LandOfConfusion

The one I gave you earlier in this thread. Non-sequitur, that treaty mentions intention but not framework. Maastricht (and later the Treaty of Lisbon) required constitutional changes whereas The Treaty of Rome only required we leave our existing trade deals and join an economic bloc. And incidentally we had a referendum on that, even though it had lesser overall impact on the functioning of our democracy. That's not what you said earlier: Changes to the running and functioning of the very machinery of a country are constitutional changes and that MP's voted for it is irrelevant. Changes of that nature and magnitude should require explicit consent but, as I'll state again Europhiles seem to be quite happy to surrender those rights. Have you read what you've written above? You're sort of correct. Being able to bypass the public and wield excessive power is IMHO a problem. And now we've removed one part of it. I'd suggest you've never written to a supposedly representative MEP about an issue which wasn't on their current agenda? I have and I can count on one hand the number of times I had a reply from an MEP, all of them were from either the Libems or UKIP and in both cases it was on a topic they were then campaigning on. Everything else? Nada. Not even from the so-called European People's Party. And then there's the commission, which is really just and extension of the executive branches of the various member countries, very useful for pushing policies which they know won't get passed by their home elected institutions. And if I remember correctly the supposedly pro-Euro Margaret Thatcher referred to it as a kind of Politburo. And then there's the quangos, some of whom seem to only be enacting legislation to make themselves look like they're actually doing something useful. ECHR, ECJ. Whilst I'd agree there should be a body capable of legally enforcing the rules of the trading bloc there should most definitely not be supranational institutions involved with interfering in the members' internal legal frameworks. That is a key part of a federal system, not a pure trading relationship. I've listed the points in some depth on this forum before and really don't fell like repeating them again. But to answer your point the parts of the radio spectrum we auctioned off come under the ITU with the EU acting on behalf of all it's members. This is good because it very much relates to trade of goods within the bloc as it allows phones to be marketed to the bloc as a whole as opposed to individual countries. The EU's regulation of the unlicensed part of the 2.4GHz spectrum OTOH goes beyond trade. The rules on preventing interference between digital systems adds an unnecessary cost burden especially as this issue has been both known about and dealt with since at least the early 90's and in any case it should be up to individual states to decide if they want to impose extra completely unnecessary red tape. And no, before you ask we couldn't lobby our MEP's about it because (a) despite being a 'democracy' they cannot propose new legislation and (b) the RSC is technocratic, answerable only to the commission. And it's essentially the same with recreational use of non-commercial airspace. I did and I gave an explicit example (the thisismoney article linked to previously).

The bit I mentioned earlier. Does it? If that's true then it's funny how the "Treaty establishing the European Economic Community " aka EEC has bits of the Maastricht treaty in it. I cited and example of where we seem to be being treated worse than other 3'rd countries, but if you can show me evidence that they are being treated worse then I'd like to see it. Nice tactic, it's almost a stawman. We had a major constitutional change and I asked you when the referendum was held. I take it by that reply that there wasn't one? Also on a related point I have repeatedly found it disturbing how some people, and it seems like Europhiles in particular, are so willing to minimise democratic power whilst promoting that of autocrats and technocrats. I'm getting a bit tired of repeatedly pointing out things like control over law & order, radio spectrum, non-commercial airspace etc. Just a suggestion but perhaps you should read my post properly?

I have no problem with this, it's the meddling in internal matters which I didn't like.

Might I suggest the part where they are apparently ignoring banking rules because...? Treaty of Rome, or to put it another way, for the purposes of imports there is one single market and one single border. Few others are treated "as well"? 😳 We had a vote (referendum, not a 'wave though parliament' rubber stamping exercise) on the Masstrict treaty? When? No we didn't. Either the referendum was about leaving the EU as a whole or this pile of "Vote Leave" and vote remain fliers are telling porkies.

I actually said (and as you kindly quoted) "the EU has been pretty nasty post-Brexit". And by that I mean things like for example the treatment of banking: [source] And then there's the numerous reports of EU customs dragging their feet on fresh imports, despite the paperwork being correct. Can you show me other 3rd countries being treated the same way by the EU? Also I was quite happy with falling back to a pre-masstrict treaty position (EEA + have rights to vote on EU trade related matters that affect us) but that wasn't on the table. All that the EU was willing to offer were vague promises to not force us into a closer union, even though in many cases that process had already gone too far. So I voted against federalisation and in the case of Boris, for the least-worse option. But I assume by your reply that you'd be OK with Corbyn and/or being part of a federal EU?

