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politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Is this proof that the DUP won’t be supporting the government

SystemSystem Posts: 11,006
edited June 2018 in General

imagepoliticalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Is this proof that the DUP won’t be supporting the government on the Customs Union amendment?

That'll be a yes, then. ????????Watch what happened when Commons Speaker John Bercow asked MPs whether they supported @stellacreasy's call for an emergency debate on the abortion law in Northern Ireland.Read more here: https://t.co/jFxFfx6GSg pic.twitter.com/malB2EgO3r

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  • Options
    RobDRobD Posts: 58,961
    Popcorn time? Thanks, TSE!
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    felixfelix Posts: 15,124
    Robert Peston is so always on the money with his predictions.
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    CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    FPT @Topping it was 5 years ago so don’t remember the details. Hadn’t met him before but was very underwhelmed. Sense of entitlement and didn’t give the impression he’d done any real work since flaming out in H&F (I was also told by someone I trust that he’d been pretty lazy there)

    FPT @rcs1000 re: Italy. Do I really need to explain the difference between mean and median?
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    RogerRoger Posts: 18,891
    ".....June being the end of May"

    Tony Gallagher eat you heart out.
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    ElliotElliot Posts: 1,516
    I have said it before and will say it again. May needs to go by the next election. Nearly everyone agrees with that. The next question is when she should go to best setup the next leader for success. After losing the Customs Union vote with Brexit negotiations wide open would be a monumentally stupid time. After the Brexit deal is signed and with the next general election in the new leader's honeymoon period would be ideal. It amazes me that many Tory MPs don't seem to be able to think more than a step ahead.
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    ElliotElliot Posts: 1,516

    Scott_P said:
    This is what appeasing the EU gets you. As I have said for months (years?) if May sells out in the final deal the electoral blowback will be horrific. UK public will not stand for humiliation at the hands of the EU and the Remainers. Hard Brexit is the only way she can maintain the support she already has.
    This is exactly right. Staying in the Customs Union tries to mollify people who are implacably opposed to Brexit and will vote against the Tories because of it regardless. If you offend a big chunk of the Leave-voting Tory base by vassal status then the Tories will drop by ten points in the polls and Jeremy Corbyn will be the next Prime Minister. The best compromise available is to set a date for CU exit circa 2023 and sign some trade deals to come into force at that date to show you are serious. Then spend the interim getting the tech in place.
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    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,109
    edited June 2018
    Elliot said:

    Many Tory MPs don't seem to be able to think more than a step ahead.

    Does that clarify the problem? :smile:

    Edit - I think it was David Howell who said of Howe's speech in 1990 'That speech must have affected all thinking Tory MPs and many others as well.'
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    DavidLDavidL Posts: 51,125
    Does May go all in and make the decision on the Customs Union a matter of confidence in the government? If not defeat on such an issue would surely lead to one anyway.

    A decision to remain in the Customs Union is not in our gift of course but if we were to ask for it then we are accepting that we will have a Common External Tariff and that the EU Commission will continue to represent us at the WTO. I think the latter is the killer point. It is unacceptable. A Customs Union which allows us to represent ourselves but has many of the other features of the Customs Union would be acceptable for a transitional period but I really don't see her surviving defeat on whether or not to leave the Customs Union.

    Interestingly (well relatively) the major feature of the Customs Union other than the CET and WTO representation is the Union Customs Code which was implemented in 2016 but which will not fully come into force until 2020. It is designed to produce exactly the sort of "electronic" border that the government was talking about in NI. The Work Program for implementation of the new requirements is set out here: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32016D0578

    So by remaining in the Customs Union we would be committing ourselves to having electronic border technology in place by 2020 in any event.
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    OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 31,918
    DavidL said:

    Does May go all in and make the decision on the Customs Union a matter of confidence in the government? If not defeat on such an issue would surely lead to one anyway.

    A decision to remain in the Customs Union is not in our gift of course but if we were to ask for it then we are accepting that we will have a Common External Tariff and that the EU Commission will continue to represent us at the WTO. I think the latter is the killer point. It is unacceptable. A Customs Union which allows us to represent ourselves but has many of the other features of the Customs Union would be acceptable for a transitional period but I really don't see her surviving defeat on whether or not to leave the Customs Union.

    Interestingly (well relatively) the major feature of the Customs Union other than the CET and WTO representation is the Union Customs Code which was implemented in 2016 but which will not fully come into force until 2020. It is designed to produce exactly the sort of "electronic" border that the government was talking about in NI. The Work Program for implementation of the new requirements is set out here: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32016D0578

    So by remaining in the Customs Union we would be committing ourselves to having electronic border technology in place by 2020 in any event.

    If we are in the Customs Union, but not part of the decsionmaking process, won’t there be an advatage for most at any rate of the European Parliament? Farage et al won’t be there!
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    DavidLDavidL Posts: 51,125

    DavidL said:

    Does May go all in and make the decision on the Customs Union a matter of confidence in the government? If not defeat on such an issue would surely lead to one anyway.

    A decision to remain in the Customs Union is not in our gift of course but if we were to ask for it then we are accepting that we will have a Common External Tariff and that the EU Commission will continue to represent us at the WTO. I think the latter is the killer point. It is unacceptable. A Customs Union which allows us to represent ourselves but has many of the other features of the Customs Union would be acceptable for a transitional period but I really don't see her surviving defeat on whether or not to leave the Customs Union.

    Interestingly (well relatively) the major feature of the Customs Union other than the CET and WTO representation is the Union Customs Code which was implemented in 2016 but which will not fully come into force until 2020. It is designed to produce exactly the sort of "electronic" border that the government was talking about in NI. The Work Program for implementation of the new requirements is set out here: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32016D0578

    So by remaining in the Customs Union we would be committing ourselves to having electronic border technology in place by 2020 in any event.

    If we are in the Customs Union, but not part of the decsionmaking process, won’t there be an advatage for most at any rate of the European Parliament? Farage et al won’t be there!
    I don't think that there is any doubt that the collective noun for MEPs is an embarrassment and it frankly goes well beyond UKIP. Leaving that ridiculous institution is definitely one of the upsides of Brexit.
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    ElliotElliot Posts: 1,516
    DavidL said:

    Does May go all in and make the decision on the Customs Union a matter of confidence in the government? If not defeat on such an issue would surely lead to one anyway.

    A decision to remain in the Customs Union is not in our gift of course but if we were to ask for it then we are accepting that we will have a Common External Tariff and that the EU Commission will continue to represent us at the WTO. I think the latter is the killer point. It is unacceptable. A Customs Union which allows us to represent ourselves but has many of the other features of the Customs Union would be acceptable for a transitional period but I really don't see her surviving defeat on whether or not to leave the Customs Union.

    Interestingly (well relatively) the major feature of the Customs Union other than the CET and WTO representation is the Union Customs Code which was implemented in 2016 but which will not fully come into force until 2020. It is designed to produce exactly the sort of "electronic" border that the government was talking about in NI. The Work Program for implementation of the new requirements is set out here: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32016D0578

    So by remaining in the Customs Union we would be committing ourselves to having electronic border technology in place by 2020 in any event.

    The UK not being a voice for free trade at the WTO would be a loss to the world.
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    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 60,969
    Good morning, everyone.

    Voting to have the EU dictate our trade policy without having to take any account of our interests would be wretched and despicable, even if it weren't spitting in the face of the electorate.

    Mr. L, a transitional arrangement, as you say, is one thing. Voting to permanently denude the UK of the right to govern its own trade policy and represent its own interests is an act against the UK in favour of the EU.
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    TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 114,285

    Good morning, everyone.

    Voting to have the EU dictate our trade policy without having to take any account of our interests would be wretched and despicable, even if it weren't spitting in the face of the electorate.

    Mr. L, a transitional arrangement, as you say, is one thing. Voting to permanently denude the UK of the right to govern its own trade policy and represent its own interests is an act against the UK in favour of the EU.

    Boris and Gove spat in the face of the electorate when they voted against giving the NHS an extra £350 million a week.
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    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,920
    Elliot said:

    Scott_P said:
    This is what appeasing the EU gets you. As I have said for months (years?) if May sells out in the final deal the electoral blowback will be horrific. UK public will not stand for humiliation at the hands of the EU and the Remainers. Hard Brexit is the only way she can maintain the support she already has.
    This is exactly right. Staying in the Customs Union tries to mollify people who are implacably opposed to Brexit and will vote against the Tories because of it regardless. If you offend a big chunk of the Leave-voting Tory base by vassal status then the Tories will drop by ten points in the polls and Jeremy Corbyn will be the next Prime Minister. The best compromise available is to set a date for CU exit circa 2023 and sign some trade deals to come into force at that date to show you are serious. Then spend the interim getting the tech in place.
    There seems to be a serious lack of nuance in your comments.

    Will people care if Brexit does not mean more control for the British people and parliament in the medium term? Yes.

    Will people care if the transition from CET to a British External Tariff takes (say) five years, and there are no economic issues along the way? Of course not.

    People care about:
    (1) Their personal economic circumstances
    (2) The direction of travel

    My view is that by far the biggest threat to Brexit is a major recession. We have been lucky, to date, that external demand has been buttressed by acceleration in growth among all our major trading partners.

    When we entered the EEC we had a seven year transition from Imperial Preference Tariffs to the Common External Tariff. I don't think we need the same length of transition again, but I also think this idea that a time limited customs agreement is somehow a sell out is insanity.
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    DavidLDavidL Posts: 51,125
    O/T I had an interesting chat with my Euro Devil yesterday. He says that the perception in the Italian media is that it is the President that has backed down despite the move of Savone away from the economic ministry and the general perception is that he was exceeding his constitutional authority in seeking to challenge particular Ministers in the administration. He tells me that the view in Italy was that impeachment had been a real possibility if this compromise had not been found.

    What he expects to happen now is that the new government will implement a series of policies that cause issues with the EU. Their demand that some of the debt with the ECB is written off is one but others will be the EU's failure to assist Italy with an existential crisis with boat people from North Africa. They are determined to significantly boost Italy's deficit even though this does not comply with Euro stabilisation rules. They would very much like to see a weaker Euro, something that will not appeal to the Germans.

    The view in Italy still seems to be, "we are not Greece" in that they are conscious that their size makes possible default or breakup of the Eurozone much more significant both for Italy and the Euro. Whilst that is true I personally think they underestimate how much power over their economy the ECB has.
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    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 60,969
    Mr. Eagles, the referendum was on leaving or remaining in the EU.

    NHS funding can change over time. The desire of some politicians is permanently binding our hands and giving the key to the foreign political institution the electorate just voted to leave.
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    TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 114,285

    Mr. Eagles, the referendum was on leaving or remaining in the EU.

    NHS funding can change over time. The desire of some politicians is permanently binding our hands and giving the key to the foreign political institution the electorate just voted to leave.

    It was a key part of the campaign.

    The man who ran the Leave campaign has said Leave would have lost without that pledge.
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    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,920
    DavidL said:

    What he expects to happen now is that the new government will implement a series of policies that cause issues with the EU. Their demand that some of the debt with the ECB is written off is one but others will be the EU's failure to assist Italy with an existential crisis with boat people from North Africa. They are determined to significantly boost Italy's deficit even though this does not comply with Euro stabilisation rules. They wouldt very much like to see a weaker Euro, something that will not appeal to the Germans.

    None of the debt from the Japanese government to the Bank of Japan will ever be repaid. It will be rolled over into perpetuity.

    None of the debt from the British government to the Bank of England will ever be repaid. It will be rolled over into perpetuity.

    None of the debt from the US government to the Federal Reserve will ever be repaid. It will be rolled over into perpetuity.

    If you don't have to pay interest on a debt, and repayment will never be demanded, in what way is it debt?

