Sunlit uplands. Are we there yet?

[diable rouge]

That Treasury forecast came with two rather important caveats.

Firstly that A50 would be triggered the day after the referendum...it wasn't.

Secondly, that the BoE wouldn't intervene fiscally...id did.

If Brexit was so good Brexiters would be lauding the benefits instead of peddling 'apocalyptic' tropes.

Even the first legit FTA with Australis isn't going to plan, another dose of realty for the 'free trade' economic fantasists whilst shafting UK farmers in the process...

[malumbu]

I've just posted elsewhere some informed views on traffic restrictions. But on this one, for Chrisake farming and fishing communities. What did you expect? Well at least we will still have Lidl that will continue to stock Old World wines as well as New World products. I'll chose not to buy Aussie and South African food and drink. I can still buy South American stuff should I wish. But will understand that Polish and New Zealand imports undercutting domestic, is'nt going to benefit Lincolnshire, Kent and the like.

We've made our bed and need to move on, but what a stupid decision to leave.

[Seabag]

Smuggling the goods from Europe, is all the rage now.

It?s very exciting, like checkpoint Charlie all over again.

F**k your Brexit and its paperwork fees.

[diable rouge]

Whisky Ch?teauneuf-du-Pape Galore!...

[Earl Aelfheah]

Thank goodness Brexit has saved the British fishing industry. Next stop, UK farming

[Seabag]

Once those ?down under? get a taste for Marmite instead of Vegemite, there?ll be no looking back.

And I?m looking forward to free movement between us, just the thought of popping to Melbourne for a weekend is a lovely idea. I only hope Boris builds a bridge to Australia, like the one he?s building to Ireland.

[Sephiroth]

I see the telegraph are claiming today that the NI protocol was signed under duress and UK was bullied into signing it

never mind that

a) UK is meant to be a mighty sovereign equal now - how can it be bullied?

b) it was hailed as a great deal at the time and sold as such to the electorate (not least by the very same writer)

c) the same people objected to any other solutions before - if there is a better one now, what is it and why will it work now when it couldn't before?

d) people like us remainers warned about all of this ages ago and were belittled - "how about taking time to examine this protocol" - no no no we have discussed this to death - it's marvellous, get behind it!

[keano77]

I think we all know that the constant threats coming from our ?friends? are about more than petty officialdom and whether our sausages contain horse meat or not. The EU are huffing and puffing in an attempt to stay relevant.

?Europeans agree on one thing: the EU is broken...

...New polling and research by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) found that the majority of those surveyed in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Austria now held the view that the European project was ?broken?....?

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/europeans-agree-on-one-thing-the-eu-is-broken-d0z93p8jk

I?m surprised to see that ?sofagate? is at the G7 and that the EU haven?t ditched her yet.

[Sephiroth]

The report is rather more nuanced than that very excitable Times article has it

and is completely beside the point re what is actually happening re: international treaties and brexit

Criticising the EU, wanting it to do better, scoring it (relatively) badly is not the same as wanting to leave the EU

[keano77]

True

[malumbu]

Seabag Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Once those ?down under? get a taste for Marmite

> instead of Vegemite, there?ll be no looking back.

>

> And I?m looking forward to free movement between

> us, just the thought of popping to Melbourne for a

> weekend is a lovely idea. I only hope Boris builds

> a bridge to Australia, like the one he?s building

> to Ireland.

Do you come from the land down under?

[pk]

keano77 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I think we all know that the constant threats

> coming from our ?friends? are about more than

> petty officialdom and whether our sausages contain

> horse meat or not.

Agree, it?s about them expecting us to abide by the terms of a deal that we signed and said was brilliant

[keano77]

I agree that?s the EU?s spin on it.

Problem is it?s jeopardising the GFA but the EU can?t seem to see that.

[pk]

keano77 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I agree that?s the EU?s spin on it.

>

> Problem is it?s jeopardising the GFA but the EU

> can?t seem to see that.

So you don?t think that we should comply with an agreement that we signed?