I'm about to go to bed so this'll be a quickie. I suspect we'll get a worse deal as the EU has been pretty nasty post-Brexit and there is absolutely no reason to think they won't continue to be if we come begging back. Or to put it another way no, the 'happy face' mask has fully fallen away on that one. Secondly that's a very European view. The EU's whole structure is based on the idea that voters are dumb and make poor decisions i.e. voted in Hitler, conveniently ignoring the fact that it was politicians who created that environment and who then went on to foster the end result. Looking at Switzerland though we can see that referendums both work and work well although you need a population who (a) isn't lazy and (b) has the right options presented to them and (c) has enough experience to know they need to research the topic and understand the consequences of those options. And given how the last referendum has so far worked out I think people will make a better decision next time subject to it being held fairly soon and (b) being satisfied.

I remember an interview back in (IIRC) 2015 where Grant 'Status Quo' Shapps was explaining why he was rejecting calls for all liens against vehicles to be HPI searchable. In typical anarcho-libertarian speak he suggested that the market would sort out the problem. Glad to see that worked. Also glad I've never been in the market for a motorhome.

Yes, I'm aware of it. They're going to remove the tariff relief, reduce the interstate threshold to €10,000 (was €100,000) and implement a simplified system for member states to use for VAT accounting and submission. Not sure how that helps us though, barring UK exporters with an EU office. As I said in my experience DHL are fine when they work. Parcelfarce/GLS seem to be good for 48 hour(ish) deliveries but I believe you need to have a commercial contract (= regular postings) to actually use them in Europe. Swisspost, which despite the name isn't actually Swiss is another best avoided although in my experience it's rare to see much sent by them.

But sadly you weren't able to order any more capital letters? 😏 I've found the average European time from dispatch to arrival using DHL is a week. And it doesn't seem to matter where in Europe you buy from. Japan is the same. From the U.S., UPS takes roughly 2 weeks although they tend to defer VAT (+ duty if over £135) and invoice you later, which is nice. As for China / SE Asia, Speedpost/EMS & Fedex usually takes less than a week but is pricey. Local mail carriers take anything from 6 days(!) to almost 4 months, although the tracking usually shows customs as the reason for the delays. Once released it typically takes 1-5 days for Royal Mail to figure out where it goes. I would like to know what you brought from Germany and which postal service you used though. DHL seems to be by far the most common and although they can be unreliable when they work they work fast. And don't say PostNL. That's not a postal company; it's a package disposal firm.

I'd suggest (a) that you brought those parts before 01/Jan/2021 when the changes came in and (b) that some companies sell so many low value (<£135) goods to the UK that they are eligible to be part of the UK VAT accounting scheme. In my experience most shops don't do that much UK trade and of those that do and who are in the EU I've known them to stop selling for the rest of the year as they're reached the €100,000 limit for UK exports. And apparently the process for remitting UK VAT, which applies above that threshold is too much work. And if that's not enough I'm lead to believe that the EU is implementing similar on their end. So it's a "No trade barriers" trade barrier and we're all going to see the effects eventually, importers and exporters alike.

So let me get this straight. You'd support loss of consumer choice (some things are not available from any UK supplier) and would support what is in effect significant increased taxation if that taxation created additional jobs? Edit: I disagree that I/we are the problem. It was suggested by both individuals such as myself as well as by various special interest organisations that HMRC (Border Farce) support personal import accounts so that people can pay the VAT due on import. The argument was that this would 'level the playing field' and make imports, especially larger ones easier. This suggestion was rejected by HMRC as being "too expensive" and yet they now expect smaller exporters to essentially do the same.

If you read the brown paper you'll see that UK importers can remit the tax via the usual VAT process. In effect the UK government is blocking the sale of goods into the UK from foreign retailers; wholesale imports won't be affected. The problem with this is that it will dramatically reduce competition. For example I imported some sports gear from Germany a while back. Even paying German VAT, which IIRC was ~20% at the time as well as DHL shipping it came to £30 less than picking it up in person from the cheapest UK retailer.

