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

[TobiasM]

Seems like a trade deal with the US will include previously banned imports from the US. So Britain braces itself for steroid pumped beefsteaks and America can have our delicious CJD variant roast beef. Its lose, lose...

[pdofr]

As a British EU negotiator, I can tell you that Brexit is going to be far worse than anyone could have guessed

	Quote:
	For anyone following Brexit developments, the last week should have shown that the level of complexity involved in Brexit is unprecedented. Ministers however seem to have inserted their heads firmly into the sand, hoping tricky problems will just go away. Who knew a fortnight ago that leaving the apparently obscure Euratom Treaty would jeopardise not only the UK nuclear industry, but also the supply of medical isotopes for cancer treatment? Did anybody realise that the work needed to establish a new customs IT system was unlikely to be done in time, and what that would mean? Was everyone already aware that UK airlines like easyJet would need to set up in the EU27 and Ryanair might move its planes to EU27 countries due to the UK leaving the Open Skies Agreement? Well, some people knew, but they’re just experts, so have been largely ignored.

[marton]

	Quote:	TobiasM
	Seems like a trade deal with the US will include previously banned imports from the US. So Britain braces itself for steroid pumped beefsteaks and America can have our delicious CJD variant roast beef. Its lose, lose...

Reminds me of the mad cow disease outbreak years ago.

The French stamped their beef exports with VF (Vache Francais = French cows) alternatively (Vache Fou = mad cow)

[amogles]

	Quote:	pdofr
	As a British EU negotiator, I can tell you that Brexit is going to be far worse than anyone could have guessed

What sort of negotiator goes into talks "knowing" things are going to come out bad. Maybe he should be replaced by somebody less defeatist.

Isn't the whole point of the negotiations to prevent or mitigate all the nasty things he is predicting? So, get on and do the job you're being payed to do.

If I make a mess of my negotiations with my boss this year i might end up with three times the workload for half the salary. If i mess up negotiations with my landlord I might end up paying double the rent. The magic word here is might.

[Jim2007]

	Quote:	amogles
	What sort of negotiator goes into talks "knowing" things are going to come out bad. Maybe he should be replaced by somebody less defeatist. Isn't the whole point of the negotiations to prevent or mitigate all the nasty things he is predicting? So, get on and do the job you're being payed to do.

Right because having clueless negotiators is the way to go and no doubt those clueless negotiators will definitely be able to avoid the nasty things they no nothing about!

[pdofr]

	Quote:	amogles
	What sort of negotiator goes into talks "knowing" things are going to come out bad. Maybe he should be replaced by somebody less defeatist.

Maybe he's frustrated that nobody has even considered these problems before? See his "Ministers ... inserted their heads firmly into the sand" comment.

Maybe he's trying to send the same Ministers a wakeup call.

[marton]

	Quote:	amogles
	What sort of negotiator goes into talks "knowing" things are going to come out bad. Maybe he should be replaced by somebody less defeatist. Isn't the whole point of the negotiations to prevent or mitigate all the nasty things he is predicting? So, get on and do the job you're being payed to do. If I make a mess of my negotiations with my boss this year i might end up with three times the workload for half the salary. If i mess up negotiations with my landlord I might end up paying double the rent. The magic word here is might.

A realistic negotiator?
Unrealistic expectations tend to stall negotiations?

	Quote:	pdofr
	As a British EU negotiator, I can tell you that Brexit is going to be far worse than anyone could have guessed

Yet someone else who's gutted he has to start looking for another job. Last stop on the gravy train, no shortage of these fellas.

	Quote:	TobiasM
	Seems like a trade deal with the US will include previously banned imports from the US. So Britain braces itself for steroid pumped beefsteaks and America can have our delicious CJD variant roast beef. Its lose, lose...

Anyone who's ever visited America and eaten meat cannot complain about this. And besides, let's have a quick recap on how fantastically bulletproof food standards are in the EU.

[Urs Max]

	Quote:	marton
	"So foreign bankers are rats? " I would not limit that sentiment to foreign bankers! Nobody yet went to jail over the 2008 financial meltdown

You're painting the picture a bit too black, a rare few did. But yes, they were way too few.

[Jim2007]

	Quote:	Loz1983
	Anyone who's ever visited America and eaten meat cannot complain about this. And besides, let's have a quick recap on how fantastically bulletproof food standards are in the EU.

Pathetic is the only word that comes to mind. You have no idea what the impact of the meat you have eaten will impact you in the long run. And then you take a case of where standards were broken, detected and improved and compare it to a situation where we know the standards.

Do you really think most people will accept that?

	Quote:	Jim2007
	Pathetic is the only word that comes to mind. You have no idea what the impact of the meat you have eaten will impact you in the long run. And then you take a case of where standards were broken, detected and improved and compare it to a situation where we know the standards. Do you really think most people will accept that?

Want some E. coli with your cucumber, sir?

[Urs Max]

	Quote:	Loz1983
	Yet someone else who's gutted he has to start looking for another job. Last stop on the gravy train, no shortage of these fellas.

How do you know he doesn't already? Crystal ball, again?

	Quote:	Loz1983
	Anyone who's ever visited America and eaten meat cannot complain about this. And besides, let's have a quick recap on how fantastically bulletproof food standards are in the EU.

Hmm, so taste is the ultimate arbiter. Funnily enough, those infected veggies tasted just fine. Same applies to the horse meat scandal products.

Spot the contradiction.

Besides, for someone to break the standards and requirements you need to have standards in the first place. Detection requires effective checks in order to detect the breaking thereof.

Thus the detection is actually proof of a functioning system.

[st2lemans]

	Quote:	Urs Max
	Hmm, so taste is the ultimate arbiter.

Yes.

Tom

[Urs Max]

	Quote:	st2lemans
	Yes. Tom

So if some poison tastes well you should eat it regardless? Sure, that makes sense.

[marton]

	Quote:	Loz1983
	Want some E. coli with your cucumber, sir?

The extreme rarity of such incidents underlines the value and effectiveness of having standards and conformance testing.

[amogles]

	Quote:	Urs Max
	So if some poison tastes well you should eat it regardless? Sure, that makes sense.

Ever heard of alcohol?

[Urs Max]

You appear to base your rule on the exception(s). Most people follow the reverse approach.

But we digress, too far.

[Jim2007]

	Quote:	Loz1983
	Want some E. coli with your cucumber, sir?

The USDA conducts 40,000 sample tests for BSE on 35m slaughtered cattle every year..... eating US beef means you have no idea what you are getting. Enough said.

[pdofr]

	Quote:	Jim2007
	The USDA conducts 40,000 sample tests for BSE on 35m slaughtered cattle every year..... eating US beef means you have no idea what you are getting. Enough said.

Have we done chlorinated chicken yet?

	Quote:
	Senior EU figures have hit back at Liam Fox’s “ignorant and indigestible” claim that lowering UK food standards to allow the import of chlorinated chicken from the US is an insignificant detail. European officials warned that Fox has failed to grasp the implications of continuing trade with the EU, should the UK lower its standards compared to the EU, where chlorine-washed chicken is banned. Fox has dismissed the row as a minor detail of trade negotiations that have not yet even formally begun, but critics said it highlighted the complexity of the obstacles in post-Brexit trade negotiations.

Ooh look, a minister with his head in the sand.

[st2lemans]

	Quote:	Jim2007
	eating US beef means you have no idea what you are getting.

Who cares?

Tom