It is the EU that will ruin any trade deals in the forlorn hope it will bully other EU members into remaining. Over 80% of UK companies do not trade with the EU, it will be a great opportunity to ditch much of the unnecessary red tape. The EU is an important market but it is restrictive and the fact that all members have to agree trade deal has recently shown its inherent weakness. Deals with the US, China India will not be tiny, let us wait and see. It is not as if there is any choice now, the UK is committed to leaving the EU, we should all hope our negotiators are reasonably successful.
The government has decided to limit benefits to a reasonable family limit. The government should subsidise housing benefit to key workers provided it does not breach this limit.
The government has decided to limit benefits to a reasonable family limit. The government should subsidise housing benefit to key workers provided it does not breach this limit. That is silly SH as I am sure even you will agree. You need a key worker, so say you can help them out to live near their job. But then you say it will not be enough to make that possible. I agree that people should not live on the state beyond what a person in work earns, but at the end of the day you have two choices. Stop landlords charging way over the top for accommodation, or pay those in these vital services enough to pay the rent.
Of course even those that voted remain had no idea of the future EU direction and any results for potential UK trade deals. I'm quite happy to have a similar view to consummately experienced bedfellows as Mervyn King and the well known francophile Nigel Lawson. Bring it on.
It is not silly, if housing benefit continued to rise without a limit it will not only encourage landlords to charge more but will result in more getting in on the act. The key is to provide substantial amounts of 'key worker' accommodation. Others should be subject to the same financial constraints that the rest of us have to face.
I take that you do know that Lawson is a member of Pratt's club in London when he has not escaped the UK to live in France.
How do you provide this additional accommodation please? Is a junior doctor from France a key worker? Is a home care assistant from Spain on a minimum wage a key worker? How do you define who is a key worker in your Brexit world?
There is presently government funded schemes that help Key Workers to buy or rent affordable homes, this can be expanded. It would be for individual services to define 'key worker'. I would imagine after Brexit they would be encouraged to recruit UK based employees then need to make a case for employing non UK resident workers. I would imagine there would be no preferential treatment for EU nationals over non EU nationals. They would be able to chose the best candidate regardless of nationality.
I had a good chat with Lawson at Toulouse airport many years ago. He just proves you can love Europe but disagree vehemently with the current direction of travel it is taking.
Twice you have used the word "imagine". Clearly therefore you don't know. This is the second time tonight you admit that you have not thought through the problems. This is exactly why the Irish government is saying that there is confusion in Whitehall about what the country does want, and there is no plan for the negotiations. You seem to forget that Lawson is now an old man, into his eighties I think. A dilettante whose own position is secure, and meddles in things he does not fully understand with the confidence that he doesn't really care about the outcome and has no interest in the implications of his actions. He is quite happy to live in rural Gascony, but would happily deny those who are less well off to have their rights removed.
With respect you are not in a position to judge his ability to comprehend or judge his motives for his support of Brexit. This personal attack on a distinguished servant of the country is undeserved and totally incorrect. Despite his advanced age his reasoning and coherence recently displayed on TV surpasses the abilities of many of his much younger parliamentary colleagues.
The comments I made about Lawson were purely a footnote. His appearances on TV and in the House of Lords were embarrassing. The real comments were above when I showed that in one evening you were doing little more than hoping. Fingers crossed and everything will be ok, but nothing to show that "the plan" is little more than candy floss, just full of air. You want to leave the EU that has taken the UK from the sick man of Europe to the current prosperity, yet there is no feasible suggestion put forward by you or anyone else how this is to happen without causing huge problems. There are many things that are inter-related that you could write a book about, but as you see the government pulling back from so many things it might just be better to wait and see the whole sorry mess unravel.
The problem is you are living in one of the sick men of Europe without apparently realising it. The UK's exports to the EU have been steadily reducing over the last few years. It is quite reasonable for the UK to hold a democratic vote on EU membership when the eurocrats are dragging the EU in a direction that no member country has agreed to. There are major disagreements amongst member countries, these will only increase when certain countries are asked to pay more after Brexit. You seem to revel in any obscure news that may devalue the strategy of our designated negotiators. It is not as if a magical change of heart will happen if things are seen as less than rosy. Nobody knows what will happen, least of all you. What we do know is the EU is responsible for low growth, high unemployment and the rise of extreme politics. Several EU countries are on the verge of bankruptcy, hardly a club anyone would want to join in its current state.
You have said all of that before. The question is not about France or the rest of Europe, but about how the UK is going to get out of the mess it has created for itself. As I pointed out you do not know, yet you voted for it. Would you buy a load of bricks without knowing the price? I give you credit for saying no. Would you tell your neighbour to get lost, then expect them to come round and invite you to dinner? Again I expect not. Your position is illogical, but then it is driven by people who are there to advance themselves, rather than do right for everyone in the country.
I would certainly tell my neighbour to stop letting his dog poo in my garden, this would not prevent me inviting him for a glass of red later. Thankfully the majority of those bothered to vote in the referendum clearly disagree with your risk assessment. I supported Brexit because I want the UK parliament to be sovereign. I want the UK government to be able to have control on immigration. I totally object to the undemocratic control of the eurocrats who blatantly ignore the wishes of the proletariat. I would like the majority of UK industry to be free of much of the unnecessary red tape. I would prefer the UK to have the ability to set up trade deals with countries without the constraints of the other 27 member states. I no longer wish to contribute towards the CAP which damages third world countries and ensures France ultimately contributes to the EU roughly half what the UK is paying. None of this should prevent the UK having friendly relationships with European countries, trading, cooperating, sharing intelligence. There were many extremely logical reasons for voting for Brexit. The idea of leaving the EU is spreading throughout, even two of the four leading French presidential candidates support leaving the Euro / EU. There does seem to a subliminal message in your postings that somehow anyone that is financially successful or experienced by being a certain age should not have been allowed to vote in the referendum, strange.
