Brexit - whats the difference.....

[Kroffe]

Not everything about Brexit is bad, Chopley.
I found a quote describing one of the good things.

 

[ChopleyIOM]

What a lovely commemorative Brexit heirloom that is Kroffe.

'VOTE LEAVE - We won't starve to death'

Wonder why they didn't put that on the side of the bus

 

[dunover]

Oh really? So Kylie, Kyle, Kyla and Keiron might miss their Turkey Twizzlers in the school canteen for a few days. National tragedy, I agree. Get the Oxfam enevelopes out now....

I'm seriously beginning to wonder where all this is actually supposed to be happening because since Brexit I have not personally seen or witnessed ONE example of empty shelves, shortages or noticed a single thing different from before. Funny this all seems to either stem from unfulfilled prophecies of doom by remoaners or appears in quotes from sideline snipers. There is a Haywards Strong Pickled Onions issue granted, but it appears that is either due to the manufacturer or supermarkets' own stocking choices rather than lack of onions, vinegar or lorry drivers.

 

[Daavid63]

For clarity Kroffe, the answer to your question is 'no'.

Brexiters are now going through the five stages of grief, I think we're still at the 'denial' stage so quite a long way to go.

Grief, only in your mind and your world. I'm happy as Larry ?

 

[dunover]

Grief, only in your mind and your world. I'm happy as Larry ?

That's because Larry (the Lamb) is happily gambolling and frolicking in the green fields, as due to the EU paperwork stupidity he now cannot be exported to France for human consumption.

 

[mack341]

Within the bounds of the uk cannot van drivers be hired to lend a hand with distribution, we surely still produce a lot of our own food ( cheese, fruiit, meat, poultry, fish veg etc..) so is it not a matter of getting it from A to B? Might have to make several smaller journeys criss-crossing.

 

[bamberfishcake]

Honestly asking, like have they laid out some sort of plan/budget on how to spend the money that previously went to EU on UK projects instead?

I think it's been earmarked as a donation to India's much-needed Space Project, a subject close to the UK's governments heart.

On a more serious note, I agree with Dunover. Since the media propaganda and scare tactics around Brexit, I've witnessed zero effects at ground level and seeing is believing.

I find it hard to shed a tear for a Salmon wholesaler who has probably never fished in his life selling overpriced stale fish in fancy packaging to the Chinese. I'm sure Mummy and Daddy will help him through the hard times.

Shortage on kids dinners? Come on, let's get real. There are so many blindingly obvious reasons why that is pie in the sky.

 

[ChopleyIOM]

Brexit, a short story in three parts.

 

[geordiecolin]

I find it hard to shed a tear for a Salmon wholesaler who has probably never fished in his life selling overpriced stale fish in fancy packaging to the Chinese.

Thanks to global warming half of my town is said to be under water soon so at last my local Morrisons will have some proper fresh fish

 

[ChopleyIOM]

'This isn't the Brexit I voted for!'

 

[mack341]

Just read that europe also has a hgv driver shortage, 400,000 and the uk's is 75,000. Part of the blame is the test centres being closed due to lockdowns?

 

[mack341]

RHA website:

This is why we’re calling for a HGV driving tests to be given top priority by DVLA.

​

Last year, 40,000 of these tests were cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, meaning that the industry has not been able to bring new truckers into the industry. It’s absolutely vital that this backlog be cleared as quickly as possible.

 

[bamberfishcake]

Speaks louder than any newspaper clipping.

Still waiting on shortages. Won't stockpile to encourage the inflated problem until I see there is one.

 

[ChopleyIOM]

Just read that europe also has a hgv driver shortage, 400,000 and the uk's is 75,000. Part of the blame is the test centres being closed due to lockdowns?

Yes, as I've readily acknowledged time and time again mack, it's a complex and multi-faceted problem, of which Brexit is one component.

Let's turn it on its head, does anyone think Brexit is improving the situation?