    All "debt-to-GDP" numbers should reflect this reality and ignore debts owed to central banks.
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    williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 48,011
    rcs1000 said:

    Elliot said:

    Scott_P said:
    This is what appeasing the EU gets you. As I have said for months (years?) if May sells out in the final deal the electoral blowback will be horrific. UK public will not stand for humiliation at the hands of the EU and the Remainers. Hard Brexit is the only way she can maintain the support she already has.
    This is exactly right. Staying in the Customs Union tries to mollify people who are implacably opposed to Brexit and will vote against the Tories because of it regardless. If you offend a big chunk of the Leave-voting Tory base by vassal status then the Tories will drop by ten points in the polls and Jeremy Corbyn will be the next Prime Minister. The best compromise available is to set a date for CU exit circa 2023 and sign some trade deals to come into force at that date to show you are serious. Then spend the interim getting the tech in place.
    There seems to be a serious lack of nuance in your comments.

    Will people care if Brexit does not mean more control for the British people and parliament in the medium term? Yes.

    Will people care if the transition from CET to a British External Tariff takes (say) five years, and there are no economic issues along the way? Of course not.

    People care about:
    (1) Their personal economic circumstances
    (2) The direction of travel

    My view is that by far the biggest threat to Brexit is a major recession. We have been lucky, to date, that external demand has been buttressed by acceleration in growth among all our major trading partners.

    When we entered the EEC we had a seven year transition from Imperial Preference Tariffs to the Common External Tariff. I don't think we need the same length of transition again, but I also think this idea that a time limited customs agreement is somehow a sell out is insanity.
    Will your British External Tariff apply in Belfast and if so, how?
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    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 60,969
    edited June 2018
    Mr. P, what's the point of devolution if Westminster can impose changes in a devolved matter that have neither approval of the people of the devolved area nor the devolved political body?

    Mr. Eagles, the notion the public will think "Yes, we voted to leave the EU. I'm glad our politicians have decided we can't make our own trade policy and we should hand that over to a foreign political body that will dictate our trade deals without taking any account of the UK's interests. That certainly seems democratic and reasonable to me" is fanciful at best.

    A transitional deal may work. A permanent one would be thoroughly wretched, the act of politicians more interested in serving the interests of the EU than those of the British electorate.

    Edited extra bit: changed 'or' to 'nor'.
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    DavidLDavidL Posts: 51,125
    rcs1000 said:

    DavidL said:

    What he expects to happen now is that the new government will implement a series of policies that cause issues with the EU. Their demand that some of the debt with the ECB is written off is one but others will be the EU's failure to assist Italy with an existential crisis with boat people from North Africa. They are determined to significantly boost Italy's deficit even though this does not comply with Euro stabilisation rules. They wouldt very much like to see a weaker Euro, something that will not appeal to the Germans.

    None of the debt from the Japanese government to the Bank of Japan will ever be repaid. It will be rolled over into perpetuity.

    None of the debt from the British government to the Bank of England will ever be repaid. It will be rolled over into perpetuity.

    None of the debt from the US government to the Federal Reserve will ever be repaid. It will be rolled over into perpetuity.

    If you don't have to pay interest on a debt, and repayment will never be demanded, in what way is it debt?

    All "debt-to-GDP" numbers should reflect this reality and ignore debts owed to central banks.
    The difference that I see between Italy on the one had and the UK, US and Japan on the other is that the latter have their own central bank. Italy does not so other countries have a vested interest in how the ECB is run and a say on whether that debt is to be written off or not. Borrowing money from your central bank and then writing it off is the modern equivalent of debasing the coinage. It is dangerous and politicians should tread warily.

    Incidentally, I am not sure that you are right about the UK. It is possible to see a scenario where the UK reaches a surplus but there is a demand for gilts in the market by pension funds etc which could be met by the BoE selling some their holdings back into the market. I think the key will be whether, when these gilts reach maturity, they are simply cancelled or refinanced by more notional gilts.
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    RochdalePioneersRochdalePioneers Posts: 27,176
    There needs to be a discussion about some practical points. Whilst we debate the whys and wherefores of a customs union and try to ignore the same for the EEA, I have not yet heard any credible authoritative source state clearly that this country would be able to continue to function economically if we leave both next March.

    Park the politics for a minute and ask how we continue to feed ourselves if the borders effectively close which is the collective view of absolutely everyone who knows how things actually work should we fall off the cliff in 9 months.

    We don't get a transition period if there is no agreed deal to transition into. The EU can play the ultimate in hardball on this because although the UK border closing would hurt them it would cripple us - and the benefit to the EU is that no other country muttering about the EU would follow suit.

    It doesn't matter if May is PM or not, if it harms Tory or Labour chances at some future date - crash out hard brexit is an extinction level event for any politician or political party who allows it to happen.
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    CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758

    Mr. Eagles, the referendum was on leaving or remaining in the EU.

    NHS funding can change over time. The desire of some politicians is permanently binding our hands and giving the key to the foreign political institution the electorate just voted to leave.

    It was a key part of the campaign.

    The man who ran the Leave campaign has said Leave would have lost without that pledge.
    And the beauty of direct accountability is the voters can kick Gove and Johnson out at the next election if they want
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    TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 41,238
    rcs1000 said:

    Elliot said:

    Scott_P said:
    This is what appeasing the EU gets you. As I have said for months (years?) if May sells out in the final deal the electoral blowback will be horrific. UK public will not stand for humiliation at the hands of the EU and the Remainers. Hard Brexit is the only way she can maintain the support she already has.
    This is exactly right. Staying in the Customs Union tries to mollify people who are implacably opposed to Brexit and will vote against the Tories because of it regardless. If you offend a big chunk of the Leave-voting Tory base by vassal status then the Tories will drop by ten points in the polls and Jeremy Corbyn will be the next Prime Minister. The best compromise available is to set a date for CU exit circa 2023 and sign some trade deals to come into force at that date to show you are serious. Then spend the interim getting the tech in place.
    There seems to be a serious lack of nuance in your comments.

    Will people care if Brexit does not mean more control for the British people and parliament in the medium term? Yes.

    Will people care if the transition from CET to a British External Tariff takes (say) five years, and there are no economic issues along the way? Of course not.

    People care about:
    (1) Their personal economic circumstances
    (2) The direction of travel

    My view is that by far the biggest threat to Brexit is a major recession. We have been lucky, to date, that external demand has been buttressed by acceleration in growth among all our major trading partners.

    When we entered the EEC we had a seven year transition from Imperial Preference Tariffs to the Common External Tariff. I don't think we need the same length of transition again, but I also think this idea that a time limited customs agreement is somehow a sell out is insanity.
    Yep. Except the wild card is that pesky GE. I truly think (Nick?) that with or without Corbyn Lab will position itself against whatever position Con has on Brexit.

    Could be staying in CU/SM could be something else. Add that to the general staleness of the government (1997 not 1992) and...
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    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,920

    Mr. Eagles, the notion the public will think "Yes, we voted to leave the EU. I'm glad our politicians have decided we can't make our own trade policy and we should hand that over to a foreign political body that will dictate our trade deals without taking any account of the UK's interests. That certainly seems democratic and reasonable to me" is fanciful at best.

    Most people's thought processes will go like this:

    (1) Oh. I'm not worse off after Brexit (hopefully), yay!
    (2) Look! Immigration is down to more manageable levels, and I can better afford a house, yay!
    (3) I've not noticed any stories about the ECJ mandating votes for prisoners in a while. It's good that Brexit has stopped that rubbish.

    And then, hopefully, they'll also read about Dr Fox's adventures in trade land. And Trump deciding that the WTO isn't evil. Etc.

    If one through three are satisfied, people won't care about "(4) Our own bespoke FTA with Israel to replace the EU one". And if (1) fails, then all the FTAs with others will provide little comfort to the newly unemployed.

    This doesn't mean being in control of our trade destiny is not important. But it's also not the most important thing on peoples minds right now.
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    FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,519

    Mr. P, what's the point of devolution if Westminster can impose changes in a devolved matter that have neither approval of the people of the devolved area nor the devolved political body?

    Mr. Eagles, the notion the public will think "Yes, we voted to leave the EU. I'm glad our politicians have decided we can't make our own trade policy and we should hand that over to a foreign political body that will dictate our trade deals without taking any account of the UK's interests. That certainly seems democratic and reasonable to me" is fanciful at best.

    A transitional deal may work. A permanent one would be thoroughly wretched, the act of politicians more interested in serving the interests of the EU than those of the British electorate.

    Edited extra bit: changed 'or' to 'nor'.

    Though there is widespread support for "Vassal State Brexit" considerably in excess of WTO Brexit.

    https://twitter.com/britainelects/status/1003616082257678336?s=19
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    CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    rcs1000 said:

    DavidL said:

    What he expects to happen now is that the new government will implement a series of policies that cause issues with the EU. Their demand that some of the debt with the ECB is written off is one but others will be the EU's failure to assist Italy with an existential crisis with boat people from North Africa. They are determined to significantly boost Italy's deficit even though this does not comply with Euro stabilisation rules. They wouldt very much like to see a weaker Euro, something that will not appeal to the Germans.

    None of the debt from the Japanese government to the Bank of Japan will ever be repaid. It will be rolled over into perpetuity.

    None of the debt from the British government to the Bank of England will ever be repaid. It will be rolled over into perpetuity.

    None of the debt from the US government to the Federal Reserve will ever be repaid. It will be rolled over into perpetuity.

    If you don't have to pay interest on a debt, and repayment will never be demanded, in what way is it debt?

    All "debt-to-GDP" numbers should reflect this reality and ignore debts owed to central banks.
    You’re assuming we remain in a low inflation environment. I could see the debt being sterilised to reduce money supply at some point (I agree though it’s not “real” debt - it was the modern way to print money)
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    TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 41,238
    Charles said:

    FPT @Topping it was 5 years ago so don’t remember the details. Hadn’t met him before but was very underwhelmed. Sense of entitlement and didn’t give the impression he’d done any real work since flaming out in H&F (I was also told by someone I trust that he’d been pretty lazy there)

    Interesting. I worked pretty closely with him, as had I for Justine Greening five years earlier and he was not lazy. At the outside a touch happy with himself but no more or less than any other PPC.
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    TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 114,285
    Charles said:

    Mr. Eagles, the referendum was on leaving or remaining in the EU.

    NHS funding can change over time. The desire of some politicians is permanently binding our hands and giving the key to the foreign political institution the electorate just voted to leave.

    It was a key part of the campaign.

    The man who ran the Leave campaign has said Leave would have lost without that pledge.
    And the beauty of direct accountability is the voters can kick Gove and Johnson out at the next election if they want
    Just like the voters can boot out MPs who backed remaining in the Customs Union if they want.
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    OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 31,918
    Charles said:

    Mr. Eagles, the referendum was on leaving or remaining in the EU.

    NHS funding can change over time. The desire of some politicians is permanently binding our hands and giving the key to the foreign political institution the electorate just voted to leave.

    It was a key part of the campaign.

    The man who ran the Leave campaign has said Leave would have lost without that pledge.
    And the beauty of direct accountability is the voters can kick Gove and Johnson out at the next election if they want
    I think the voters of Uxbridge might just do that to Johnson! Michael Gove looks safe while he’s a Tory.
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    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,920

    I have not yet heard any credible authoritative source state clearly that this country would be able to continue to function economically if we leave both next March.

    Of course we'll continue economically.

    A 5% recession would, in the long run, be an utterly insignificant blip on the chart.

    But it would be disastrous for the 400,000 to 800,000 people who would lose their jobs. And it would almost certainly lead to the fall of the government. And it may even result in the election of a pro-EU party.

