Off Topic UK / EU Future

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Six months ago, the EU and Singapore signed a free trade agreement. So, post Brexit, Dyson will have better access to the EU from Singapore.
As I say, just follow the money.
 
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Watching the goings on around No. 10 I have been wondering just how far back you have to go to see the country in such a political mess as it is today. I could not think of a similar situation, but maybe I didn't go back quite far enough. I came across this from across the pond and it does have some of the things that happened then reappearing today.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/17/opinion/sunday/brexit-ireland-empire.html
 
oldfrenchhorn said:
Watching the goings on around No. 10 I have been wondering just how far back you have to go to see the country in such a political mess as it is today. I could not think of a similar situation, but maybe I didn't go back quite far enough. I came across this from across the pond and it does have some of the things that happened then reappearing today.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/17/opinion/sunday/brexit-ireland-empire.html
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You only have to go back to last Saturday to see France in a mess.
 
Anyone watched the latest Brexit secretary at work? I watched him in front of the Lords committee, and was as bemused as the committee. He waffled, but quite clearly didn't have a clue what he was saying. Today he was back in the Commons, and admitted that the tiny loss of the vote last week was a bit of a setback. Just where does this pool of Tory talent come from? I thought they kept Grayling as the lowest form of efficiency, but he really does need to watch out with Barclay around or he might lose his exulted position.
 
oldfrenchhorn said:
Anyone watched the latest Brexit secretary at work? I watched him in front of the Lords committee, and was as bemused as the committee. He waffled, but quite clearly didn't have a clue what he was saying. Today he was back in the Commons, and admitted that the tiny loss of the vote last week was a bit of a setback. Just where does this pool of Tory talent come from? I thought they kept Grayling as the lowest form of efficiency, but he really does need to watch out with Barclay around or he might lose his exulted position.
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Dorries and Williamson are close challengers, DD is also up there...
 
Ah Williamson. He suggested that the army was close to reaching its target of recruiting 10,000 new soldiers. Yes, but can you tell us what the actual numbers are? Well we are close to the target. Yes, but what are the actual numbers? 5,600 actually, but our outsourced company are making good progress towards hitting the target.
 
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Jaguar Land Rover is to extend its annual April shutdown in car production because of uncertainties around Brexit.

The UK's biggest carmaker will be idle for an extra week because of fears of disruption at its car and engine plants at Liverpool, Birmingham and Wolverhampton.
 
oldfrenchhorn said:
Ah Williamson. He suggested that the army was close to reaching its target of recruiting 10,000 new soldiers. Yes, but can you tell us what the actual numbers are? Well we are close to the target. Yes, but what are the actual numbers? 5,600 actually, but our outsourced company are making good progress towards hitting the target.
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My guess would be that Capita are fulfilling the lowest requirements of their contract. Wouldn't be surprised if they were tricking interns into avoiding the small print of their contracts when joining them <laugh>
 
Dan Starkey 2 said:
You're comparing Brexit with the suffragette movement - seriously????????? Won't be long before someone else compares the EU with Nazi Germany - again <doh>
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The point I was trying to make was that the ruling elite at the time felt that women could not get the vote because they felt they did not understand politics or the issues they were voting for, the same applies to the ruling elites who think the same about Brexiteers. The women proved them wrong and it is arrogant to assume the Brexiteers did not know or understand what they were voting for in the referendum.
 
Scullion said:
The point I was trying to make was that the ruling elite at the time felt that women could not get the vote because they felt they did not understand politics or the issues they were voting for, the same applies to the ruling elites who think the same about Brexiteers. The women proved them wrong and it is arrogant to assume the Brexiteers did not know or understand what they were voting for in the referendum.
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Maybe you should take a look at who the 'leaders' of the Brexit movement are, and who is actually in the ERG, before claiming that the ruling elites are against Brexit. There is no such thing as a left wing Brexit - as if this whole thing was about liberating the working classes. All of the leading Brexiteers come from a privileged background and share a far right wing neo liberalistic view of politics which sees Britain turning itself into a bargain basement country which is attractive to predatory capital, but where such things as workers rights and environmental protections are radically reduced - it is nothing more than the final chapter of unrestrained Thatcherism, nothing more and nothing less. We will see how much 'sovereignty' there is when Britain has to open its legs to the rest of the World chasing after deals with the likes of Trump and the Chinese.
 
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Scullion said:
The point I was trying to make was that the ruling elite at the time felt that women could not get the vote because they felt they did not understand politics or the issues they were voting for, the same applies to the ruling elites who think the same about Brexiteers. The women proved them wrong and it is arrogant to assume the Brexiteers did not know or understand what they were voting for in the referendum.
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There are literally thousands of interviews/videos/comments/tweets from brexiters proving they have absolutely no clue what Brexit involves.
 
It seems that people who have booked crossings with Britanny Ferries are receiving e-mails to tell them that their bookings are cancelled. They offer to put people up on the next available crossing, but that could mean that you have to start looking at two nights hotel accommodation rather than spending a night in a cabin. All due to the emergency need for getting goods into the country in the event of talks failing. It reminds me of the government information sent to me about preparing for a war, and how it was necessary for me to assume a roll that kept me safe enough to take information from them. The people that were to be on the receiving end of the disruption were actually secondary, but it was made clear that I was not to tell them what was planned. I was not impressed then, and not impressed now.
 