Is every single industry figure who's calling out Brexit as a negative factor in the current driver shortage wrong? None of them know what they're talking about? It's all fabrication and nonsense?

 

[ChopleyIOM]

Speaks louder than any newspaper clipping.

Still waiting on shortages. Won't stockpile to encourage the inflated problem until I see there is one.

You know bamber, it's possible for something to be true even if you've never seen or experienced it yourself.

Crazy I know

 

[mack341]

Yes, as I've readily acknowledged time and time again mack, it's a complex and multi-faceted problem, of which Brexit is one component.

Let's turn it on its head, does anyone think Brexit is improving the situation?

Is every single industry figure who's calling out Brexit as a negative factor in the current driver shortage wrong? None of them know what they're talking about? It's all fabrication and nonsense?

A temporary or short term affect that will be remedied in time I think is the situation and likely outcome, the headlines are pointing the finger at brexit without the other contributing context though. I had not seen the tests cancelled point made in the thread -but I might have missed it- so considered it new factual information relevant to this discussion.

Just as the scottish indy people have not accepted defeat, I expect remain or rejoin also will pursue their objectives, through mainly the newspapers at first, it's one thing reporting news and quotes etc it's another running a kind of campaign using selective sources and by omission explanations, the guardian & independent will do it, also the others like the times but a bit more subtly.

 

[ChopleyIOM]

A temporary or short term affect that will be remedied in time I think is the situation and likely outcome, the headlines are pointing the finger at brexit without the other contributing context though. I had not seen the tests cancelled point made in the thread -but I might have missed it- so considered it new factual information relevant to this discussion.

Just as the scottish indy people have not accepted defeat, I expect remain or rejoin also will pursue their objectives, through mainly the newspapers at first, it's one thing reporting news and quotes etc it's another running a kind of campaign using selective sources and by omission explanations, the guardian & independent will do it, also the others like the times but a bit more subtly.

I'm not expecting rejoining the EU to happen any time soon, if ever, it'd be nice to see moves towards rejoining the Single Market or Customs Union though, as that would remove most of the pain for UK Plc but also keep the UK out of the evil EU.

It's a case that could be made at some point hopefully, given that it's become blatantly obvious that the supposed benefits of Brexit have all turned out to be a nonsense, so we may as well try and get some of the good stuff back.

 

[ChopleyIOM]

David Frost has changed his bio on Twitter, now on the plus side, he's being honest, on the downside, he's about five years too late.

I wonder how Vote Leave would have gone if the side of the bus had read, 'It's gonna cost you guv'nor, each and every single one of you'.

 

[geordiecolin]

Yes, as I've readily acknowledged time and time again mack, it's a complex and multi-faceted problem, of which Brexit is one component.

Let's turn it on its head, does anyone think Brexit is improving the situation?

Is every single industry figure who's calling out Brexit as a negative factor in the current driver shortage wrong? None of them know what they're talking about? It's all fabrication and nonsense?

If you where presented with evidence that Brexit was not to blame for the truck driver crisis would you drop your bone?

It goes back much further that Britain left the EU single market because driver decline has declined for about 20 years.
In 2018:-
“In Germany, the DSLV transport union reports that in the next 15 years, two-thirds of drivers will retire. Germany is facing a shortage of 45,000 truck drivers, with around 30,000 leaving the profession every year. This compares with only 2,000 people receiving truck-driving qualifications each year.”

It is a fact that the DVLA has not been processing licences due to covid restrictions but that has only added to the problem and is not the cause of the problem.
Remember that we have lived by the "just in time" method of transportation in business due to businesses not wishing to have to much eccess stock for obvious reasons-only the cash rich can afford to stock pile Chops.

As well as what I post below we can add what these drivers went through and why they left the profession during covid. They had nowhere to eat,sleep of have a shit because all roadside services where close down.
Shit pay,no quality of life and away from family at a time when their families where shit scared and needed them at home the most. On top of that drivers found themselves at risk and where often finding themselves locked down,unable to move to get back to home.
Would you have continued being a long distance driver during the pandemic scare?
America are looking for drivers from abroad too.
I think that it highlights those getting paid big wages without any merit while those who we truely rely on have historically been paid shit wages.

