Anyway back to Brexit, Stormont is back, I didn't see Johnson's speech, but I expect he will be encouraging them to rejoin Ireland, intentionally, or not. — Punshhh

Isn't it odd how the DUP - now that they no longer have any influence with the Westminster govt, have swallowed their allergy to the Irish language, and the NI Assembly is working again? ..

I can only surmise that it is due to a cultural difference. — Punshhh

By keeping the child away from its relatives, it will never become a true member of the royal family. It will not properly bond with the other children of the family, such as the ones of prince William. It will never really learn how to think like them, speak like them, or behave as expected from a Mountbatten-Windsor. She is now actively creating a cultural difference in the next generation instead of diligently overcoming hers. In the end, it is she who married into the royal family and not the other way around.

if you can't fix it....brexs it.
Brexit is a rouse to keep people occupided from the real issue that draining England.
With this many posts, they've done a great job in missleading people. Wake up islanders!
The real problem is right in front of you!

You know who brexit from England.... Prince Harry. He officially desolved his relationship with the royal family with the queens approval.

You know why?? ... he can't sleep because they killed his mother.

The deal was that if he shut up about what happened ... he could leave. My guess is that he will die accidently in a hunting accident.

Harry! Canada is not safe!

the real issue that draining England.

Do you mean draining money from England?

Yes, they have all fallen into line, there is talk of a bung 2 or 3 billion. Also the people in NI are demanding Stormont should sit, anything is better than Blojo.

I see the EU are already hinting the UK will have to keep the trade goalposts unmoved for a trade deal, meanwhile the US are saying BJ should support a new Trumpist Iran nuclear deal if he wants a US trade deal. So far the Tory rhetoric is that the EU will back down when the hard talking starts. It will be a tricky balancing act. We'll see if Boris's diplomatic skills have improved since his time as Foreign Secretary.

Wouldn't it be a shame if the 'Bung a bob for Big Ben's Brexit bong' campaign fails ?! I'd say the moronic Populist phrasology alone should be enough to end that idea. Other events are planned - so maybe the funeral march should be played instead?.

Yes it looks like we're going to get a pincer movement between the EU and the US. No surprise there, but who are the Populists going to blame for that lack of foresight, I wonder.

As for the bongs, it looks like Farage is going to throw the party in Trafalgar Square, I'll be watching for the fisticuffs.

P.s. It's been confirmed that the bung for Stormont is 2 billion.

Yes it looks like we're going to get a pincer movement between the EU and the US. No surprise there, but who are the Populists going to blame for that lack of foresight, I wonder. — Punshhh

Sajid Javed's announcement of the anti-Google tax ahead of the OECD examination of the problem has annoyed the US - as it was bound to, so it's starting to look like the govt is prioritising a trade deal with the EU over the US. David Gaulke on Newsnight said the hit from no EU deal would be 7% of GDP, whereas that from no US deal would be 0.2%. Also, the govt won't have the manpower to negotiate with both of them at once, despite that being the stated plan. Maybe too the chance of Trump losing this year's election is increasing the appeal of letting a deal wait until the US's future is clear..

It will be interesting once reality hits with the EU negotiations. I suspect we will hear very little as Johnson's way is to hide from the media and scrutiny. Interesting if they are expecting a change of president in the US. Javid might be tangling us in the US China trade war, over tech and internet commerce etc.

It occurs to me that far from cosying up to Trump the new govt is echoing his priorities with a 'UK first' outlook, which is bound to make enemies internationally - but crucially not of the UK voters, with whom the govt's main loyalty lies. Expect increased jingoism and flag-waving if the going gets rough. One populist govt vs another sounds like a recipe for war to me though, with only its scale to be decided..

Happy Brexit day. Congratulations on regaining sovereignty.

:up:

Congratulations on regaining sovereignty. — NOS4A2

I don't think our Sovereign frequents this site. We subjects gain nothing.

It feels like a con from here, Johnson still has to square at least two enormous circles to pull this off. In fact when I think about it there are more circles to square, a lot more. Certainly a lot more than any tangible benefits of leaving the EU.

Johnson talks squircles like they actually exist, with that petulant Trump grin on his face.

7 hours, 33 minutes and a few seconds...

Goodbye EU. I miss you already.

https://www.euronews.com/2020/01/30/brexit-remainers-hoping-ode-to-joy-will-smash-uk-top-40-on-exit-day

Brexit: EU's official anthem Ode to Joy hits No1 on UK download chart

Goodbye. :cry:

Think it's about time to convert to Nick Land, the answer is always to make things worse faster.

Yes, obviously Michael you have changed today to be a foreigner to me like all the Americans here.

At least I have Benkei, a fellow citizen of the union, with whom I will continue to build the great European home called the EU. :wink:

I will rejoin you when Scotland rejoins the EU. Fingers crossed.

Ah, the time when Scotland will be Independent again.

I myself will allways opt for Brussells rule to Moscow rule. The cacophony of the EU is far better than the single voice of Mr Putin. You see, all alone we'd have to listen to Vlad.

I don't support Brexit, though I think the way in which it has been carried out is perhaps just as large an issue as the operation itself. A good deal of the campaigning carried out for Brexit focused on xenophobia and patriotism rather than the detailed economic and political consequences. For many (though not all), it was a hubristic move, not a calculated one. The more relevant and less prejudiced reasons for leaving were, in part, ignored. This is the tragedy. It now represents a movement that it needn't: the return of segregated, isolated nation states.

