Brexit Thread 3 - Project Reality

Eldorado? Like the gooseberry fool BBC soap that was a costly disaster?

I used to love Eldorado, cross roads with sunshine.

The Bank of France’s governor has said that Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union has driven almost 2,500 jobs and “at least €170bn in assets” to France.

London remains the continent’s foremost financial centre but Amsterdam, Dublin, Frankfurt and Paris have all scrambled to attract businesses that wanted to remain active in the 19-nation eurozone.

The coronavirus pandemic made it even more important to boost business activity, given its severe economic effects.

“In spite of the pandemic, almost 2,500 jobs have already been transferred and around 50 British entities have authorised the relocation of at least €170bn (£150bn) in assets to France at the end of 2020,” bank governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau told a press briefing.

“Other relocations are expected and should increase over the course of this year,” he added.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... k-governor

twitter.com/scotfoodjames/status/1351491482063171588

Software data shows freight groups avoiding UK, prices rising

An increasing number of freight groups rejected contracts to move goods from France into Britain in the second week of January, while prices rose, according to data that shows the impact of Brexit and COVID-19 on UK trade.

Transporeon, a German software company that provides a network for suppliers, retailers, shippers and more than 100,000 logistics service providers, said prices were up 47% compared with the third quarter in 2020.

Prices had been up 39% in the first week of January. The third quarter of 2020 was chosen to reflect the most normal trade levels with regards to COVID-19 turbulence last year.

The data also shows that freight forwarders, the companies that book truckers or other modes of transport to move goods on behalf of suppliers, are rejecting jobs from companies they are contracted to serve, when it comes to moving goods to Britain.

In the second week of January the rejection rate was up 168% on Q3, 2020, compared with the 102% jump it recorded in the first calendar week of the year.

The data backs up what UK freight forwarders have been telling Reuters, that many European drivers are refusing to come to Britain after Brexit. And that prices are soaring.

Businesses across Britain have struggled to export goods into Europe since the UK left the EU’s orbit, particularly small firms unaccustomed to filling in lengthy declarations and food producers having to secure health certificates.

https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-brit ... KKBN29N1XV

The former British chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne has said Northern Ireland is “heading for the exit door” from the United Kingdom.

Writing in the London Evening Standard, where he is now editor-in-chief, Mr Osborne said the North was “slowly becoming part of a united Ireland” and most people in England “will not care”.

The former Conservative MP wrote: “By unleashing English nationalism, Brexit has made the future of the UK the central political issue of the coming decade. Northern Ireland is already heading for the exit door.

“By remaining in the EU single market, it is for all economic intents and purposes now slowly becoming part of a united Ireland. Its prosperity now depends on its relationship with Dublin (and Brussels), not London. The politics will follow,” he wrote on Tuesday.

Mr Osborne said unionists in Northern Ireland had always feared Britain was not sufficiently committed to their cause.

“Now their short-sighted support for Brexit (and unbelievably stupid decision to torpedo Theresa May’s deal that avoided separate Irish arrangements) has made those fears a reality. It pains me to report that most here and abroad will not care.”

The departure of Scotland from the UK would be a more serious matter, he implies, and it would represent the end of the United Kingdom “with no disrespect to the Welsh”.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/b ... -1.4463045

at leayst we got ar soverenitie

Memento Mori wrote:Things are looking pretty good.

Dutch TV news has aired footage of customs officers confiscating ham sandwiches from drivers arriving by ferry from the UK under post-Brexit rules banning personal imports of meat and dairy products into the EU.

Officials wearing high-visibility jackets are shown explaining to startled car and lorry drivers at the Hook of Holland ferry terminal that since Brexit, “you are no longer allowed to bring certain foods to Europe, like meat, fruit, vegetables, fish, that kind of stuff.”

To a bemused driver with several sandwiches wrapped in tin foil who asked if he could maybe surrender the meat and keep just the bread, one customs officer replied: “No, everything will be confiscated. Welcome to Brexit, sir, I’m sorry.”

This reminds me of the time I was strawberry floating terrified I accidentally imported some cheese into Japan in a sandwhich I took on a plane and forgot to eat.

I just threw it away and they were totally cool with all the sweets and canned food I brought with me. Probably because Western tourists = $$$ just as Japanese tourists are over here.

twitter.com/GeorgePeretzQC/status/1352013965115715584

What a strawberry floating mess. :fp:

Isn't that the London underground route map?

Victor Mildew wrote:Isn't that the London underground route map?

Yes. The UK is Swansea.

Moggy wrote:
Victor Mildew wrote:Isn't that the London underground route map?

Yes. The UK is Swansea.

Would breaking up the UK be so bad for the member nations?

I'm not an expert but it has always seemed like Scotland has resented English rule since 1707. The countries have only be bound for 300 years. ROI achieved independence less than a century ago and sectarian violence has cooled in the last 20 years. Is Catholic v Protestent resentment still deep?

Wales I guess is a little more complicated because it has been joined with England for over 800 years and doesn't have the GDP to support itself.

Well if there's one thing I've learned in my time of living here, is that the Welsh love England and would be devastated if the UK was to be broken up.

For me the economy isn't the most important consideration - the political and social differences are - but for what it's worth I think the economic arguments for staying in the UK have really weakened since Brexit. There would be some hard decisions to make in the first few years, but long-term Scotland and Wales are going to do better as small states in the EU than they are going to be with England. England might be bigger and richer, and that would be an argument if it made sensible and supportive political decisions, but it doesn't.

The best solution is a Celtic Union. Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Cornwall banding together.

And hopefully the borders of Cornwall can be extended so Bristol can join.

Agreed, economy is the hurdle that needs to be gotten over because there will undoubtedly be a significant amount of pain involved in separation for either Scotland or Wales but I cannot see a scenario where it isn't worth it for the myriad other benefits it brings.

Not only has Brexit made it more obvious that independence is the right way to go, but the desperate and ongoing slide to the right that is happening in England is something that anyone in Wales or Scotland should be doing their utmost to put create as much distance from as possible.

I'd definitely vote for independence in Wales if it meant being able to join the EU again (assuming there's no extra fuckery that doing so would bring, like the uninformed leave campain).

Moggy wrote:

twitter.com/DrownedinSound/status/1351794639393742849

Looks like he got fooled again

Scotland does a lot more trade with England than the EU - I actually think Brexit has weakened the independence economic argument while strengthening the societal one.

Moggy wrote:The best solution is a Celtic Union. Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Cornwall banding together.

And hopefully the borders of Cornwall can be extended so Bristol can join.

I always thought Switzerland had the right idea.

If I was PM I'd split England up into smaller prefectures (based on the old kingdoms to get the support of the older folk) and then let each one govern roughly independently with a federal assembly to oversee things like currency, culture and defence.

The parliament would be proportional representation from across the prefectures.

Id replace the Lord's with a citizen's Assembly that was offered like Jury Duty with people paid to stand but also expenses covered. The citizens Assembly would be based in York.

I'd also abolish 90% of the monarchy with only the first-born getting any benefits and transfer ownership of their estate over to a non-profit 'Royal Heritage' organisation who look after it for tourism's sake.

this is exactly what the Conservatives dont want and so it will never happen...

Brexit Thread 3 - Project Reality

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