03x16 - Brexit referendum

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♪

[cheers and applause]

- Welcome welcome, welcome
to "Last Week Tonight."

Thank you so much
for joining us.

I am John Oliver.

And let's begin with the story

that has dominated the news
all this week:

the aftermath of the sh**t
in Orlando.

Everyone has had their own ideas

on the root of the problem

and it will not surprise you

to hear where the worst
of those ideas came from.

- I've been talking about it
for a long time

and I've been saying
it's going to happen.

We are taking in thousands
of people into our country.

We have no idea
where they come from.

We have no idea
who the hell they are.

- Okay.

There is--there is a great deal
wrong with that,

not least the fact
that we know exactly

where this sh**t came from,

because he was born in Queens,

about eight miles from where
Donald Trump was born,

presumably when a r*cist fairy

brought a butternut squash
to life.

Now, for their part,
Democrats chose to focus

less on the sh**t
and more on the weapons he used,

even springing
a surprise filibuster

on the floor of the Senate.

woman: Democrats, led by
Chris Murphy of Connecticut,

held the floor
for nearly 15 hours

pushing for new regulations

to stop people on the terror
watch list from buying g*ns

and to expand
background checks.

woman:
After nearly 15 hours,

Murphy said
he had gotten signals

that his two measures would
get a vote.

- Wait--is he absolutely sure
he saw those signals?

Or was that a hallucination

brought on by ammonia poisoning

after holding his pee in
for 15 hours?

To be fair, though,
those proposals are actually

coming up for a vote,

but before you get
your hopes up,

there may be a bit of a problem.

- Let's not kid ourselves.

The Republicans control
the House of Representatives.

There is never gonna be
any g*n control that passes.

- That's true.
Closing the g*n show loophole

in this Congress
is incredibly unlikely.

Even regulating the g*n show
Paul Ryan puts on every day

is pretty much a lost cause
at this point...

which means here we are again

after another mass sh**ting

with weak legislation
doomed to failure.

And there is clearly
a disconnect

between public opinion,

which favors,
to varying degrees,

a number of different
g*n control measures,

and any practical action
in Washington.

And it is pretty clear

what is standing
between those two things,

and it's the
National r*fle Association.

Like PETA, but for g*ns,
and effective.

And to be fair--
to be fair to the NRA,

it's not surprising
they take a hard line

on g*n legislation.

They're an advocacy group.

It's what
they're supposed to do.

What is shocking is

just how successful
they've been at it.

Just look at the last big failed
attempt at g*n control,

known as the
Manchin-Toomey amendment.

There were high hopes for that,

partly 'cause it didn't
really do much.

It just called for
background checks at g*n shows

and for online sales.

But mainly because Joe Manchin,
who cosponsored it,

had some credibility
regarding firearms.

Manchin:
As your senator, I'll protect

our Second Amendment rights.

That's why the NRA
endorsed me.

And I'll take dead aim

at the cap-and-trade bill.

- Holy shit.

That is a guy
so comfortable with g*ns,

he basically just used one
as a hole punch.

His office's three-hole punch

must be f*cking terrifying.

And--and Manchin did everything
he could to appease the NRA.

He even inserted several
of their direct requests

into his bill,

including allowing
firearms dealers,

for the first time since 1968,

to sell handguns
across state lines,

which is a weird provision

to put in a g*n control bill.

It's like letting Jose Cuervo
convince you

that the seventh step
in Alcoholics Anonymous

should be tequila sh*ts.

But despite all that,

the NRA turned on Manchin
and the bill,

and then punished him by running
ads like this in his home state.

man: Manchin is working
with President Obama

and New York mayor
Michael Bloomberg.

Concerned?
You should be.

- Yes, the NRA
stabbed Manchin in the back.

Although it would've been
more on-brand of them

to sh**t him in the back

and then argue it never
would've happened

if his back had had a g*n.

And--and the thing is,

whenever any potential
regulation comes up,

the pushback is always the same.

- And there's just no evidence
that these g*n laws would

prevent these sh**t.

- There is at least an absence
of certain proof

as to the efficacy

of g*n ownership laws
in the past.

- To think that somehow
g*n control is--

or increased g*n control--

is the answer, in my view,

that would have to be proved.

