Britain and Brexit business

[samurai_sarah]

On 8/12/2019 at 10:48 AM, fraurosena said:

And now we wait for Boris and the Brexiteers to make Varadkar out to be the villain.

Ireland tells Boris Johnson there will be no backstop renegotiation

 

I'm totally shooting myself in the foot here, as an EU citizen living in the UK, but: Hurrah for Ireland!!!

[unsafetydancer]

Today, two people I follow on Twitter. (Not famous people, just randomers who say cool things so I follow them)

One lady has had her cancer treatment pushed back for the third time because they have run out of the radioactive isotopes necessary to treat her. She's at risk of just not getting the treatment she needs or getting outdated treatment with a lower success rate. Most of our medical radioactive materials come from the EU.

A Portuguese man who has come to Scotland and found a boyfriend and life here now feels unwelcome because of the racism and homophobia coming from Westminster. They have now raised the minimum earning threshold (you need to earn at least this much to be allowed to stay in the UK) to £36,000. This is more than teachers, firemen, nurses, police officers, medical administrators and care workers earn. It's now pretty close to what some newly qualified doctors can earn. The man I follow may have to leave his home, his job and his relationship. My dentist has already left because of xenophobic comments about his last name, even though he has lived here since he was a child. I am now dentistless.

Yeah, these are the people we wanted to punish! Sick people and professionals who help us. So fucking raging!

[fraurosena]

UK expects a hard border, food price hikes, and protests in no-deal Brexit - report

Quote

THE UK GOVERNMENT’S secret plans for a no-deal Brexit have been leaked, and show that it expects there would be a hard border in Northern Ireland in the most likely scenario.

Documents prepared by the Cabinet and leaked to The Sunday Times outline the challenges the UK would most likely face in a no-deal Brexit – rather than the worst case scenario.

It says that current measures to avoid a hard border in Ireland would be “unsustainable” which would lead to a hard border, and in turn could spark protests and road blocks.

This is contrast with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s assertions that a no-deal Brexit can be avoided with technological solutions, or other alternatives.

The plans also predict that Northern Ireland would face “significant” energy price rises in the event of a no-deal Brexit. There’s an all-island electricity system in place since the Good Friday Agreement, which would have to be split post-Brexit.

Meanwhile, a poll published in the Sunday Times indicates that 3 out of 5 people in Northern Ireland would back custom checks along the Irish Sea to avoid a no-deal.

The UK’s no-deal Brexit plans, called Operation Yellowhammer, also predict shortages of food, fuel and medicines; if there are difficulties importing preservatives and packaging, this would also impact on food supplies.

Price hikes would also be likely for food and electricity, and the Cabinet plans note that this that could affect “vulnerable groups”.

IT expects that 85% of trucks using the Channel crossings “may not be ready” for no-deal customs checks at the border with France, and that this will mean serious delays. Significant disruptions at UK ports could last up to three months, before traffic “improves” to 50%-70% of its current frictionless speed.

The plans also say that the date for departure, 31 October is not “to our advantage”, as the 1 November falls on a Friday. Previous Brexit dates, 29 March and 12 April, fell on Fridays meaning that the British government had a cushion to prepare.

Many of these predictions and preparations have been aired before by experts and academics, but this is the first acknowledgement of which ones the UK government sees as realistic and worth preparing for.

It’s been common for Brexiteers to decry many of the predictions for a no-deal Brexit – which the UK government itself is preparing for according to these documents – as scaremongering and ‘Project Fear’.

Here's a link to the original Sunday Times article (partial text only; complete text for subscribers)

Operation Chaos: Whitehall’s secret no‑deal Brexit preparations leaked

 

[BernRul]

On 8/2/2019 at 1:47 AM, Ozlsn said:

Dear Lord, really?! There's tone deaf and then there's that which I really do not know how to begin to describe.  Disgusting is a pretty good start.

That's like if the US said they'd start re-enslaving African Americans.

 

On 8/1/2019 at 12:01 PM, laPapessaGiovanna said:

Lol lol lol

We'll block trade deal if Brexit imperils open Irish border, say US politicians

Well it's pretty clear at this point that without the possibility of a backdoor to the EU market the US finds little value in a trade deal with the UK. Who would have thought it!

Good for Nancy. And good luck making a trade deal with the US now: Congress, controlled by Pelosi's Democrats, must approve trade deals. Tariffs are presidential power, trade deals are not.

There is actually a long (and imo) fascinating history of Americans of Irish descent pressuring thier Congressmen/government to look out for Ireland's interests in Ireland vs. British conflicts. So it's very adventageous for American politicans to want to be seen as pro-Irish. 

[fraurosena]

How... unsurprising.