Here is the proof that the HGV problem is not due to Brexit

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[ChopleyIOM]

I've answered this already.

No one, including me, is claiming that the HGV driver problem is solely down to Brexit.

Brexit is a contributing factor in a complex, multi-faceted situation.

Brexit - whats the difference..... - Page 173 - Casinomeister Forum

 

[dunover]

I've answered this already.

No one, including me, is claiming that the HGV driver problem is solely down to Brexit.

Brexit is a contributing factor in a complex, multi-faceted situation.

Brexit - whats the difference..... - Page 173 - Casinomeister Forum

LOL.. a bit early in the morning for your daily pint of bitter?

 

[ChopleyIOM]

Well I've addressed that point (or variations of it) about sixty five billion times already.

If I'm called to investigate a client's server that's 'running slow' and one of the first things I notice is that disk performance is degraded because of a problem with the RAID array, but on further investigation I also discover that its network port is misconfigured and not delivering optimal throughput, I haven't just proven that the disks are nothing to do with it, I've simply found an extra contributing factor to the overall problem.

geordie says he's proven Brexit has nothing to do with the UK HGV driver issue because other countries also have issues with driver shortages, which is just, y'know, wrong.

 

[geordiecolin]

LOL.. a bit early in the morning for your daily pint of bitter?

I would suggest that having one of HGV drivers perks moving over to OnlyFans during the last 18 months hasn't relieved matters ( or the drivers) much

 

[ChopleyIOM]

A quite remarkable admission by David Frost in his speech today regarding the Northern Ireland Protocol, which shows that the government either didn't realise what it was signing up to, or had no intention of implementing what it was signing up to.

Absolute shower of incompetent idiots.

Dear bank, I must reject your offer of “flexibility” in my loan repayment schedule. I am having problems because I am repaying the loan, not because I am not. My problems stem from the requirement to repay the loan at all; “flexibility” simply will not cut it…

 

[Daavid63]

'This isn't the Brexit I voted for!'

View attachment 158263

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Shhhhhhhh
?

 

[Mr_Slot5]

Some people seem hell bent on shoehorning Brexit as the cause for every negative thing that affects the UK.

Can’t you please just give it a rest for once. It’s getting desperate and embarrassing at this point. Always amazes me how agenda driven some people can be.

 

[ChopleyIOM]

Some people seem hell bent on shoehorning Brexit as the cause for every negative thing that affects the UK.

Can’t you please just give it a rest for once. It’s getting desperate and embarrassing at this point. Always amazes me how agenda driven some people can be.

'Brexit chat in Brexit thread shocker'

Brexit is having real, clear, evidenced and ongoing negative effects on the UK in a wide variety of areas. Is it responsible for 'every negative thing' that's happening? No of course it isn't, and I'm not making that claim.

I'll continue to post in this thread about Brexit as I see fit, if Bryan wants to shut it down then it's his house and therefore his prerogative to do so, outside of that though, you're free to not read or respond to it as you see fit

 

[ChopleyIOM]

British businesses to spend £7.5bn per year from now on filling in forms due to the new red tape and bureaucracy involved in trading with the EU - this result is described as 'not materially different to a No Deal Brexit'.

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I was watching a video earlier today where Owen Jones (insert your comment expressing your hatred of him here) asked his guests what they felt about one of the core claims of Brexit being that it would lead to a 'bonfire of red tape' and they pretty much just pissed themselves laughing, before going on to explain that the Brexit chosen by May and seen to a conclusion by Johnson was always going to lead to a nightmare of filling in forms again that had thought to have been consigned to history.