    The biggest threat to Brexit is not saboteurs; it's a recession that's blamed on Brexit - however unfairly - and which changes voters minds.
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    FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,519

    There needs to be a discussion about some practical points. Whilst we debate the whys and wherefores of a customs union and try to ignore the same for the EEA, I have not yet heard any credible authoritative source state clearly that this country would be able to continue to function economically if we leave both next March.

    Park the politics for a minute and ask how we continue to feed ourselves if the borders effectively close which is the collective view of absolutely everyone who knows how things actually work should we fall off the cliff in 9 months.

    We don't get a transition period if there is no agreed deal to transition into. The EU can play the ultimate in hardball on this because although the UK border closing would hurt them it would cripple us - and the benefit to the EU is that no other country muttering about the EU would follow suit.

    It doesn't matter if May is PM or not, if it harms Tory or Labour chances at some future date - crash out hard brexit is an extinction level event for any politician or political party who allows it to happen.

    Quite right. WTO Brexit would only be an option if we had spent the last 2 years planning and preparing it, and we have not done so. May is Gordon Brown without the people skills.

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    archer101auarcher101au Posts: 1,612
    rcs1000 said:

    Elliot said:

    Scott_P said:
    This is what appeasing the EU gets you. As I have said for months (years?) if May sells out in the final deal the electoral blowback will be horrific. UK public will not stand for humiliation at the hands of the EU and the Remainers. Hard Brexit is the only way she can maintain the support she already has.
    This is exactly right. Staying in the Customs Union tries to mollify people who are implacably opposed to Brexit and will vote against the Tories because of it regardless. If you offend a big chunk of the Leave-voting Tory base by vassal status then the Tories will drop by ten points in the polls and Jeremy Corbyn will be the next Prime Minister. The best compromise available is to set a date for CU exit circa 2023 and sign some trade deals to come into force at that date to show you are serious. Then spend the interim getting the tech in place.
    There seems to be a serious lack of nuance in your comments.

    Will people care if Brexit does not mean more control for the British people and parliament in the medium term? Yes.

    Will people care if the transition from CET to a British External Tariff takes (say) five years, and there are no economic issues along the way? Of course not.

    People care about:
    (1) Their personal economic circumstances
    (2) The direction of travel

    My view is that by far the biggest threat to Brexit is a major recession. We have been lucky, to date, that external demand has been buttressed by acceleration in growth among all our major trading partners.

    When we entered the EEC we had a seven year transition from Imperial Preference Tariffs to the Common External Tariff. I don't think we need the same length of transition again, but I also think this idea that a time limited customs agreement is somehow a sell out is insanity.
    Again, the problem is not with the Leavers. It is the EU that rejects a time limited customs agreement, just as they have rejected any sort of 'soft' Brexit that is not EEA status. The EU will not agree to any transition that is not under the current terms (eg vassal state).

    The only problem from the Leavers point of view is that the EU now 'reject' FTA Brexit as well because of the bogus issue of NI. So we will just leave without a deal as there clearly is no deal on offer that is not EEA-plus.

    The CU debate is about trying to stay in the SM, and ignores the fact that we can only do that via accepting FOM. The moment the Remainers 'win' the CU argument, they will have to start 're-defining' what constitutes FOM because only EEA-plus is available.

    Face it - this is all about rejecting the verdict of the referendum.
  • Options
    DavidLDavidL Posts: 51,125

    There needs to be a discussion about some practical points. Whilst we debate the whys and wherefores of a customs union and try to ignore the same for the EEA, I have not yet heard any credible authoritative source state clearly that this country would be able to continue to function economically if we leave both next March.

    Park the politics for a minute and ask how we continue to feed ourselves if the borders effectively close which is the collective view of absolutely everyone who knows how things actually work should we fall off the cliff in 9 months.

    We don't get a transition period if there is no agreed deal to transition into. The EU can play the ultimate in hardball on this because although the UK border closing would hurt them it would cripple us - and the benefit to the EU is that no other country muttering about the EU would follow suit.

    It doesn't matter if May is PM or not, if it harms Tory or Labour chances at some future date - crash out hard brexit is an extinction level event for any politician or political party who allows it to happen.

    Why do you think borders would close? Do we not import food from countries not in the Customs Union? How do you think that Peruvian asparagus ends up in Tescos? Or New Zealand lamb? Or....

    There is no doubt that not being in any Customs Union would be an irritant to trade, particularly with items that have long international supply chains such as cars, but suggesting that we could not feed ourselves is frankly absurd. As usual in this debate there is no sense of proportion which means the up and down sides get absurdly exaggerated.
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    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,920
    Charles said:

    rcs1000 said:

    DavidL said:

    What he expects to happen now is that the new government will implement a series of policies that cause issues with the EU. Their demand that some of the debt with the ECB is written off is one but others will be the EU's failure to assist Italy with an existential crisis with boat people from North Africa. They are determined to significantly boost Italy's deficit even though this does not comply with Euro stabilisation rules. They wouldt very much like to see a weaker Euro, something that will not appeal to the Germans.

    None of the debt from the Japanese government to the Bank of Japan will ever be repaid. It will be rolled over into perpetuity.

    None of the debt from the British government to the Bank of England will ever be repaid. It will be rolled over into perpetuity.

    None of the debt from the US government to the Federal Reserve will ever be repaid. It will be rolled over into perpetuity.

    If you don't have to pay interest on a debt, and repayment will never be demanded, in what way is it debt?

    All "debt-to-GDP" numbers should reflect this reality and ignore debts owed to central banks.
    You’re assuming we remain in a low inflation environment. I could see the debt being sterilised to reduce money supply at some point (I agree though it’s not “real” debt - it was the modern way to print money)
    Ah, but if we're in a high inflation environment it becomes irrelevant because the real value of the stock of government loans is inflated away. (And the Bank of England did a great job of lengthening the duration of the existing stock of debt. Thanks guys!)
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    williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 48,011
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    GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 20,845
    rcs1000 said:

    DavidL said:

    What he expects to happen now is that the new government will implement a series of policies that cause issues with the EU. Their demand that some of the debt with the ECB is written off is one but others will be the EU's failure to assist Italy with an existential crisis with boat people from North Africa. They are determined to significantly boost Italy's deficit even though this does not comply with Euro stabilisation rules. They wouldt very much like to see a weaker Euro, something that will not appeal to the Germans.

    None of the debt from the Japanese government to the Bank of Japan will ever be repaid. It will be rolled over into perpetuity.

    None of the debt from the British government to the Bank of England will ever be repaid. It will be rolled over into perpetuity.

    None of the debt from the US government to the Federal Reserve will ever be repaid. It will be rolled over into perpetuity.

    If you don't have to pay interest on a debt, and repayment will never be demanded, in what way is it debt?

    All "debt-to-GDP" numbers should reflect this reality and ignore debts owed to central banks.
    You’ve said this before.
    Why don’t we pay interest?
    And, what would be the respective debt to GDP numbers if we followed your accounting principles?
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    archer101auarcher101au Posts: 1,612

    There needs to be a discussion about some practical points. Whilst we debate the whys and wherefores of a customs union and try to ignore the same for the EEA, I have not yet heard any credible authoritative source state clearly that this country would be able to continue to function economically if we leave both next March.

    Park the politics for a minute and ask how we continue to feed ourselves if the borders effectively close which is the collective view of absolutely everyone who knows how things actually work should we fall off the cliff in 9 months.

    We don't get a transition period if there is no agreed deal to transition into. The EU can play the ultimate in hardball on this because although the UK border closing would hurt them it would cripple us - and the benefit to the EU is that no other country muttering about the EU would follow suit.

    It doesn't matter if May is PM or not, if it harms Tory or Labour chances at some future date - crash out hard brexit is an extinction level event for any politician or political party who allows it to happen.

    Just nonsense. Borders will not close because of a shift to WTO terms. On what basis do you even make this ridiculous claim?
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    FregglesFreggles Posts: 3,486

    Good morning, everyone.

    Voting to have the EU dictate our trade policy without having to take any account of our interests would be wretched and despicable, even if it weren't spitting in the face of the electorate.

    Mr. L, a transitional arrangement, as you say, is one thing. Voting to permanently denude the UK of the right to govern its own trade policy and represent its own interests is an act against the UK in favour of the EU.

    Morris, in what sense would joining a customs union be 'permanent'? What other treaties or institutions do you consider permanent?
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    JackWJackW Posts: 14,787
    Attempting a "charm offensive" with the DUP may be likened to attempting a charm offensive with a crocodile - You might think you can tickle its tummy and wrestle with the beast but in the end you get rolled over numerous times, drowned and eaten.

    Revenge for the DUP crocodile is a meal best eaten cold and when the Conservatives are near dead in the water the Ulster reptiles will consume them.
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    FregglesFreggles Posts: 3,486

    There needs to be a discussion about some practical points. Whilst we debate the whys and wherefores of a customs union and try to ignore the same for the EEA, I have not yet heard any credible authoritative source state clearly that this country would be able to continue to function economically if we leave both next March.

    Park the politics for a minute and ask how we continue to feed ourselves if the borders effectively close which is the collective view of absolutely everyone who knows how things actually work should we fall off the cliff in 9 months.

    We don't get a transition period if there is no agreed deal to transition into. The EU can play the ultimate in hardball on this because although the UK border closing would hurt them it would cripple us - and the benefit to the EU is that no other country muttering about the EU would follow suit.

    It doesn't matter if May is PM or not, if it harms Tory or Labour chances at some future date - crash out hard brexit is an extinction level event for any politician or political party who allows it to happen.

    Just nonsense. Borders will not close because of a shift to WTO terms. On what basis do you even make this ridiculous claim?
    Perhaps on the basis that even the delays caused by migrants caused disruptions in the supply chain via Dover, and carrying out customs checks would result in much longer wait times per lorry - then extrapolating that to every port in the UK.
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    JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 38,890
    rcs1000 said:

    I have not yet heard any credible authoritative source state clearly that this country would be able to continue to function economically if we leave both next March.

    Of course we'll continue economically.

    A 5% recession would, in the long run, be an utterly insignificant blip on the chart.

    But it would be disastrous for the 400,000 to 800,000 people who would lose their jobs. And it would almost certainly lead to the fall of the government. And it may even result in the election of a pro-EU party.

    The biggest threat to Brexit is not saboteurs; it's a recession that's blamed on Brexit - however unfairly - and which changes voters minds.
    A post-Brexit recession is an indirect threat to Brexit and our status outside the EU. However if the EU (or at least the major countries within) also fall into recession at the same time then that effect will be lessened.

    If wee go into recession, and especially a deep one, whilst the EU booms, then that should lead even hardened Brexiteers to wonder if we've done the right thing.
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    Sean_FSean_F Posts: 35,789
    DavidL said:

    There needs to be a discussion about some practical points. Whilst we debate the whys and wherefores of a customs union and try to ignore the same for the EEA, I have not yet heard any credible authoritative source state clearly that this country would be able to continue to function economically if we leave both next March.

    Park the politics for a minute and ask how we continue to feed ourselves if the borders effectively close which is the collective view of absolutely everyone who knows how things actually work should we fall off the cliff in 9 months.

    We don't get a transition period if there is no agreed deal to transition into. The EU can play the ultimate in hardball on this because although the UK border closing would hurt them it would cripple us - and the benefit to the EU is that no other country muttering about the EU would follow suit.

    It doesn't matter if May is PM or not, if it harms Tory or Labour chances at some future date - crash out hard brexit is an extinction level event for any politician or political party who allows it to happen.

    Why do you think borders would close? Do we not import food from countries not in the Customs Union? How do you think that Peruvian asparagus ends up in Tescos? Or New Zealand lamb? Or....

    There is no doubt that not being in any Customs Union would be an irritant to trade, particularly with items that have long international supply chains such as cars, but suggesting that we could not feed ourselves is frankly absurd. As usual in this debate there is no sense of proportion which means the up and down sides get absurdly exaggerated.
    I'm sure the UN would organise famine relief if we were trading on WTO terms.
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    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,920
    This - https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/06/04/kirstie-allsopp-defends-flying-business-class-leaving-children/ - is a terrible story.

