Article 50 Discussion

[tobyjugg2]

You did HB, but his main article on FT is paywalled

[honeybee13]

That's the problem with the FT, good journos but almost everything is paywalled and their subscription is expensive. There's a lot of information in the tweet though.

[honeybee13]

Now Amal Clooney has gone, with support from the International Bar Association.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/18/amal-clooney-quits-uk-envoy-role-over-lamentable-brexit-bill

[tobyjugg2]

anyone with a shred of decency ...

 

and When you look at the damning cross party public accounts committee report on Priti monstrous' antics,

with no apparent progress following a damning critical National Audit Office report, which was released in June :

 

"has drawn up immigration policies on “anecdote, assumption and prejudice” instead of relying on evidence"

 

"the report painted a “very accurate picture of a clueless, careless and cold-hearted Home Office. It is but the latest in a slew of reports to slam the Home Office’s working culture and practices.”"

 

" the committee said in summary that Home Office’s officials had “no idea” what its £400m annual spending on immigration enforcement achieves."

 

Sounds like they should be sacked and the wasted £400M budget go to the #realNHStestandtrace

 

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/sep/18/home-office-policies-based-anecdotes-prejudice-damning-report

[tobyjugg2]

allegedly overheard at a site @ Downing street a couple of weeks ago

 

first lying self serving toerag:  Dom - those darned European foreigners are making absurd threats

second lying self serving toerag:  What threats are they? and why should we care?

 

first lying self serving toerag:  Those damned Europeans are expecting me to actually implement my great deal

second lying self serving toerag:  Your great deal?

 

first lying self serving toerag:  Yes

second lying self serving toerag:  ... so why should I care?

[tobyjugg2]

https://www.repubblica.it/esteri/2020/09/20/news/the_mystery_of_boris_johnson_s_trip_to_perugia_-267989244/

 

"There is a new mystery surrounding Boris Johnson. During the weekend of the 12th and 13th September, the British premier is reported to have secretly been in Perugia, Italy. An official statement of the local airport dated September 17th claims that Mr Johnson was in Perugia “over the past few days”

 

"In the past, Johnson had frequented several times Umbria’s main town, mostly to visit his longtime friend Evgeny Lebedev, 40 years old, a Russian-British businessman and editor of the London newspaper “Evening Standard”, well known also for his famous weekend parties at his majestic estates in Umbria. "

 

"Earlier in the morning of Friday September 11th, the British Prime Minister was reputed to working in Downing Street. Later that day, the PM also had a Zoom call with 256 Tory MPs on Brexit: Johnson’s Internet line was remarkably poor that evening and broke down for about 20 minutes. "When Johnson came back on the line he joked that he should probably invest in gigabit broadband”, an MP told “Politics Home”

 

 

Downing street are denying ... on behalf of Boris the Liar

[honeybee13]

I'm not up to speed on this. Is the problem that he went to Italy which doesn't seem to be on the 'no travel' list or that Perugia is close to Lebedev's sumptuous villa please?

[tobyjugg2]

I thinks its more WT... is he doing going to (allegedly) wild parties abroad while there's a crisis

.. undoubtedly more than 6 people, no social distancing, no masks 

Then coming back into the UK with herpes ... or worse ... Covid

...

 

Don't tell me, the UK's social distancing requirements dont apply there and any there don't apply as he has diplomatic immunity ... or some such excuse

Edited September 21, 2020 by tobyjugg2

[honeybee13]

There's always an excuse except for the rest of us. £1000 to £10,000 for the serfs.

[tobyjugg2]

Yes, interesting that after cummings 'clarified the rules'

all those ordinary folk who had been fined for breaching lockdown in similar ways were still fined ... despite Johnson , Handcock et al  assuring everyone that Cummings interpretation was the correct one ..

[tobyjugg2]

Perhaps its all part of Cummings, Handcock and Johnsons plan

Undermine lockdowns so thoroughly that everyone says s*d this - I'me off out

.. and the herd is culled as actually intended

 

Must be getting really difficult for them to prevent all the labs increasing their capacity after all these months - or is it there and he's just saving them for the 'worthy'

 

I mean - he's gone to the extreme of trashing the UK's trading reputation to make it more difficult for the UK to get materials on credit

at this rate he'll be imposing months of blockades at the ports next - and blaming everyone else of course ...