 

[cncas2123]

A reality check:

No drivers anywhere in Europe because we had lockdown for a year, which meant no training no test.
Supermarket shelves are not going empty, at least not in Belfast anyway even though NI is now getting the worst possible interpretation of the NI Protocol. I was in Tesco and Lidl today, loads of stuff on the shelves and they even had cages of goodies ready to be packed into the shelves if they did go empty.
Maybe now should be the time to go back to Europe and say stuff your deal and have the no deal Brexit if what is happening now is worse than a no deal?
And democracy won in the end, Brexit was voted for by the majority and Brexit is happening, so get over it Owen and all your Marxist chums.

When this thread was started, it was to ask the question of the plan Corbyn was putting forward, which wasnt anything like Brexit as it meant staying in the common market and not really leaving the EU, it wasnt meant to be observational or a running commentary on each day post Brexit, so maybe it is time to lock this one and create a new one where Chopley can update us each and every day on the evils of Brexit and why the UK should go back and beg forgiveness.....

 

[ChopleyIOM]

An open debate works two ways, there's no reason folks can't update this thread with all the good stuff that Brexit has enabled (I appreciate it's difficult to find things that fall into that category though.)

If I'd had a pound for every time I've been told to 'get over it' I'd have enough money to consider playing the PnG slots at Twin Casino, I have got over it, Brexit has happened, the UK is out of the EU, and I suspect that will remain the case for a decade or two to come, at least. You guys won, be happy, celebrate the success, report on the all the stuff it's made better!

On the other side of that coin though, it's entirely reasonable to analyse the aftermath of Brexit, and consider its impact, what has it made better, what has it made worse, are there lessons we can learn for the future?

Democracy prevailed, Leave won the referendum and in due course the UK left the EU, but those of us who were on the Remain side are entirely free to question how things have panned out in a free and open debate, because that also, by definition, is democracy.

 

[paul7388]

This thread must stay open.

Every day i have to check it to see what Chopley has now blamed on Brexit and from what "reliable" source it has been quoted.

Nothing against you Chopley but the obsession of trying to blame everything on brexit is something else. You must spend some amount of time searching the internet for anything to grasp on to to try and show how bad brexit is.

There was a time when you used to tell people that what they posted was not true and from unreliable sources. Yet now it seems you see anything against Brexit and post it no matter what rag it is in.

Like i said i actually find this thread amusing seeing what lengths people will go to to try and prove a point so please keep it open.

 

[ChopleyIOM]

This thread must stay open.

Every day i have to check it to see what Chopley has now blamed on Brexit and from what "reliable" source it has been quoted.

Nothing against you Chopley but the obsession of trying to blame everything on brexit is something else. You must spend some amount of time searching the internet for anything to grasp on to to try and show how bad brexit is.

There was a time when you used to tell people that what they posted was not true and from unreliable sources. Yet now it seems you see anything against Brexit and post it no matter what rag it is in.

Like i said i actually find this thread amusing seeing what lengths people will go to to try and prove a point so please keep it open.

It really doesn't take any effort at all to 'find' this stuff, (my Twitter feed basically drops all of it into my lap), it's being widely reported across many news outlets in the UK on a near constant basis, including those who were/are pro-Brexit (and are now framing what's happening as 'EU punishment').

It's like, if I were camping at the base of a massive mountain, and every day I posted a picture of the mountain, and someone said, 'Bloody hell I wonder how much time Chopley takes finding these pictures of a mountain every day?' my reply would be, 'There's a massive great mountain here, it's right in front of me, I literally just need to open my eyes and point my camera at it'.

What would you consider to be a 'reputable source' of information, out of interest? In the above example, the Chief Executive of HMRC is telling a select committee of MPs about the £7.5bn of new costs UK businesses are facing as a result of Brexit, and it's being reported in The Times (hardly a pinko lefty rag) - does that source not cross the bar as being 'reputable'?

 

[paul7388]

What would you consider to be a 'reputable source' of information, out of interest?

Well i certainly would not be quoting articles from the NYTimes about how Scottish football can no longer be competitive as reputable.

