** The Brexit Thread ** - 'Brexit Means Brexit'

[Bonefishblues]

Now our esteemed Foreign Secretary Mr. Johnson is saying borders between countries are no different to borders between London boroughs lets hope he tries to walk across the border between North and South Korea.

He's not, is he? And Trump is castigated for alternative facts...

http://uk.businessinsider.com/boris-joh ... xit-2018-2

What a load of male chicken.

[reohn2]

(shameless re-post)

Wonderful

+1
bububut* how did ships get into his very important train wreck?
I suspect someone's trying to derail the process


*which if you say it quickly enough sounds like pu,pu,put,which sounds like a motor boat enough,which can be termed as a ship of sorts,bu,bu,but not a train,which goes choo,choo,choo.
I just wanted to be clear on that.

[Bonefishblues]

Obvious relevance is obvious. Here is a Brexit Ship doing what it does best:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDiuqcx-vpI

[reohn2]

Obvious relevance is obvious. Here is a Brexit Ship doing what it does best:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDiuqcx-vpI

And the Turks aren't even in the EU..... .....yet!

PS,bes not show that to a supporter of brexit,what with all the kerfuffle about Turkey joining an' voting for Christmas an' everyfink

[Stevek76]

Well today's speech hasn't provided much extra material. Minimal progression in thought from the previous one.

That aside, I'm finding it somewhat concerning that May's response to questions like "Is it worth it?" is not "Yes" or "No" or anything else that answers the question but instead is a along the lines that the decision is done and final and that she's being straight with people.

Though not straight in terms of all the forecasts she has that are all telling her it's going to be damaging to the country.

Rather strikes of sticking fingers in ears and going 'la la la la'...

[roubaixtuesday]

As the Brexit fantasy slowly and excruciatingly collides with reality, Theresa May today announced we want to be in the European Medicines Agency, EMA, post Brexit. This is sensible. However:

1. Now, we're in EMA. No change.

2. Now, EMA headquarters are in London. We benefit from that investment. EMA have already announced that they are moving to Amsterdam because of Brexit. Worse off.

3. Now, we get to input to EMA regulations. We don't know if they'll agree to a full role in this post Brexit. Best case: no change.

4. The European Court of Justice will continue to adjudicate any disputes over EMA regulations. We have ECJ judges now but will not have post Brexit. Worse off.

5. We will have to pay to be a member of EMA. As reinstating our own regulation system would be massively more expensive than any price demanded (and likely not even possible) they have us over a barrel. We'll pay through the nose. Worse off.

6. All this depends on the good will of the EU to allow us to stay in. They don't have to.

Medicines regulation is a microcosm of Brexit.

What we're doing is stupid, expensive, risky and leaves us with *less* control than we had before.

[661-Pete]

Which is what Treeza just cannot see....

[Psamathe]

As the Brexit fantasy slowly and excruciatingly collides with reality, Theresa May today announced we want to be in the European Medicines Agency, EMA, post Brexit. This is sensible. However:

1. Now, we're in EMA. No change.

2. Now, EMA headquarters are in London. We benefit from that investment. EMA have already announced that they are moving to Amsterdam because of Brexit. Worse off.

3. Now, we get to input to EMA regulations. We don't know if they'll agree to a full role in this post Brexit. Best case: no change.

4. The European Court of Justice will continue to adjudicate any disputes over EMA regulations. We have ECJ judges now but will not have post Brexit. Worse off.

5. We will have to pay to be a member of EMA. As reinstating our own regulation system would be massively more expensive than any price demanded (and likely not even possible) they have us over a barrel. We'll pay through the nose. Worse off.

6. All this depends on the good will of the EU to allow us to stay in. They don't have to.

Medicines regulation is a microcosm of Brexit.

What we're doing is stupid, expensive, risky and leaves us with *less* control than we had before.

And one of the UK's strength is it's pharma industries. If you were an international pharma company would you chose to invest/expand in the UK or in EU?