    Kirstie Allsopp says her kids shouldn't fly Club Class because that's something they should aspire to.

    How f*cking bourgeois is that??? Aspire to "Club Class"? That's like aspiring to wearing Old Spice or having a Colby Trouser Press.

    If you want to aspire to something, make it having your own plane. And not some kind of Ford Escort of the skies, make it something decent, like at least a Citation X.
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    RoyalBlueRoyalBlue Posts: 3,223
    edited June 2018

    There needs to be a discussion about some practical points. Whilst we debate the whys and wherefores of a customs union and try to ignore the same for the EEA, I have not yet heard any credible authoritative source state clearly that this country would be able to continue to function economically if we leave both next March.

    Park the politics for a minute and ask how we continue to feed ourselves if the borders effectively close which is the collective view of absolutely everyone who knows how things actually work should we fall off the cliff in 9 months.

    We don't get a transition period if there is no agreed deal to transition into. The EU can play the ultimate in hardball on this because although the UK border closing would hurt them it would cripple us - and the benefit to the EU is that no other country muttering about the EU would follow suit.

    It doesn't matter if May is PM or not, if it harms Tory or Labour chances at some future date - crash out hard brexit is an extinction level event for any politician or political party who allows it to happen.

    Just nonsense. Borders will not close because of a shift to WTO terms. On what basis do you even make this ridiculous claim?
    It’s not our borders that will be the problem. It will be the holdup of our exports at the Channel ports.

    If individuals and firms are free to import but exports to our largest market are substantially impaired, the pound will drop sharply. We’ll then have the joys of accelerating inflation and rising interest rates, once the Bank of England catches up.
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    RochdalePioneersRochdalePioneers Posts: 27,176
    DavidL said:



    Why do you think borders would close? Do we not import food from countries not in the Customs Union? How do you think that Peruvian asparagus ends up in Tescos? Or New Zealand lamb? Or....

    There is no doubt that not being in any Customs Union would be an irritant to trade, particularly with items that have long international supply chains such as cars, but suggesting that we could not feed ourselves is frankly absurd. As usual in this debate there is no sense of proportion which means the up and down sides get absurdly exaggerated.

    Thus demonstrating the folly of the "I know better than the ports and customs and import/export industries" viewpoint.

    We leave the Customs Union and Single Market on 29th March next year, having made zero prep on either side of the border. The EU overnight require full customs checks on all movement across the EU/UK border as already happens at the EU/Any 3rd party border.

    Trucks take 2 minutes to clear the border. Double that to 4 minutes and the posts/transport industries predict 17 mile queues. And the average transit time through an EU/3rd party border is 45 minutes. We leave with zero prep and the border effectively closes. Trucks take an eternity to get through. Which means they aren't in transit to/from their destinations. Which means import/export stops. And your non-EU goods which transit through the EU are stuck in the same queue.

    Go and ask anyone in the industry how it works. Don't just quote platitudes and political theory thinking you know better than they do about their business. Hard Brexit doesn't work on a very real and practical basis. If we had 5 years to prepare, maybe. But not in 9 months.

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    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 60,969
    Mr. 1000, you may be right.

    But that doesn't mean it's not wretched. As I've said for years now, I was pretty relaxed about the range of possible scenarios for leaving, with the sole red line exception of the customs union, which we must leave.

    Dr. Foxy, given recent performances, I'm disinclined to give tremendous weight to political polling in this country.

    Mr. Freggles, show me another organisation/treaty that seeks to dictate UK trade agreements without consideration of UK interests and I'll happily condemn that/them too.

    A deal on the customs union could be permanent or temporary. Temporary would have a clearly defined time limit. Permanent would not.
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    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,920

    rcs1000 said:

    DavidL said:

    What he expects to happen now is that the new government will implement a series of policies that cause issues with the EU. Their demand that some of the debt with the ECB is written off is one but others will be the EU's failure to assist Italy with an existential crisis with boat people from North Africa. They are determined to significantly boost Italy's deficit even though this does not comply with Euro stabilisation rules. They wouldt very much like to see a weaker Euro, something that will not appeal to the Germans.

    None of the debt from the Japanese government to the Bank of Japan will ever be repaid. It will be rolled over into perpetuity.

    None of the debt from the British government to the Bank of England will ever be repaid. It will be rolled over into perpetuity.

    None of the debt from the US government to the Federal Reserve will ever be repaid. It will be rolled over into perpetuity.

    If you don't have to pay interest on a debt, and repayment will never be demanded, in what way is it debt?

    All "debt-to-GDP" numbers should reflect this reality and ignore debts owed to central banks.
    You’ve said this before.
    Why don’t we pay interest?
    And, what would be the respective debt to GDP numbers if we followed your accounting principles?
    We don't pay interest in that the Bank of England remits their interest payments back to the Treasury. The same is true in the US and Japan, and - an in inevitably more tortuous way - in the Eurozone.
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    DavidLDavidL Posts: 51,125
    Sean_F said:

    DavidL said:

    There needs to be a discussion about some practical points. Whilst we debate the whys and wherefores of a customs union and try to ignore the same for the EEA, I have not yet heard any credible authoritative source state clearly that this country would be able to continue to function economically if we leave both next March.

    Park the politics for a minute and ask how we continue to feed ourselves if the borders effectively close which is the collective view of absolutely everyone who knows how things actually work should we fall off the cliff in 9 months.

    We don't get a transition period if there is no agreed deal to transition into. The EU can play the ultimate in hardball on this because although the UK border closing would hurt them it would cripple us - and the benefit to the EU is that no other country muttering about the EU would follow suit.

    It doesn't matter if May is PM or not, if it harms Tory or Labour chances at some future date - crash out hard brexit is an extinction level event for any politician or political party who allows it to happen.

    Why do you think borders would close? Do we not import food from countries not in the Customs Union? How do you think that Peruvian asparagus ends up in Tescos? Or New Zealand lamb? Or....

    There is no doubt that not being in any Customs Union would be an irritant to trade, particularly with items that have long international supply chains such as cars, but suggesting that we could not feed ourselves is frankly absurd. As usual in this debate there is no sense of proportion which means the up and down sides get absurdly exaggerated.
    I'm sure the UN would organise famine relief if we were trading on WTO terms.
    As long as they continue my supply of montagnolo in the survival packs I'll be fine.
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    NickPalmerNickPalmer Posts: 21,320
    TOPPING said:



    Yep. Except the wild card is that pesky GE. I truly think (Nick?) that with or without Corbyn Lab will position itself against whatever position Con has on Brexit.

    Could be staying in CU/SM could be something else. Add that to the general staleness of the government (1997 not 1992) and...

    That's what I would do in purely party political terms - Oppositions' standard practice is to look for something to disagree with that they might win. and of course it goes with the flow of party opinion. "We favour respecting Brexit but not the dogs' dinner the Government has cooked up - chuck them out and we'll renegotiate" is a classic Opposition position.

    I'm sure McDonnell, who is at heart quite a recognisable type of Commons politician, would be up for it - Corbyn I'm not so sure, as for better or worse he is not a classic schemer, and instinctively dislikes cunning maneouvres. But if it gave the chance of power and delivering the things he actually cares out? Maybe.
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    DavidLDavidL Posts: 51,125

    DavidL said:



    Why do you think borders would close? Do we not import food from countries not in the Customs Union? How do you think that Peruvian asparagus ends up in Tescos? Or New Zealand lamb? Or....

    There is no doubt that not being in any Customs Union would be an irritant to trade, particularly with items that have long international supply chains such as cars, but suggesting that we could not feed ourselves is frankly absurd. As usual in this debate there is no sense of proportion which means the up and down sides get absurdly exaggerated.

    Thus demonstrating the folly of the "I know better than the ports and customs and import/export industries" viewpoint.

    We leave the Customs Union and Single Market on 29th March next year, having made zero prep on either side of the border. The EU overnight require full customs checks on all movement across the EU/UK border as already happens at the EU/Any 3rd party border.

    Trucks take 2 minutes to clear the border. Double that to 4 minutes and the posts/transport industries predict 17 mile queues. And the average transit time through an EU/3rd party border is 45 minutes. We leave with zero prep and the border effectively closes. Trucks take an eternity to get through. Which means they aren't in transit to/from their destinations. Which means import/export stops. And your non-EU goods which transit through the EU are stuck in the same queue.

    Go and ask anyone in the industry how it works. Don't just quote platitudes and political theory thinking you know better than they do about their business. Hard Brexit doesn't work on a very real and practical basis. If we had 5 years to prepare, maybe. But not in 9 months.

    Do you think we get a lot of trucks from New Zealand or Peru? This really is nonsense. And we are working on electronic borders for exporters and importers in accordance with the UCC program I linked to earlier. It is an EU requirement to have such systems in place by 2020.
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    FregglesFreggles Posts: 3,486

    Mr. 1000, you may be right.

    But that doesn't mean it's not wretched. As I've said for years now, I was pretty relaxed about the range of possible scenarios for leaving, with the sole red line exception of the customs union, which we must leave.

    Dr. Foxy, given recent performances, I'm disinclined to give tremendous weight to political polling in this country.

    Mr. Freggles, show me another organisation/treaty that seeks to dictate UK trade agreements without consideration of UK interests and I'll happily condemn that/them too.

    A deal on the customs union could be permanent or temporary. Temporary would have a clearly defined time limit. Permanent would not.

    OK, so we would be permanently part of the CU in the same sense that we were "permanently" "locked in" to the EU, unless we decided to leave which we are doing.
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    RoyalBlueRoyalBlue Posts: 3,223
    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:



    Why do you think borders would close? Do we not import food from countries not in the Customs Union? How do you think that Peruvian asparagus ends up in Tescos? Or New Zealand lamb? Or....

    There is no doubt that not being in any Customs Union would be an irritant to trade, particularly with items that have long international supply chains such as cars, but suggesting that we could not feed ourselves is frankly absurd. As usual in this debate there is no sense of proportion which means the up and down sides get absurdly exaggerated.

    Thus demonstrating the folly of the "I know better than the ports and customs and import/export industries" viewpoint.

    We leave the Customs Union and Single Market on 29th March next year, having made zero prep on either side of the border. The EU overnight require full customs checks on all movement across the EU/UK border as already happens at the EU/Any 3rd party border.

    Trucks take 2 minutes to clear the border. Double that to 4 minutes and the posts/transport industries predict 17 mile queues. And the average transit time through an EU/3rd party border is 45 minutes. We leave with zero prep and the border effectively closes. Trucks take an eternity to get through. Which means they aren't in transit to/from their destinations. Which means import/export stops. And your non-EU goods which transit through the EU are stuck in the same queue.

    Go and ask anyone in the industry how it works. Don't just quote platitudes and political theory thinking you know better than they do about their business. Hard Brexit doesn't work on a very real and practical basis. If we had 5 years to prepare, maybe. But not in 9 months.

    Do you think we get a lot of trucks from New Zealand or Peru? This really is nonsense. And we are working on electronic borders for exporters and importers in accordance with the UCC program I linked to earlier. It is an EU requirement to have such systems in place by 2020.
    You’ve hit the nail on the head. New Zealand and Peru are irrelevant examples because all their goods will come via ship or plane. 70% of trade with the EU is by lorry, hence the wretched impact of standard customs procedures on our trade.

    Even Brexiteers must recognise that EU membership has changed the shape of our economy. We are much more embedded than we were even 10 years ago in terms of supply chains etc.
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    NickPalmerNickPalmer Posts: 21,320
    edited June 2018
    DavidL said:



    I don't think that there is any doubt that the collective noun for MEPs is an embarrassment and it frankly goes well beyond UKIP. Leaving that ridiculous institution is definitely one of the upsides of Brexit.