Since I wrote the last posting on here, i have come across this. https://www.theguardian.com/politic...res-no-deal-brexit-to-iceland-ash-cloud-chaos

Are thousands of civil servants being trained along the lines described in the article? It lists the following as problems.

  • A reduction in certain fresh foods and increases in prices, with people on low incomes disproportionately affected.

  • Price rises across utilities and services including fuel.

  • Private companies “cashing in” because they will put commercial considerations first.

  • Police forces being stretched by the likelihood of protests and counter-protests, along with an increase in public disorder.

  • Restocking of medicines becoming problematic after the first six weeks.

  • Disruption of supplies to vets, which could “impact the UK’s ability to prevent and control disease outbreaks” among animals.

  • A significant reduction in the flow of goods through Dover and Eurotunnel to as low as 13% of current capacity on the day of Brexit.
This is what we have been told would happen, yet some still label it project fear. If it is project fear, why would the government want to train up civil servants to deal with it?
 
oldfrenchhorn said:
Since I wrote the last posting on here, i have come across this. https://www.theguardian.com/politic...res-no-deal-brexit-to-iceland-ash-cloud-chaos

Are thousands of civil servants being trained along the lines described in the article? It lists the following as problems.

  • A reduction in certain fresh foods and increases in prices, with people on low incomes disproportionately affected.

  • Price rises across utilities and services including fuel.

  • Private companies “cashing in” because they will put commercial considerations first.

  • Police forces being stretched by the likelihood of protests and counter-protests, along with an increase in public disorder.

  • Restocking of medicines becoming problematic after the first six weeks.

  • Disruption of supplies to vets, which could “impact the UK’s ability to prevent and control disease outbreaks” among animals.

  • A significant reduction in the flow of goods through Dover and Eurotunnel to as low as 13% of current capacity on the day of Brexit.
This is what we have been told would happen, yet some still label it project fear. If it is project fear, why would the government want to train up civil servants to deal with it?
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Something very strange is happening Frenchie. Many English people have an obsession with the Second World War - as if this was the last time that all British people stood together with a common goal, coupled with the idea that the country has been going down hill ever since. Together with that nostalgia was the idea that people clubbed together, grew their own vegetables, and made great sacrifices to cope with national chaos - as they have not done since. Maybe for some people the 'fear' of Brexit is attractive because it encapsulates the idea of being together against adversity. Convenient also that the Brexiteers were able to bring Germany into the picture as well - as if they were trying to reactivate the Dunkirk spirit. The main difference being, of course, that this is all self inflicted - though I am sure that the media and the government will try to find someone else to blame for any chaos coming to us.
 
colognehornet said:
Something very strange is happening Frenchie. Many English people have an obsession with the Second World War - as if this was the last time that all British people stood together with a common goal, coupled with the idea that the country has been going down hill ever since. Together with that nostalgia was the idea that people clubbed together, grew their own vegetables, and made great sacrifices to cope with national chaos - as they have not done since. Maybe for some people the 'fear' of Brexit is attractive because it encapsulates the idea of being together against adversity. Convenient also that the Brexiteers were able to bring Germany into the picture as well - as if they were trying to reactivate the Dunkirk spirit. The main difference being, of course, that this is all self inflicted - though I am sure that the media and the government will try to find someone else to blame for any chaos coming to us.
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Yes I agree that it is strange. At a time when the world has many problems with people only interested in what is happening in their own country, there seems to be a lack of understanding that if you make life better in some of the poorest regions, you will reduce the migration of people seeking a better life. The BBC showed a good program from Dr Alice Roberts, showing how migration has been going on for thousands of years, where people moved because of climate, lack of food, civil unrest, or a search for a better life economically. So what we are seeing today is nothing new, and yes it will have an effect on the areas that they move to. Poland is begging their nationals to come home because they now have a shortage of labour, Scotland is in a similar situation. But how has the situation come about that people think that the UK has pavements lined with gold?
I listened to an English guy today who had spent 10 years of his teenage years living in Germany. The country is nothing like it was at the time of WWII. Today it is a modern country that accepts it needs people from other places to maintain the way that it has changed since those dark days. Why does the UK want to go against the trend of countries working together to make life better around the world? Usually I suggest, it is fear that you are being left behind that makes you draw inwards. Certainly over the past ten years the UK has been left behind, only propped up by foreign companies buying UK companies on the cheap. I see very few TV programs dwelling in the past on French TV, but loads of them on the UK channels. That it seems is what people like, but as you say it is strange, and that is from someone old enough to want to spend his days reliving the good old days.
 
Scullion said:
The point I was trying to make was that the ruling elite at the time felt that women could not get the vote because they felt they did not understand politics or the issues they were voting for, the same applies to the ruling elites who think the same about Brexiteers. The women proved them wrong and it is arrogant to assume the Brexiteers did not know or understand what they were voting for in the referendum.
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I meant to respond to this yesterday so apologies for not doing so. I take your point entirely and agree about Brexiteers - personally it's not a view I hold in general. I did think it was a bit much comparing it to suffragettes but I did misinterpret in haste (I must stop doing that) so you can have a second apology :-)
 
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