beyond me why when a government asks its people for a decision on policy someone should "have to" resign if a certain decision is returned.)
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It's the U-Turn mindset. If a department floats a policy idea, and the public react very badly, and the department says "Okay, we won't do that then", there is a section of the media (and the public) that immediately starts screaming about "U-Turns" and that the minister responsible should resign. Personally, I prefer to have ministers who are prepared to change policy based on what we think about it, rather than ministers who desperately stick to unpopular and unworkable policies because they know they'll lose their jobs if they back down.

I do think it would now be ludicrous for the UK to continue with a plan to have a referendum...
We should only have a referendum if and when a new or just revised treaty is agreed upon.
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Agreed. It would be a colossal waste of everybody's time and money. Those who wanted to thump the PM had their opportunity back in May.
 
richardm said:
[

...snip... Those who wanted to thump the PM had their opportunity back in May.
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Oh yes I, like all the media, had forgotten about that.

Wasn't that the General Election where Blair led his party to that terrible defeat of a historic third term election victory? :)
 
Earthborn said:
Actually the ballot said 'Voor' en 'Tegen'. I voted 'Voor'.
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You know, I'm not even sure what was written on my vote-o-mat; I only remember that it was written on it with a marker, so it really might have been anything. The gist was clear though.
 
Kerberos said:
Ah, that explains I'll have to lobby for that option being included on the ballot. :p
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HEAD KNIGHT OF NI:
Ni!
KNIGHTS OF NI:
Ni! Ni! Ni! Ni! Ni!
ARTHUR:
Who are you?
HEAD KNIGHT:
We are the Knights Who Say... 'Ni'!
RANDOM:
Ni!
ARTHUR:
No! Not the Knights Who Say 'Ni'!
HEAD KNIGHT:
The same!
BEDEVERE:
Who are they?
HEAD KNIGHT:
We are the keepers of the sacred words: 'Ni', 'Peng', and 'Neee-wom'!
RANDOM:
Neee-wom!
ARTHUR:
Those who hear them seldom live to tell the tale.
HEAD KNIGHT:
The Knights Who Say 'Ni' demand a sacrifice.
ARTHUR:
Knights of Ni, we are but simple travellers who seek the enchanter who lives beyond these woods.
HEAD KNIGHT:
Ni!
KNIGHTS OF NI:
Ni! Ni! Ni! Ni! Ni!...
ARTHUR:
Ow! Ow! Ow! Agh!
HEAD KNIGHT:
We shall say 'ni' again to you if you do not appease us.
ARTHUR:
Well, what is it you want?
HEAD KNIGHT:
We want... a shrubbery!
[dramatic chord]
ARTHUR:
A what?
KNIGHTS OF NI:
Ni! Ni! Ni! Ni!
ARTHUR and PARTY:
Ow! Oh!
ARTHUR:
Please! Please! No more! We will find you a shrubbery.
HEAD KNIGHT:
You must return here with a shrubbery, or else, you will never pass through this wood... alive.
ARTHUR:
O Knights of Ni, you are just and fair, and we will return with a shrubbery.
HEAD KNIGHT:
One that looks nice.
ARTHUR:
Of course.
HEAD KNIGHT:
And not too expensive.
ARTHUR:
Yes.
HEAD KNIGHT:
Now... go!

Link

(Arthur and Bedevere try unsuccessfully to get a shrubbery from an old lady by saying "Ni!" to her, then end up buying one from Roger the Shrubber...)