Edited September 21, 2020 by tobyjugg2

[cjcregg]

2 hours ago, honeybee13 said:

I'm not up to speed on this. Is the problem that he went to Italy which doesn't seem to be on the 'no travel' list or that Perugia is close to Lebedev's sumptuous villa please?

 

If you're referring to the Johnson 'sighting' in Perugia, it's bull$hit.

 

The local's mistook Tony Blair for him.

[honeybee13]

It's not looking good for freight crossing the Channel and it's all the fault of the hauliers and the French if they won't ignore EU rules after the transition period.

 

This isn't what Gove was saying not that long ago, a few people have posted videos of what he said back then.

 

https://www.politico.eu/article/michael-gove-2-day-brexit-border-chaos-uk-france/

[tobyjugg2]

Soon to  be (and practiced) reality vs populist rhetoric

 

Edited September 23, 2020 by tobyjugg2

[tobyjugg2]

Brexit costs: How much has Brexit cost the UK? Is it more than the EU membership bill?

 

Dunno the current (higher) figures, but heres a VERY conservative estimate from January this year which do NOT take into account the extra costs since Johnsons hugely damaging acts

- From the referendum to the end of 2019, with estimates into 2020 - Brexit cost projected by Bloomberg at £200Billion - and rising

-  £23Billion pounds MORE than the entire UK net contributions to the EU in over 45 years - and rising

 

According to estimates from Bloomberg, the cost of Brexit to the UK will reach £200 billion in 2020.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-01-10/brexit-bulletin-eu-exit-has-already-cost-britain-170-billion

 

Figures from a House of Commons library document puts the UK’s net contribution to the European Union and European Commission budget over 45 years at around £163 billion.

Adding in the estimated net contribution for 2019 this rises to £177 billion.

 

That means Brexit, in just the 3 years from the referendum up to 2019, had already cost the UK 23 BILLION pounds more than the UK's total net contributions to the EU budget over 45 years even without the expected damage to trade.

 

see also:

https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1235498/brexit-costs-so-far-how-much-has-brexit-cost-eu-membership-divorce-bill

 

 

[honeybee13]

Someone else has calculated that Brexit will cost twice as much as Covid.

[tobyjugg2]

those figures I gave were the projected costs of Brexit with a deal

 

Since then there is much to add - for starters

 

* the £7-10BILLION a year in extra customs paperwork/red tape cost - split between industry (passed on to the customer/taxpayer) and the taxpayer

 

* The extra cost OF tariffs which wasn't included

 

"Under the new arrangements introduced as part of the government £705 million spending spree to develop the UK's borders after Brexit, traders could be inundated with 215 million pieces of paperwork every year, the FT suggests.

 

The paper also estimated companies could face a £32.50 surcharge for processing each customs declaration.

 

A 230-page blueprint released by Downing Street detailing how the customs system would work showed that hauliers will have to submit a customs declaration form for exports before heading to any British port from January 1. The same will apply to lorries carrying goods into Britain from July 1."

 

 

Example Car of manufacturers

Car manufacturers are (limited) guaranteeing orders placed prices for a certain time period, eg ordered by end of october this year; will be honoured - but many of these 'offers' exclude any extra tariff costs which 'will be billed separately..

 

IE:

"Jaguar has confirmed it will not backdate tariff costs on cars that are registered before 31 December, guaranteeing prices at that date. This is slightly different to guaranteeing prices at the point of order, since registration can be delayed until significantly after the order date. It appears that cars ordered very close to the EU exit date may risk not being protected by the offer, making their buyers vulnerable to extra bills."

 

"Ford adopts a similar position to the Volkswagen Group, stating that all prices on orders will be guaranteed, except in the case of tariffs. If tariffs are applied, Ford said these will be passed onto the consumer"

 

Many others (PSA,smart,etc) have declared tariff costs will be passed on

 

Toyota and Nissan (and Rolls Royce and Bentley) have not declared their tariff cost intents as far as I am aware, but Toyota have declared to the asian nikei that Brexit could result in them leaving the UK in 2023 and Nissan has said that UK manufacturing is 'unsustainable' under a no deal Brexit with as little as 10% tariffs

 

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/industry/how-car-firms-will-alter-their-prices-post-brexit

 

Edited September 24, 2020 by tobyjugg2

[tobyjugg2]

and some good news for consumers

Government defeated in Lords over plans to lower post-Brexit food import standards

The government has been heavily defeated in the Lords in a cross-party move to guarantee high food standards post-Brexit.