And also articles from SNP members who are proven to be liars and have a clear agenda are hardly reliable on what is truly happening.

There were also articles from the express.We could go on. All i am saying is yes Brexit may be real bad. Yes maybe the truth should be told. But posting news from sources that are going to make things as bad as they can and lie are not helping the cause. They make people think wow must be desperate today if quoting that.

 

[dunover]

Well, if a no-deal is just as bad, then it's time the UK tore up the NI Brexit protocol and put the border back to where it was in 2020. That would put the onus on the EU, as we could still honour the GFA and leave the border open as agreed, then the EU would force their member friends in Dublin to impose customs controls their side. So the GFA would not be violated by the UK, but the EU vassal state, the RoI. Then the RoI would realise one of the reasons the UK voted to leave - full self-determination and independence is not possible if you sell your soul to the Germans/French from Belgium.

The Scots and Krankie's SNP pals should take note too - moaning about (hardly the case now on most matters) 'rule' from Westminster which they would eschew to have a hard border between Scotland and the rest of the UK, customs posts at Berwick and their ambition re-join the EU (impossible with their debt and borrowing right now anyway) to swap the few powers Westminster has for multitudes of EU laws and rules and be far less 'independent' than they were when in the UK, only this time it's not their fellow English-speaking islanders who would have a small amount of say in Scotland, but a load of French-speaking foreigners twice as far away as Westminster is. If you thought UKIP peddled a load of bollocks as @ChopleyIOM keeps pointing out, they've nothing on the nonsense wee Krankie talks.

 

[Mr_Slot5]

Well, if a no-deal is just as bad, then it's time the UK tore up the NI Brexit protocol and put the border back to where it was in 2020. That would put the onus on the EU, as we could still honour the GFA and leave the border open as agreed, then the EU would force their member friends in Dublin to impose customs controls their side. So the GFA would not be violated by the UK, but the EU vassal state, the RoI. Then the RoI would realise one of the reasons the UK voted to leave - full self-determination and independence is not possible if you sell your soul to the Germans/French from Belgium.

The Scots and Krankie's SNP pals should take note too - moaning about (hardly the case now on most matters) 'rule' from Westminster which they would eschew to have a hard border between Scotland and the rest of the UK, customs posts at Berwick and their ambition re-join the EU (impossible with their debt and borrowing right now anyway) to swap the few powers Westminster has for multitudes of EU laws and rules and be far less 'independent' than they were when in the UK, only this time it's not their fellow English-speaking islanders who would have a small amount of say in Scotland, but a load of French-speaking foreigners twice as far away as Westminster is. If you thought UKIP peddled a load of bollocks as @ChopleyIOM keeps pointing out, they've nothing on the nonsense wee Krankie talks.

As my dad says, the penny will drop for a lot of the Scottish if/when they get their independence.

Personally I don't think it'll ever happen.

 

[ChopleyIOM]

Well, if a no-deal is just as bad, then it's time the UK tore up the NI Brexit protocol and put the border back to where it was in 2020.

Forgive me for the selective quoting dunover but that's not how reverting to No Deal works, if we do that then we lose the Free Trade Agreement (which had 'no tariffs' as its main win, remember), which if lost renders even more UK businesses (those who haven't already given up trading with the EU) completely non-viable.

The current arrangement with a whole new avalanche of red tape and forms to fill in is bad enough, throw tariffs into the mix and we're into a fresh hell world of pain.

This is hurting on both sides by the way, many smaller EU businesses have simply stopped trading with the UK as they can't justify the time/cost any longer, but at least they still have the rest of the EU to trade with, in the UK we've basically chopped our own legs off.

Brexit has now been reduced to 'You can't blame that shit thing entirely on Brexit' - seriously, where's the good stuff we were promised?

For the record, whilst I admire, in a strange sort of way, the granting of UK farting rights a couple of pages back, and the narrative you constructed around it, that really doesn't count when it comes to a major economy voluntarily kneecapping itself.