- Ah, yes.
It's the old

"I'm not doing anything until
you can prove it" argument--

the same argument favored
by climate-change deniers

and fathers of the baby
on "Maury."

Happy Father's Day.

And...and that brings us--

[cheers and applause]

The point is, that brings us

to perhaps the most ingenious
and insidious NRA tactic,

because they don't just manage

to block legislation
concerning g*ns.

They've managed to block
information concerning them too.

For instance, one of the major
funders of academic research,

the Centers for Disease Control,

has been hamstrung in studying
how best to prevent g*n v*olence

for the last 20 years.

Strassmann: In 1996, the NRA
successfully lobbied Congress

to put this restriction
into the CDC's budget...

- Now, the CDC
was already banned

from advocating
for g*n control laws

or, indeed,
any form of legislation.

But the 1996 Dickey amendment--

named after both its sponsor,
Jay Dickey,

and after the fact it was an
extremely dickey thing to do--

had a chilling effect

on the CDC funding
any g*n research at all.

Strassmann: CDC funding
into g*n v*olence research

has plummeted 96% since 1996,

to just $100,000 of last year's
$5.6 billion CDC Budget.

- The only other things
that have dropped 96%

in the last two decades

are Lycos searches

and Tickle Me Elmo-related
stampedes.

And it's not just the CDC
struggling to collect

reliable g*n-related
information.

For decades, the NRA has
successfully lobbied

to prevent the A*F
from having a database

that is electronically
searchable by name

when tracing the origins
of firearms.

So, for instance,
this is what they have to do

with documents from g*n shops
that have gone out of business.

Reid: Workers here are left
with an antiquated system

to trace 350,000 g*ns a year,

requiring them to review
by hand tons of paper records

and 500 million entries
on microfilm.

Many of the records are
barely legible.

- So, for example, these are
records that we received

as a result
of Hurricane Katrina.

We had to dry these out
in the parking lot.

- That is clearly absurd,

because that does not look
like a present-day record

of g*n ownership.

It looks like the manifesto

from a Spanish galleon
that sank in 1610.

So how the f*ck
has the NRA managed

to accomplish all of this?

Because the truth is,

they're not
that large an organization.

They claim they have
a membership

of around 5 million.

But that is 3 million fewer
members than Planet Fitness.

And--and the members
of Planet Fitness

have almost no power.

Most of them don't even have
the power

to actually go
to Planet Fitness.

And that is true.
That is true.

By mid-January,

that place is nothing more
than a storage facility

for grape-colored
exercise bikes.

And while the NRA does spend
a lot of money lobbying,

they are frequently outspent
by even the NAR,

or National Association
of Realtors,

a group of wily bastards

who have somehow convinced
all of us

we need to live indoors
like a bunch of nerds.

But the real power of the NRA
is in its members,

who are highly motivated
and can be mobilized quickly.

Just look at the website

of the NRA's
Political Action Committee.

You will find alerts

for practically every piece
of legislation

around the country.

And not just
"write your congressman" alerts.

Alerts like...

Because they know
their members often show up.

And one of the reasons
they're able to rally their base

so effectively

is they have an appealingly
simple message.

- It's all about a single issue.

There's no four-point plan
that they have to defend.

And, I would point out,
they only have to say no.

So, they're not for anything.
They're against something.

A single issue.
One word: "no."

- Exactly.

It's a lot easier
to drum up support

when you're just
flatly against something.

There is a reason that TLC
insisted upon "No Scrubs,"

and not the implementation

of a national registry
of potential scrubs,

AKA "busters,"

that would screen
for scrub-like tendencies

or affiliations
with known scrubs.

They knew "No Scrubs"
is a lot catchier.

And the truth about politics is,

it's about showing up.

Remember the Manchin-Toomey
amendment?

Well, a national poll
at that time found that


universal background checks,

and yet Manchin's office
maintains that,

of the calls it received,
they ran 200 to 1

in opposition to the bill.

And that's why it is important

to actually call
your congressman.

You can't just hit them up
on Twitter or Facebook.

Because you won't get a personal
response, or even worse,

you'll get a very
personal response, indeed.

Put it away, Carlos.

Put it away.

