tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19472143102386891972024-03-28T20:30:02.562-07:00Leave the European Unionknoweurohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02488009205593815257noreply@blogger.comBlogger76125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1947214310238689197.post-79927234877485739612019-08-31T05:17:00.000-07:002019-08-31T14:38:15.068-07:00The EU No One Voted For<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFey2ZIkoPFTXbSkeqsMv9xZac18949eyffQG8FMD1Gg_m0JjgalDocnlZso6R3tTMzSE0mGFDY4jfFc7HX-tCr9D1MPr8pi8RlXhf6-gzCT8gLsWE_tUk4yxuJzej00NDEp-dVnyF1UA/s1600/Ballot+Box.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="171" data-original-width="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFey2ZIkoPFTXbSkeqsMv9xZac18949eyffQG8FMD1Gg_m0JjgalDocnlZso6R3tTMzSE0mGFDY4jfFc7HX-tCr9D1MPr8pi8RlXhf6-gzCT8gLsWE_tUk4yxuJzej00NDEp-dVnyF1UA/s1600/Ballot+Box.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">The following is a tweet thread that was written on Twitter by a Tweeter called "StatisticusCollegium" (@verumandverus) and is reproduced here with that person's kind permission. </span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">#TheEUNoOneVotedFor:</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">
In 46 years the UK electorate has been allowed 2 votes on EEC/EU matters. Over the same period the EU has changed beyond recognition. Here are just some of the things no-one voted for:</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">No-one voted for the UK to leave EFTA in 1972. EFTA did not affect agriculture or fisheries and did not operate external tariffs. Countries were free to establish individual customs duties or FTA</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">No-one voted for the UK to join the European Economic Community in 1972. There were 4 countries in the Accession Treaty and the other 3 were given a referendum. Denmark and Ireland voted yes while Norway voted No </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">No-one voted for enlargement of the Community which resulted in the Accession Treaty of 1979 whereby Greece joined the EC </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">
No-one voted for further enlargement of the Community which resulted in the Accession Treaty of 1985 whereby Spain and Portugal joined the EC</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">No-one voted for further enlargement of the Union which resulted in the Accession Treaty of 1994 whereby Austria, Finland & Sweden joined the EU. All 3 had a referendum as did Norway who again voted No </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">
No-one voted for further enlargement of the Union which resulted in the Accession Treaty of 2003 whereby a further 10 countries joined the EU. The Treaty also included changes to voting weights and Qualifed Majority Voting </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">No-one voted for further enlargement of the Union which resulted in the Accession Treaty of 2005 whereby Romania and Bulgaria joined the EU. Qualified Majority Voting (QMV) was used in the EU parliament and no-one voted for that mechanism either.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">No-one voted for further enlargement of the Union which resulted in the Accession Treaty of 2011 whereby Croatia joined the EU. Croatia had a referendum though and Slovenia's objection to the Accession was bought off to the tune of approx €170m. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">No-one voted for the proposed further enlargement of the Union whereby Albania, Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro and Turkey are recognised candidates to join the EU. Serbia and Montenegro are expected to join before 2025.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">
No-one voted for the Single European Act in 1986. This paved the way for the introduction of the Single Market in 1992 and was the first major revision of the Treaty of Rome 1957 which no-one voted for either.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">No-one voted to give the European Parliament an increased role in decision making nor for the change from unanimity to QMV in 12 policy areas. The Single European Act allowed both.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">No-one voted for the UK to sign up to an external economic and monetary policy via the Exchange Rate Mechanism in Oct 1990. The UK crashed out less than 2 years later with £ devalued by 17% & interest rates increased twice in one day from 10 to 12 to 15%.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">It is estimated the government spent 40% of the our currency reserves trying to prop up the £ and the total cost in lost GDP, jobs and businesses was £700bn. You'll recognise the names involved - Major, Heseltine, Clarke, Hurd.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">
No-one voted for the Maastricht Treaty in 1992. Most Tory MPs hadn't seen the Treaty before being forced to sign it by the government. Douglas Hurd, our chief signatory, admitted he had not read it before signing it.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Maastricht gave birth to the European Union and reinforced the irreversibility of the progress towards 'ever-closer' political union. The Treaty paved the way for the introduction of the Euro and also further economic union.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">"Economic" was removed from the EEC's title, fundamentally changing the Community's approach to the Treaty and the ideals of the EU. The European Parliament's powers were increased again by the introduction of co-decision with the Council.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">The Social Chapter was tacked on to the Treaty & would enshrine the commitment of Member States to the separate Social Charter of 1989. This gives the EU Commission powers to impose social legislation. UK secured an opt out despite Labour's opposition.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">No-one voted for the move to qualified majority voting (QMV) of a further 30 new and existing articles. This brings the total to 42.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">
