Futuroid

"Brexit parties" - Love it! Labour were deliberately vague on Brexit, they barely mentioned it in their pre-election media campaign and campaign literature. Boom! <- that's the sound of your theory being blown out of the water! 'Soft Brexit' policy won Labour votes in general election, says study https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/aug/01/soft-brexit-policy-won-labour-votes-in-general-election-says-study "One question, about whether it was more important for the government to protect access to the single market or get full control of immigration, showed answers clearly split across party lines. Labour had a lead of more than 40 percentage points with voters seeking the first priority, with a similar margin for the Tories among those who favoured the latter option." Remember that all those new voters chanting Jeremy's name? Well, they might not be singing so loud at the next GE. http://www.hepi.ac.uk/2017/12/18/two-thirds-68-students-now-back-labour-think-labour-55-jeremy-corbyn-58-back-remain/ "Jeremy Corbyn did incredibly well among students and in university cities at this year’s general election. However, this strong support could turn out to be as soft as past student support for the Liberal Democrats. It all depends on Labour’s position in relation to Brexit for nearly all students oppose the UK leaving the EU. While two-thirds of students back Labour, over half of them think Labour is a pro-Remain party. If their perceptions changed, then a high proportion would be less likely to support the party or to abstain from politics." Oh, and.. Jeremy Corbyn 'risks losing young voters if Labour backs leaving the EU' https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/corbyn-risks-losing-young-voters-if-labour-backs-leaving-the-eu-a3758201.html "Labour’s vote share would plummet from today’s 42 per cent to just 30 per cent if the party is seen to side with Conservatives in going ahead with Brexit."

The thing is how is Brexit going to change this? It's OK, no need to fret I know the answer... IT ISN'T. While the smart Brits are leaving London and getting lifetime tenancies in clean, well run German cities, the Brexit massive are raising their blood pressure about Global Britain™ being, well, global and getting it's passports made by a French company. While Nigel Farage (deeply ineffective UK rep for Fishing) is dropping litter in the Thames, this is going on quietly in the background up and down the country... https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/mar/24/london-social-housing-sell-off-protest-luxury-hotel#comment-113963527 Brexit is a god almighty distraction from the real problems, that runs the risk of allowing more of the same stuff that didn't work (neoliberal laissez faire economic policy) in the past 30 years. In summary, instead of renting at exorbitant prices from a UK amateur landlord, you can look forward to renting for exorbitant prices from a middle eastern or asian property investor (who is backstopped by the UK state via Housing Benefit). Haaaaaaaappppy Brexit!

Not sure what your point is - other than the UK's problems are, well, because of the UK.

Shhh, it was the will of the people and must never be questioned. I'll just leave this here: Cambridge Analytica bragged: We have vast data for Brexit vote https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/cambridge-analytica-bragged-we-have-vast-data-for-brexit-vote-a3797441.html And... C_S76DAXYAAkePE.jpg_large

Clearly it was never going to please the EU, I was referring to it not pleasing either Remainers or Leavers.

More like "De la Rue" sounds too "furrin" If the only thing we export after Brexit is our tax spend, how will this crazy half-brained scheme ever work? Basically, right now Brexit looks like it's going to please nobody (as accurately predicted in an article I posted a few weeks ago).

That's just it Brexit isn't changing a thing is it? Apart from slowly costing the UK Public more £££££ to get the same outcomes.

Looking forward to Farage's protest - throwing his passport in the Thames. Of course, that would mean he couldn't take his place on the EU Fisheries Committee. Oh wait, he never bothered even before Brexit! You couldn't make this up

Yep, the sad truth is that the UK is the author of it's own problems. The passport decision illustrates perfectly why the problem was here and not in the EU. The EU wasn't stopping us from taking decisions - successive UK governments were very happy with the EU direction - because for a large part it was the course they set, and the EU went along with. I'll bet it will really suck the joy out of those blue passports for the Leavers, when they realise that each one made contributed to the loss of British jobs. What a shower of idiots.

I think Go West wrote... "The King of Wishful Thinking". That song title is an accurate summary of your last post. Since the problem was painted as being EU, a large proportion of voting public thinks the problem is solved, so no need for any real change. Leave the EU and the magic happens, right? The high profile supporters of Brexit are all big fans of more neoliberalism, and there are still plenty of safety nets to remove, plenty of willing rentiers to squeeze every last penny out of them. I laugh out loud when I hear that people voted Leave as a protest vote and thought that "things can't get any worse". Things can get worse, and for them, rest assured they will.

Not sure why you keep posting this chart, all it shows is that Brexit is the wrong answer to the question and the EU clearly isn't the baddie. Bit like how a large number of UK fishermen sold their quotas to other EU based operators and then five years later the remaining ones are blaming the EU for reducing their catch...

Multiple silver linings... Ukip on brink of bankruptcy after £175,000 legal bill https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/mar/19/ukip-on-brink-of-bankruptcy-after-175000-legal-bill Oh happy day!