And--and remember--remember
the Dickey amendment,

which has effectively kept
the CDC

from studying g*n v*olence?

It is now opposed by both
the American Medical Association

and Jay Dickey,

the man who sponsored it
in the first place.

And yet, whenever a member
of Congress tries to k*ll it,

as Nita Lowey did last summer,

this is how it goes...

- Let's support research
to prevent g*n v*olence,

protect our communities,
and save lives.

Thank you.

- The question is
on the Lowey amendment.

All in favor say "aye."

[together]
Aye.

- All opposed say "no."

[together]
No.

- The nos seem to have it.
The amendment's not agreed to.

[laughter and grumbling]

- It's--it's like watching
a committee of deer

voting against investigating
the effects of oncoming cars.

"Let's stand still.

"I like our chances.

And those headlights are shiny."

And if you're thinking,

"Well, I'm sure, after Orlando,
if someone tries that,

they'll succeed, 'cause we're
all paying attention now."

Well, here's the thing
about that.

Representative Tony Cárdenas

tried to overturn it again
just this Wednesday

with an amendment
to a mental health bill,

and this was the result...

- All those in favor
will say "aye."

[together]
Aye.

- All those opposed, say "no."

[together]
No.

- In the opinion of the chair,
the nos have it.

- Are you f*cking kidding me?

That happened four days ago,

and I'm guessing
that you're hearing about it

for the first time now.

To be honest, we only found out
about it yesterday,

and we've been working
on this story all week.

And look, the Dickey amendment
is emblematic

of a chokehold the NRA has

over even basic g*n data,

and it should obviously
be overturned.

But the hard truth is,

NRA members seem to care
more consistently

about preventing g*n control

than most of us do
about passing it.

Because while you might be

focused on g*n control
right now,

they were focused on it
two weeks before Orlando,

and they'll still be
focused on it

two weeks from now.

So this is where
I would usually say,

"Call your Senator
and Representative

and tell them you want to repeal
the Dickey amendment."

And you should absolutely
do that if you want to.

But you are going to need
to do more than that.

You're gonna need
to call them again

and remind them to repeal it.

Then call them on their birthday
and say, "Happy birthday,

and also get rid of
the Dickey amendment."

Call them on Arbor Day and say,

"Happy Arbor Day,
whatever that is.

By the way, what's going on
with that Dickey amendment?"

Call them on days where
there wasn't a mass sh**ting--

and I know
those days are getting

fewer and farther between--

and say, "Hey, it's me again.

What the f*ck's up
with the Dickey amendment?"

Because repealing it
is not asking much.

It's not g*n control.

It's enabling us to have
an informed conversation

about what that could look like.

And if and when a proposal
you like is on the table,

you're going to have to make
all those calls again.

Because remember:
it doesn't take much

to outnumber the NRA.

Planet Fitness members
outnumber them,

but it is time for us to learn
what those members haven't.

If you want to see
serious changes,

you actually have to show up
every f*cking day.

And now this.

- He's a notorious
tunnel manufacturer, and--

- The tunnel king?
- The tunnel king.

- Not without controversy?
- Not without controversy.

- A collector of trophies.
- He's a collector of trophies.

- Dirty money?
- Dirty money.

- Bad actors?
- Bad actors.

- And both are false?
- Both are false.

- Not the varsity team?
- Not the varsity team.

- East German Secret Police?
- East German Secret Police.

- So, alarms were going off?
- Alarms were going off.

- It took 16 years?
- It took 16 years.

- Because you were Cockney?
- Because I was a Cockney.

- The class system was
that rigid?

- It was that rigid.

- Just accept that?
- Accept that.

- They are going to get in?
- They're gonna get in.

- Didn't want to get
his pants dirty?

- He didn't want to get
his pants dirty.

- The doo-wop.
- The doo-wop.

- You touch it?
- You touch it.

- Then they go home?
- And then they go home.

- F-bird?
- F-bird.

- And that's what happened?
- That's what happened.

- Just like that?
- Just like that.

- Nailed it.

- Nailed it?
- Nailed it.

[clock ticking]

[cheers and applause]

- Moving on...

Our main story tonight
concerns the United Kingdom,

birthplace of The Beatles,

and yet very much
the world's Ringo.

