Today’s headlines .........

[mezzaninedoor]

Since I retired !!!! I've been so busy I've missed all the to and fro's and most of the news
What have I missed ?

I see that the Lib Dems are now 'Jo Swinson's Lib Dems' a bit like a band that hasn't got all its original members but is having 1 last throw of the dice on the stage!!!

[MyNameIsTerry]

Since I retired !!!! I've been so busy I've missed all the to and fro's and most of the news
What have I missed ?

I see that the Lib Dems are now 'Jo Swinson's Lib Dems' a bit like a band that hasn't got all its original members but is having 1 last throw of the dice on the stage!!!

Yeah, she does seem to have made it about herself. More Americanisms. Reminds me of Del Boy's Tours. But Del Boy probably told less porky pies

What have you missed? We nearly almost possibly might have left To be honest, just months of back & forth as usual as they play their chess game for power.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Has-been speaker John Bercow has put on record that he believes Brexit is the worst thing to happen to Britain since WWII, and that he’s all for us staying in the EU ‘power bloc’. Crikey! his revelations are absolutely shocking – who’d ever have guessed that this bloke, holding a position of power and impartiality, would’ve harboured such beliefs…? I mean, this is almost as earth-shattering as it being confirmed that MI5 agents really are licensed to kill (and commit all sorts of other crimes in carrying out their duty… as long as they don’t infringe human rights!!?). Next news to break will be the non-existence of Father Christmas. (Oh Blimey! Now I’ve let the cat out of the bag.)

The worst foreign policy decision since WWII. Hmm...

[cough] Iraq

[Phill2]

Are you guys still on about breakit?
I'd just give up and leave things as they are.
What benefits do you get by leaving the EU?

[AntsyVee]

Phil shhh. Don’t make sense. That’s not how the world works

[MyNameIsTerry]

Are you guys still on about breakit?
I'd just give up and leave things as they are.
What benefits do you get by leaving the EU?

It will be going on for probably the next 10 years! This is just stage one, the withdrawal where lots of people want to stop it. Next comes the transition phase where we have actually left and start talking about a trade deal...and obviously all the same people start campaigning for us to re-join. Then we will have years off political groups wanting to re-join anyway. Should they cancel the whole thing you can expect the opposite groups kicking off for years too. The worms are too big to get back in the can!

It's a question of weighing up the pros and cons since some good things we lose but it opens the door to redressing some of the problems. It depends where you are in the UK and it's interwoven with underspending outside of London because the various political parties are far less interested in us...and then there is Scottish independence.

So, if you are a fisherman you might have been complaining for decades that EU fishing quotas have been holding you down and sending many fishermen into bankruptcy. But if you are a businessman who travels into the EU you will suddenly find your life getting harder as you lose your freedom of movement.

Benefits-wise there is the hope of changing society to address these internal problems with industries that have little chance when the cards are stacked against them. But some will need government help anyway e.g. farming since they will lose EU subsidy payments that prop up businesses that would otherwise fail because they are prevented from selling their produce in favour of it being sold from somewhere else in the EU.

Workers hope their wages will increase now bosses won't be able to bus in loads of people from poorer countries who are happy to work hard for minimum wage (or lower if it was allowed) to send back to support their families as opposed to we picky Brits who want our employers to pay fairly and treat us better.

Services like the NHS are under a lot of pressure and this is not helped by a) more bodies coming here and b) our government not keeping up with that in budget increases. Solving a) won't solve b) but there is the hope it will help as compared to how many people want to cross the border whenever they want. In reality immigration is needed, and only the hard right nutters want to kick everyone out and pull the drawbridge up, but leaving the EU will create a level playing field with the rest of the immigrants who come from outside and have fight to get in. This is actually a left wing argument where the EU is protectionist. More white people? Or a mix of everyone? Why not allow in more black and Asian people? And that's one reason why Brexit being labelled racist falls short.

Trade deals can be struck. Currently we are told we have full sovereignty but we can't talk to you guys about a trade deal because only the Commission is allowed to negotiate. We get a vote on the deal but that's not the same as being able to strike one that works for your country. The EU has tons of trade deals across the world but how many of them are of benefit to each country? Since the EU is loaded with big players from certain countries how do we know everything is done for the benefit of all?

The membership fee is very unpopular. You pay in billions every year and get little back. It goes to where the EU think it is best used and that might be anywhere but your own country. As we see homelessness rising, old folks unable to get care and people dying it gets harder to justify paying out billions for an infrastructure project somewhere.

There is the issue of the unaccountability of certain bodies. Big business lobby these people, just as they do with our government, but no matter what some of these officials do it's down to their mates to put them their or get them out. You can't vote for them or against them. All you can is change your own government to be hostile to the EU, if you are unhappy with them, and vote for some MEP's who you probably never hear about. You end up with chambers of people enjoying a gravy train knowing there is nothing that can be done about it...hence why they are so pissed off about Brexit

There are many reasons though and many groups with different priorities. Those biased towards the EU will harp on about everyone being hard right nutters or thick but it's a very mixed bag. How many ethnic minorities voted to Leave because they want to see a shift towards immigration from their countries or the countries of their grandparents? And I can say I had been hearing about concerns over racism from my local Asian community since certain EU countries joined, countries that are resisting Muslim immigration in the EU right now citing clash of cultures with very white Catholic populations. Important not to generalise though.

The thing now is if we turn around and say we want to stay the pressure is on. It won't go back to how it was as so many bridges have been burned. There will be groups, political included, in the UK who will see this as the people saying they want further integration into the EU. We have resisted this with things like opt outs. Some prominent EU figures are unhappy with this and would like to see them gone. It only takes a very pro EU Parliament to listen to that are take us in further and there will be no voting like ROI had because we don't have a constitution to cover it. And that's how we got here with treaties signed by PM's without consulting us. Maybe in 10 years we will be on track for the Euro, Schengen, more centralised financial management, etc. People worry about prominent figures like Guy V:

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/arti...defend-britain

He's far from alone in saying things like this.

But yes, we lose plenty too. We could end up much worse off with trade and have less money for the price of more autonomy. There are plenty of arguments for staying too. But our governments have had a lovely ride letting the EC trip around the world striking our trade deals for us.

[Phill2]

Too much info Terry

[lebonvin]

Not enough info Philip lol

[AntsyVee]

183597-7etgyj.jpg

So you guys get a jacuzzi for you balls and all we get is this vagina steam cleaner?




And why is that woman putting her face on it?

I suspect KK is behind this conspiracy... Or maybe Noivous

[MyNameIsTerry]

Too much info Terry

My alternative short answer would have been - it pisses off a lot of our politicians so why not