3 referendums were held on Maastricht: Ireland yes (69.1%) France yes (51%) Denmark no (50.7%). Despite the margin of victory being almost identical in France and Denmark, inevitably only Denmark was forced to vote again.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Portuguese Foreign Minister reacted by saying "there is something rotten in the state of Denmark" and "only donkeys don't change their minds". Inevitably Denmark voted again and this time 56.7% voted yes. This is a pattern that will emerge.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">No-one voted for the Treaty of Amsterdam in 1997 whereby Member States devolved to the EU, powers in immigration, civil & criminal law and foreign and security policy. Institutional changes were also introduced to prepare for adding new member states.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">No-one voted for the Schengen Agreements to be admitted into EU law. And no-one voted to allow our opt-out from the Social Chapter to be given up but Labour allowed it anyway. 24 more areas moved to QMV making a total of 66.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">There were 2 referendums held in Ireland (61.7% yes on 56.2% turn out) and Denmark (55.1% yes on 76.2% turn out). Neither were asked to vote again.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">No-one voted for the Treaty of Nice in 2001. The institutional structure of the EU was reformed to enable expansion into Eastern Europe. Weighting of votes in the EU Parliament was changed and the number of seats was also increased.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">The size of the Commission was reduced and the UK was one of 5 countries to give up its 2nd Commissioner. Another 46 articles were changed from unanimity giving a new total of 112 areas under QMV. "Closer" became "enhanced" co-operation.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">As is now the norm Ireland had a referendum on the Treaty. To the surprise of the elite, the previously compliant Irish stayed at home and the majority who voted said No (53.9% on t/out 34.8%). As is now the norm the Irish were forced to vote again.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">In the 2nd referendum Ireland voted 62.9% yes on turn out of 49.5%. That was good enough for the elite but Ireland did win a guarantee that the state would not enter an EU mutual defence pact and therefore preserved its neutrality.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">No-one voted for the Draft Treaty Establishing The EU created by Altiero Spinelli, an Italian Communist, in 1984 . It was passed by 78% of the EU Parliament but did not pass into law as it was rejected by the Council.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">The treaty is in effect a draft constitution and is arguably one of the most influential docs in the development of the EU. It formed the basis of negotiations for the Single European Act in 1986 and Maastricht in 1992.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Some of the principles included in later treaties up to and including Nice: creation of the EU & EU citizenship; subsidiarity; investiture of the Commission; co-decision between Parliament and Council; European Monetary System.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Other main principles not included in Nice were later incorporated in Lisbon (which no-one voted for either). More of that later.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">No-one voted for the draft Treaty establishing the Constitution for Europe in 2004 although Tony Blair and Jack Straw saw fit to sign it on our behalf. 4 referendums were held with Spain & Lux voting yes and France & Holland voting no (54.7% & 61.5%).</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">The ratification process ended and further referendums, including in the UK, were cancelled. This is not the end though. Many of the main objectives miraculously re-appear in Lisbon. Peter Hain's tidying-up exercise would not be swept away easily.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">If the Constitution had been passed, 2 principal and 5 accession treaties (which no-one voted for) would be repealed and consolidated into a single document. A new EU with legal entity status and legal personality would be formed.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">EU law would have *primacy* over that of the Member States. Charter of Fundamental Rights would have been included in the main text and given legal status. Formal introduction of EU symbols: flag, currency, anthem, motto & Europe Day.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">A new Minister of Foreign Affairs; accession to the European Convention on Human Rights; a newly *appointed* President of the Council who would be in post for 2 1/2 years; laid out the distribution of powers between the EU and Member States.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Defined areas of policy where the EU would have *exclusive* competence & those where competence would be shared with Member States. Despite these very major changes ("tidying up") Tony Blair signed up without any consultation with us.
