The Brexit referendum thread: potential consequences for GB, EU and the Brits in CH

[Blueangel]

	Quote:
	But he has signed up to a Withdrawal Agreement on very specific terms - which he clearly has no intention to honour.

I seriously doubt that honour has ever been a primary motivating force for our current PM.

	Quote:	Blueangel
	I seriously doubt that honour has ever been a primary motivating force for our current PM.

Really? I am so very surprised...

Memory loss perhaps:

“We are – and we will remain – a paid-up, valued, participating member of the Single Market,” Mr Johnson said in 2011. “Under no circumstances, in my view, will a British government adjust that position.”

By 2012 Mr Johnson was calling for a referendum on Britain’s place in Europe – but a rather different poll from the one we finally got.

His suggestion was that the government should negotiate a minimalist relationship with Brussels and put the question to voters.

He said that if there was a public vote, he “would be well up for trying to make the positive case for some of the good things that have come from the single market”.

In December 2012 Mr Johnson told an audience of business leaders that Britain could “construct a relationship with the EU that more closely resembled that of Norway or Switzerland”. Both those countries are members of the single market, but have to make financial contributions to the EU budget and accept the free movement of workers from other member states.''

''Boris Johnson said Britain’s continued membership of the EU would be a “boon for the world and for Europe” in an unpublished newspaper column in which he wrestles with his decision to back or oppose Brexit.

...

In a Telegraph article, written days before a published version in which he backed leaving, Johnson wrote of the EU: “This is a market on our doorstep, ready for further exploitation by British firms. The membership fee seems rather small for all that access. Why are we so determined to turn our back on it?”

[fatmanfilms]

	Quote:
	''Boris Johnson said Britain’s continued membership of the EU would be a “boon for the world and for Europe” in an unpublished newspaper column in which he wrestles with his decision to back or oppose Brexit. ... In a Telegraph article, written days before a published version in which he backed leaving, Johnson wrote of the EU: “This is a market on our doorstep, ready for further exploitation by British firms. The membership fee seems rather small for all that access. Why are we so determined to turn our back on it?”

That was before the electorate made it clear they they wanted to leave the UK. BJ listened to the people who clearly had not changed their mind as he won a landslide victory to get BREXIT done.

EU is now in recession, car making with internal combustion engines is a thing of the past so Germany will not be the big powerhouse going forward.

	Quote:	fatmanfilms
	That was before the electorate made it clear they they wanted to leave the UK. BJ listened to the people who clearly had not changed their mind as he won a landslide victory to get BREXIT done.

He merely picked the side most likely to get him elected. He's a flimflam man. "The electorate " did no such thing. A minority of the electorate did.

At least IDS is beginning to realise how difficult things are going to be ... (from The European)

''In an interview this week, Iain Duncan Smith - the former Conservative leader and prominent hard Brexit backer - made the staggeringly original observation that the UK hasn't done a trade deal in 40 years, and is now trying to complete one with its largest trading partner in just ten months.

There are issues with doing that, he realised. "One of them is the quality of the people now working on this," he said. "If you haven't negotiated for 40 years you need to reach out to all those people that are involved in negotiations, really good transactional lawyers that exist in the City of London. Proper trade economists. We've got very good ones at the moment but we need to bring them in from outside."

The UK is privileged to be gifted with men of the intellect and foresight of Iain Duncan Smith in their parliament, who realise a mere three-and-a-half years after voting to leave the European Union that we will need expert help to negotiate with it.''

It will be hard to find those people, because any very qualified and experienced negotiator out there knows it can't be done- and has been warning about this from the very start. The most stupid thing the 'electorate' was told was 'we hold all the cards and they need us more we need them' -

	Quote:	fatmanfilms
	BJ listened to the people who clearly had not changed their mind as he won a landslide victory to get BREXIT done.

I think more that he decided to back what he thought would be the winning horse, then amended his previously stated views to fit with that new stance. It was more about getting into power than trying to represent what the public actually wanted.

He's a very charismatic person, with a certain level of perceived credibility, and I really do wonder if the referendum might have gone the other way had he decided to stick with his previous convictions the the EU could be good for Britain.

[justpassingby]

Boris Johnson and his backers were key to the referendum victory. He chose that viewpoint and didn’t necessarily choose a winning horse. The polls all backed remain. So Farage and him won it. If you watched the debates he was dominant. Had he chosen remain I‘m sure they would have won.