    We've debated this before, and I remain unconvinced that you've bothered to try interacting with your MEPs, read any EP debates or actually have any real idea beyond a general distaste, and with respect for your generally interesting and balnced posts on everything else, your idea that there isn't any doubt that you're right does not add to your persuasive power on this.

    The quality of EP debate and decision-making is superior to Westminster, partly because there's no overall majority, so any significant decision gets a proper debate with compromises needed to reach an agreed conclusion. It's perfectly possible to be anti-EU membership without rubbishing a particular part of it that - in terms of whether they do what they're suppose to - works well.
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    RochdalePioneersRochdalePioneers Posts: 27,176
    RoyalBlue said:

    There needs to be a discussion about some practical points. Whilst we debate the whys and wherefores of a customs union and try to ignore the same for the EEA, I have not yet heard any credible authoritative source state clearly that this country would be able to continue to function economically if we leave both next March.

    Park the politics for a minute and ask how we continue to feed ourselves if the borders effectively close which is the collective view of absolutely everyone who knows how things actually work should we fall off the cliff in 9 months.

    We don't get a transition period if there is no agreed deal to transition into. The EU can play the ultimate in hardball on this because although the UK border closing would hurt them it would cripple us - and the benefit to the EU is that no other country muttering about the EU would follow suit.

    It doesn't matter if May is PM or not, if it harms Tory or Labour chances at some future date - crash out hard brexit is an extinction level event for any politician or political party who allows it to happen.

    Just nonsense. Borders will not close because of a shift to WTO terms. On what basis do you even make this ridiculous claim?
    It’s not our borders that will be the problem. It will be the holdup of our exports at the Channel ports.

    If individuals and firms are free to import but exports to our largest market are substantially impaired, the pound will drop sharply. We’ll then have the joys of accelerating inflation and rising interest rates, once the Bank of England catches up.
    Exactly. I get the impression that many of the hard brexiteer people have no actual idea how trade actually works. Not the theory and the spin, but the physical process of driving a truck through a border and what happens.

    "Just nonsense" they keep saying, despite all of the detailed evidence provided by the hauliers whose vehicles actually cross borders, the industries they supply, the port authorities who run the actual border and the customs / border agencies who staff them.

    Its the absurd arrogance of people like Archer that will do the damage. Utterly utterly clueless, ignorant, disinterested in real life or real people as long as their dream wank fantasy of a restored Imperial Blighty free of these bloody foreigners comes to pass. You want the wankbank fantasy to work don't you? Why not listen to the people you need to make that a practical reality rather than insisting they are lying?
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    not_on_firenot_on_fire Posts: 4,341
    Charles said:

    Mr. Eagles, the referendum was on leaving or remaining in the EU.

    NHS funding can change over time. The desire of some politicians is permanently binding our hands and giving the key to the foreign political institution the electorate just voted to leave.

    It was a key part of the campaign.

    The man who ran the Leave campaign has said Leave would have lost without that pledge.
    And the beauty of direct accountability is the voters can kick Gove and Johnson out at the next election if they want
    Nonsense. Only the voters of Uxbridge and Surrey Heath can do that
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    not_on_firenot_on_fire Posts: 4,341

    DavidL said:



    Why do you think borders would close? Do we not import food from countries not in the Customs Union? How do you think that Peruvian asparagus ends up in Tescos? Or New Zealand lamb? Or....

    There is no doubt that not being in any Customs Union would be an irritant to trade, particularly with items that have long international supply chains such as cars, but suggesting that we could not feed ourselves is frankly absurd. As usual in this debate there is no sense of proportion which means the up and down sides get absurdly exaggerated.

    Thus demonstrating the folly of the "I know better than the ports and customs and import/export industries" viewpoint.

    We leave the Customs Union and Single Market on 29th March next year, having made zero prep on either side of the border. The EU overnight require full customs checks on all movement across the EU/UK border as already happens at the EU/Any 3rd party border.

    Trucks take 2 minutes to clear the border. Double that to 4 minutes and the posts/transport industries predict 17 mile queues. And the average transit time through an EU/3rd party border is 45 minutes. We leave with zero prep and the border effectively closes. Trucks take an eternity to get through. Which means they aren't in transit to/from their destinations. Which means import/export stops. And your non-EU goods which transit through the EU are stuck in the same queue.

    Go and ask anyone in the industry how it works. Don't just quote platitudes and political theory thinking you know better than they do about their business. Hard Brexit doesn't work on a very real and practical basis. If we had 5 years to prepare, maybe. But not in 9 months.

    +1
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    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 60,969
    Mr. Freggles, by that definition we may as well remove the word 'permanent' from the dictionary. After all, the universe has a finite lifespan. Won't be long until the sun goes supernova. A little after that all heat will seep from the cosmos and the universe will become dark, and cold, and lifeless.
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    RoyalBlueRoyalBlue Posts: 3,223

    RoyalBlue said:

    There needs to be a discussion about some practical points. Whilst we debate the whys and wherefores of a customs union and try to ignore the same for the EEA, I have not yet heard any credible authoritative source state clearly that this country would be able to continue to function economically if we leave both next March.

    It doesn't matter if May is PM or not, if it harms Tory or Labour chances at some future date - crash out hard brexit is an extinction level event for any politician or political party who allows it to happen.

    Just nonsense. Borders will not close because of a shift to WTO terms. On what basis do you even make this ridiculous claim?
    It’s not our borders that will be the problem. It will be the holdup of our exports at the Channel ports.

    If individuals and firms are free to import but exports to our largest market are substantially impaired, the pound will drop sharply. We’ll then have the joys of accelerating inflation and rising interest rates, once the Bank of England catches up.
    Exactly. I get the impression that many of the hard brexiteer people have no actual idea how trade actually works. Not the theory and the spin, but the physical process of driving a truck through a border and what happens.

    "Just nonsense" they keep saying, despite all of the detailed evidence provided by the hauliers whose vehicles actually cross borders, the industries they supply, the port authorities who run the actual border and the customs / border agencies who staff them.

    Its the absurd arrogance of people like Archer that will do the damage. Utterly utterly clueless, ignorant, disinterested in real life or real people as long as their dream wank fantasy of a restored Imperial Blighty free of these bloody foreigners comes to pass. You want the wankbank fantasy to work don't you? Why not listen to the people you need to make that a practical reality rather than insisting they are lying?
    There’s no need to be rude. I happen to agree with @archer101au that a Brexit where we don’t eventually leave the CU and SM is betraying the spirit of the vote. The problems we face are three-fold:

    1) We have almost no leverage with the EU because we have made no tangible preparations for a no deal outcome.

    2) There is no majority in either House of Parlinent for a meaningful Brexit.

    3) The amount of time required to successfully transition out of the EU without wrecking the economy will cross at least 1 if not 2 general elections, which could reopen almost every aspect of the debate.

    It’s not looking good.
  • Options
    ElliotElliot Posts: 1,516

    RoyalBlue said:

    There needs to be a discussion about some practical points. Whilst we debate the whys and wherefores of a customs union and try to ignore the same for the EEA, I have not yet heard any credible authoritative source state clearly that this country would be able to continue to function economically if we leave both next March.

    Park the politics for a minute and ask how we continue to feed ourselves if the borders effectively close which is the collective view of absolutely everyone who knows how things actually work should we fall off the cliff in 9 months.

    We don't get a transition period if there is no agreed deal to transition into. The EU can play the ultimate in hardball on this because although the UK border closing would hurt them it would cripple us - and the benefit to the EU is that no other country muttering about the EU would follow suit.

    It doesn't matter if May is PM or not, if it harms Tory or Labour chances at some future date - crash out hard brexit is an extinction level event for any politician or political party who allows it to happen.

    Just nonsense. Borders will not close because of a shift to WTO terms. On what basis do you even make this ridiculous claim?
    It’s not our borders that will be the problem. It will be the holdup of our exports at the Channel ports.

    If individuals and firms are free to import but exports to our largest market are substantially impaired, the pound will drop sharply. We’ll then have the joys of accelerating inflation and rising interest rates, once the Bank of England catches up.
    Exactly. I get the impression that many of the hard brexiteer people have no actual idea how trade actually works. Not the theory and the spin, but the physical process of driving a truck through a border and what happens.

    "Just nonsense" they keep saying, despite all of the detailed evidence provided by the hauliers whose vehicles actually cross borders, the industries they supply, the port authorities who run the actual border and the customs / border agencies who staff them.

    Its the absurd arrogance of people like Archer that will do the damage. Utterly utterly clueless, ignorant, disinterested in real life or real people as long as their dream wank fantasy of a restored Imperial Blighty free of these bloody foreigners comes to pass. You want the wankbank fantasy to work don't you? Why not listen to the people you need to make that a practical reality rather than insisting they are lying?
    Since when does the Bank of England put up interest rates for cost push inflation?
  • Options
    RochdalePioneersRochdalePioneers Posts: 27,176
    RoyalBlue said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:



    Why do you think borders would close? Do we not import food from countries not in the Customs Union? How do you think that Peruvian asparagus ends up in Tescos? Or New Zealand lamb? Or....

    There is no doubt that not being in any Customs Union would be an irritant to trade, particularly with items that have long international supply chains such as cars, but suggesting that we could not feed ourselves is frankly absurd. As usual in this debate there is no sense of proportion which means the up and down sides get absurdly exaggerated.

    Thus demonstrating the folly of the "I know better than the ports and customs and import/export industries" viewpoint.

    We leave the Customs Union and Single Market on 29th March next year, having made zero prep on either side of the border. The EU overnight require full customs checks on all movement across the EU/UK border as already happens at the EU/Any 3rd party border.

    Trucks take 2 minutes to clear the border. Double that to 4 minutes and the posts/transport industries predict 17 mile queues. And the average transit time through an EU/3rd party border is 45 minutes. We leave with zero prep and the border effectively closes. Trucks take an eternity to get through. Which means they aren't in transit to/from their destinations. Which means import/export stops. And your non-EU goods which transit through the EU are stuck in the same queue.

    Go and ask anyone in the industry how it works. Don't just quote platitudes and political theory thinking you know better than they do about their business. Hard Brexit doesn't work on a very real and practical basis. If we had 5 years to prepare, maybe. But not in 9 months.

    Do you think we get a lot of trucks from New Zealand or Peru? This really is nonsense. And we are working on electronic borders for exporters and importers in accordance with the UCC program I linked to earlier. It is an EU requirement to have such systems in place by 2020.
    You’ve hit the nail on the head. New Zealand and Peru are irrelevant examples because all their goods will come via ship or plane. 70% of trade with the EU is by lorry, hence the wretched impact of standard customs procedures on our trade.

    Even Brexiteers must recognise that EU membership has changed the shape of our economy. We are much more embedded than we were even 10 years ago in terms of supply chains etc.
    Oh dear God...

    This is clueless. New Zealand exporters to the UK don't send a special load to the UK and a different load to the EU. They import everything to transshipment ports like Rotterdam. So our "product of New Zealand" is an EU import.

    Again, please please please go and read up on logistics before you fuck this up for everyone.
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    RoyalBlueRoyalBlue Posts: 3,223

    Mr. Freggles, by that definition we may as well remove the word 'permanent' from the dictionary. After all, the universe has a finite lifespan. Won't be long until the sun goes supernova. A little after that all heat will seep from the cosmos and the universe will become dark, and cold, and lifeless.

    Our sun won’t go supernova - it doesn’t have the mass.
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    AlanbrookeAlanbrooke Posts: 23,754

    DavidL said:



    I don't think that there is any doubt that the collective noun for MEPs is an embarrassment and it frankly goes well beyond UKIP. Leaving that ridiculous institution is definitely one of the upsides of Brexit.

