demagogue on 13/10/2017 at 06:26
AKA "pray that there's intelligent life somewhere out in space, 'Cause there's bugger all down here on Earth!"
You people still haven't just ripped that bandage off yet, huh? You're screwed yourselves; there's no hope for redemption; so just go ahead and own the disaster and get on with your smaller, more petty lives like we have. That should be the motto of 2017.
Starker on 13/10/2017 at 10:45
There's a German saying that goes something like this: the higher the monkey goes, the more of his arse he shows (Je höher der Affe steigt, je mehr er seinen Hintern zeigt).
Let's just say that monkeys are climbing pretty high these days.
Starker on 30/5/2018 at 14:25
Now We Can Fund the NHS and Other Fairy Tales
Starker on 6/7/2018 at 21:08
With less than a year away from leaving the EU (there's also a transition period, but the process starts on 29th March 2019), the UK government has agreed on a plan for leaving the EU:
Quote:
(
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-44747444)
The main details of the "Chequers statement" are as follows:
* The UK would accept continuing "harmonisation" with EU rules on the trade in goods, covering only those necessary to ensure frictionless trade
* Parliament would have the final say over how these rules are incorporated into UK law, retaining the right to refuse to do so
* There will be different arrangements for trade in services, including financial products, with greater "regulatory flexibility" and "strong reciprocal arrangements"
* Freedom of movement as it stands will come to an end but a "mobility framework" will ensure UK and EU citizens can continue to travel to each other's territories and apply for study and work
* A new customs arrangement will be phased in, with the goal of "a combined customs territory"
* The UK will be able to control its own tariffs and develop an independent trade policy
* The jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice will end but the UK will pay regard to its decisions in areas where common rules were in force.
[...]
There is no mention in the document of either the single market or the customs union, which the UK has committed to leave after the end of a transition period in December 2020.
Under plans for a free trade zone, the UK would be committed legally to following EU law for a large part of the economy, including manufacturing and farming.
While Parliament would retain the right to diverge from EU regulations in these areas, the document makes clear that "choosing not to pass the relevant legislation would have consequences for market access, security co-operation or the frictionless border".
The document also commits the government to step up preparedness for a no-deal scenario, as one of a range of possible outcomes, "given the short period remaining before the necessary conclusion of negotiations".
demagogue on 7/7/2018 at 07:12
So a soft Brexit that nobody wants. Democracy's been great at achieving that this year.
I mean correct me if I'm wrong, but did many that voted for Brexit, if anybody, want this?
And if few to none did, what's even the point?
It's not upholding the people's will.
Thirith on 7/7/2018 at 08:54
What is the people's will, though? The referendum was so vague, I don't think there's any justification to describe any one scenario as "the people's will". Anyone who claims to represent the people's will in this is disingenuous and/or stupid.
Gray on 7/7/2018 at 10:31
Exactly.
It's the shitastrophy that keeps on shitting.
Starker on 7/7/2018 at 13:58
Soft Brexit is still preferable to no deal at all. The EU market is something you can ill-afford to ignore, especially when you're situated right next to it, and regulatory barriers are still one of the biggest obstacles to trade, so the UK will have to follow the EU's rules anyway, at least in some areas.
On the plus side, the UK will get to renegotiate trade deals with more flexibility, though this time it's without the leverage of the huge EU single market and the advantages of being one of the three top players in it.
Gray on 7/7/2018 at 17:40
Either way you twist and turn it, it's lose/lose. Nobody wins, except possibly Boris and Rees-Mogg, who will both benefit financially.