EU rejects Boris Johnson’s Brexit backstop plan

Quote

Boris Johnson's call to drop the Irish backstop from any Brexit deal was rejected by the EU, with Donald Tusk dismissing the idea and a European Commission task force describing a letter from the U.K. prime minister as "misleading" and "inaccurate."

Tusk, the European Council president, responded to Johnson's letter by saying that anyone "not proposing realistic alternatives" to the backstop does "in fact support reestablishing a border. Even if they do not admit it."

Tusk said on Twitter on Tuesday that the backstop "is an insurance to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland unless and until an alternative is found."

In a letter to Tusk on Monday, Johnson said the U.K. could legislate to ensure no infrastructure on the Irish border and urged the EU to do the same. He also said the two sides should discuss so-called alternative arrangements for policing the border, and promised to make other “commitments” in case the measures are not ready by the final departure date.

The reaction to Johnson's letter from the European Commission was as blunt as that from Tusk. In a note sent to EU countries, and seen by POLITICO, the Commission's task force dealing with Brexit described parts of Johnson's letter as "inaccurate" and "misleading."

The task force said it "regrets" that London "wants to replace a legally operative solution with a commitment to try to find a solution." It also said it "regrets" the lack of any "concrete proposals as to what these alternative arrangements [to the backstop] could be."

Speaking to reporters in Brussels, Commission spokesperson Natasha Bertaud said Tusk's tweet was a "reaction that we share."

"We welcome the U.K. government's engagement and continued commitment to an orderly withdrawal,” she said. “However, we also know that the letter doesn’t provide a legal operational solution to prevent the return of a hard border on the island of Ireland, it doesn’t set out what any alternative arrangements could be, and in fact it recognizes that there is no guarantee that such an arrangement will be in place by the end of the transitional period.”

She said this is not the time for "blame games."

Tusk will formally reply to Johnson's letter, Bertaud said, but “so far we have not received request for bilateral meeting from our side” from the U.K.

Veteran Belgian MEP Guy Verhofstadt said the backstop is a "vital insurance policy" and there is no majority in the European Parliament for removing it from the Withdrawal Agreement. "The time for bluster & political blame games is fast running out," he tweeted.

A Downing Street spokesperson said: “We are deeply invested in the peace, prosperity and security of Northern Ireland and always will be and we have been clear that we will never place infrastructure, checks, or controls at the border.

“But it is clear that unless the Withdrawal Agreement is reopened and the backstop abolished there is no prospect of a deal. It has already been rejected three times by MPs and is simply unviable as a solution, as the PM’s letter makes clear.

“We are ready to negotiate, in good faith, an alternative to the backstop, with provisions to ensure that the Irish border issues are dealt with where they should always have been: in the negotiations on the future agreement between the UK and the EU.”

 

 

 

[unsafetydancer]

The issue with Ireland is that there are still some people kicking about the UK who would like to see GFA ripped up. They've been sitting quietly until now when all this nonsense has made them feel like their views are anything other than utterly abhorrent. These are usually the same morons who hark back to the days when we had an empire and completely gloss over the mass genocides and slavery that helped build it. I despair of these fools.

Plus, there is a view among people in the South of England that anyone from the North, Wales, Scotland or Ireland is less intelligent, less educated and less of a person than they are. Just be Scottish in London for a day and see how many people will pretend they don't understand you when you talk or tell you you can't pay for things in Scottish notes. Bitch, I shall just take my £20 elsewhere!

But seriously, it sucks. 

Edited August 21, 2019 by unsafetydancer
Typos

[fraurosena]

The Dutch papers are reporting that the Scottish company TEC Offshore is planning to realize a ferry between Rosyth in Scotland and Eemshaven in the Netherlands, in order to circumvent any transportation delays at Dover after Brexit. They're aiming for one trip per day, as it will take 20 hrs to complete.

From the Dutch side, the Eemshaven CEO confirms that they are in talks, but that the harbour itself will need a tonne of adaptations for a ferry to be able to dock, and load/unload. Investigations as to the viability of a safe ferry service are underway. If everything works out, Eemshaven will welcome the ferry service with open arms. However, no requests for the necessary permits to be able to make use of Eemshaven have been made as of yet. 

@unsafetydancer, do you happen to know more about this from the Scottish angle? 