Now, on Thursday,

the UK faces
an in/out referendum

on whether to leave
the European Union.

And incidentally,
an "in/out referendum"

is also what most English people
call sex.

"I say, that was a jolly good
in/out referendum, Priscilla.

Capital stuff, old girl!
Simply capital!"

You--you may not have heard
about this referendum

unless you watch
financial networks,

where it's usually referred to
by a catchy name.

- There's a lot of fear
out there in the marketplace

about the Brexit vote
that's coming up.

- Brexit fear
is getting traction.

- A new survey this morning
focuses on Brexit fears.

- Brexit is
one of the major concerns

in the market at the moment.

- I think that the scariest
thing about Brexit

is the name Brexit.

Because it's "unknown."

I mean, it's like,
"Wow, Brexit.

"Whoa, be afraid.

Conjuring Brexit."

- Okay, calm down.

"Brexit" doesn't sound scary.

It just sounds like
a shitty granola bar

you buy at the airport.

"Hey, this tastes
like a preserved owl pellet.

"f*ck it.
I'm going to Cinnabon.

You pushed me into it!"

And I know--I know if you're
watching this outside the UK,

you're probably thinking,

"Why should I care about
what Britain does with the EU?

"Honestly, as long as those
crooked-toothed scone goblins

"keep sh**ting out royal babies
and episodes of 'Doctor Who,'

I don't give a tally-ho f*ck
what happens there."

And fair enough.
Fair enough.

But a Brexit, or British exit,

could have wide-ranging
implications,

both for the UK
and the world's economy.

And first,
it might help to understand

what the European Union
actually is.

The idea for it came
after the Second World w*r,

when there was, understandably,

a desire to keep the continent

from tearing itself apart
yet again.

And it has since evolved

into an economic union
of 28 countries

whose citizens can trade
and move freely across borders

and who negotiate international
agreements as a bloc.

But despite being a member,
Britain has always had

an arm's-length relationship
with the EU.

For instance,
it doesn't use the euro,

and some British politicians
have been openly hostile,

right to the face
of EU Officials.

- I don't want to be rude,

but you have the charisma
of a damp rag

and the appearance
of a low-grade bank clerk.

And the question
that I want to ask,

that we're all going to ask,
is, "Who are you?"

I'd never heard of you.

Nobody in Europe
had ever heard of you.

- That is painful to watch,

and not just because
all of those insults are

things people in the UK
have said about me.

And--and look, look,
the EU is not perfect.

It's large, confounding,

and relentlessly bureaucratic.

Think of it
like Gérard Depardieu.

It's an unwieldy European body

that's a source
of great bewilderment.

But Britain leaving it would be
a huge, destabilizing decision,

so you would expect
the Brexit camp

to have some
pretty solid arguments.

Unfortunately,
many of them are bullshit.

One of the most popular involves
the financial contributions

that Britain makes to the EU.

- We've got a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity

to take back control
in this country

of huge sums of money that we
send every year to Brussels--

about £350 million a week,

we do not control.

- That is former
London mayor Boris Johnson,

a man with both the look
and the economic insight

of Bamm-Bamm
from "The Flintstones."

He--he's even been driven around

in a giant red bus
for the last month,

with the words "We send the EU
£350 million a week"

written on the side.

But that number has been
thoroughly debunked.

It's actually
about £190 million a week

when you consider a rebate
the UK receives

and other money
that the EU sends back.

On top of which,
if Britain does leave the EU,

it may have to spend
close to that amount

just to access
the common market.

So what the bus should
really say is,

"We actually send the EU
£190 million a week,

"which is a proportion
of our GDP.

"Makes sound fiscal sense.

"In fact, considering the
benefits we reap in return--

"Oh, shit,
we're running out of bus!

Okay, bye-bye!"

Now, one of the other
main talking points

from pro-Brexit campaigners

has been the EU's
onerous regulations.

It's even a centerpiece of the
feature-length pro-Brexit movie,

"Brexit: The Movie."

man:
Here is regulated EU Man

waking from his
regulated slumber

to start his regulated day.

You wouldn't think you'd need
a law for pillowcases,

but the EU has five...
but that's nothing.