 

[dunover]

Forgive me for the selective quoting dunover but that's not how reverting to No Deal works, if we do that then we lose the Free Trade Agreement (which had 'no tariffs' as its main win, remember), which if lost renders even more UK businesses (those who haven't already given up trading with the EU) completely non-viable.

The current arrangement with a whole new avalanche of red tape and forms to fill in is bad enough, throw tariffs into the mix and we're into a fresh hell world of pain.

This is hurting on both sides by the way, many smaller EU businesses have simply stopped trading with the UK as they can't justify the time/cost any longer, but at least they still have the rest of the EU to trade with, in the UK we've basically chopped our own legs off.

Brexit has now been reduced to 'You can't blame that shit thing entirely on Brexit' - seriously, where's the good stuff we were promised?

For the record, whilst I admire, in a strange sort of way, the granting of UK farting rights a couple of pages back, and the narrative you constructed around it, that really doesn't count when it comes to a major economy voluntarily kneecapping itself.

And he who imports the most will make most from the reciprocal tariffs.

 

[mack341]

AC Grayling must've done about 100 tweets re brexit in September alone and we're only 6 days in ...the fury and rage driving this, how's he going to keep it up without ending up insane. I can't remember another issue attracting the same intensity with longevity, almost like brexit is causing restless nights for rejoiners like grayling.

 

[Mr_Slot5]

AC Grayling must've done about 100 tweets re brexit in September alone and we're only 6 days in ...the fury and rage driving this, how's he going to keep it up without ending up insane. I can't remember another issue attracting the same intensity with longevity, almost like brexit is causing restless nights for rejoiners like grayling.

It's really bizarre.

For some people the stewing over Brexit is seemingly doing them more damage than Brexit itself ever would/could. Madness.

 

[ChopleyIOM]

I occasionally check in on John Redwood's Twitter feed because of how utterly unhinged some of his pronouncements are, to the extent that it's often necessary to make sure I'm not looking at the John Redwood Parody account by accident.

This is a pretty good one, even by his standards.

As someone remarks in a reply, Dear Mr Redwood, blaming the EU for insisting we implement the WA & NIP that Lord Frost negotiated and the PM lauded to the nation as a great success is wearing thin.

And here's an example tweet from the parody account. Seriously, it's hard to tell the difference sometimes.

 

[mack341]

At the time most people interested in the subject of brexit thought 'how's this protocol going to work ' but the mixture of boris's enthusiastic commitment to it, fear of rocking the irish nationalist boat, and wanting to get brexit done, meant the questions weren't pursued for long by tory mps, only the unionists and kate howey.

The EU were insisting on it as well, and remember the vid where they are filmed saying we will use the issue of ireland as a tactic, I bet redwood would've been happier to vote for a different deal but that was the only one before him. There are a few get out clauses which could be activated but the eu are threatening a hissy fit were we to.

 

[ChopleyIOM]

Sorry mack I disagree that people were baffled by how the protocol would work, and the agreement on NI in general, I've posted this graphic before but it was doing the rounds when Theresa May was still PM, so before Johnson was on the scene, but the core problem never changed or went away. The graphic has been updated to account for what Johnson actually did. (i.e. Lie his arse off, as usual.)

The declaration that the UK would be leaving the EU Single Market and Customs Union made a border 100% an inevitability, this was known, it was pointed out, and it was made very clear at the time - the only variable was where that border would end up.

The UK chose to leave the EU, the UK also chose to leave the EU Single Market and Customs Union, the EU did what it had to in terms of the negotiations to protect its own interests and members, specifically Ireland in this case. The fact we had three buffoons as Brexit Secretaries/Negotiators (Davis, Raab and Frost) whereas the EU had a seasoned veteran in Barnier isn't the EU's fault, is it? (Barclay wasn't quite as bad as those three but still fundamentally failed to ever get on top of his brief.)

And no, the EU aren't threatening a 'hissy fit', they are making it clear that they will take appropriate action if the UK reneges on a legally binding international agreement that it negotiated and signed of its own free will.

