Off Topic Politics Thread

Even though I don't go to work until this afternoon.....its been confirmed on BBC and Sky that Honda will shut in 2021.
Sad times ahead for Swindon, it will destroy the town...............Me? I will stay until they kick me out...it will be 20 years service and final salary pension(but too young to take it out).
Lots to discuss with the wife....luckily my wife is a manager in retail and can transfer anywhere within the UK, job wise for me it will be bleak indeed.

 

I am truly feeling for you mate and for Swindon in particular.......as you say it will have a devastating affect on the area. Good luck for the future to you and your family.

 

Toyota? They just announced they will be building the world's best selling car here!!

 

If Umunna held a by election it would be quite a good indicator of whether the "bloc vote" is myth or fact. I suspect he would be one of the few that would maintain his support.

 

There is a suggestion earlier on that this split will mean a Tory government for a decade or decades or perpetuity. I wouldn't jump your guns on that one. Farage's new party has already passed the 100,000 members mark and it hasn't even got any politicians yet.

 

I'll do it for him ;-)

Honda have said they closed the plant because of global restructuring and not Brexit.

 

There was an article on the Spectator a few weeks ago talking about major problems across Europe (not just the UK) with the car industry. Not just those from Japan. They were talking about Ford, GM and many of the EU brands.

 

The Spectator is a weekly British magazine. It is owned by David and Frederick Barclay who also own The Daily Telegraph newspaper, via Press Holdings. Its principal subject areas are politics and culture. Its editorial outlook is generally supportive of the Conservative Party. No bias there then.

David and Frederick Barclay - allegedly tax exiles and also known for their well documented activities in the Channel Islands. Honest and trustworthy I'm sure (not).

https://thebrexitsyndicate.com/2018/07/04/the-barclay-brothers/ So who is taking back control? Plenty here, all sources linked in the article. The Barclay bros not the only string pullers by any means.

 

Cheers Beddy, early shift got sent home straight after the news and when we go in we will also be sent home to let the news sink in ........no more production until 9.00 am tomorrow.

 

so the Barclay's write the articles then. good to know. so every organisation that delivers news across all platforms should be ignored because they just push the mantra of the owner? And we can thus ignore the guardian that still survives from the proceeds of selling Auto Trader it stashed off shore?

It isn't just the Spectator that has reported on this. While it might not be high up on the agenda there has been quite a lot of talk an concern about car sales dropping across the EU, car choices etc.

You can all keep on pinning everything on Brexit. There will be plenty more examples while this slowdown, recession and "green drive" alter the markets beyond recognition.

I'll not link the article because it is paywall and of course by some nasty paper but this was the headline and sub heading:

"Carmageddon: The future is catching up with the motor giants
The world is changing — and the auto industry is struggling to keep up

 

I cannot understand how leave voters have their head so far in the sand

How many jobs, in how many sectors will have to be lost before you accept that brexit is a factor?

 

He is the only one of that seven that most people will have heard of. And he has a forensic intellect. He’s a real loss to the Labour Party, the others not so much (though the loss of their seats obviously is enormously damaging).

 

He has spent the last 3+ years using an argument of staying inside the EU to reform it to counter people who say that is resistant to reform...........and yet here he is leaving Labour because he considers it is resistant to reform.

 

So that's...

Ford
Nissan
Jaguar Landrover
Panasonic
Airbus
Unilever
Philip's
Dyson

All nothing to do with Brexit apparently. But is any other European economy experiencing the flight of investment on this scale?

 

Hope it all works out for you, and turns out , eventually, to be a blessing in disguise. These things often do, if approached in the right way.

Redundancy 7 years ago was the best thing that ever happened to me, even though I couldn't afford to retire.

 

Off course not all the automotive industries woes, or those of others are caused by brexit. It's certainly a factor in decisions across the board in all sectors more so in some than others. My point is there's a need to understand where these organisations are coming from and are funded by pro or anti brexit. Single sourcing isn't my way of researching a subject and I certainly don't see the EU as the garden of Eden. It's in need of reform in many ways, don't expect a revolution it has to evolve.

 

Ford are pulling out of Europe.
Are they selling up their French gearbox factory "because of Brexit?" did they close their Belgian Mondeo operation "because of Brexit?"

“Ford Europe has been in desperate need of restructuring for at least a decade. It lost a billion dollars over the last five years, and after losing considerable market share between 2008 and 2013 it has been unable to gain any of it back since then," said Jon Gabrielsen, a market economist who pulls data from SEC filings. "The announcement today may not even be enough to turn it around independently, but may instead be preparing the way for partnerships with Volkswagen that we hope to learn more about next Tuesday.”

Nissan have not closed anything. they have pulled a car that would not sell enough to warrant building a new line. A car they already have capacity for the lower expectations of sales to be made on in Japan. They have not decided to move investment from the UK to the EU.

Jaguar Landrover has long been known to have long term problems.

Panasonic is moving 20 people!!!

Airbus is struggling. It has just announced it will stop building a plane that no-one wants.

You will have to enlighten me on the Unilever one.

Philips have already said they are restructuring and closing down many sites (not just the UK) and also stated "the decision to close Glemsford was made towards the end of 2018, but that the UK's exit from the European Union was not a deciding factor. "Clearly the timing was very difficult, but regardless of the Brexit outcome we would still be making this announcement,"

Dyson has moved a small HQ. He still employs a vast amount of people in the UK. It is also suggested that he has moved because (again car related) he is pushing into the electrical car market and thus with China being the biggest potential market is looking to set up in the far east.

And yes as above this is happening across Europe. GM Motors are pulling out, Ford are slowly doing so.

For all the talk of "because of Brexit" the reality is that companies are making all sorts of decisions like this all over the world at the moment but you want the narrative above to be true so you believe it when your list is as bad as the list a fair few pages back by people banging on about "funded by EU grants etc."

Businesses say "it isn't to do with Brexit" yet you add them to your list.

 

We can agree on this. I am not saying that Brexit is not causing problems at all. I am merely questioning the constant narrative that Brexit is the cause of all these decisions completely ignoring statements to the contrary and what is happening elsewhere in these markets, yet people post to me that I am the one ignoring reality?

 

https://newsthump.com/2019/02/19/brexit-has-nothing-to-do-with-brexit-insist-brexiters/