[unsafetydancer]

@fraurosena I've seen the articles too, in both Dutch and English. It's logical given that many of Scotland's industries depend on safe, easy trade with the closest European countries. I've not seen anything more official yet but I can tell you that there is a LOT of anger, even among traditionally Tory parts of our population, at the prospect of disruption to goods and services. Many of our island and remote communities rely on being well supplied just to function normally and the distribution networks across the country are at risk of grinding to a halt without anything like this being put in place.
We also have our renewable energy, medical research and agricultural industries to think of so I think something like this being set up makes sense. Add into that the fact that most Scots feel they have more in common with our neighbours across the water than they do with our politicians in London, I can see the need for this and why it might turn out to be a success.
Rosyth is an old naval base and seaport and it's where the infamous bloody aircraft carriers were built which at least gave the town a nice wee boost. There's plenty of port infrastructure still in place and the main motorway that takes you to Edinburgh from the north will let you off at Rosyth so it's easy to drive big lorries and trucks right up to the boats. The Harbour might be old and in need of a refit but it is easy enough to get to and locals have been asking for more use to be made of their port for ages. It would be great if they did get something like this up and running as Rosyth is much like most of Fife in that is has been hit badly by years of bungled economics that destroyed the industrial towns and saw good jobs replaced with the hated Amazon warehouse at Dunfermline.
The irony is that we USED to run ferries out of Rosyth pretty regularly. I travelled on one to Zeebrugge, Belgium back in 2003. It was a joint passenger and freight ferry with an area for haulage truckers to congregate away from the bars and amusements the tourists were using. It was a niiiice boat. And I hate boats. 
It got shut down because Westminster offered incentives and funding to companies if they used Hull as a ferry port, eve for solely Scotland based companies. The tourist traffic was good enough during the summer months but the freight traffic was needed to keep it going during the winter and the lorries were all driving straight past Rosyth down to Hull. 
A few companies tried to make it work, latterly DFDS, a Dutch company. They made the service freight only to try and encourage the truckers to use it more but still had trouble making it pay and after there was a fire on one boat in 2018 they decided it was more bother than it was worth to repair the boat and keep the service running.
Yet another example of jobs and business being diverted south, away from Scotland so they can keep claiming we are all a bunch of useless dafties who can't go and be a proper country.

[unsafetydancer]

Aaand now Boris has fucked it and thrown his wee toys out the pram so that the UK won't be voting on EU laws.

 

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/boris-johnson-no-deal-brexit-news-eu-meetings-finland-votes-uk-a9072956.html?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR0jZWBjf8dL0cDVH_B9aun9vmill8aHVxTddmqQdLslXAOhkXQB7cVVj9w#Echobox=1566388379

 

Finland take the wheel I guess.

[fraurosena]

This is going to end well. No deal Brexit, and after that, no trade deals with the EU either, unless Britain pays up for services already rendered.

 

[fraurosena]

Sweet Rufus.

 

[Howl]

WTAF? This cannot end well.  Horrifying.  I can see Putin smirking in the background as it all comes apart. 

[LittleOwl]

Whilst Labour have their own priorities: 

[fraurosena]

As she is supposed to be apolitical, it's no surprise she had to acquiesce to Johnson's request. I wonder what she truly thinks of her country going to hell in a handbasket before her very eyes, and not being able to do much about it. 

 

[unsafetydancer]

@fraurosena to be honest, I would not be surprised if she secretly approves of some or even all of this. She's an incredibly wealthy person and her family were implicated in evading taxes (ironically issued by a body carrying her name and insignia). Brexit has always been largely about avoiding tax and most high profile supporters are people who were mentioned in things like the Panama Papers. Her family stands to make a bit of money out of this. 

More reason why I think we should have an official constitution instead of a constitutional monarchy. If people really think that Brexit is about regaining control from unelected people then they might feel a bit silly now. Or probably not since a lot of them are frothing at the mouth monarchists.

I would also argue that this shows she is NOT apolitical as she has now undermined an elected parliament in favour of a dubiously legitimate prime minister who retains control with a majority of one solitary MP.

And yes, @LittleOwl , the Labour Party have no bloody direction or priorities just now. Jeremy Corbyn was earlier talking about regulating football clubs so that supporters have more say about how their team is run. Cannae make it up!

Edited August 28, 2019 by unsafetydancer
Migraine brain chooses wrong words

[fraurosena]

15 minutes ago, unsafetydancer said:

More reason why I think we should have an official constitution instead of a constitutional monarchy.

Or you could follow the Dutch example. We have both a constitutional monarchy and official constitution, and the monarchy has no political power whatsoever. The monarchy exists to represent our country and our country's interests around the world.

 

[unsafetydancer]

@fraurosena whatever works for you guys. I am also against the treasury supporting scores of useless gypes because they are distantly related to some woman who supposedly has magic blood so therefore would like to see no monarchy whatsoever. 

Out of interest, how is the Dutch monarchy funded? Am genuinely curious now because they also seem saner than ours.

[LittleOwl]

@unsafetydancer Why not combine both policies and have regulated football teams FOR lobsters?  Surely that makes a lot more sense than what is actually going on in this place right now... 