Onward to Lisbon.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">No-one voted for the Treaty of Lisbon in 2007 although Gordon Brown and David Miliband saw fit to sign it on our behalf. The purpose of the Treaty was to finish off what was started by Amsterdam/Nice and to continue the debate on the failed Constitution.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">The 3 pillar structure introduced in Maastricht (1. Economic Community 2. Common Foreign & Security Policy 3. Justice & Home Affairs) was removed and with the exception of pillar 2 now come under the legislative procedures of the Union.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">This means pillar 1 & 3 (renamed Area of Freedom, Security & Justice) are now, only with certain restrictions, justiciable in the European Court of Justice (which no-one voted for).</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">There are 71 *major* amendments included in Lisbon. 39 are new provisions but crucially 32 were introduced in the failed un-ratified Constitution of 2004 but transposed into Lisbon anyway.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Giscard D'Estaing, President of the Convention that drew up the failed Constitution said "the institutional proposals of the Constitution are found complete in Lisbon, only in a different order".</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">"To my surprise and in truth, to my great satisfaction, the 9 main points are repeated word for word in the new project. There is not a single comma that has been changed"</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Major areas transposed from the failed Constitution into Lisbon. Explicit statement that Member States confer competence to the EU; Union would accede to European Convention for Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Number of MEPs defined as min 6 and max 96 per MS; *Appointment* of President of the Council for 2 1/2 years, renewable for 1 term; Defined QMV as at least 55% of MS representing at least 65% of the population (UK 73 MEPs = 9.7% and population = 12.5%).</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">No. of Commissioners reduced to 2/3 the no. of MS; EU will have legal personality and becomes a separate legal entity; move towards changing method of ratifying treaties from unanimity to QMV; distribution of competences or powers between EU/MS defined.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Measures introduced for cross-border health issues, space policy, energy policy, tourism, civil protection; increase in power of the EU Parliament in passing legislation through co-decision; 46 areas now QMV under co-decision. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Only 12 provisions in the failed Constitution were not transposed into Lisbon. And most were not in the main text, rather were declarations or protocols.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">New provisions in Lisbon: The Union replaced the Community; measures incl on border controls, asylum, immigration & crime; Charter of Fundamental Rights given legal force, becoming EU law with equal status to treaties but is *not* inserted into the text.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">European Central Bank now an institution of the Union. Provisions for QMV in Council; Declaration that EU Law has *primacy* over that of Member States; symbols of the Union acknowledged by 16 states. And still no-one voted.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Despite the magnitude of the changes introduced, a number of UK redlines & the Treaty being almost a mirror image of the failed Constitution, the text was agreed by Heads of State, including Gordon Brown, in less than 3 months. A miracle in EU terms.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">The next step was to ratify the Treaty. In 2004 Tony Blair offered a UK referendum on the Constitution. Despite Lisbon being almost a carbon copy of the failed Constitution, Gordon Brown reneged on Labour's election promise to hold one.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">A High Court case was brought. The court agreed with the Govt in its assertion the referendum was only promised on the Constitution and Lisbon was only a treaty. A further appeal also failed. Still no-one had voted.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">All references to the Constitution were removed in the Treaty to make it look like it had been abandoned. MS who had previously rejected the Constitution via referendum also decided to not have another one. France and Holland signed up this time.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">As is now the norm Ireland had a referendum on the Treaty. As is now the norm the Irish rejected the Treaty (53.2% no t/out 53.1%). As is now the norm the Irish were forced to vote again. Irish Govt concluded voters had a lack of knowledge. Ring a bell?</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">So as is the norm Ireland voted again and this time said yes (67.1% yes t/out 59%) but also secured guarantees on abortion, taxation and military neutrality. Perhaps it wasn't lack of knowledge after all. Power to the people.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">In fairness to the EU not everything in Lisbon is bad. The Treaty introduced Article 50 which defines voluntary withdrawal from the EU of a Member State. 