[justpassingby]

To add I‘ve seen quotes that Boris is moderate with the exception of Europe. People change their views. We all do.

	Quote:	justpassingby
	Boris Johnson and his backers' lieswere key to the referendum victory. He chose that viewpoint and didn’t necessarily choose a winning horse. The polls all backed remain. So Farage and him won it. If you watched the debates he was dominant. Had he chosen remain I‘m sure they would have won.

FTFY

He just took the opposing side to his dad. Like hedging your bets in two queues.

If remain had won he would no doubt have had a crisis of conscience, or whatever he has instead of a conscience, and swapped sides. His dad even hinted at Johnson Jr not really being pro Brexit at all IIRC... Last Leg interview I think.

[marton]

	Quote:	MusicChick
	I think to have subsidized local farmers while allowing large volume and low quality import for dumping prices makes little sense. I'd even sacrifice my avocados...I think.

Countries have to think about risk management.

They need to ensure a certain amount of local farming continues as protection in the event of a major interruption of imports. Possibly the coronavirus will demonstrate if this was a good idea.

[marton]

Seems likely Boris is going to make a claim on the EU "solidarity fund" for some hundreds of millions of support to help repair the damage caused by the recent storms in the UK.

The claim has to be submitted by next Sunday.

Did I ever write you could not make this stuff up?

[marton]

Makes Alice in Wonderland look like a serious documentary!!

	Quote:
	Boris Johnson is preparing to tear up part of the Brexit deal as he sets out his "red lines" for a trade agreement with the European Union on Thursday. The Prime Minister has made it clear that he will not be bound by the political declaration attached to the EU Withdrawal Agreement, which sets out the ground rules for a trade deal. Downing Street sources said the rules of engagement agreed by Mr. Johnson last year had been superseded by promises made in the Tory manifesto on which he was elected in December. The Prime Minister believes he is within his rights to go back on previous agreements covering areas including borders, fishing rights, and state aid.

	Quote:	marton
	Makes Alice in Wonderland look like a serious documentary!!

He believes it "within his rights" to do whatever he wishes.

[fatmanfilms]

	Quote:
	He believes it "within his rights" to do whatever he wishes.

Fair enough when you have a majority like he does, tactical voting back fired, thank you Gina

	Quote:	fatmanfilms
	Fair enough when you have a majority like he does, tactical voting back fired, thank you Gina

Que?



Not to act willy-nilly whim like. It's as though he stumbles down to the No 10 kitchen for his Fortnum and Mason porridge and decides what he fancies playing with today. Then procedes to break it and subsequently tries to hide the pieces in his sandpit.

[Full Circle]

	Quote:
	Que? Not to act willy-nilly whim like. It's as though he stumbles down to the No 10 kitchen for his Fortnum and Mason porridge and decides what he fancies playing with today. Then procedes to break it and subsequently tries to hide the pieces in his sandpit.

Afterwards he goes and knocks on the White House to ask if Donald can come out and play

[amogles]

	Quote:	fatmanfilms
	EU is now in recession, car making with internal combustion engines is a thing of the past so Germany will not be the big powerhouse going forward.

The potential problem with Germany going forward will not so much be that they run out of cool stuff to make (Germany makes much much more than cars), but the risk of a political slide to the left. The German left doesn't understand what's wrong with draconic taxes and an anti-innovation, anti-technology mindset. The centre left in Germany is weakened, maybe terminally so, and stoichally refusing to reform or reinvent itself. The greens and the far left are running the circus. It's a train crash in the making.

[John William]

The other free movement agreement while the UK obeys EU free movement rules called
Kolpak contracts

Quote:
Kolpak contracts, which have been used since 2004 in English cricket, are named after Slovak
handball player Marius Kolpak, won a landmark case at the European Court of Justice in 2003.

They allow sportsmen from countries with associate trade agreements with the EU, such as South Africa,
Zimbabwe and Caribbean nations, to be afforded the same right to free movement as EU citizens.

Kolpak players are not classed as overseas players by the ECB under the terms of their contracts, but they
become ineligible to represent their country at international level.

BBC News Sport - Kolpak: Abbot expects ECB to resolve eligibility issue