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

[Raffles]

We don't understand ourselves, never mind the rest of the world.

[TonyClifton]

	Quote:	Treverus
	So for years have you guys been fighting to "take back control" and "lock your border"… but now that we are facing a global pandemic are you the only European country not closing your border? To say it in the words of J-C Juncker: "Everyone understands English, but nobody understands the English"...

Rather many choose not to understand the different reasons for Brexit, for many this wasn't about immigration. I expect many of these are the same people that complained when President Trump put in his Coronavirus related travel ban last week but were then silent when the EU did the same this week!

[Pachyderm]

	Quote:	Treverus
	So for years have you guys been fighting to "take back control" and "lock your border"… but now that we are facing a global pandemic are you the only European country not closing your border?

In a word, no, we're not. In fact very few European countries have "closed their borders". Have any?

Certainly several countries have closed their land borders. Take a look at a map. Can you see why the UK may not have closed its land borders?

[greenmount]

This "lockdown" makes a lot of people angry....

EF is best to be avoided these days.

[Treverus]

	Quote:	Pachyderm
	In a word, no, we're not. In fact very few European countries have "closed their borders". Have any? Certainly several countries have closed their land borders. Take a look at a map. Can you see why the UK may not have closed its land borders?

Um, no. Its not about land borders. The EU is locking down and wont allow anyone to enter. I believe from tomorrow, but I dont know the exact details as I dont care.

All travel agents fly their customers back, but thousands are stranded. The German government alone has hired dozens of aircraft and is flying back all German tourists from around the world, over 20k alone from Egypt, as the normal flights are already cancelled due to the lock down. Other western European countries are doing the same.

Its the biggest operation of its kind in EU history.

"Brussels’ Schengen free-travel zone will see third party nationals, excluding doctors, medical staff and cross-boarder workers, ban from making all non-essential into the bloc. UK and Irish nationals will not be part of the sweeping travel bans, as eurocrats consider plans to maintain travel with non-Schengen members. Britain will remain exempt because of the post-Brexit transition period until at least the end of next year." https://www.express.co.uk/news/world...uk-coronavirus

[NotAllThere]

	Quote:	greenmount
	This "lockdown" makes a lot of people angry....

It does. From those who think it's a major overreaction to those who think that if you walk outside keeping away from people, you are a major risk to public health.

	Quote:
	EF is best to be avoided these days.

Nah. Just don't engage with the angry people. It's probably just they're very very afraid. It doesn't bring the best out of people. Me, I'm just very afraid, so I'm chilled.

[TonyClifton]

Remember how everyone used to worry about the economic impact of a no deal Brexit? Given the events of the past few weeks, it seems like a lot of fuss over nothing now

[John William]

Here's the thoughts of Nigel Farage commenting on the crisis from his lockdown home somewhere outside the European Union.


Nigel Farage expresses his opinion on the Virus Crisis

[marton]

	Quote:	TonyClifton
	Remember how everyone used to worry about the economic impact of a no deal Brexit? Given the events of the past few weeks, it seems like a lot of fuss over nothing now

Comparing apples and oranges?
They will eventually find a vaccine for this virus but never for Brexit....

[Castro]

Interestingly BoJo is still determined that we will exit the transition period on 31 December deal or no deal even though the chief EU negotiator is COVID+ and all meetings in Brussels have been cancelled. He has positively ruled out calling for an extension despite the extraordinary circumstances.

Maybe he thinks the EU are so distracted and fragmented that they will agree to anything, or rather thats the game plan of Dominic Cummings.

[TonyClifton]

	Quote:	marton
	Comparing apples and oranges? They will eventually find a vaccine for this virus but never for Brexit....

Sure, and deliberately so! So many millions of words written about the risk of the economic impact of a no-deal Brexit and along comes the Coronavirus which will cause economic damage on a scale that dwarfs even the worst of the no-deal Brexit economic scenarios.

It's odd how life works like that. I suspect when all this is over that people will have a lot less time for Greta Thunberg and her brand of doom mongering!

	Quote:	Castro
	Interestingly BoJo is still determined that we will exit the transition period on 31 December deal or no deal even though the chief EU negotiator is COVID+ and all meetings in Brussels have been cancelled. He has positively ruled out calling for an extension despite the extraordinary circumstances. Maybe he thinks the EU are so distracted and fragmented that they will agree to anything, or rather thats the game plan of Dominic Cummings.

I think even the most ardent Brexiteer accepts that the UK won't be leaving the EU on December 31st this year.

[YuropFlyer]

	Quote:	TonyClifton
	I think even the most ardent Brexiteer accepts that the UK won't be leaving the EU on December 31st this year.

Yeah, because it already left the EU..

We're talking about the transition period now..

[TonyClifton]

	Quote:	YuropFlyer
	Yeah, because it already left the EU.. We're talking about the transition period now..

How can I possibly reward your pedantry?!

[3Wishes]

	Quote:	Castro
	Interestingly BoJo is still determined that we will exit the transition period on 31 December deal or no deal even though the chief EU negotiator is COVID+ and all meetings in Brussels have been cancelled. He has positively ruled out calling for an extension despite the extraordinary circumstances. Maybe he thinks the EU are so distracted and fragmented that they will agree to anything, or rather thats the game plan of Dominic Cummings.

It worked before. He got the EU to renegotiate the withdrawal agreement, when previously it had said no new negotiations.

Well, this is embarrassing... Oh, the irony!

Fruit and veg ‘will run out’ unless Britain charters planes to fly in farm workers from eastern Europe

[Full Circle]

	Quote:
	Well, this is embarrassing... Oh, the irony! Fruit and veg ‘will run out’ unless Britain charters planes to fly in farm workers from eastern Europe

One wonders how they used to get fruit and veg picked before they had immigrants to do it for them.

[Jim2007]

	Quote:	Full Circle
	One wonders how they used to get fruit and veg picked before they had immigrants to do it for them.

Well first of all crops were not so big, second workers could not afford to pass up the work and third they had some experience of doing the work.

Contrary to what some people think, you do need some experience in this work and a willingness to take care, otherwise the fruit etc become damaged and rot while in storage.

[k_and_e]

	Quote:
	Well, this is embarrassing... Oh, the irony! Fruit and veg ‘will run out’ unless Britain charters planes to fly in farm workers from eastern Europe

If the borders remain closed, then most western EUropean countries will have this problem. Might be a good boost to localize it again.

[TonyClifton]

	Quote:	k_and_e
	If the borders remain closed, then most western EUropean countries will have this problem. Might be a good boost to localize it again.

This is the point, Germany have already started to struggle for a lack of asparagus pickers. It has nothing to do with Brexit.

[Full Circle]

	Quote:	Jim2007
	Well first of all crops were not so big, second workers could not afford to pass up the work and third they had some experience of doing the work. Contrary to what some people think, you do need some experience in this work and a willingness to take care, otherwise the fruit etc become damaged and rot while in storage.

And somewhere along the line it clicked that it was much more profitable to simply exploit foreign labour instead.