The pillow inside is subject
to 109 different EU laws.

- But is it, though?

Because we blew up that frame,
and then went looking

through each of the pillow
regulations they feature.

And the problem is,

most have nothing to do
with actual pillows.

For instance,
this one is a classification

of a type of breakfast cereal

that comes in "pillow shapes."

This one is related to a merger
between two auto part companies

that included the phrase
"pillow ball joints,"

and finally,
this one uses the word "pillow"

in reference
to this weird foot pump thing,

which is supposedly
for inflating air mattresses,

but is clearly
a sex doll for a platypus.

It's so obvious
what that actually is.

So, it seems the benefits
of leaving may be overstated.

And there is many--
there's a great many people

warning about a real downside.

President Obama is
against Britain leaving.

So is China.
So is Japan.

So is India.

And the EU itself.

In fact,
one Austrian politician tried

to convince Britain not to leave
with a poem.

- The Brexit is,
to put it simple,

not like an ordinary pimple--
you take some cream,

you put it on,
a few days later it is gone.

It is a complicated matter

more like a novel, not a letter.

To understand the story well
you've got to listen.

I will tell you what may happen

so sit back,
and let me rappin'.

[laughter and applause]

- Cool.

I mean, come on, Britain.

If a middle-aged
Austrian bureaucrat

spitting dope half-rhymes
in a busy hallway--

if he does not win you over,
nobody will.

But you know what, there's
also overwhelming consensus

about the damage Britain could
do to its economy by leaving.

Reports by groups
like the British Treasury,

the Bank of England,

the IMF, the OECD,

the National Institute
of Economic and Social Research,

PricewaterhouseCoopers,
Oxford Economics,

and the Centre
for Economic Performance

have all predicted that leaving
would have a negative effect

on the British GDP.

And the pro-Brexit camp's
response to that

has not been great.

- I think the people in this
country have had enough

of experts with organizations
from acronyms saying--

- Had enough of experts?
The people of this country

have had enough of experts?
What do you mean by that?

- From organizations
with acronyms

saying that they know
what is best

and getting it
consistently wrong.

- Yes!

f*ck these eggheads
with their studies and degrees.

I get my economic forecasts

from Clever Otis,
the GDP-predictin' horse!

And at this point,

you may be wondering,

if leaving is so
universally seen as a bad idea,

then who the f*ck
is in favor of it?

Well, let me introduce you

to one of the leading groups
backing a Brexit,

the UK Independence Party,

also called UKIP.

Their leader is Nigel Farage,

that man you saw earlier
at the Comedy Central roast

of European Council President
Herman Van Rompuy.

UKIP is known for its hard-line
anti-immigration views,

and some of its members have
engaged in outright racism.

Just look at Robert Blay,
a UKIP candidate for Parliament

who was suspended
after a tabloid paper caught him

saying this about a rival
of Sri Lankan descent...

- Whoa there.
Just hold on.

"Not British enough
to be in our Parliament"?

He's talking about
a British citizen

who was born in London
and raised in Hampshire.

How is that
"not British enough"?

Must he literally be
a monocled badger named Reginald

who lives in a shepherd's pie?

Is that the bar of entry to him?

And at the local level,

UKIP has had councilors
like this woman

who served on a district council
in Kent.

- I have to watch my tongue,
because I can be very outspoken,

and it goes against the grain.

The only people I do have
problems with...

are negroes

and I don't know why.

- Okay, okay.

Let's agree.
It is now official:

not everything sounds smarter
in a British accent.

It's official now.

It is absolutely 100% official.

I...I know--I know
what you heard is horrifying,

but at least we can
all rest easy knowing that,

as she speaks,
that shelf full of clowns

is plotting to carry her away
into the night forever.

But even when
UKIP candidates are

caught making r*cist comments,

Farage has sometimes
stood by them.

Look at Kerry Smith,

who used a racial slur
about Chinese people--

a term that
I'm not going to use

because I'm not a parliamentary
candidate for UKIP.

But Nigel Farage did not
exactly condemn him.

- If you and your mates were
going out for Chinese,

what do you say
you're going for?

- I honestly would not use
the word "chinky," would you?

- No? Fine.
A lot of people would.