17.4m of us voted to trigger it in 2016 👏 </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">No-one voted for the introduction of the Euro as single currency of the Union. Maastricht obliged Member States to replace their currency with €. Of 12 MS at that time 3 had a referendum, UK & Denmark opted out meaning the other 7 replaced their currency without asking.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">No-one voted to abolish the Purchase Tax and replace it with VAT. This was a condition of our entry into the EEC and was achieved via the 1972 Accession Treaty & the 1972 Finance Bill which no-one voted for.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">The Purchase Tax was introduced as a 'luxury tax' during WWII & applied to items like jewellery, china, porcelain, fur, silk, lace, cosmetics etc. VAT was applied to a much broader range of items & also businesses and services including many essentials.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Examples: clothes & footwear; electrical goods; fruit juice; prams; fuels; water; sweets; alcohol; CDs & DVDs; nuts...VAT is an indirect tax and is now the 3rd largest source of govt revenue. (20b)</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">We are subject to EU law whereby the standard rate of VAT *cannot* be lower than 15%. Also the EU Council must approve any temporary reduction in the public interest. Even tho no-one voted for it we pay over €3.6bn in VAT to the EU every year. (20c)</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">In 1975 Referendum pamphlet, Govt used as justification for Remain that Britain had a new deal which wld see us receive £125m back from EU funds w/out mentioning what we would pay. Between 2010-16 our *net* contribution was €80bn. No-one voted for that.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">The Govt also said we "would not have to put VAT on necessities like food" But it didn't say what it would be put on (see 20b). "We have also maintained our freedom to pursue our own policies in taxation..." (see 20c above) </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">No-one voted to hand over control of our fishing grounds to the EEC. Council regulation 2141/70 was drawn up by the original 6 members just hours before applications to join were received from the UK, Ireland, Norway and Denmark in 1970.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">This ensured the issue became part of the negotiations on the Accession Treaty in 1972. The UK first refused to accept the rules but gave way and signed the Accession Treaty anyway. Norway refused and therefore did not join the Community at all.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">No-one voted for the Common Fisheries Policy which sets quotas for Member States. Quotas are based on 1970s hauls and as Britain fished extensively outside EU waters up to 1976, arguably our quota is lower than it should be. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">No-one voted to allow policy and decision making to be shared with the EU. It is estimated Britain provides 13% of the water in the EU but is only allowed to catch 30% of the fish in that water. Norway's total quota is 2.5× larger despite being non-EU.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">When the UK joined the EEC in 1973 we had 36/198 seats in what is now the EU Parliament. That's 18.18% of the vote and the same as Germany. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Due to the multiple Accession Treaties, which no-one voted for, the UK's vote has been reduced to 76/751 seats or 9.72%. That's a reduction in voting power of 47%.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Over the same period Germany's vote has been reduced to 96/751 seats or 12.78%. That's a reduction of voting power of only 30%. And no-one voted.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">The UK is 2nd highest net contributor to EU budget with 3rd most voting power. Poland is 2nd highest net *recipient* with 5th most voting power. Spain is 3rd highest net *recipient* with 4th most voting power. EU fairness in action.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">No-one voted for a system of Proportional Representation to be used to elect our MEPs. This is at odds with our FPTP system but is a rule mandated by the EU (note AV was rejected in a UK-wide referendum in 2011).</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">This is important as our EU Parliament voting power of 9.72% is split across 10 different parties, some of whom do not speak for the UK (SNP, Sinn Fein, Plaid Cymru) and therefore our vote is diluted further.</span></blockquote>
knoweurohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02488009205593815257noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1947214310238689197.post-79505077221227769882019-08-17T08:56:00.000-07:002019-08-17T08:56:04.129-07:00The Withdrawal Agreement Votes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaWIzpFWZC0D4uQMgMZewvEXiSZDoxqzYydHHqRJuBSWSpFXaxqkZEbdaj1n09aVcGPayn05vw4uKtp3uVJjR0PL0VSSkyIhrJIRw6fpnhRYk7PTDpXMWEfW3TYbi_l8t40L_uAZRsdWk/s1600/brexit-withdraw-main.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="435" data-original-width="580" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaWIzpFWZC0D4uQMgMZewvEXiSZDoxqzYydHHqRJuBSWSpFXaxqkZEbdaj1n09aVcGPayn05vw4uKtp3uVJjR0PL0VSSkyIhrJIRw6fpnhRYk7PTDpXMWEfW3TYbi_l8t40L_uAZRsdWk/s320/brexit-withdraw-main.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">It looks increasingly likely that the United Kingdom is heading for a No Deal exit from the European Union.