Brexit boost for consumers short-lived says IFS http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-43459153 "Consumers could see prices fall by up to 1.2% if Britain were to abolish all tariffs once it has left the European Union, a report says. But the study by the Institute for Fiscal Studies warns that any gains would be small and were based on "optimistic" assumptions. It also said that consumers had already seen prices rise by 2% since the referendum due to the weaker pound. Costs linked to new EU trade barriers could also hit consumers, it said. Those increased costs would "offset" any "rather limited" gains from becoming tariff free in the future, the report from the think tank says. "We estimate that complete abolition of all tariffs would reduce prices faced by households by about 0.7-1.2%," the report says." Wow - 0.7-1.2% lower prices! What a bonus!!!

Well, the transition agreement has something for everyone. A proper Tory shafting for the fishermen. Commanding 0.8% of UK GDP, I'm really surprised they weren't top priority. The same solution to the NI border conundrum that last month May said no British Prime Minister could ever agree to. Well, I guess maybe she is cottoning on to what we all know about how long her premiership has to run. A 21 month agreement, the length the EU wanted and not the 24 months the UK wanted. I think begging for a longer transition shows how the UK 'holds all the cards' Continued freedom of movement and full rights for EU arrivals throughout the transition period - a given based on the fact that even UK minister aren't pretending they could introduce full customs checks at UK ports. Turns out that "winning" is a bit like "losing" except more expensive and leaves you with egg on your face.

Yeah, but at the end of the day - it's probably all Gordon Brown's fault... Am I right?

I'm not quite sure what your point is - the solution favoured by the leading Brexiters in government is more neoliberalism and more globalism - no tariffs and no quotas. This is the Patrick Minford / Rees-Mogg preferred approach!

God job we are having recruit thousands of new civil servants then. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-43372084 Salaries, pensions, expenses, training... "New research carried out by the independent Institute for Government (IFG) think tank suggests that in some key departments, six years of austerity cuts have been reversed in less than two years since the Brexit referendum took place. The cost of getting the civil service ready for Brexit runs into billions of pounds."

I would laugh until I'm physically exhausted and then pause and laugh some more if that's the case. "Taking back control" - the joke is wearing thin.

Two problems: Firstly, they will keep breaking down and be furiously expensive to buy. Secondly, they don't pay tax or spend any money in the local economy. Other that the fact they are prototypes from a university and we need them to be up and running by next April, I think it's a winner! (P.S. Did you see where the funding was coming from - maybe they'll own the patents...)

No, I fully expect a deal - just a slighty shity one for the UK. Farage stood up and told us we can get a trade deal with the US in 48 hours. I reckon we could get one in 48 seconds. But it will allow the US to core out the UK.

When taking back control looks like losing all control. Yeah, that... UK could 'throw open the borders' to avoid customs checks in event of no deal Brexit https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2018/03/16/no-border-checks-lorries-passing-port-dover-brexit-says-chris/ This is to hide the fact they have left it far too late to do any proper planning. Basically - to stop the British economy collapsing and the shelves in the local Aldi being empty they are going to have to continue exactly as before, regardless of what deal they get from the EU. I remember when I thought Boris Johnson just "played" the fool and Theresa May had a covert long-term strategy. Now I know that Johnson is a fool and Theresa is just out of her depth.

I posted this a couple of weeks back (when it was "news" ). But it helps to illustrate the wider issue - the UK doesn't have the same leverage in a trade negotiation that the EU has. For instance, the access to EU airspace and airports gives US carriers access to a market of 450 million potential customers and allows their airlines to serve a plethora of new routes. Access to the UK airspace only gives them access to 68 million customers and a couple of new routes.

Went downhill after the Shrek joke TBH. Lot's of very tenuous connections (like bringing in the rise of the SNP when he was talking about the move away from the centre ground political parties - the SNP is as central as Blair's Labour party). There has always been change. The idea that the world was in a happy constant state only appeals to those who are young and/or have no grasp of history. "When the computer crashes - what do you do? You rearrange some of the hardware and you have a system reset" - a nonsensical metaphor that doesn't work at all. He's basically just discovered that throughout history capitalism has generally not delivered much benefit to the bottom 70%, except for a short period in the mid 20th century. Guess what - lots of us already knew that but Brexit, Trump, Catalonia and Italy aren't going to address the problem at all.

Some new taxes. Well knock me down with a feather. For the young people only I bet.

I don't think Corporation Tax has anything to do with this one (otherwise they would incorporate in Ireland or Luxembourg), it's more to do with protecting themselves against hostile takeovers and making their structure simpler. I'll bet you your next signed Nigel Farage photo that the UK will be cutting Corporation Tax after Brexit. It will have to, along with corporate oversight and employee rights, to make the UK attractive once it doesn't have unfettered Single Market access.