- Would you?
- No, but a lot of people would.

- Yeah, yeah,
a lot of people would.

Uh, racists, for example.

Uh, bigots, idiots,
the intolerant--

who am I missing here?

Oh, yeah, UKIP voters.
Them as well.

A lot of people would.

UKIP argue that a Brexit would
enable the UK

to significantly reduce
immigration,

preventing both EU citizens
from taking British jobs,

and non-EU citizens
from sneaking in

to commit terror att*cks.

And they have not been subtle
in their campaign,

with toxic posters
like this one,

showing lines of refugees

and the headline
"Breaking Point."

It is hard for me
to overstate to you

how poisonous things have become
in England.

Just this week, MP Jo Cox was
k*lled in the street,

and the man charged for it
gave his name in court as

"Death to traitors,
freedom for Britain."

And in that cauldron,

people are being asked to make
a major political decision.

And incidentally,
regarding immigration,

even if you believe
tightening borders is

what Britain needs to do,

you should know
that opting out of the EU

will not necessarily
enable Britain to do that.

- Leaving the EU--
does that mean

the UK gets control
of its borders?

- Um, it could do--if we were

to completely cut ourselves off
from the rest of Europe,

we could certainly choose
to end migration from the EU.

But if we want to remain
part of the single market,

that means accepting
free mobility of labor

both into and out of the UK.

- Of course.

'Cause if Britain wants
a good trade deal with the EU,

it's probably gonna have
to abide by most of its rules.

And the same goes, by the way,
for all those

hypothetically cumbersome,
non-pillow-related

pillow regulations.

Because if British companies
want to trade with the EU,

they, also,
are likely to have to--

going to have to abide
by those rules anyway.

So it's not a Brexit so much
as it's a "bratus quo",

or a "bromeostasis",

or a "conscious unbroupling."

So, to recap, immigration policy
may not change,

hysteria over regulation
is a red herring,

the costs of membership
are reasonable,

and the economic benefits
of staying

appear to outweigh the costs.

And yet,
polls suggest my homeland

is on the edge of doing
something absolutely insane.

And on some level,
I actually kind of understand

because there is
an innate British desire

to tell Europe
to go f*ck itself.

I feel it too.

You know those things I say

when countries pop up
over my shoulder?

That's a reflex action.

I don't even know I'm doing it.

I'll show you.

Germany,
where the national motto is,

"Let's stick to the present,
shall we?"

Uh, okay,
give me another one.

Luxembourg: What happens
when you leave Lichtenstein

out in the sun too long.

Bam!
Okay, give me another one.

Belgium:
the casual acquaintance

France crops out
of its Instagram photos.

Okay, okay, one more.
I'm on a roll, one more.

Denmark: what would happen
if a su1c1de note was a country.

I don't even know
I'm doing these,

and I could do them all day.

And to be honest,

the EU does not make itself
easy to love.

Its official anthem
is Beethoven's "Ode to Joy",

and they actually had
a competition

to do a video set to that tune.

And you really have to
see what won.

[jazzy arrangement of
"Ode to Joy" in German]

♪

f*ck you!
f*ck you all forever!

You f*ck yourself!

You go f*ck yourself
right now!

[applause]

Ugh.

Ugh!
[cheers and applause]

You see,
it is perfectly understandable

to be annoyed at Europe.

I'm barely containing
my anger right now.

But here is how
I feel about the EU.

It's a complicated,
bureaucratic,

ambitious, overbearing,
inspirational,

and consistently irritating
institution,

and Britain would be absolutely
crazy to leave it.

Especially because,
if it stays,

it can reap all the benefits

while still being a total d*ck
about everything.

And that is the British way.

So, to the people of the UK,
I say this:

if you need your
hatred-of-the-EU itch scratched,

I understand,

but please don't vote
for a Brexit on Thursday.

I have a better solution.

I'd like to retroactively
enter that EU anthem contest

with a song straight out
of every British heart

that both relentlessly
insults Europe

and quietly acknowledges
how lost we'd be without it.

Please enjoy.

["Ode to Joy" playing on piano]

♪

[cheers and applause]

- That's our show.

Thank you so much for watching.

We'll be back next week.
Good night!

[cheers and applause]

[bright tone]