Off Topic The Politics Thread

The wall is to stop them leaving

 

Hector Drummond, Let's Go Brandon!

@hector_drummond
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12h

Another bunch of anonymous online social media commentators coming into the UK.

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theatre for the masses

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UK agrees free trade deal with New Zealand
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5 hours ago
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• Brexit

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IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES
Image caption,It is thought New Zealand will be able to sell more lamb to the UK under the deal
The UK has agreed a free trade deal with New Zealand which it says will benefit consumers and businesses.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the deal will cut costs for exporters and open up New Zealand's job market to UK professionals.

The government hopes it is a step towards joining a trade club with the likes of Canada and Japan.

The New Zealand deal itself is unlikely to boost UK growth, according to the government's own estimates.

Overall, only a tiny proportion of UK trade is done with New Zealand, less than 0.2%.

Labour and the National Farmers Union (NFU) said the deal could hurt UK farmers and lower food standards.

But International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said it "affords opportunities in both directions for great sharing of produce" and British farmers should not be worried.

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Mr Johnson and New Zealand's Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, agreed the pact in a video call on Wednesday after 16 months of negotiations.

Tariffs will be removed on UK goods including clothing, ships and bulldozers, and on New Zealand goods including wine, honey and kiwi fruits.


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Professionals such as lawyers and architects will be able to work in New Zealand more easily, the government said.

Step to bigger trade deal?
However, the deal is not likely to increase UK economic growth - or GDP - according to the UK government's own assessments. New Zealand will fare slightly better as it may be able to sell more lamb to the UK.

But, like the trade deal recently struck with Australia, the UK hopes this is a step towards joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) - a trade bloc that includes Australasia, Canada, Mexico and Japan among others.


The UK already has deals with many of the members, rolled over from when it was in the EU. But CPTPP membership would give it more access in terms of services and digital trade.

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IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES
In a video of the deal being struck, Mr Johnson said: "We've scrummed down, we've packed tight, and together we've got the ball over the line and we have a deal. And I think it's a great deal."

Ms Ardern said: "I loved your use of rugby metaphors, but if we were going to continue that on, then naturally it would conclude with the All Blacks winning.

"And I know that New Zealand feels that way with this free trade agreement, but actually, it's good for both of us, as it happens."

'Nothing for farmers'
The NFU said the deal, like the one with Australia, could have a "huge downside", especially for UK dairy and meat farmers.

Its president, Minette Batters, said the Australia and New Zealand deals mean "we will be opening our doors to significant extra volumes of imported food - whether or not produced to our own high standards - while securing almost nothing in return for UK farmers".


"The fact is that UK farm businesses face significantly higher costs of production than farmers in New Zealand and Australia, and it's worth remembering that margins are already tight here due to ongoing labour shortages and rising costs on farm," she said.

"The government is now asking British farmers to go toe-to-toe with some of the most export-orientated farmers in the world, without the serious, long-term and properly funded investment in UK agriculture that can enable us to do so.

Emily Thornberry, shadow trade secretary, said the government's own figures showed the deal would "cut employment in our farming communities, produce zero additional growth, and generate just £112m in additional exports for UK firms compared to pre-pandemic levels".

She added that the only winners were "the mega-corporations who run New Zealand's meat and dairy farms".

"As our economy recovers from the pandemic, we need trade deals that will boost jobs and growth, open up big new markets for UK exporters, and support our objectives to buy, make and sell more in Britain. This trade deal with New Zealand fails on every count," she said.

The international trade secretary said British farmers should not be concerned about increased lamb imports because the lambing seasons were different in the UK and New Zealand.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan said: "I'm very comfortable it's a complimentary - because of the seasons… consumers will have more choice."

She said trade with New Zealand was currently worth £2.3bn a year but had the potential to increase by up to 30% by 2030.

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Analysis: Ramzan Karmali, BBC Business reporter

A bottle of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc could cost 20p less as a result of this trade deal and other products like Manuka honey and kiwi fruits could also cost less.

In terms of overall trade, even by the UK government's own analysis a tariff free trade deal will make no difference at all to the country's GDP - the total value of the goods and services the UK produces.