ARTHUR:
O Knights of Ni, we have brought you your shrubbery. May we go now?
HEAD KNIGHT:
It is a good shrubbery. I like the laurels particularly,... but there is one small problem.
ARTHUR:
What is that?
HEAD KNIGHT:
We are now... no longer the Knights Who Say 'Ni'.
KNIGHTS OF NI:
Ni! Shh!
HEAD KNIGHT:
Shh! We are now the Knights Who Say 'Ecky- ecky- ecky- ecky- pikang- zoop- boing- goodem- zoo- owli- zhiv'.
RANDOM:
Ni!
HEAD KNIGHT:
Therefore, we must give you a test.
ARTHUR:
What is this test, O Knights of-- knights who till recently said 'ni'?
HEAD KNIGHT:
Firstly, you must find... another shrubbery!
[dramatic chord]
ARTHUR:
Not another shrubbery!
RANDOM:
Ni!
HEAD KNIGHT:
Then, when you have found the shrubbery, you must place it here beside this shrubbery, only slightly higher so you get the two-level effect with a little path running down the middle.
KNIGHTS OF NI:
A path! A path! A path! Ni! Shh! Ni! Ni! Ni! Shh! Shh!...
HEAD KNIGHT:
Then, when you have found the shrubbery, you must cut down the mightiest tree in the forest... with... a herring!
[dramatic chord]
KNIGHTS OF NI:
A herring!
ARTHUR:
We shall do no such thing!
HEAD KNIGHT:
Oh, please!
ARTHUR:
Cut down a tree with a herring? It can't be done.
KNIGHTS OF NI:
Aaaaugh! Aaaugh!
HEAD KNIGHT:
Augh! Ohh! Don't say that word.
ARTHUR:
What word?
HEAD KNIGHT:
I cannot tell, suffice to say is one of the words the Knights of Ni cannot hear.
ARTHUR:
How can we not say the word if you don't tell us what it is?
KNIGHTS OF NI:
Aaaaugh!
HEAD KNIGHT:
You said it again!
ARTHUR:
What, 'is'?
KNIGHTS OF NI:
Agh! No, not 'is'.
HEAD KNIGHT:
No, not 'is'. You wouldn't get vary far in life not saying 'is'.
KNIGHTS OF NI:
No, not 'is'. Not 'is'.
BEDEVERE:
My liege, it's Sir Robin!
MINSTREL: [singing]
He is packing it in and packing it up
And sneaking away and buggering up
And chickening out and pissing off home,
Yes, bravely he is throwing in the sponge.
ARTHUR:
Sir Robin!
ROBIN:
My liege! It's good to see you.
HEAD KNIGHT:
Now he's said the word!
ARTHUR:
Surely you've not given up your quest for the Holy Grail?
MINSTREL: [singing]
He is sneaking away and buggering up--
ROBIN:
Shut up! No, no. No. Far from it.
HEAD KNIGHT:
He said the word again!
KNIGHTS OF NI:
Aaaaugh!
ROBIN:
I was looking for it.
KNIGHTS OF NI:
Aaaaugh!
ROBIN:
Uh, here-- here in this forest.
ARTHUR:
No, it is far from this place.
KNIGHTS OF NI:
Aaaaugh!
HEAD KNIGHT:
Aaaaugh! Stop saying the word! The word...
ARTHUR:
Oh, stop it!
HEAD KNIGHT:
...we cannot hear! Ow! He said it again!
ARTHUR:
Patsy!
HEAD KNIGHT:
Wait! I said it! I said it!
[clop clop clop]
Ooh! I said it again! And there again! That's three 'it's! Ohh!
KNIGHTS OF NI:
Aaaaugh!...

Link
 
Darat said:
Oh yes I, like all the media, had forgotten about that.

Wasn't that the General Election where Blair led his party to that terrible defeat of a historic third term election victory? :)
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Darat & RichardM, I've mentioned elsewhere that I consider voter apathy in Britain to be a worrying trend. In reality, quite a small minority actually voted for Blair, roughly the percentage of the Dutch who voted for the treaty.

Yes, I'd enjoy seeing Blair being given the Villepin treatment, but, I appreciate that there is now no point in holding an expensive British referendum; Europe costs us enough already.

Honestly, cross my heart and hope to die, dyb dyb dyb, scouts honour, I don't dislike Europeans (even the French), I just dislike the waste of resources that the EU has become.
 
asthmatic camel said:
Yes, I'd enjoy seeing Blair being given the Villepin treatment, but, I appreciate that there is now no point in holding an expensive British referendum; Europe costs us enough already.
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I think an opportunity for a UK referendum will come at some point, because the idea of an EU constitution isn't going to go away. It's just not going to be any time soon, now.
 
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