Brext Benefits - Share the joy

[John Meachen]

If not an out and out Rejoin ticket,an undertaking to keep the prospect under review would be a start.Then if the clamour became irresistible they could claim to be willing to let the public have say.The prospect of which brings out the "we had a vote and our side won" fraternity.Odd how they are so keen to avoid seeing if their point of view still holds sway...

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

I agree with both Nick’s post #105 and with John’s post #106, above.

We are as far away from our next election as our cousins, on whose hospitality we trespass, here, are from theirs.

I just wish Starmer had not nailed his colours to the mast of Brexit,

Alas he has, and now he has gone full dog whistle racist on immigration and has been commended by Nigel Farage for adopting UKIP’s 2015 manifesto - see my post -#101 above.

[gypsie]

They are the ethnic Irish Joke.

Ahem.. ethnic Irish ... joke?

I'm not sure which of those two the DUP would find more offensive.


Just heard that brexit has transformed into Bregret.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/22/w...it-regret.html

Brexit may be in the history books, but “Bregret,” as the British newspapers have called it, is back in the air.

[gypsie]

I agree with both Nick’s post #105 and with John’s post #106, above.

We are as far away from our next election as our cousins, on whose hospitality we trespass, here, are from theirs.

I just wish Starmer had not nailed his colours to the mast of Brexit,

Alas he has, and now he has gone full dog whistle racist on immigration and has been commended by Nigel Farage for adopting UKIP’s 2015 manifesto - see my post -#101 above.

David Mitchel agrees

Brexit is a catastrophe and the opposition’s failure to mention that seems mad.

https://www.theguardian.com/commenti...t-keir-starmer

Our economy is crashing, not exclusively because of Brexit, but to a large extent. We are doing worse than France, Germany, Italy, the US etc etc. It’s like all the western countries are standing in the rain but everyone except the UK has an umbrella and our government is screaming: “We’re only getting soaked because of the rain!!

[Too Little Time]

I read the following comment in a New York Times op-ed

“Brexit wasn’t viewed through the lens of economics,” Professor Menon said. “It was viewed through culture or values. ..."

Sometimes there is a price to be paid to get what one wants.

[dutchpp]

The culture and values seem to be changing.
poll brexit.jpg

Source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/...-opinion-poll/

[Peerie Maa]

I agree with both Nick’s post #105 and with John’s post #106, above.

We are as far away from our next election as our cousins, on whose hospitality we trespass, here, are from theirs.

I just wish Starmer had not nailed his colours to the mast of Brexit,

Alas he has, and now he has gone full dog whistle racist on immigration and has been commended by Nigel Farage for adopting UKIP’s 2015 manifesto - see my post -#101 above.

My experience is that the caretaker leader of the opposition rarely leads any party into an election. I don't know who Labour have got with the stature of Starmer, but someone will turn up in the next two years.

[Too Little Time]

The culture and values seem to be changing.

Or they are unhappy with the economic cost. But economics does change culture and values.

[artif]

Sat here in Germany, they certainly don't seem to be in as bad a state as the UK. The towns near me in the UK are half boarded up and other half are charity shops, German towns seem to be thriving.

[gypsie]

Or they are unhappy with the economic cost. But economics does change culture and values.

Or they realise that they had their culture and values all along.
The world inexorably changes for everyone, Little Britain couldn't see that and blamed Europe. Now they see they can't 'regain' what they think they lost...?

Its just MAGA in the UK.

[Peerie Maa]

The reality of Little England, culture and values.

[Too Little Time]

Or they realise that they had their culture and values all along.
The world inexorably changes for everyone, Little Britain couldn't see that and blamed Europe. Now they see they can't 'regain' what they think they lost...?

Its just MAGA in the UK.

It has little to do with MAGA.

People compare reality with the fiction of the path not taken and believe that the path not taken would have been better. And then the complaining starts.

[P.I. Stazzer-Newt]

Putting the Grim in Grimsby.

[Peerie Maa]

The Swivel Eyed Loon sat on the EU Fisheries Committee, where he did sod all apart from turning up with his hand out when the expenses were dished out.