    We've debated this before, and I remain unconvinced that you've bothered to try interacting with your MEPs, read any EP debates or actually have any real idea beyond a general distaste, and with respect for your generally interesting and balnced posts on everything else, your idea that there isn't any doubt that you're right does not add to your persuasive power on this.

    The quality of EP debate and decision-making is superior to Westminster, partly because there's no overall majority, so any significant decision gets a proper debate with compromises needed to reach an agreed conclusion. It's perfectly possible to be anti-EU membership without rubbishing a particular part of it that - in terms of whether they do what they're suppose to - works well.
    of course Nick saying Brussels works better than Westminster doesn't mean that either is good. It may just mean that Brussels is crap and Westminster even crapper. :-)
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    NigelbNigelb Posts: 62,357
    rcs1000 said:

    This - https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/06/04/kirstie-allsopp-defends-flying-business-class-leaving-children/ - is a terrible story.

    Kirstie Allsopp says her kids shouldn't fly Club Class because that's something they should aspire to.

    How f*cking bourgeois is that??? Aspire to "Club Class"? That's like aspiring to wearing Old Spice or having a Colby Trouser Press.

    If you want to aspire to something, make it having your own plane. And not some kind of Ford Escort of the skies, make it something decent, like at least a Citation X.

    Channelling your inner SeanT this morning ?
    :smile:
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    ElliotElliot Posts: 1,516
    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    DavidL said:

    What he expects to happen now is that the new government will implement a series of policies that cause issues with the EU. Their demand that some of the debt with the ECB is written off is one but others will be the EU's failure to assist Italy with an existential crisis with boat people from North Africa. They are determined to significantly boost Italy's deficit even though this does not comply with Euro stabilisation rules. They wouldt very much like to see a weaker Euro, something that will not appeal to the Germans.

    None of the debt from the Japanese government to the Bank of Japan will ever be repaid. It will be rolled over into perpetuity.

    None of the debt from the British government to the Bank of England will ever be repaid. It will be rolled over into perpetuity.

    None of the debt from the US government to the Federal Reserve will ever be repaid. It will be rolled over into perpetuity.

    If you don't have to pay interest on a debt, and repayment will never be demanded, in what way is it debt?

    All "debt-to-GDP" numbers should reflect this reality and ignore debts owed to central banks.
    You’ve said this before.
    Why don’t we pay interest?
    And, what would be the respective debt to GDP numbers if we followed your accounting principles?
    We don't pay interest in that the Bank of England remits their interest payments back to the Treasury. The same is true in the US and Japan, and - an in inevitably more tortuous way - in the Eurozone.
    Why not just cancel that debt then?
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    AlanbrookeAlanbrooke Posts: 23,754
    Mays biggest threat currently is the sharp rise in the price of petrol
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    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 60,969
    Mr. Blue, ah, red giant then collapse?

    My apologies. The Earth will merely be frazzled to destruction rather than actually blown apart. :p
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    not_on_firenot_on_fire Posts: 4,341
    edited June 2018

    Mr. P, what's the point of devolution if Westminster can impose changes in a devolved matter that have neither approval of the people of the devolved area nor the devolved political body?

    Mr. Eagles, the notion the public will think "Yes, we voted to leave the EU. I'm glad our politicians have decided we can't make our own trade policy and we should hand that over to a foreign political body that will dictate our trade deals without taking any account of the UK's interests. That certainly seems democratic and reasonable to me" is fanciful at best.

    A transitional deal may work. A permanent one would be thoroughly wretched, the act of politicians more interested in serving the interests of the EU than those of the British electorate.

    Edited extra bit: changed 'or' to 'nor'.

    Or perhaps the public will think, “Hmmm, looks like the Leave campaign were lying when they said the German Car makers would force the EU to agree to our demands. None of the major economic players look in the mood for making a good deal with us. Why not keep the existing good trade deals we’ve already got? I like having a job.”
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    FregglesFreggles Posts: 3,486

    Mr. Freggles, by that definition we may as well remove the word 'permanent' from the dictionary. After all, the universe has a finite lifespan. Won't be long until the sun goes supernova. A little after that all heat will seep from the cosmos and the universe will become dark, and cold, and lifeless.

    Frying an egg: permanent

    Losing your virginity: permanent

    Joining a customs union: only 'permanent' if almost other act of parliament is also permanent, which begs the question of why you would use the word if not attempting to imply that joining a CU would bind future governments
  • Options
    ElliotElliot Posts: 1,516
    rcs1000 said:

    This - https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/06/04/kirstie-allsopp-defends-flying-business-class-leaving-children/ - is a terrible story.

    Kirstie Allsopp says her kids shouldn't fly Club Class because that's something they should aspire to.

    How f*cking bourgeois is that??? Aspire to "Club Class"? That's like aspiring to wearing Old Spice or having a Colby Trouser Press.

    If you want to aspire to something, make it having your own plane. And not some kind of Ford Escort of the skies, make it something decent, like at least a Citation X.

    You have lots of money and others don't. Hilarious. It's this sort of crap that causes things like Trump.
  • Options
    SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,843
    Sean_F said:

    DavidL said:

    There needs to be a discussion about some practical points. Whilst we debate the whys and wherefores of a customs union and try to ignore the same for the EEA, I have not yet heard any credible authoritative source state clearly that this country would be able to continue to function economically if we leave both next March.

    Park the politics for a minute and ask how we continue to feed ourselves if the borders effectively close which is the collective view of absolutely everyone who knows how things actually work should we fall off the cliff in 9 months.

    We don't get a transition period if there is no agreed deal to transition into. The EU can play the ultimate in hardball on this because although the UK border closing would hurt them it would cripple us - and the benefit to the EU is that no other country muttering about the EU would follow suit.

    It doesn't matter if May is PM or not, if it harms Tory or Labour chances at some future date - crash out hard brexit is an extinction level event for any politician or political party who allows it to happen.

    Why do you think borders would close? Do we not import food from countries not in the Customs Union? How do you think that Peruvian asparagus ends up in Tescos? Or New Zealand lamb? Or....

    There is no doubt that not being in any Customs Union would be an irritant to trade, particularly with items that have long international supply chains such as cars, but suggesting that we could not feed ourselves is frankly absurd. As usual in this debate there is no sense of proportion which means the up and down sides get absurdly exaggerated.
    I'm sure the UN would organise famine relief if we were trading on WTO terms.
    LOL. I’d be more worried about empty shelves at Waitrose in Dubai than Waitrose in the UK - the UK would simply stop exporting food and buy more from non-EU countries if we left to WTO terms. There’s no chance whatsoever that people will starve, although it’s quite possible that a few out-of-season luxuries will be in short supply for a few weeks - which might feel like the end of the world for those who think they can’t live without their morning avocado on toast, but doesn’t mean anyone’s going to starve.

    Let’s face it, every summer the cross channel trade comes to a halt as the French have their annual strike, and Britons don’t die of starvation. WTO terms Brexit won’t be any different with a bit of prior planning.
  • Options
    RoyalBlueRoyalBlue Posts: 3,223

    RoyalBlue said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:



    Why do you think borders would close? Do we not import food from countries not in the Customs Union? How do you think that Peruvian asparagus ends up in Tescos? Or New Zealand lamb? Or....

    There is no doubt that not being in any Customs Union would be an irritant to trade, particularly with items that have long international supply chains such as cars, but suggesting that we could not feed ourselves is frankly absurd. As usual in this debate there is no sense of proportion which means the up and down sides get absurdly exaggerated.

    Go and ask anyone in the industry how it works. Don't just quote platitudes and political theory thinking you know better than they do about their business. Hard Brexit doesn't work on a very real and practical basis. If we had 5 years to prepare, maybe. But not in 9 months.

    Do you think we get a lot of trucks from New Zealand or Peru? This really is nonsense. And we are working on electronic borders for exporters and importers in accordance with the UCC program I linked to earlier. It is an EU requirement to have such systems in place by 2020.
    You’ve hit the nail on the head. New Zealand and Peru are irrelevant examples because all their goods will come via ship or plane. 70% of trade with the EU is by lorry, hence the wretched impact of standard customs procedures on our trade.

    Even Brexiteers must recognise that EU membership has changed the shape of our economy. We are much more embedded than we were even 10 years ago in terms of supply chains etc.
    Oh dear God...

    This is clueless. New Zealand exporters to the UK don't send a special load to the UK and a different load to the EU. They import everything to transshipment ports like Rotterdam. So our "product of New Zealand" is an EU import.

    Again, please please please go and read up on logistics before you fuck this up for everyone.
    That’s rubbish. Some will be transhipped via Rotterdam, but not everything. Otherwise we would have no non-EU trade.

    If you read my post, you would see I was agreeing about the practical issues customs checks present, and why New Zealand and Peru are not good comparators for our trade with the continent. I suggest you drop out for 10 minutes until the red haze has dispersed.
  • Options
    RecidivistRecidivist Posts: 4,679
    RoyalBlue said:

    Mr. Freggles, by that definition we may as well remove the word 'permanent' from the dictionary. After all, the universe has a finite lifespan. Won't be long until the sun goes supernova. A little after that all heat will seep from the cosmos and the universe will become dark, and cold, and lifeless.

    Our sun won’t go supernova - it doesn’t have the mass.
    Project Fear again?
  • Options
    Sean_FSean_F Posts: 35,789
    Nigelb said:

    rcs1000 said:

    This - https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/06/04/kirstie-allsopp-defends-flying-business-class-leaving-children/ - is a terrible story.

    Kirstie Allsopp says her kids shouldn't fly Club Class because that's something they should aspire to.

    How f*cking bourgeois is that??? Aspire to "Club Class"? That's like aspiring to wearing Old Spice or having a Colby Trouser Press.

    If you want to aspire to something, make it having your own plane. And not some kind of Ford Escort of the skies, make it something decent, like at least a Citation X.

    Channelling your inner SeanT this morning ?
    :smile:
    Old Spice is bloody luxury.
  • Options
    AlanbrookeAlanbrooke Posts: 23,754

    RoyalBlue said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:



    Why do you think borders would close? Do we not import food from countries not in the Customs Union? How do you think that Peruvian asparagus ends up in Tescos? Or New Zealand lamb? Or....

    There is no doubt that not being in any Customs Union would be an irritant to trade, particularly with items that have long international supply chains such as cars, but suggesting that we could not feed ourselves is frankly absurd. As usual in this debate there is no sense of proportion which means the up and down sides get absurdly exaggerated.

    Thus demonstrating the folly of the "I know better than the ports and customs and import/export industries" viewpoint.

    We leave the Customs Union and Single Market on 29te, maybe. But not in 9 months.

    Do you think we get a lot of trucks from New Zealand or Peru? This really is nonsense. And we are working on electronic borders for exporters and importers in accordance with the UCC program I linked to earlier. It is an EU requirement to have such systems in place by 2020.
    You’ve hit the nail on the head. New Zealand and Peru are irrin terms of supply chains etc.
    Oh dear God...

    This is clueless. New Zealand exporters to the UK don't send a special load to the UK and a different load to the EU. They import everything to transshipment ports like Rotterdam. So our "product of New Zealand" is an EU import.

    Again, please please please go and read up on logistics before you fuck this up for everyone.
    err

    that looks to me like in future they change their loading policies and ship direct to UK. Just because theyre doing it today doesnt mean they will continue to do it. There may as a consequence be fewer shipments or some added cost but that looks the more sensible thing for companies to do.
  • Options
    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 60,969
    Mr. Freggles, if you prefer, we can use the term 'long-term'. My point about there needing to be an end point is the critical point. With the political class so EU-phile, they'll keep us in and seek to turn the ratchet so the EU has ever more influence.

