absolutely right given we are already aligned. Emphasis on should be, trade should always trump political doctrine.
Shame that they’ve found that that that Conservative party internal politics is more important than the good of the nation then. All the trade figures show that staying within a major trading block is the way forward, being a single minnow is not.
3 Likes
Agreed, trade is key, most trade deals are just that, no political grand project clap trap.
The big problem is that parliament as a whole doesn’t know what deal it wants.
With very little time left there is only one deal and whatever that is, it’s not Brexit as understood by the people.
1 Like
The fact that it should be an easy trade deal because we start out aligned with EU standards and regulations is a myth - put about by Leave to make it seem as though there was no risk involved.
Entering into a trade deal typically means moving into standards and regulatory alignment from a position of difference - and then staying in alignment
Given that the whole point of Brexit was to allow us to move away from EU rules if we wish we have the very unusual position that we have two trading blocs which are going to start out aligned but one wants a deal which allows it to trade whilst simultaneously being able to move out of alignment.
No trade deal in history has been conducted on this basis.
This is one of the reasons that several commentators rather more versed with actually negotiating deals than Mr Fox have said it will be more complex than a normal deal, not less.
Read the analysis by Roland Smith on the development of the Leave campaign position - I posted the link earlier.
There is no consensus, even amongst the Leave side as to what they wanted - which is why the campaign promised so many different versions of Brexit.
May could have started her premiership with the realisation that 52% was hardly a ringing endorsement and that losing her majority did not leave her with a mandate for hard Brexit. She should have sought consensus before triggering Article 50 - unfortunately I think that the Ultras were scared that if anyone looked behind the curtain the game would be up and turned up the rhetoric to Disaster Area levels.
Had she built consensus early on - or realised that it was impossible we might not be in the current mess.
2 Likes
Thanks goodness the fees for the ‘Settled Status’ of EU Citizens in the UK have been scrapped today. The whole debarcle makes me ashamed to be British…
James the Magnificent recorded this shortly before the fees were scrapped.
3 Likes
4 Likes
I saw that earlier Simon…really funny…x 
O’Brien makes a very valid point that, if you voted Leave to stop immigration then you can’t then legitimately say “but I didn’t mean that person”.
Apparently this is hitting home to some of those in the US who voted for Trump.
1 Like
As the Brexit update thread proves, even here there is a lot of disagreement about the definition of an immigrant.
It’s been many years since I thought of myself as British…I’m English born in England with Scottish roots…doesn’t mean to say that I’m not ashamed of that one square mile in London…one square mile with its own police force…totally set apart from the rest of London and the rest of England and the rest of Britain and the rest of the U.K…
Easy solution for those here that don’t see themselves as immigrants, don’t bother applying for a CDS or French nationality and then see what happens if you have a problem.
1 Like
I heard an American guy, I missed his name saying that the advantage of democracy is just that. We have the chance to change our mind.
1 Like
If you are aiming that at me Timothy, then you will have to think again.
We already have our CdS’ .
How I think of myself doesn’t alter the legal state.
France did not require any registration process when we came to live here.
No different from moving within the UK, other than having different health and tax systems.
We have been told that Brexit will not change how we are thought of here.
They say we have been adopted.
Jane, if there was a second vote and it ended with same close Leave result would you accept that?
If you already have a CDS then surely you have accepted that you are an immigrant?
That is just a change of chant from the ERG.
This time we know the consequences and the lies told by Leave will not be able to be trotted out again with any sense of credulity.
Their spending will, hopefully, be carefully monitored and there will be no help from Facebook and Cambridge Analytica.
So is that a no then?
1 Like
I would accept a 2nd close leave vote as being definitive as I think people would be in a far more informed position to make a decision.
I would be disappointed but I would accept it.
2 Likes