Brexit.

[Sid]

Just what we need right now:

Barnier self-isolates and Brexit talks halt after EU official tests positive

Face-to-face talks in Brussels paused as member of Barnier’s team has coronavirus

www.theguardian.com

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

Innula Zenovka :
I don't know if you listen to Mark Steel (R4 6:30pm tonight) but, if you do, it may give you an idea of where my politics started out - he's doing my home-town (Stratford-on-Avon), where I first voted (Tory, like my dad...) in 1970.

Oh, so you are coming out of the same town were Gordon Ramsay way raised. Did you meet him during your time there?

 

[Sid]

I think it is far more interesting that Shakespeare once lived there too.

 

[Arkady Arkright]

Oh, so you are coming out of the same town were Gordon Ramsay way raised. Did you meet him during your time there?

Given that he was actually born in Scotland, he didn't move to Stratford till he was 9, and he's 20 years younger than me, I'd most certainly left the town by the time he arrived (couldn't get away quickly enough).

The term 'bloody incomer' comes to mind

eta: Actually, I found the Mark Steel show on Stratford a bit of a disappointment - there was no way he could really express just how fucking boring it was to grow up there...

 

[Aribeth Zelin]

Given that he was actually born in Scotland, he didn't move to Stratford till he was 9, and he's 20 years younger than me, I'd most certainly left the town by the time he arrived (couldn't get away quickly enough).

The term 'bloody incomer' comes to mind

eta: Actually, I found the Mark Steel show on Stratford a bit of a disappointment - there was no way he could really express just how fucking boring it was to grow up there...

Might explain the appeal of that playwright dude then - Shakespeare, was it? [Sorry, couldn't resist, and well, if its dull now it was prolly dull then too....]

 

[Arkady Arkright]

Might explain the appeal of that playwright dude then - Shakespeare, was it? [Sorry, couldn't resist, and well, if its dull now it was prolly dull then too....]

He did all his best writing in London..

Strangely enough, I went to the same school as him - I wonder if it was the same boredom from that which drove him to the city ? The headmaster was so old I suspect he could have been there several hundred years ago anyway...

 

[Sid]

Brexit deal close to being finalised, EU ambassadors told

Most key issues largely agreed, but there is still a danger of no deal by accident, envoys hear

www.theguardian.com

The headline seems better than the content this time:

A trade and security agreement with Britain is close to being finalised but the risk remains of an accidental no-deal Brexit in six weeks, with gaps on the contentious issues only “slowly shrinking”, EU ambassadors have been told.

The familiar problems of EU access to UK fishing waters and the design of a mechanism to ensure neither side can distort trade through undercutting standards remained unresolved but the differences were being gradually bridged, sources said.

But still, the fact that the talks didn't finally collapse until now, is still promising for a happy end (most likely reached December 31 around 23 hours).

 

[detrius]

I hope our British forum members are getting some supplies before January 1st.

Bananas, oranges, kiwi etc. Also flour, dry yeast and canned goods, such as tomatoes and beans. Toilet paper might also be in high demand again.

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

Not to worry, UK has Capitalism, there will be no commie bread lines.

Food riots maybe.

 

[Essence Lumin]

Brexit to send price of dildos and butt plugs soaring, sex toy company warns

Brexit is forcing a sex toy maker to up the price of dildos and butt plugs, with a £25 "European cost" slapped on the back end of all orders.

www.pinknews.co.uk

British sex toy manufacturers are the latest victims to fall into the gaping sphincter that is Brexit as new restrictions force stiff charges onto every purchase.

In a brutal blow to European pleasure seekers, the popular sex toy company Godemiche has announced that a charge of £25 will be slapped on the back end of every order shipped to the continent.


The company regrets that it will be forced to thrust the extra costs onto customers as the charges threaten to penetrate their profits.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Trial of Brexit border checks causes five-mile lorry queues in Kent

M20 backlog caused by French authorities testing post-Brexit checks at the Eurotunnel

www.theguardian.com

 

[Sid]

Trial of Brexit border checks causes five-mile lorry queues in Kent

M20 backlog caused by French authorities testing post-Brexit checks at the Eurotunnel

www.theguardian.com

After January truck drivers, will also face additional delays for checks on food, drink and agricultural products and customs in both directions.

So those 5 miles are just a small portion of what can be expected in a case of a no deal ending of the transition period.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

UK facing risk of 'systemic economic crisis', official paper says

Exclusive: Cabinet Office briefing seen by Guardian warns that Brexit, Covid, flu, flooding and unrest could lead to chaos

www.theguardian.com

 

[Arkady Arkright]

Not that we'll be told the truth about it, of course - UK government running ‘Orwellian’ unit to circumvent transparency laws and block freedom of information requests.
Hmm... "The FOI clearing house has been operating as part of the Cabinet Office in terms of the Freedom of Information Act since 2005, so it is nothing new." - when did Gove first get involved with the cabinet ?

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

Now this is interesting: a no deal brexit would cause more damage to the UK's economy in the long run than the current pandemic according to Andrew Bailey, governor of the Bank of England.

No-deal Brexit to cost more than Covid, Bank of England governor says

Andrew Bailey said failure to agree to deal would cause long-term damage to UK economy

www.theguardian.com

 

[Innula Zenovka]

 

[Sid]

Tell that man it has been a while already that Britannia really ruled the waves.
The EU is still a global power without the UK.
On the other hand the UK ...... well, has devaluated itself to be one of the many others now.
That means: Same status as others and same treatment as others who don't have any special treaties worked out.
Snowflakes and unicorns were never on the table as far as the EU were concerned, since the beginning of the Brexit theater.
So were gets Mr Gove his ideas from?
Maybe he can write a letter to Santa ......

 

[Sid]

EU threatens to pull out of Brexit talks if UK refuses to compromise

Michel Barnier says further negotiations would be pointless if UK does not change stance

www.theguardian.com

The EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, has warned David Frost that without a major negotiating shift by Downing Street within the next 48 hours he will pull out of the Brexit negotiations in London this weekend, pushing the talks into a fresh crisis.

Should Barnier effectively walk out on the negotiations it would present the most dangerous moment yet for the troubled talks, with just 36 days to go before the end of the transition period.
While Brussels might hope such a move would put the UK prime minister under pressure to give Frost new negotiating instructions, it might also embolden those within the Tory party who believe no deal is the better outcome.

“These are decisive days for negotiations with the United Kingdom,” Von der Leyen told MEPs. “But, frankly, I cannot tell you today if in the end, there will be a deal.”
“We will do all in our power to reach an agreement. We’re ready to be creative,” she said. “But we are not ready to put into question the integrity of the single market, the main safeguard for European prosperity and wealth.”

 

[Innula Zenovka]

British-only passport holders barred from playing Prince William in new film

Casting notice for a biopic starring Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana stipulates that British-European passport holders need not apply for the role of her son

www.theguardian.com

 

[Innula Zenovka]