    Mr. Fire, perhaps. And perhaps they'll see a woefully unprepared, dithering government and a political class set on diluting, delaying and thwarting the electorate's decision.
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    FregglesFreggles Posts: 3,486

    RoyalBlue said:


    You’ve hit the nail on the head. New Zealand and Peru are irrelevant examples because all their goods will come via ship or plane. 70% of trade with the EU is by lorry, hence the wretched impact of standard customs procedures on our trade.

    Even Brexiteers must recognise that EU membership has changed the shape of our economy. We are much more embedded than we were even 10 years ago in terms of supply chains etc.

    Oh dear God...

    This is clueless. New Zealand exporters to the UK don't send a special load to the UK and a different load to the EU. They import everything to transshipment ports like Rotterdam. So our "product of New Zealand" is an EU import.

    Again, please please please go and read up on logistics before you fuck this up for everyone.
    I think he was agreeing with you.
  • Options
    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,920
    Elliot said:

    rcs1000 said:

    This - https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/06/04/kirstie-allsopp-defends-flying-business-class-leaving-children/ - is a terrible story.

    Kirstie Allsopp says her kids shouldn't fly Club Class because that's something they should aspire to.

    How f*cking bourgeois is that??? Aspire to "Club Class"? That's like aspiring to wearing Old Spice or having a Colby Trouser Press.

    If you want to aspire to something, make it having your own plane. And not some kind of Ford Escort of the skies, make it something decent, like at least a Citation X.

    You have lots of money and others don't. Hilarious. It's this sort of crap that causes things like Trump.
    Aspiring to more than British Airways Club Class caused Trump?

    Well, it's a view .
  • Options
    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 60,969
    F1: Ricciardo set for grid penalties. Probably at least 10 places for using more K parts than permitted, possibly other stuff too.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/44364183

    Current forecast is dry all weekend.
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    HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,940
    The DUP are pretty vehement now in their support for Brexit and the whole UK leaving the Customs Union so I fail to see why on earth a group of mainly Remainer MPs pushing abortion on Northern Ireland should see the DUP vote with those same Remainers for the Customs Union? If anything I would have thought it would make it more likely they will vote for May given May is clear that abortion in NI is a matter for Stormont and Stormont alone and not Westminster.

    I think the Customs Union vote will be tight but enough Labour Leave MPs like Field, Hoey and Mann will vote to leave the Customs Union to enable the government to scrape home despite Tory Remainer rebels
  • Options
    SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,843
    edited June 2018
    rcs1000 said:

    Elliot said:

    rcs1000 said:

    This - https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/06/04/kirstie-allsopp-defends-flying-business-class-leaving-children/ - is a terrible story.

    Kirstie Allsopp says her kids shouldn't fly Club Class because that's something they should aspire to.

    How f*cking bourgeois is that??? Aspire to "Club Class"? That's like aspiring to wearing Old Spice or having a Colby Trouser Press.

    If you want to aspire to something, make it having your own plane. And not some kind of Ford Escort of the skies, make it something decent, like at least a Citation X.

    You have lots of money and others don't. Hilarious. It's this sort of crap that causes things like Trump.
    Aspiring to more than British Airways Club Class caused Trump?

    Well, it's a view .
    We should aspire to be Trump, flying around - as he did before he became president - in a private 757 with his name on the side.
    image
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    williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 48,011

    RoyalBlue said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:



    Why do you think borders would close? Do we not import food from countries not in the Customs Union? How do you think that Peruvian asparagus ends up in Tescos? Or New Zealand lamb? Or....

    There is no doubt that not being in any Customs Union would be an irritant to trade, particularly with items that have long international supply chains such as cars, but suggesting that we could not feed ourselves is frankly absurd. As usual in this debate there is no sense of proportion which means the up and down sides get absurdly exaggerated.

    Thus demonstrating the folly of the "I know better than the ports and customs and import/export industries" viewpoint.

    We leave the Customs Union and Single Market on 29te, maybe. But not in 9 months.

    Do you think we get a lot of trucks from New Zealand or Peru? This really is nonsense. And we are working on electronic borders for exporters and importers in accordance with the UCC program I linked to earlier. It is an EU requirement to have such systems in place by 2020.
    You’ve hit the nail on the head. New Zealand and Peru are irrin terms of supply chains etc.
    Oh dear God...

    This is clueless. New Zealand exporters to the UK don't send a special load to the UK and a different load to the EU. They import everything to transshipment ports like Rotterdam. So our "product of New Zealand" is an EU import.

    Again, please please please go and read up on logistics before you fuck this up for everyone.
    err

    that looks to me like in future they change their loading policies and ship direct to UK. Just because theyre doing it today doesnt mean they will continue to do it. There may as a consequence be fewer shipments or some added cost but that looks the more sensible thing for companies to do.
    Does that help you on day one? Week one? Month one? Year one?
  • Options
    MortimerMortimer Posts: 13,936

    RoyalBlue said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:



    Why do you think borders would close? Do we not import food from countries not in the Customs Union? How do you think that Peruvian asparagus ends up in Tescos? Or New Zealand lamb? Or....

    There is no doubt that not being in any Customs Union would be an irritant to trade, particularly with items that have long international supply chains such as cars, but suggesting that we could not feed ourselves is frankly absurd. As usual in this debate there is no sense of proportion which means the up and down sides get absurdly exaggerated.

    Thus demonstrating the folly of the "I know better than the ports and customs and import/export industries" viewpoint.

    We leave the Customs Union and Single Market on 29te, maybe. But not in 9 months.

    Do you think we get a lot of trucks from New Zealand or Peru? This really is nonsense. And we are working on electronic borders for exporters and importers in accordance with the UCC program I linked to earlier. It is an EU requirement to have such systems in place by 2020.
    You’ve hit the nail on the head. New Zealand and Peru are irrin terms of supply chains etc.
    Oh dear God...

    This is clueless. New Zealand exporters to the UK don't send a special load to the UK and a different load to the EU. They import everything to transshipment ports like Rotterdam. So our "product of New Zealand" is an EU import.

    Again, please please please go and read up on logistics before you fuck this up for everyone.
    err

    that looks to me like in future they change their loading policies and ship direct to UK. Just because theyre doing it today doesnt mean they will continue to do it. There may as a consequence be fewer shipments or some added cost but that looks the more sensible thing for companies to do.
    One of my biggest frustrations in any discussion on logistics/supply chains is that too many don't seem to understand that flexibility is possible.

    Necessity is the mother of all invention, and all that.
  • Options
    RochdalePioneersRochdalePioneers Posts: 27,176
    Freggles said:

    RoyalBlue said:


    You’ve hit the nail on the head. New Zealand and Peru are irrelevant examples because all their goods will come via ship or plane. 70% of trade with the EU is by lorry, hence the wretched impact of standard customs procedures on our trade.

    Even Brexiteers must recognise that EU membership has changed the shape of our economy. We are much more embedded than we were even 10 years ago in terms of supply chains etc.

    Oh dear God...

    This is clueless. New Zealand exporters to the UK don't send a special load to the UK and a different load to the EU. They import everything to transshipment ports like Rotterdam. So our "product of New Zealand" is an EU import.

    Again, please please please go and read up on logistics before you fuck this up for everyone.
    I think he was agreeing with you.
    Yes, apologies to Royal Blue that was supposed to be agreeing with him in response to Archer
  • Options
    MortimerMortimer Posts: 13,936
    Freggles said:

    Mr. Freggles, by that definition we may as well remove the word 'permanent' from the dictionary. After all, the universe has a finite lifespan. Won't be long until the sun goes supernova. A little after that all heat will seep from the cosmos and the universe will become dark, and cold, and lifeless.

    Frying an egg: permanent

    Losing your virginity: permanent

    Joining a customs union: only 'permanent' if almost other act of parliament is also permanent, which begs the question of why you would use the word if not attempting to imply that joining a CU would bind future governments
    Then you'd have no problem with introducing a sunset clause on any future customs arrangement, presumably?
  • Options
    AlanbrookeAlanbrooke Posts: 23,754

    RoyalBlue said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:



    Why do you think borders would close? Do we not import food from countries not in the Customs Union? How do you think that Peruvian asparagus ends up in Tescos? Or New Zealand lamb? Or....

    There is no doubt that not being in any Customs Union would be an irritant to trade, particularly with items that have long international supply chains such as cars, but suggesting that we could not feed ourselves is frankly absurd. As usual in this debate there is no sense of proportion which means the up and down sides get absurdly exaggerated.

    Thus demonstrating the folly of the "I know better than the ports and customs and import/export industries" viewpoint.

    We leave the Customs Union and Single Market on 29te, maybe. But not in 9 months.

    Do you think we get a lot of trucks from New Zealand or Peru? This really is nonsense. And we are working on electronic borders for exporters and importers in accordance with the UCC program I linked to earlier. It is an EU requirement to have such systems in place by 2020.
    You’ve hit the nail on the head. New Zealand and Peru are irrin terms of supply chains etc.
    Oh dear God...

    This is clueless. New Zealand exporters to the UK don't send a special load to the UK and a different load to the EU. They import everything to transshipment ports like Rotterdam. So our "product of New Zealand" is an EU import.

    Again, please please please go and read up on logistics before you fuck this up for everyone.
    err

    that looks to me like in future they change their loading policies and ship direct to UK. Just because theyre doing it today doesnt mean they will continue to do it. There may as a consequence be fewer shipments or some added cost but that looks the more sensible thing for companies to do.
    Does that help you on day one? Week one? Month one? Year one?
    Prior to day one if you know there is a problem you order more and hold more in stock until the new order pattern settles down,

    This happens in companies all the time.
  • Options
    MortimerMortimer Posts: 13,936

    RoyalBlue said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:



    Why do you think borders would close? Do we not import food from countries not in the Customs Union? How do you think that Peruvian asparagus ends up in Tescos? Or New Zealand lamb? Or....

    There is no doubt that not being in any Customs Union would be an irritant to trade, particularly with items that have long international supply chains such as cars, but suggesting that we could not feed ourselves is frankly absurd. As usual in this debate there is no sense of proportion which means the up and down sides get absurdly exaggerated.

    Thus demonstrating the folly of the "I know better than the ports and customs and import/export industries" viewpoint.

    We leave the Customs Union and Single Market on 29te, maybe. But not in 9 months.

    Do you think we get a lot of trucks from New Zealand or Peru? This really is nonsense. And we are working on electronic borders for exporters and importers in accordance with the UCC program I linked to earlier. It is an EU requirement to have such systems in place by 2020.
    You’ve hit the nail on the head. New Zealand and Peru are irrin terms of supply chains etc.
    Oh dear God...

    This is clueless. New Zealand exporters to the UK don't send a special load to the UK and a different load to the EU. They import everything to transshipment ports like Rotterdam. So our "product of New Zealand" is an EU import.

    Again, please please please go and read up on logistics before you fuck this up for everyone.
    err

    that looks to me like in future they change their loading policies and ship direct to UK. Just because theyre doing it today doesnt mean they will continue to do it. There may as a consequence be fewer shipments or some added cost but that looks the more sensible thing for companies to do.
    Does that help you on day one? Week one? Month one? Year one?
    Day one would likely be more than 3 months after any agreement.
  • Options
    HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,940
    If May does fall over the Customs Union I would expect Tory Associations to start deselecting Tory MPs who voted against the government despite living in Leave seats and the Tory right to mobilise to ensure either Mogg or Boris get through to the final 2 sent to the membership on a hard Brexit platform which they would win by a landslide.

    We would then be set up for a Mogg/Boris v Corbyn general election
  • Options
    MortimerMortimer Posts: 13,936

    RoyalBlue said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:



    Why do you think borders would close? Do we not import food from countries not in the Customs Union? How do you think that Peruvian asparagus ends up in Tescos? Or New Zealand lamb? Or....

