The UK is both a member of the EU (predominantly a political and economic union) and the Council of Europe (which includes 47 countries, such as Russia).
The Council of Europe members signed up, without condition, to the European Convention on Human Rights, a series of articles and principles covering, well, human rights. The European Court of Human Rights enforces these, and supersedes EU law (represented by the European Court of Justice), and members of the Council of Europe are absolutely bound to implement and ECtHR judgements.
So, in order to escape this, we would NOT ONLY have to leave the EU (which implements ECtHR judgements into its own case law) BUT ALSO quit the Council of Europe. I'm not even sure we can do that, at least in any kind of timely manner.
This would directly impact stuff like: prisoners' right to vote; Breivik's right to not be subjected to specially cruel punishment for his crimes (solitary confinement forever); non-ability for the UK to deport citizens who would suffer things like torture and unfair trials / treatment in another country.
Basically, a bunch of hot topic items that really piss people off about what we do and do not have the right to do. All of which are totally irrelevant to our membership of the EU.
It explains that the Tories' statements about a British bill of rights and our parliament's supreme sovereignty are but so much vapid hot air, unless they go so far as to leave the CoE.
I work (indirectly) for a fucking huge company. I have no idea why anyone at the bottom of the ladder would have some kind of kinship feeling. You seem to. Why?
The Graun is basically the only newspaper left in Britain that isn't a shite rag of obfuscated half truths, corporate interests and posho wanky public school boy derisory opinion pieces.
But yes, there's been talk of going online only for years, but the newspaper is currently still profitable (in fact, the profits from the printed paper went up last year) so it will continue as long as it is.
Having said that, I did have a look at the most recent set of UK circulation figures and the only paper below us was the Indy, so yes.
We were second in website visitors. First if you discount the Mail, which seems like a reasonable thing to do, TBH. The Indy's fifth with a little over a third of our traffic.
I meant following them in going 100% online, the Indy has a habit of doing things slightly ahead of the rest of the market, possibly down to being against the wall for almost all of its life.
It'll definitely happen at some point, and not just to us. In a generation or two the idea of buying a newspaper will seem as antiquated as riding in a horse and cart.
I've been thinking that for a while but I've tolled it back slightly. I think there will still be a disposable print news and print books for a very long time. Even if it's only Metro and airport novels.
The Indy has had a shitehawk of heads and does what equals profits so they might be leading the fold but only coincidentally due their heads and not because of pulse. Either way, way, fuck, them
"Better than a tech demo. But mostly a tech demo for now. Exactly what we expected, crashes less and less. No multiplayer." - BnB NMS review, PS4, PC