Brexit

Photek wrote:I'm sure Russia are alarmed at how things are going so far, they want to split up the EU but the more the UK implode the less chance anyone else will decide to go the same way.

Moggy wrote:

Photek wrote:I'm sure Russia are alarmed at how things are going so far, they want to split up the EU but the more the UK implode the less chance anyone else will decide to go the same way.

Brexit is probably going to be an awful thing for Russia. They were far better off with the UK inside the EU as the UK veto meant that further integration (economic as well as the proposed EU military) was never going to happen.

With the UK out of the EU, I think there is a good chance that the EU will be able to continue towards “closer and closer union”. Meaning, potentially, a nuclear armed superpower with a united economy, united politics and united armed forces.

If Russia did help the UK vote out, then I think they might live to regret it.

BBC News wrote:Sir James Dyson expects no Brexit deal

Leave campaigner Sir James Dyson expects the UK to leave the EU with no deal, and trade to default to World Trade Organization rules and tariffs.

Sir James, who founded the engineering firm Dyson, told the BBC such an arrangement would "hurt the Europeans more than the British".

Brexit uncertainty is an opportunity for firms to forge links with fast-growing economies, Sir James said.

However, John Lewis has said Brexit uncertainty was hitting the UK economy.

'No single market'

Sir James told the BBC's Today programme that Dyson, which became famous through its innovative vacuum cleaners, already pays the WTO tariff into Europe "and it hasn't hurt us at all - we're one of the fastest growing companies in Europe".

He said UK business did not need a transitional period to separate from the European single market, saying he thought the term "single market" was "quite wrong".

"It's a series of different markets with different languages, with different marketing required and different laws.... it's actually a very highly complex and broken up market," he said.

Sir James added that "business is about uncertainty".

"There's always uncertainty in business, about exchange rates, conditions in markets, natural disasters...

"I think uncertainty is an opportunity, and the opportunity here is actually that the rest of the world is growing at a far greater rate than Europe, so the opportunity is to export to the rest of the world and to capitalise on that," he said.

Parliamentary debate

However, the chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, Sir Charlie Mayfield, told the Today programme that the pound and business confidence had been hit by the Brexit vote.

"We should be under no illusions, Brexit is having an effect on the economy, no question. It's the same for everybody, and the main effects are sterling and confidence.

"Uncertainty is one of the consequences of this, and of course businesses never like uncertainty, because it makes it hard to plan for the future.

He called for "a serious parliamentary debate, to figure out what kind of Brexit we're going to have in the best interests of the country and the economy."

'Dyson degree'

Sir James' comments came as 33 undergraduates began studying at the Dyson Institute of Engineering and Technology.

The student engineers have begun a four-year degree, during which they will be mentored by Dyson's scientists and engineers who will teach alongside academics from Warwick University.

Universities Minister Jo Johnson challenged Sir James 18 months ago to help train engineers in the UK.

Sir James said: "It is a great opportunity, and I think a great step forward in the way that higher education is provided.

"We're paying these people, they're getting about 40 days a year more academic time than you'd get at university, plus the fact that they're working with some of the best scientists and engineers in the world."

"I think uncertainty is an opportunity, and the opportunity here is actually that the rest of the world is growing at a far greater rate than Europe, so the opportunity is to export to the rest of the world and to capitalise on that," he said.

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Rex Kramer wrote:It must be so hard to decide between demonizing immigrants and demonizing anyone on benefits.

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Lagamorph wrote:Didn't a Northern Ireland politician say just after the referendum that he fully expected Ireland to leave the EU shortly after the UK rather than risk any kind of border?

Lagamorph wrote:Didn't a Northern Ireland politician say just after the referendum that he fully expected Ireland to leave the EU shortly after the UK rather than risk any kind of border?

bear wrote:

Lagamorph wrote:Didn't a Northern Ireland politician say just after the referendum that he fully expected Ireland to leave the EU shortly after the UK rather than risk any kind of border?

It's a surprisingly common delusion but I think you are referring to Ian Paisley Junior.

Denster wrote:I'm pretty sure they weren't all idiots, racists or mail readers.