    There is no doubt that not being in any Customs Union would be an irritant to trade, particularly with items that have long international supply chains such as cars, but suggesting that we could not feed ourselves is frankly absurd. As usual in this debate there is no sense of proportion which means the up and down sides get absurdly exaggerated.

    Thus demonstrating the folly of the "I know better than the ports and customs and import/export industries" viewpoint.

    We leave the Customs Union and Single Market on 29te, maybe. But not in 9 months.

    Do you think we get a lot of trucks from New Zealand or Peru? This really is nonsense. And we are working on electronic borders for exporters and importers in accordance with the UCC program I linked to earlier. It is an EU requirement to have such systems in place by 2020.
    You’ve hit the nail on the head. New Zealand and Peru are irrin terms of supply chains etc.
    Oh dear God...

    This is clueless. New Zealand exporters to the UK don't send a special load to the UK and a different load to the EU. They import everything to transshipment ports like Rotterdam. So our "product of New Zealand" is an EU import.

    Again, please please please go and read up on logistics before you fuck this up for everyone.
    err

    that looks to me like in future they change their loading policies and ship direct to UK. Just because theyre doing it today doesnt mean they will continue to do it. There may as a consequence be fewer shipments or some added cost but that looks the more sensible thing for companies to do.
    Does that help you on day one? Week one? Month one? Year one?
    Prior to day one if you know there is a problem you order more and hold more in stock until the new order pattern settles down,

    This happens in companies all the time.
    I fear not enough people have ever imported or exported stuff to realise this.
  • Options
    SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,843

    F1: Ricciardo set for grid penalties. Probably at least 10 places for using more K parts than permitted, possibly other stuff too.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/44364183

    Current forecast is dry all weekend.

    Which is why RB are not going to be title contenders, a third of the way through the season and they’re already taking engine penalties. A couple of good early results isn’t the consistency that wins championships.
  • Options
    Blue_rogBlue_rog Posts: 2,019

    DavidL said:



    I don't think that there is any doubt that the collective noun for MEPs is an embarrassment and it frankly goes well beyond UKIP. Leaving that ridiculous institution is definitely one of the upsides of Brexit.

    We've debated this before, and I remain unconvinced that you've bothered to try interacting with your MEPs, read any EP debates or actually have any real idea beyond a general distaste, and with respect for your generally interesting and balnced posts on everything else, your idea that there isn't any doubt that you're right does not add to your persuasive power on this.

    The quality of EP debate and decision-making is superior to Westminster, partly because there's no overall majority, so any significant decision gets a proper debate with compromises needed to reach an agreed conclusion. It's perfectly possible to be anti-EU membership without rubbishing a particular part of it that - in terms of whether they do what they're suppose to - works well.
    My bold

    The problem with compromises is that to get the support you need to dilute the original proposal and also give something to get that vote. This leads to 'pork barrel' politics that can also lead to corruption.

    When was the last time the EU budget was signed off by the auditors btw?
  • Options
    JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 38,890
    Blue_rog said:

    DavidL said:



    I don't think that there is any doubt that the collective noun for MEPs is an embarrassment and it frankly goes well beyond UKIP. Leaving that ridiculous institution is definitely one of the upsides of Brexit.

    We've debated this before, and I remain unconvinced that you've bothered to try interacting with your MEPs, read any EP debates or actually have any real idea beyond a general distaste, and with respect for your generally interesting and balnced posts on everything else, your idea that there isn't any doubt that you're right does not add to your persuasive power on this.

    The quality of EP debate and decision-making is superior to Westminster, partly because there's no overall majority, so any significant decision gets a proper debate with compromises needed to reach an agreed conclusion. It's perfectly possible to be anti-EU membership without rubbishing a particular part of it that - in terms of whether they do what they're suppose to - works well.
    My bold

    The problem with compromises is that to get the support you need to dilute the original proposal and also give something to get that vote. This leads to 'pork barrel' politics that can also lead to corruption.

    When was the last time the EU budget was signed off by the auditors btw?
    https://fullfact.org/europe/did-auditors-sign-eu-budget/
  • Options
    SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,843
    Mortimer said:

    RoyalBlue said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:



    Why do you think borders would close? Do we not import food from countries not in the Customs Union? How do you think that Peruvian asparagus ends up in Tescos? Or New Zealand lamb? Or....

    There is no doubt that not being in any Customs Union would be an irritant to trade, particularly with items that have long international supply chains such as cars, but suggesting that we could not feed ourselves is frankly absurd. As usual in this debate there is no sense of proportion which means the up and down sides get absurdly exaggerated.

    Thus demonstrating the folly of the "I know better than the ports and customs and import/export industries" viewpoint.

    We leave the Customs Union and Single Market on 29te, maybe. But not in 9 months.

    Do you think we get a lot of trucks from New Zealand or Peru? This really is nonsense. And we are working on electronic borders for exporters and importers in accordance with the UCC program I linked to earlier. It is an EU requirement to have such systems in place by 2020.
    You’ve hit the nail on the head. New Zealand and Peru are irrin terms of supply chains etc.
    Oh dear God...

    This is clueless. New Zealand exporters to the UK don't send a special load to the UK and a different load to the EU. They import everything to transshipment ports like Rotterdam. So our "product of New Zealand" is an EU import.

    Again, please please please go and read up on logistics before you fuck this up for everyone.
    err

    that looks to me like in future they change their loading policies and ship direct to UK. Just because theyre doing it today doesnt mean they will continue to do it. There may as a consequence be fewer shipments or some added cost but that looks the more sensible thing for companies to do.
    One of my biggest frustrations in any discussion on logistics/supply chains is that too many don't seem to understand that flexibility is possible.

    Necessity is the mother of all invention, and all that.
    The logistics and shipping industry is one of the most dynamic industries out there, by necessity of having to constantly adapt to changing weather and global politics, as well as customer needs and desires. WTO Brexit would be just another one of the many changes they adapt to every year, it really wouldn’t be difficult. But that doesn’t suit those with an agenda who think the world will end if we dare to leave the EU.
  • Options
    Scott_PScott_P Posts: 51,453

    Prior to day one if you know there is a problem you order more and hold more in stock until the new order pattern settles down,

    This happens in companies all the time.

    That's not how auto industry JIT works.

    They can't "hold more stock". They don't have space. That's kind of the whole point...
  • Options
    HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,940

    rcs1000 said:

    Elliot said:

    Scott_P said:
    This is what appeasing the EU gets you. As I have said for months (years?) if May sells out in the final deal the electoral blowback will be horrific. UK public will not stand for humiliation at the hands of the EU and the Remainers. Hard Brexit is the only way she can maintain the support she already has.
    This is exactly right. Staying in the Customs Union tries to ch in place.
    There seems to be a serious lack of nuance in your comments.

    Will people care if Brexit does not mean more control for the British people and parliament in the medium term? Yes.

    Will people care if the transition from CET to a British External Tariff takes (say) five years, and there are no economic issues along the way? Of course not.

    People care about:
    (1) Their personal economic circumstances
    (2) The direction of travel

    My view is that by far the biggest threat to Brexit is a major recession. We have been lucky, to date, that external demand has been buttressed by acceleration in growth among all our major trading partners.

    When we entered the EEC we had a seven year transition from Imperial Preference Tariffs to the Common External Tariff. I don't think we need the same length of transition again, but I also think this idea that a time limited customs agreement is somehow a sell out is insanity.
    Again, the problem is not with the Leavers. It is the EU that rejects a time limited customs agreement, just as they have rejected any sort of 'soft' Brexit that is not EEA status. The EU will not agree to any transition that is not under the current terms (eg vassal state).

    The only problem from the Leavers point of view is that the EU now 'reject' FTA Brexit as well because of the bogus issue of NI. So we will just leave without a deal as there clearly is no deal on offer that is not EEA-plus.

    The CU debate is about trying to stay in the SM, and ignores the fact that we can only do that via accepting FOM. The moment the Remainers 'win' the CU argument, they will have to start 're-defining' what constitutes FOM because only EEA-plus is available.

    Face it - this is all about rejecting the verdict of the referendum.
    Opinium yesterday found a majority would accept EEA plus restrictions including a job offer requirement to come here rather than pure FOM, that would be similar to the transition controls we could have had in 2004.

    In December the EU and UK agreed enough regulatory alignment between the UK and Republic of Ireland to enable Canada style FTA talks
  • Options
    OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 31,918

    RoyalBlue said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:



    Why do you think borders would close? Do we not import food from countries not in the Customs Union? How do you think that Peruvian asparagus ends up in Tescos? Or New Zealand lamb? Or....

    There is no doubt that not being in any Customs Union would be an irritant to trade, particularly with items that have long international supply chains such as cars, but suggesting that we could not feed ourselves is frankly absurd. As usual in this debate there is no sense of proportion which means the up and down sides get absurdly exaggerated.

    Thus demonstrating the folly of the "I know better than the ports and customs and import/export industries" viewpoint.

    We leave the Customs Union and Single Market on 29te, maybe. But not in 9 months.

    Do you think we get a lot of trucks from New Zealand or Peru? This really is nonsense. And we are working on electronic borders for exporters and importers in accordance with the UCC program I linked to earlier. It is an EU requirement to have such systems in place by 2020.
    You’ve hit the nail on the head. New Zealand and Peru are irrin terms of supply chains etc.
    Oh dear God...

    This is clueless. New Zealand exporters to the UK don't send a special load to the UK and a different load to the EU. They import everything to transshipment ports like Rotterdam. So our "product of New Zealand" is an EU import.

    Again, please please please go and read up on logistics before you fuck this up for everyone.
    err

    that looks to me like in future they change their loading policies and ship direct to UK. Just because theyre doing it today doesnt mean they will continue to do it. There may as a consequence be fewer shipments or some added cost but that looks the more sensible thing for companies to do.
    Does that help you on day one? Week one? Month one? Year one?
    Prior to day one if you know there is a problem you order more and hold more in stock until the new order pattern settles down,

    This happens in companies all the time.
    Like training train drivers on new routes, eh?
  • Options
    AlanbrookeAlanbrooke Posts: 23,754
    Mortimer said:

    RoyalBlue said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:



    Why do you think borders would close? Do we not import food from countries not in the Customs Union? How do you think that Peruvian asparagus ends up in Tescos? Or New Zealand lamb? Or....

    There is no doubt that not being in any Customs Union would be an irritant to trade, particularly with items that have long international supply chains such as cars, but suggesting that we could not feed ourselves is frankly absurd. As usual in this debate there is no sense of proportion which means the up and down sides get absurdly exaggerated.

    Thus demonstrating the folly of the "I know better than the ports and customs and import/export industries" viewpoint.

    We leave the Customs Union and Single Market on 29te, maybe. But not in 9 months.

    Do you think we get a lot of trucks from New Zealand or Peru? This really is nonsense. And we are working on electronic borders for exporters and importers in accordance with the UCC program I linked to earlier. It is an EU requirement to have such systems in place by 2020.
    You’ve hit the nail on the head. New Zealand and Peru are irrin terms of supply chains etc.
    Oh dear God...

    This is clueless. New Zealand exporters to the UK don't send a special load to the UK and a different load to the EU. They import everything to transshipment ports like Rotterdam. So our "product of New Zealand" is an EU import.

    Again, please please please go and read up on logistics before you fuck this up for everyone.
    err

    that looks to me like in future they change their loading policies and ship direct to UK. Just because theyre doing it today doesnt mean they will continue to do it. There may as a consequence be fewer shipments or some added cost but that looks the more sensible thing for companies to do.
    Does that help you on day one? Week one? Month one? Year one?
    Prior to day one if you know there is a problem you order more and hold more in stock until the new order pattern settles down,

    This happens in companies all the time.
    I fear not enough people have ever imported or exported stuff to realise this.
    I think some PBers must still work in the Soviet Union
This discussion has been closed.