They’re just tired of losing sovereign decisions to Brussels in general. I don’t know (or remember) if there was a single issue that broke them but I do recall I was actually in London for a week leading into the Brexit vote and there was a lot of talk about how Brussels was making so many regulations on how a teapot should be made.
Don’t know if that is true or note - but if you want to tick of a Brit, mess with their tea.
Just saying, the teapot thing - whether true or not - is symbolic of a government out of control with absurd regulations and the fact that these rules were further removed from British citizens and Parliament. At some point too much interference in their lives will cause people throw off the yoke.
Maybe the Democrats will learn that lesson in 2020.
Their tea :)
Is that a reality or just a stereotype on TV and in movies?
Tea and some kind of biscuit I see a lot on movies :)
It’s a GOOD move. Germany can be VERY bossy and controlling. (as we know from the 20th century)
I think the teapot thing had to do with maximum power levels in devices that heat up water.
I guess it was a bit too complicated for Brussels, but if lowering the amount of heat put into water to bring it to a boil, all you do make it take longer to start boiling. And taking it one step further, for every second someone is waiting for water to boil, heat is being lost to atmosphere, so in the end, the slower you heat up water temperature, the MORE energy you need to use to get the same result.
The other issue I remember was less with the UK and more with Italy, when Brussels determined it was no longer safe for Europeans to consume olive oil out of small bottles when eating out, and instead were trying to force everyone to use plastic packets (like ketchup at McDonald’s). Perhaps they were thinking that the bottles were vulnerable to Islamic terrorism...but worrying about terrorism threats for Muslims would be a first for the EU, so I doubt it was that.
Anyway, both were starting to factor into the Brexit vote, so the EU pulled back and also ordered their Fascists in Brussels to basically NOT publish any new laws until AFTER the Brexit vote...in other words, they were colluding to effect an election outcome. No surprise.
The EU wasn’t just coming for the Brits’ electric kettles. It was coming for their kettles, their vacuum cleaners, their hair dryers, their AC, they’re memes, they’re hyperlinks...
If the Brits have had enough, I’m bloody glad to hear it.
They detest the differences which used to make Europe such a diverse (in the good sense) and vibrant set of unique nations and cultures. And naturally, the overall bent of that homogenization tends to favor the German model of conformity and Alles muss in ordung sein (there must be order). Many of the regulations ended up causing economic damage as well. British fishermen losing their livelihoods due to Brussels turning their offshore fishing grounds over to others and limiting the British in their own traditional waters is just one example.
Britain in particular has always held itself aloof from how "foreigners" on the continent conduct themselves. And so the arrogance of Brussels combined with what remains of British pride and a memory of their freedoms, the same ones our ancestors saw as their birthright, pushed them to the brink of a polite but firm ballot box rebellion. It's not that dissimilar from Trump's "Drain the Swamp" election, rejecting the heavy hand of D.C., in 2016. In fact the latter probably helped convince the Brits that it was possible for them to put two fingers up to Brussels.
the teapot tale was a euromyth
The headline of the Daily Express warned that the EU may ban kettles. Which sounds like something that would strike right at the heart of British culture.
The reality, however,is a bit less sensational. An EU commission that was investigating the energy consumption of kettles and may have (or rather at that point might have) suggested regulations that would make kettles more energy efficient and improve their impact on the environment.
In the end no suggestions were made
Yeah, Brussels was going to save the world by reducing the power used by electric tea pots, banning any with high wattage. They were talking about vacuum cleaners, toasters and other household appliances the same way.
And who can forget the now rescinded bent banana and curved cucumber rules, wherein the curve could only be so many degrees or it was deemed "deformed" and unsaleable.
Teapots and vacuum cleaners were the final straw for the rank and file Brits.