 

"Peers backed by a majority of 95 a change to the Agriculture Bill aimed at blocking the import of foodstuffs produced abroad at lower animal welfare standards."

 

"Voting was 307 to 212 for an amendment requiring food products imported under future trade deals to meet or exceed domestic standards"

- which is actually the Brexiters simply being held to their brexit claims and prevents UK farmers being undermined.

 

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-food-standards-house-lords-government-deal-b537450.html

Johnson will now undoubtedly try to lower the standards for the whole country - more openly

 

Edited September 24, 2020 by tobyjugg2

[tobyjugg2]

Breaking:

Gove: Police to stop lorries without permits entering Kent in new 'internal border'

"Police will patrol the Kent border to turn away lorries without an “access permit” in a bid to ease Brexit border chaos, it has been revealed."

 

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-kent-internal-border-police-patrol-lorries-b552680.html

 

"Michael Gove said officers will use automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras and “other means” to block drivers – in what will be seen as an “internal border” in the UK.

 

The move would try to ensure “constituents are not inconvenienced”, he told MPs, after warning of 7,000-long lorry queues and two-day delays to cross the Channel."

Edited September 24, 2020 by tobyjugg2

[tobyjugg2]

more info

"The Kent Access Permit was included in a consultation on the legislative changes that would be needed to enforce Operation Brock, the traffic management system for Kent in the case of no-deal.

It explains that hauliers using designated roads in Kent leading to the Port of Dover and Eurotunnel must be in possession of a digital permit.

Each permit would be valid for 24 hours to cover a single trip."

 

"Fines could be handed out on the spot with UK drivers having up to 28 days to pay. If a driver refused to pay, their HCV could be impounded."

 

https://www.politicshome.com/news/article/police-kent-border-patrol-brexit-paperwork

 

OPINION:

Passport to Pimlico Kent :

Taking back control of our borders with visas and permits to visit Kent from across the border in .. East Sussex

[honeybee13]

How will they know it's a cross channel lorry and not one making local deliveries?

[unclebulgaria67]

I think there is some online registration system for any cross channel lorry.  But if this is a requirement, not sure how this would work. If a lorry crossed the Kent border without any registration, would they be subject to random stops ?

[tobyjugg2]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Brock

 

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/ashford/news/m20-closures-loom-as-work-starts-on-return-of-dreaded-barrier-232518/

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/enforcing-operation-brock-plans-in-2021

 

This was apparently the result from just some police checks:

Operation Brock apparently expects just that and is imposing contra-flow on the other carriageway for all other traffic

 

Edited September 24, 2020 by tobyjugg2

[tobyjugg2]

The Brexit farce just keeps taking

 

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/brexit-banks-expats-lloyds-barclays-coutts-britain-eu-b529833.html

Thousands of Britons living in EU told their bank accounts will be closed

Lloyds, Barclays and Coutts, the Queen’s bank, have begun informing clients they will no longer be served once the transition period ends on 31 December, when Europe-wide banking agreements are expected to expire in the UK.

An absence of new arrangements for banking across the UK-EU border would require British banks to apply for separate licences in order to provide for customers in each of the 27 EU member states.

 

Some banks appear to have concluded that the logistical challenge of adapting to different sets of regulations would not make financial sense and have instead chosen to cease operating in certain countries.

 

Lloyds, which is Britain’s biggest banking group and includes Halifax and Bank of Scotland - customers based in Ireland, Germany, Portugal, the Netherlands and some smaller nations, will be stripped of their accounts.

 

 

Edited September 24, 2020 by tobyjugg2

[honeybee13]

Ann Widdecombe was asked to name a country, any country, that is sucessful while having no trade deals with nearby countries. Nearby as in within 2,000 miles. It didn't go well.

 

https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/brexit-news/westminster-news/ann-widdecombe-brexit-party-mep-on-trade-93832