The problem is surely that we shouldn?t have signed it if it jeopardises the GFA and that people shouldn?t have said it was brilliant when they knew it wasn?t

[keano77]

Agree we should never have signed it.

However it was signed and both sides need it to work. The protocol does not protect the GFA, that?s EU propaganda.The protocol is to protect the EU?s single market, its interests.

The over zealous interpretation of silly rules is causing real damage to the preservation of peace in NI.

[Sephiroth]

?We should never have signed it?

I seem to recall us remainers telling you this. But Johnson had his oven ready deal and everyone waved flags and wouldn?t examine the details and look where we are now

What?s your better plan?

Because you haven?t got one. There is no simple solution as long as uk insists on ideaology

[Sephiroth]

Any other countries rallying to support uk as the f@@k up so publicly?

Nope. Uk is shitting the bed and everyone else can see it. European or not

[keano77]

The Republic leaves the EU. Problem solved and they an feast on delicious British sausages.

[Sephiroth]

So the uk answer to a problem of their own making is to instruct another country to do something it doesn?t want to do

Own the mess you made and grow up

[keano77]

It?s a possible solution.

It will be a matter for the Irish people and government. The suggested minimum corporation tax could cause much damage to Ireland. The government is already preparing the people for big tax rises to recover from COVID. And once the save the planet greens really get going people won?t have two pennies to rub together.

There?s hard times ahead the the EU dominos are wobbling.

[Alan Medic]

keano77 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Agree we should never have signed it.

>

> However it was signed and both sides need it to

> work. The protocol does not protect the GFA,

> that?s EU propaganda.The protocol is to protect

> the EU?s single market, its interests.

The protocol is to avoid there being a hard border on the island of Ireland. If that's not recognising/protecting the GFA, what is?

[Alan Medic]

keano77 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> It?s a possible solution.

>

> It will be a matter for the Irish people and

> government.

So is a United Ireland. That is a far more likely outcome than Ireland leaving the EU just to get into bed with a nutcase job of a regime in the UK.

I suppose we should feel honoured that you think it's up to the Irish people to decide. Funnily enough those Irish people in NI voted to stay in the EU.

[keano77]

Don?t agree with your point about the GFA Alan. Lip service from the EU as we saw when Ursula threw a wobbly over the Brexit vaccine.

Good point about a United Ireland though. That would be a solution. Problem is who?d pay for it. The Republic can?t afford to pay.

So between us Alan we?ve come up with two possible solutions in the space of a few hours which thousands of EU bureaucrats seem unable to do.

[Sephiroth]

"The suggested minimum corporation tax could cause much damage to Ireland."

why yes, yes it could - what does any of that have to do with the EU or Irexit? Nothing

"The government is already preparing the people for big tax rises to recover from COVID."

What, just the Irish govt having to deal with recovering from COVID? And again, what does that have to do with EU?

"And once the save the planet greens really get going people won?t have two pennies to rub together. " - aaaaand once again.. what does that have to do with... well anything in this thread really?

"There?s hard times ahead the the EU dominos are wobbling."

There are indeed hard times ahead - for everyone - which is why mutual trust and working together will benefit countries in the EU instead of jackasses and troublemakers pretending they are still special. And the report you linked to earlier says just as much. "The EU is wobbling" has been the trope of choice for decades - you would think with UK having so much sovereignty and power and the EU in so much trouble there is NO WAY such a weak institution could have FORCED the UK to sign such a despicable treaty, eh?

[Sephiroth]

"So between us Alan we?ve come up with two possible solutions in the space of a few hours which thousands of EU bureaucrats seem unable to do."

you really really haven't - coming up with solutions on a forum on a Friday morning isn't the same thing as implementing anything, not least against the wishes of many of the people you so glibly talk about

"Lip service from the EU as we saw when Ursula threw a wobbly over the Brexit vaccine"

the difference between Urusla's fuck up and the UK is that the UK proudly makes this threat on a weekly basis - whereas Ursula got told in no uncertain terms how she had messed up, by the very country you are talking about.