I appreciate the reality of Brexit can perhaps be very disappointing when compared to the lofty rhetoric on which it was sold (I note tax rises are on the way to pay for social care, shame they couldn't just use that £350m per week eh?), but that's the problem with reality as opposed to empty lies and promises (which fundamentally is what Brexit essentially was), serial liars and incompetents such as Johnson run out of ground to peddle their bullshit, because reality is just that, and it can't be hand-waved away.

 

[mack341]

Graphs and graphics are alright but no one generally [the average member of the public] knew the details, things such as the border would prevent chilled meats from passing through, what business is it of the EU what origin of food the Northern Irish can consume.

If the application of this Protocol leads to serious economic, societal or environmental difficulties that are liable to persist, or to diversion of trade, the Union or the United Kingdom may unilaterally take appropriate safeguard measures.

Subject to negotiations within a joint eu/uk committee; this is not reneging but managing one's own affairs so that there is no material disadvantage to one part of the kingdom.


edit: A year of lockdown cost £251 billion, 50 highstreet shops a day have closed during 2021, therefore taxes have to go up, it was inevitable. The 10 billion net we will eventually save from leaving the EU is useful, but not enough on its own to fund the increase in health costs we face.

 

[Daavid63]

AC Grayling must've done about 100 tweets re brexit in September alone and we're only 6 days in ...the fury and rage driving this, how's he going to keep it up without ending up insane. I can't remember another issue attracting the same intensity with longevity, almost like brexit is causing restless nights for rejoiners like grayling.

The more restless nights the better.
I know why remainers are moaning about a shortage of HGV drivers, its because they are struggling to get Kleenex tissues to dry their tears ffs.?

 

[bamberfishcake]

'Brexit chat in Brexit thread shocker'

Must admit, that made me laugh like a madman obsessed over Brexit

This thread must stay open

Agreed, I do enjoy tuning in.

 

[ChopleyIOM]

So the UK has extended the NI 'grace periods' for the third time, and this time it's indefinitely, i.e. They see no prospect of getting this sorted out in any sort of predictable timeframe.

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So once again we're left with a deal so fantastic, so oven ready, and so 'great for Britain' that they still can't implement it two years down the line.

However, it's not necessarily a bad thing. By all accounts the EU aren't going to raise any strong objections, (the previous extension was arranged with the mutual agreement of Brussels), and the talk is that cooler heads are starting to prevail on both sides of the debate.

Also, the situation in Afghanistan has focused minds too, with both the UK and the EU realising that the Americans will just do whatever the hell they want and bollocks to everyone else, so maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea for UK/EU to be a bit friendlier, a bit more pragmatic, and stop with the sabre rattling. (On top of that, the UK has quietly acknowledged there will be no amazing trade deal with the USA, and any trade deal at all will simply be the massive USA stamping on the relatively tiny UK.)

As such, where we are now is both sides get some of what they want, for the EU the NIP remains in place, albeit not fully implemented, and for the UK, the easements and exemptions remain in place - this gives NI businesses some measure of stability and a chance to find solutions within the protocol framework going forward.

So fundamentally the can is being kicked down the road (again), but in the context of a bad situation - (a bungled Brexit that took the UK out of the Single Market and the Customs Union, with a terrible UK negotiating team agreeing to the NIP, and a lying charlatan of a Prime Minister utterly falsifying to the British people what it was he'd signed up to) - this does at least, arguably, not make it any worse, and gives some breathing room for both sides.

 

[dunover]

You beat me to it @ChopleyIOM - I was just about to mention the end to the 'Sausage Wars'! Pigs-in-Blankets all round then!

Seriously though, we haven't been out for 'two years' as you state. We actually left in full on Jan 1st. this year, when the negotiated exit deal came fully into effect. I make that just over 8 months.