I mentioned this a few days ago but either nobody noticed or it's the Cassandra Effect at work again. Back in the mid-90's as a kid I overheard a conversation between my father and a guy who ran part of a firm which imported phone accessories. The markup was absolutely astonishing and when the Internet finally made buying from the U.S. and then China easy the savings were almost equally astonishing. And it eventually brought prices in the UK down, even if it took a while. But now it's going to go the other way. Boris 'Gordon Brown' Johnson has imposed the requirement that foreign sellers to the UK have to collect and remit the VAT to HMRC / Border Farce, even on small orders. Their 'we've already decided but...' "consultation" document ('brown' paper?) suggests that the burden on foreign exporters won't be significant but that is totally false. I make occasional imports from Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, China, Poland, Germany, France and the U.S. and pretty much all of my suppliers from those regions have said that thanks to this law and the probability of shipping being returned there will be no more exports to the UK. And no it's not solely because of Brexit; EU law did impose a common framework for imports but nowhere else in the world does the importing country require exporters to collect tax. Just us. So when you start seeing some steep price rises on non-food items at least you'll have that warm fuzzy feeling that some UK-based middleman is making a killing out of you. https://tamebay.com/2020/06/hmrc-propose-scrapping-uk-vat-free-imports-force-marketplaces-collect-vat.html https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hmrc-impact-assessment-for-the-vat-treatment-of-low-value-parcels/hmrc-impact-assessment-for-the-vat-treatment-of-low-value-parcels

Other than he's an incompetent liar? After all, trade barriers have already gone up.

Looks like a strawman argument. We're talking about about manipulation in order to transfer wealth from one generation to another and he's attacking something easy to assail and yet completely different. Exactly. The "Nobody is entitled" cuts both ways. I'm not a fan of Nationwide's statistics and anyway, that's potentially misleading, but more on that later. I'm pretty sure I've discussed unverifiable examples, small sample size and cases where there is an uncontrolled for relationship between the members before. And possibly with you. This. If you can obtain a big enough deposit then mortgage repayments will inevitably be affordable. So if we only look at mortgage affordability and assuming people don't buy houses with the intention to go bankrupt then of course they can afford the repayments. So how then to tell if affordability (the average person's ability to buy) is falling, rising or stable? [Source]

That'll only protect you when inside. Perhaps. Exactly. Unless you have a specific reason to want to live in Croydon (illegal immigrant, victim protection, odd/sadistic condition of a wealthy relative's will?).

May 2016. And on the plus side the 4-bed isn't in Croydon.

That was my thought although strange to see a squeeze given how much money people around here apparently have to spend / spray up a wall. They do deliveries as well though so you'd think they'd be doing better, especially given the closure of the pubs although that said I'm told Domino's have been doing some unusually good deals recently so perhaps this is just the gusts before the storm?

Well my local curry house has just lost my business. I don't mind paying a premium for decent takeaway food but: Quantity of curry was a bit light. Judging by the consistency they're trying to save on oil and tomatoes. The tomato slices wee missing. None of the pilau rice had pilau seeds/essence in it. The normally hot balti was as weak as a korma. They missed out the free popadoms for orders over £30. So overall not impressed and looking at their recent Google reviews I'm not alone.

Ahh, "personal services". 😁

Yes, but you're still reducing your tax bill for work generated income and this can be quite substantial. No you were asking: To which I pointed out the benefits your business obtains from the society to which it pays tax. I contrasted that with a society-less freezone. As for BTL, they sometimes claim that their business operations get little or nothing from the state, which is untrue. They rent to others that which is available to the land / property that they let and in most cases this is where their profit comes from. I can agree with that.

You're not an MP employing his wife are you? 😏

[...] OK, fair enough.

Versus paying the full higher rate tax, which would otherwise be payable that's a good deal. This is getting close to one of the arguments often used by BTL'ers. Could you profitably operate a business in a lawless free zone / terra nullius? Or are there things in the host country which you need to access or take advantage of? And if so shouldn't the society which builds those things have the right to charge you for them?

That provided by those who (often repeatedly) push that argument. Show me longitudinal evidence that having to pay stamp duty negatively impacts transactions.