Overall the trade between the two countries is less than 0.2% of the UK total and in fact in 2018 New Zealand ranked as only our 53rd biggest trading partner.

So why does this deal matter?

The UK signed its first big post-Brexit deal with Japan last year and in June it also signed a draft agreement for a trade deal with Australia.

Both countries, as well as New Zealand, are members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership or CPTPP.

The combined GDP for the 11 nations that form the CPTPP in 2020 was £8.4trn - one of the key reasons given by the UK government when it formally applied earlier this year.

This deal is the first agreed during the tenure of Britain's new Secretary of State for International Trade, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, who took over from Liz Truss last month.

She believes that by getting this deal done the UK's application to the CPTPP will be looked upon more favourably.

That being said, the trade deal the UK really wants is with the US.

But with the recent change in administration in the White House that seems further away.

 

What hope is there?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-58982445

 

“Could” doing some heavy lifting here.

 

I am getting really annoyed about the reports of spiking of drinks in nightclubs. The majority, but not all of these spikings are against women. The head of association of night clubs has been quoted as saying, women should be better educated at protecting themselves.
WTF...WTF!!!

We should protect ourselves more !!!

Perhaps some men should be educated that injecting people with a dangerous drug or slipping something into their drinks is wrong, why does the victim need to be educated.

Many years ago, my oldest was sent home in a taxi by a night club bouncer, who had recognised the fact that she was beyond the pale. I had/have seen her drunk ( in my family it involves a lot of vomiting)..she was not drunk, she had no rememberance of the night or how she got home.
I am forever grateful to that bouncer. I am not sure she ever went to a club again.

 

Its disgusting really. They should be locking up anyone spiking drinks for a long time if caught on camera. To be honest anyone who does that (since its a pre meditated act and will ruin someone mentally. Its not even violence that you might expect from someone mentally unstable but people who are actually predators) i would more be happy to put in front of a firing squad but that isnt an option.

 

So Steve Allen of LBC calls a tubby girl tubby. And now the cancel culturists want him sacked. It's fair comment because it's true. How can anyone have a valid complaint?

 

I've had the misfortune to listen to him at customer's request very occasionally and am amazed that he's been over 20 years on the radio with the monologue drivel he comes out with. To 'do' him for calling someone tubby compared to some of the acerbic crap he comes out with is richly ironic...

 

Oh come on Goldy, did he need to call her tubby? He could have just used her name quite easily. Now of course he shouldnt be sacked for it but there was no need to call her it.

 

If you go on a program like Strictly, you're gonna get judged. If people tell lies about you, that's indefensible - but if they tell the truth and it's within a contestant's power to change, I don't see a problem.

If Ant and Dec turn up both 15 stone after a good Christmas, are we not able to mention it?

 

He's particularly scathing about the posturing, talentless "modews" who try to follow in Katie Price's footsteps. He's irreverent and people love that he puts into words what they are thinking.

 

Bloke banging on the door of 70 commenting on a teenagers figure… yeah that’s creepy as ****.

 

Are you being ageist

 

On pretty thin ice here Goldhawk.

Tubby is a subjective descriptive term (Tubby is defined as short and fat)...whats tubby to one is not to another also. I am not sure anyone really likes being called Tubby (but see below).

Using the word tubby is a bit like using the word ugly or hideous or monstrous or just plain fat.
So replace the word tubby with say hideous and you can see the problem.

It is not up to an old man commentator to comment on in a derogatory manner either. Should he be sacked, maybe not, he should be reprimanded certainly and told not to use derogatory language

FYI:- I can speak from a point of knowledge here. I am short and tubby. My husbands nickname for me is Tubbs ( I fear more from the League of Gentleman sketch). He says it with affection (I think) but I really do not take it well if anyone else calls me that, and try it and you will get an earful and a retaliatory attack on your appearance to boot

 

Do you think men four times the age of a teen female should be looking at their bodies? Sounds a touch noncey.

 

Just seen a picture of Mike Graham.



Stones and Glasshouses spring to mind. Don't know why ...they just do