Yet again, look at the root cause here. Johnson was under pressure to get whatever exit deal signed off that he could, within reason. We had been in a state of political paralysis since May failed to get an adequate majority in the 2017 snap election. Therefore the combined efforts of a few rebel Tories, the SNP and mainly the Labour turncoats (whose constituencies had massive Brexit votes but whose MP's saw fit to ignore their constituents thus paying a heavy price in the 'Red Wall' for doing so in the Dec 2019 General Election!) ensured a Brexit deal of whatever shade could NOT be actioned!

We could have been ahead of the curve now (or at least on it) IF the MP's had accepted the democractic vote and not stamped their feet and wailed with hissy fits like Jo Swinson, Sturgeon and Corbyn's marxist brigade. So as I've said a few times, this deal you criticize certainly isn't perfect, not by a long shot, but a work in progress that will need continual adjustment from both sides and a little common sense as with this issue regarding NI trade from the UK. We knew that. We were told the same.

As for the USA, like Angela Merkel I don't think Biden is fully compis mentis. He is clearly an isolationist looking for an easy tenure and it is ineed in my view heading to a situation where the USA will be in a pissing contest with their soon-to-be bigger rivals and world number one China. This means our attention will be mainly focussed on Russia, along with the rest of Europe so yes, no disagreement about the UK throwing its lot in with the EU to pursue a united strategy there. Mind you, they weren't exactly united in support (aside from words, something the EU is very good at) after Putin's almost slapstick Laurel and Hardy style attempted murders of two UK Russian expats, so we'll see...

Militarily, the UK and USA are inextricably intertwined where it comes to equipment. We are the USA's biggest overseas supplier and vice-versa. Many smaller US companies are owned by the huge BaE systems operation and several of ours by theirs. This does give the UK a fair bit of clout when it comes to any joint defence strategy with the EU, but if that were the case (and I agree we should be moving away from the US, the world has moved on now) what effect could it have on equipment? Mind you, I'm sure even British Leyland in their 70's disaster zone could have come up with something twice as good as the Ajax armoured vehicle crap which the Americans in the main and UK combined cannot get right, as you and our mates at Private Eye keep pointing out.

We have had many good joint ventures with the EU nations for pretty great defence and aerospace products in the past, like the Typhoon, Concorde, Airbus, Jaguar and Tornado (eventually got the latter one right!) The UK has constructed two state-of-the-art carriers (but not paid for enough planes yet!) and can make top notch nuclear powered subs, we along with France have an independent nuclear deterrent so yes, the infrastructure is there for a pan-European defence arrangement outside of NATO. So if it proves the US strategy is diverging from ours, it's inevitable Europe is the logical partner.

 

[Mr_Slot5]

I see more and more businesses are starting to have to increase wages, Costa being the latest at a 5% increase. Amazing what can happen when you cut off a cheap labour supply and have to increase wages to attract UK workers. Colleagues will see 500-900 GBP more in their yearly wages.

This is a good thing, we should start to see upward pressure on earnings more generally as it becomes a race to the top rather than the bottom.

Funny this, as the remainers were adamant the lower paid were turkeys voting for Christmas when they voted for Brexit!

 

[Kroffe]

I see more and more businesses are starting to have to increase wages, Costa being the latest at a 5% increase. Amazing what can happen when you cut off a cheap labour supply and have to increase wages to attract UK workers. Colleagues will see 500-900 GBP more in their yearly wages.

This is a good thing, we should start to see upward pressure on earnings more generally as it becomes a race to the top rather than the bottom.

Funny this, as the remainers were adamant the lower paid were turkeys voting for Christmas when they voted for Brexit!

Question is who will end up paying for the higher wages.
Will the CEO:s reduce their bonuses or maybe skip the golden yacht they have been eyeing so they can cover the cost, or will it be passed on to the customers, i.e things becoming more expensive.

I know who usually ends up with the short end of the stick in these situtations, and it aint the bigwigs.

 

[Kroffe]

But there are more important things on the horizon.
Like the fact that they are making a new Matrix movie 22 years after the first one.