Nigel Farage sailed a boat down the Thames yesterday in an attempt to highlight the plight of British fishermen, conveniently forgetting that he did nothing to protect the industry while on the EU fisheries committee.
Nigel Farage has said that the UK fishing industry has been “gutted due to the EU” and that the institution was out of touch with the problems facing Britons fishermen.
However, according to research by Greenpeace “over the three years that Nigel Farage was a member of the European Parliament Fisheries Committee, he attended one out of 42 meetings”.

https://descrier.co.uk/politics/brex...ttee-meetings/

[Gerarddm]

The current issue of Bloomberg Business Week has a very sobering article titled Broken Britain. The lead says " After a decade of austerity that devastated public services, the UK is bracing... for more austerity.

The article ends: " Local government has shown it's really efficient at making massive savings ", says Lorna Fielker, cabinet minister for health, leisure and adults on the Southhampton council. " But there's nothing left down the back of the sofa apart from lint and biscuit crumbs now ".

Ouch.

[Peerie Maa]

The current issue of Bloomberg Business Week has a very sobering article titled Broken Britain. The lead says " After a decade of austerity that devastated public services, the UK is bracing... for more austerity.

The article ends: " Local government has shown it's really efficient at making massive savings ", says Lorna Fielker, cabinet minister for health, leisure and adults on the Southhampton council. " But there's nothing left down the back of the sofa apart from lint and biscuit crumbs now ".

Ouch.

Yep, 12 years of right wing government misrule.
It began with Sub Prime Mortgages. Other nations got that sorted and came out OK. Our Tories used it as a justification for screwing over the workers of the nation.

[heimfried]

Figures don't show the expected good results.

Brexit blow: exports to Japan slump after ‘landmark’ free trade deal

First such accord after leaving EU was predicted to bring £15bn boost but UK now lags rivals


The first major free trade agreement signed by Britain after Brexit has been branded a failure after new figures showed exports had fallen since it came into force.

Liz Truss signed a “historic” deal with Japan as trade secretary in October 2020, describing it as a “landmark moment for Britain”. It was claimed it would boost trade by billions of pounds and help the UK recover from the pandemic.

However, figures collated by the Department for International Trade show exports to Japan fell from £12.3bn to £11.9bn in the year to June 2022. Exports in goods fell 4.9% to £6.1bn and services fell 2% to £5.8bn.

The decline is a significant setback for supporters of Brexit who claimed global trade with non-EU countries would help compensate for any losses from leaving the single market.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics...-exports-slump

[Nicholas Carey]

From The Guardian a couple days ago.

90252DF9-7A14-4E30-A8C7-3E1C6F1E1378.jpg

[P.I. Stazzer-Newt]

[P.I. Stazzer-Newt]

It's not all bad gnus....

[artif]

55 Tufton street
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-63039558

[RFNK]

Brexit has to be the most stupid action taken by any supposedly sensible country in my memory. But the commentator in the video above does make me laugh a little with his shot at Australian ownership of a Brit water company. Brits are the second largest foreign investor in Australia and the largest investor in Australian mining. 90% of Aust mining is foreign owned. Brits own 30%, US owns a little less, Australians own 10%. China owns very little, by the way. The mining companies are the most powerful lobbyists in Australian politics so foreign companies pay virtually no tax and run our government policy.

It seems unlikely to me that Brexited Britain will attract much foreign investment in manufacturing or value-adding generally now so I expect, like us, your brilliant politicians will sell water, air, souls and anything else wildly regarded as a 'resource' instead. Welcome to our club of dedeveloping countries.

[Peerie Maa]

Don't confuse shareholders with decision makers.
My pension fund may well own a part of Australian industry.

They say follow the money, but tracing it back to the people on whose behalf the fund manager invests in this or that entity can be tortuous.
Such is the nature of the international money market.

[RFNK]

Ensuring the ethics of any investment portfolio can be laborious. I guess it comes down to values and available time.

But completely beside the point of my post which was to express my wry amusement at the shock, horror of an Australian buying a British water company.

I should mention that my view is that no one except communities and governments should 'own' water or mineral resources, rivers, oceans, reefs, moons .....