Ian

[roubaixtuesday]

If you were an international pharma company would you chose to invest/expand in the UK or in EU?

Full disclosure: I work for a major pharma; as such it's not really appropriate for me to comment directly on our investment plans.

The industry has a wide range of concerns over Brexit, set out here:

https://www.abpi.org.uk/what-we-do/poli ... nt/brexit/

It's fair to say there are no arguments promoted for how Brexit will encourage pharma investment in the UK.

Incidentally, I was at our facility in Gothenburg this week. They think we're completely nuts.

[mercalia]

an interesting article from the Guardian summarising the causes of Brexit, put here for reference so it aint lost

" Tony Blair’s government decided to open the UK labour market to the eight eastern and central European countries that had joined the EU. Only two other member states, Sweden and Ireland, did so as freely. Between 5,000 and 13,000 migrants were expected; within the first year, 129,000 turned up. Blair and other senior Labour figures later conceded they had made a mistake. “Nobody asked us!” said the people who felt strongly about it. (And then, in June 2016, somebody did ask.)"

"The playing fields of Eton Their damaging contribution to contemporary British politics includes David Cameron, Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg: a too-confident incompetent, an opportunist and a cartoon version of the ruling class. The first is especially hard to forgive."

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/03/brexit-immigration-jobs-eton-europe?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=GU+Today+main+NEW+H+categories&utm_term=266109&subid=23601318&CMP=EMCNEWEML6619I2


and another on the mismanagement of it

" She didn’t need to trigger article 50 a year ago. It was an absurd act of political machismo. She should have worked out Britain’s detailed and agreed stance first, then started negotiations. To do it the other way around was nothing less than political malpractice."

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/02/theresa-may-brexit-mess?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=GU+Today+main+NEW+H+categories&utm_term=266109&subid=23601318&CMP=EMCNEWEML6619I2

[Psamathe]

Interesting development giving a useful indication as to what we can expect from our hoped for future best buddy for a "free trade deal".

Trump threatens UK's steel industry with punitive tariffs
The UK can hide behind the EU for now but will soon have to learn some hard lessons about life outside the block
...
The UK's embattled steel industry is going to get hit twice through the planned imposition of swinging 25 per cent import tariffs by the US.

There will be the damage caused to the industry's sales to America - the UK sends £360m worth of high value steel product across the Atlantic. That's 15 per cent of the industry's total exports that will be made uncompetitive.
...
“We are one of its (the US’s) oldest and closest allies,” lamented UK Steel in response to the news. ....

As to the first point, an old ally of the US the UK may be but the ‘special relationship’ is a myth and basing an appeal to Mr Trump’s better nature on it isn't going to get the UK very far.

Yet Dr Fox and his fellow fantasists seem to keep believing we are going to get this fabulous trade deal from the Us, answer to all our prayers, etc.

Ian

[PDQ Mobile]

I think Liam Fox may have simple personal motives for not wishing to have scrutiny from the EU about some of the arms deals/sales that he is involved with.
Arms are his area, and IMHO his main interests are and have been furthering his personal wealth.

[reohn2]

Liam Fox,what can I say,well I could say a lot but it'd need moderation so I won't bother

[thirdcrank]

With regard to US import tariffs, I fancy it's a case of "You ain't seen nothing yet."

It's something that can quickly turn through tit-for-tat sanctions to full-scale protectionism. Among supporters of brexit there seems to be a feeling that trading on WTO terms is our best prospect and one that guarantees the free trade we need. It looks as though Donald is going to put the WTO in the document shredder.

We've been there before, of course, and the results weren't good. That time round, there was no China and the rest of the Far East involved as they are today. Another lurking issue is the unwinding of quantitative easing with more Monopoly money in the system than Waddingtons could have printed in a million years.

[ncutler]

What I think is:

http://nickpix.org.uk/brexit-blues/