By giving up its membership, the UK will also lose part of its global influence and economic income, not to mention the loss of cultural diversity. The EU currently accounts for 44 percent of all UK exports and 53 percent of all imports; 3.1 million jobs are directly linked to these exports.

I could go on with further details, though I think the wider point is more pressing. We are finally reaching, with the aid of organisations such as the EU, a more extensive and inclusive democracy. This does not ensure but certainly encourages peace and diplomacy among nations. Given the history of the 20th century, is it the right move to place this on the rocks by coming out of the EU? Not only this, but is it the right move to do this without knowing all the terms of leaving? Much is yet unknown. Its riskiness lies largely in the unkempt manner in which it is being handled.

Yes, I entirely agree, well said.

Now that the negotiations with the EU has started. Johnson and Gove are jibering about not having any alignment with the EU because we need unfettered freedom to stride the world. They have both just said that we don't need a trade deal with the EU, implying that they will just have to accept whatever we offer them.
Yesterday the government told some journalists from certain media establishments they were not allowed into Downing St because the officials inside are now going to decide which favoured journalists they let in. At this point all the journalists walked out and it's now a news story.

Also today it has emerged that Ryan Air is starting a recruitment drive and the applicatants must have full unrestricted right to live and work in any of the EU countries which they fly to. So does that exclude all UK nationals from applying?

People need to think about what exactly the win-win answer is to this situation. The UK needs to decide what it means to take back sovereignty. Every treaty ends up being a limitation to it as you agree to something and you're expected to keep your word out you'll soon find yourselves without any agreement.

The EU is not going to offer an a la carte option for the UK. Access to the single market means meeting each and every rule associated with it and ensuring UK imports meet EU standards or any company in the world could circumvent EU rules by exporting to the EU via the UK. Obviously, the final arbiter on whether EU laws are met cannot be a non-EU court. Simple and logical.

So single market is out. That means a bespoke agreement on trade tariffs. That's not going to happen in the remaining 11 months. That automatically means that it's in both parties best interest to identify what industries have the highest priorities for them and see whether some agreement can be reached. And there we might stumble on another piece of national politics in the UK. It's pretty clear the financial services industry is the most important sector in the UK. But Johnson opens himself up to a lot of criticism if that is the first thing he's going to negotiate.

The other political issue is of course border control in Northern Ireland. That needs to be resolved before the end of the year as well but no obvious solution presents itself.

Meanwhile, indyref2 remains a continuing threat to the UK, which probably won't materialise this year but even so. Sturgeon will remind everyone regularly.

Interestingly as the COP26 climate change summit which will be held in Scotland in November is being arranged there is a stand off between the government and the SNP. Apparently the government is trying to exclude Nicola Sturgeon from the event. Johnson is terrified of appearing on stage with her, just as he was during the election campaign.

He is the best asset of the SNP, everything he does hastens indyref2.

The UK needs to decide what it means to take back sovereignty. Every treaty ends up being a limitation to it as you agree to something and you're expected to keep your word out you'll soon find yourselves without any agreement. — Benkei

Benkei, it's just like with Trump and the greatness of the USA.

All needed to 'Make America Great Again' was to elect Trump. Then America was great again. And it's similar here too. All needed was to resign from the union. That act is enough, never mind the reality.

Once not a member of the EU the UK is "Sovereign again", free to do whatever it wants! That's all. This has NOTHING to do with the reality that every international treaty and deal limits that 'independence' of sovereign states. Nothing to do with the UK economy is quite interconnected with the European economy. Nothing about the real impact on the strength of the UK when it has to deal now with it's biggest trading partner from position of being outside the union. All that doesn't matter at all. Just like MAGA, the whole reason for Brexit is quite an empty shell and was more about feelings than facts. When your dealing with feelings, not facts, why on Earth would the facts be important?

And if in this position the EU can say this or that to the UK, who's going to make the argument? Nigel Farage? Why would the Brexiteers start to bitch about the present situation now when they just have had their Trafalgar / Waterloo / Battle of Britain -moment where the independence of the island nation has been again saved from the fangs of evil continental Europeans. They want to make Brexit one of those defining moments of British history and it's consequences have to be great. Have to. And if bad things happen, it isn't because of Brexit.

In a way, the only thing the Brexiteers have succeeded in is that they now cannot blame Brussels for everything that sucks anymore.

In a way, the only thing the Brexiteers have succeeded in is that they now cannot blame Brussels for everything that sucks anymore. — ssu

Not yet. The blame for problems with the EU trade deal will be placed firmly with the EU, eg for not allowing a Canada-style free-trade + full market-access option - which the EU have said is not possible. But the Brexiteer govt as usual wants to have its cake and eat it. Doubtless when the economy tanks in a year or 2 that will be Brussells' fault too for restricting our trade or sneakily enticing our manufacturers to relocate there..

He is the best asset of the SNP, everything he does hastens indyref2. — Punshhh

Luckily the English aren't the Spanish.

They'll will deal with this issue with silk gloves and shrewd intelligence. Yet the "we love you so much, please don't leave" moment of the first referendum has now passed and the response will start being more like the Spanish had with the Catalonians. Trying to avoid Nicola is a start. Yet it's unlikely that Nicola and the SNP leadership will end up in jail or in exile like the Catalan leadership.

Getting your independence without a fight is still very rare.