Current Politics in the United Kingdom

[vinceprince]

Originally Posted by judy84

What a joke.


We'll stop Brexit because my grocery bill has gone up.

Or my business will go bust?

Not a joke.

[scoundrel]

The pound was weaker than this in 2010 because Britain was following a quantitative easing strategy to deal with the 2009 bank crisis and the Eurozone was refusing to do the same. We were printing money and the Eurozone were not printing money, so our currency fell in value and the Euro rose in value by over 20% in less than three months between October and December 2008. The exchange rate remained below 1.20 / 1 until 2012. Our economy recovered from the world recession much quicker than that of the Eurozone and the weak pound was one of the reasons why.

Don't ask me to lose control of my bowel movements because the pound has weakened again. A strong currency is also a serious economic problem, and were this not so, then the Germans would not now be propping up Greece to sustain the Euro as a currency

[vinceprince]

Originally Posted by scoundrel

Don't ask me to lose control of my bowel movements because the pound has weakened again. A strong currency is also a serious economic problem, and were this not so, then the Germans would not now be propping up Greece to sustain the Euro as a currency

For our business the currency rate is fine. I'm just saying it has seriously affected wholesale prices in the UK.

Most exporting businesses like ours are shitting themselves at the prospect of South Kent turning into a massive lorry park in April. No-one will be earning any currency then anyway.

[deepsepia]

Originally Posted by vinceprince

For our business the currency rate is fine. I'm just saying it has seriously affected wholesale prices in the UK.

Most exporting businesses like ours are shitting themselves at the prospect of South Kent turning into a massive lorry park in April. No-one will be earning any currency then anyway.

The question a reasonable person might ask is "Why do you have to have a political union to have a trade union"

The US has trade agreements with Mexico and Canada -- granted our dim grand Poo Bah Trump decided he hated NAFTA . . . only to discover that all of American business with very few exceptions relies on it. So he did it the Trump way, rebranded it, made a few cosmetic changes, and called it a success.

Brexit needs a similarly cynical treatment. Britain wants to trade with Europe, and vice versa.

Where's the necessary spirit of bullshit when you need it? Surely the UK doesn't have to import bullshit . . . if you're momentarily out of stock, the US is a happy exporter, operators are standing by for your order.

Good diplomats are expert bullshitters-- they let everyone climb down while continuing to profess that they're at the summit of some moral principle.

[scoundrel]

I think there is an element of "who will blink first" going on here, Deeps. Mrs May has blinked first but is finding that a lot of other people whose support she needs are not prepared to blink just because she did. I am glad she lost her majority in the last election and is now unable to just foist this crap on us the way Edward Heath once did. But on the other hand playing chicken is a dangerous game because if you leave it too late to jump, the oncoming heavy goods vehicle will run you over.

However, in this particular case, I would be prepared to face that rather than eat the shit sandwich Mr Barnier has succeeded in preparing for Mrs May. I think that when Brexit is real, there will be problems for everyone and a lot more pressure to come up with solutions. If there are traffic jams in Kent there will also be traffic jams in Calais, Boulogne, Dunkirk and Ostend, and the EU side will be taking heat as well as the British side. It will also persuade many people (including many British politicians) that Britain isn't joking and is determined to leave, and that a lot more sensible negotiating is needed and a lot less posing for the cameras. The EU side has already indicated that it will entertain no further discussions of this deal, but if the deal is rejected then that line will lead to serious trouble at their end as well as ours.

Truthfully, there is no way this deal will pass through Parliament and there is no way anything else can be proposed before March 29 2019. The only possible way to avoid a no-deal Brexit would be for both sides to agree to postpone the leaving date. Self-evidently, Mrs May gave the Article 50 notice without first settling a plan with her own ministers so she has no excuse to object to a postponement. Whether the EU is willing to postpone the leave date is a whole other question, but they are not innocent in this - the dicking around over the Northern Ireland border issue was a tactic to try to coerce Britain and now we are seeing how this tactic has backfired. They too are looking at big, big problems, problems well worth avoiding, should there be a no-deal Brexit. No one wins in that scenario.

I think we need to start again; this negotiation is a failure. But otherwise, if there is no consensus to start again, we should leave the EU anyway and see how they feel about cleaning up the mess after the shit has already hit the fan and they are brown and smelly too.

[bjcb0]

Originally Posted by vinceprince

Most exporting businesses like ours are shitting themselves at the prospect of South Kent turning into a massive lorry park in April. No-one will be earning any currency then anyway.

I'm visiting family near Rye this weekend and there are rumours here of UK government planning for the super Operation Stack that would occur, including the use of Manston and Lydd airports (as lorry parks!), Hythe and Lydd Ranges, Shorncliffe Camp, and some of the holiday camps on Romney Marsh.

[scoundrel]

Originally Posted by bjcb0

I'm visiting family near Rye this weekend and there are rumours here of UK government planning for the super Operation Stack that would occur, including the use of Manston and Lydd airports (as lorry parks!), Hythe and Lydd Ranges, Shorncliffe Camp, and some of the holiday camps on Romney Marsh.

Can you access these places easily in heavy goods vehicles? I have ridden my motorcycle around the back roads between Hastings and Rye quite a few times and apart from the A259 main coast road, they are very narrow and twisty back roads, not at all suited to large vehicles or large traffic volumes.

[bjcb0]

Originally Posted by scoundrel

Can you access these places easily in heavy goods vehicles? I have ridden my motorcycle around the back roads between Hastings and Rye quite a few times and apart from the A259 main coast road, they are very narrow and twisty back roads, not at all suited to large vehicles or large traffic volumes.

It wouldn't all be easy, but it's not as difficult as some of the routes between Hastings and Rye. The A2070 and the A259 (thankfully a wide straight section) provide fairly good access to Lydd from the M20, while Shorncliffe is quite close to the M20. The traffic problems are not pleasant to consider.

[palo5]

Originally Posted by scoundrel

...the only things left to talk about are security cooperation and fair play for our citizens on EU soil and for EU citizens living on our soil...

I think you'll get an ok deal for citizens, probably one that guarantees the same rights available now, at least in their place of residence. But from what I've read, security will be different, because UK will no longer have access to EU databases

[Wendigo]

I'd like to think if British intelligence got hold of any information about any possible attacks on any European country (even Russia) then they would pass it on, and vice versa, if some retards in authority choose to ignore that due to political sour grapes then screw the lot of them not matter what side they are on.