 

Spoiler

 

[unsafetydancer]

Is that Patrick Stewart? 

I would vote for him as PM any day. Man's a national treasure, has used his wealth and influence constructively and he also seems to actually possess a brain. Plus, Ian McKellan could be his deputy. I have a feeling we would wake up to a smarter, kinder country.

[LittleOwl]

It is PatStew! 

[fraurosena]

3 hours ago, unsafetydancer said:

@fraurosena whatever works for you guys. I am also against the treasury supporting scores of useless gypes because they are distantly related to some woman who supposedly has magic blood so therefore would like to see no monarchy whatsoever. 

Out of interest, how is the Dutch monarchy funded? Am genuinely curious now because they also seem saner than ours.

The King, Queen and Princess Beatrix (the former Queen) get an allowance from the state. No other member of the royal family is paid by the state. I believe that Amalia, the Princess of Orange, will get an allowance once she turns 18. From then on she will be expected to perform official duties, like her father, mother and grandmother.

Another noteworthy point is that the Royal Palaces 'Noordeinde', 'Palace on the Dam' and 'Huis ten Bosch' are state properties that are loaned to the King for his use. The Golden Coach and the Royal Crown aren't his property either, but belong to the Crown Goods Foundation.

[unsafetydancer]

1 hour ago, fraurosena said:

The King, Queen and Princess Beatrix (the former Queen) get an allowance from the state. No other member of the royal family is paid by the state. I believe that Amalia, the Princess of Orange, will get an allowance once she turns 18. From then on she will be expected to perform official duties, like her father, mother and grandmother.

Another noteworthy point is that the Royal Palaces 'Noordeinde', 'Palace on the Dam' and 'Huis ten Bosch' are state properties that are loaned to the King for his use. The Golden Coach and the Royal Crown aren't his property either, but belong to the Crown Goods Foundation.

This sounds more sensible than our arrangement, where the extended members of the royal family get generous allowances but do bugger all. Also, speaking as a Scot, the royal family should NOT be allowed to own vast areas of our countryside so that their friends can come and engage in grouse and deer shooting. It destroys the environment and leads to natural predators like foxes, badger and birds of prey being eliminated so that there are plenty of things to shoot at. 

Hunting can be a menace for farmers and is just bloody stupid. It's what lead to wolves and other large predators being extinct, then myxie was introduced to kill the excess rabbit population. I would argue that being eaten is a more humane death than myxie, which is awful to witness and is drawn out over days. It also leads to deforestation of some areas as there are now too many deer and they destroy trees.

The biggest thing that annoys me is the fact that millions will be spent by the treasury on refurbishing Buckingham palace, this is money paid in taxes by every UK citizen over the age of 16. We have a housing crisis in my city, that money could be spent on homes for people who need them, not bloody gold plated toilets for the wealthy! We also pay for the lavish weddings of the royals, their expensive parties, extra security, transport, the expensive as fuck trips they go on to embarrass us in front of the world. (Looking at Philip here!)

I'd still argue that no monarchy is the ideal outcome. We don't need it. In its first year, Dynamic Earth Edinburgh earned more tourism money than the royal palaces in the same year. More people pay to see stuff like historic sites and museums than pay to go stand around a big fancy house. If people want to see a really cool fancy house then there are a few now owned by the National Trust that are really impressive and you can access all areas because they have become huge museums. The Cragside in the north of England is probably my favourite, as the first home to be fully supplied with electricity it's got a lot to offer, plus the room full of Japanese furniture is amazing.

I dunno how the Dutch feel about their royal family boosting tourism? Personally, I bloody loved Amsterdam but was only in it for the museums. (Actually had forgotten Netherlands was still a monarchy until you mentioned it)

[fraurosena]

45 minutes ago, unsafetydancer said:

I dunno how the Dutch feel about their royal family boosting tourism? Personally, I bloody loved Amsterdam but was only in it for the museums.

On the whole, I don't think we Dutch really think about them much at all. We like our King's Day celebrations, and that's about it. What I hear of how he's representing us, it looks like he's doing a pretty good job. Not necessarily in boosting tourism (although the Germans do love our monarchy -- they're of German decent -- and they come in droves in summer) but he's doing more for us in trade and such. 

Amsterdam is bloody marvellous, especially the museums. But Den Haag, Delft, Haarlem and Utrecht are also steeped in history and have wonderful museums and palaces to visit. If you ever have the chance, I highly recommend visiting those places too.

[unsafetydancer]

Can I borrow your monarchy?

[Ozlsn]

The meme going around suggesting that it's a useful distraction from Andrew's connection to Epstein is probably accurate too. 

I really hope this turns out better than feared.