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">There are many politicians such as Jeremy Corbyn, Jo Swinson, Ian Blackford, Hilary Benn, Dominic Grieve, Sarah Wollaston who are loudly claiming that they are against what they see as a disastrous outcome of No Deal and who say they will stretch every sinew to prevent that outcome.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The only trouble is that they did not stretch every sinew to prevent No Deal. The one thing they could easily have done is to vote for the Withdrawal Agreement. Before getting into the votes let us remind ourselves of what Article 50 actually says:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">1. Any Member State may decide to withdraw from the Union in accordance with its own constitutional requirements.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">2. A Member State which decides to withdraw shall notify the European Council of its intention. In the light of the guidelines provided by the European Council, the Union shall negotiate and conclude an agreement with that State, setting out the arrangements for its withdrawal, taking account of the framework for its future relationship with the Union. That agreement shall be negotiated in accordance with Article 218(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. It shall be concluded on behalf of the Union by the Council, acting by a qualified majority, after obtaining the consent of the European Parliament.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">3. The Treaties shall cease to apply to the State in question from the date of entry into force of the withdrawal agreement or, failing that, two years after the notification referred to in paragraph 2, unless the European Council, in agreement with the Member State concerned, unanimously decides to extend this period.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">4. For the purposes of paragraphs 2 and 3, the member of the European Council or of the Council representing the withdrawing Member State shall not participate in the discussions of the European Council or Council or in decisions concerning it.A qualified majority shall be defined in accordance with Article 238(3)(b) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">5. If a State which has withdrawn from the Union asks to rejoin, its request shall be subject to the procedure referred to in Article 49.</span></blockquote>
<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "sourcesanspro" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(17, 17, 17);">For the purposes of this Post I am only interested in the wording of 50(3) above.</span></span><br />
<div>
<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "sourcesanspro" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(17, 17, 17);"><br /></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "sourcesanspro" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;">To be fair to Mrs May who I thought was a dreadful Prime Minister she repeatedly told the House of Commons that if they did not want No Deal they had to vote for a deal. They declined to do so.</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "sourcesanspro" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "sourcesanspro" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;">The House of Commons declined to support a deal on 3 separate occasions. Here are the votes</span></span></div>
<div>
<blockquote>
<style type="text/css">
.tg {border-collapse:collapse;border-spacing:0;}
.tg td{font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;padding:10px 5px;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;overflow:hidden;word-break:normal;border-color:black;}
.tg th{font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-weight:normal;padding:10px 5px;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;overflow:hidden;word-break:normal;border-color:black;}
.tg .tg-lboi{border-color:inherit;text-align:left;vertical-align:middle}
.tg .tg-0pky{border-color:inherit;text-align:left;vertical-align:top}
.tg .tg-0lax{text-align:left;vertical-align:top}
</style>
<br />
<table class="tg">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th class="tg-lboi">Noe Votes</th>
<th class="tg-0pky">WA1</th>
<th class="tg-0pky">WA2</th>
<th class="tg-0pky">WA3</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tg-0pky">Green</td>
<td class="tg-0pky">1</td>
<td class="tg-0pky">1</td>
<td class="tg-0pky">1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tg-0pky">DUP</td>
<td class="tg-0pky">10</td>
<td class="tg-0pky">10</td>
<td class="tg-0pky">10</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tg-0pky">Labour</td>
<td class="tg-0pky">253</td>
<td class="tg-0pky">252</td>
<td class="tg-0pky">247</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tg-0pky">Lib Dems</td>
<td class="tg-0pky">11</td>
<td class="tg-0pky">11</td>
<td class="tg-0pky">11</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tg-0pky">Plaid Cymru</td>
<td class="tg-0pky">4</td>
<td class="tg-0pky">4</td>
<td class="tg-0pky">4</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tg-0pky">SNP</td>
<td class="tg-0pky">35</td>
<td class="tg-0pky">35</td>
<td class="tg-0pky">34</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tg-0pky">Sub Total</td>
<td class="tg-0pky">314</td>
<td class="tg-0pky">313</td>
<td class="tg-0pky">307</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tg-0pky">Conservative</td>
<td class="tg-0pky">118</td>
<td class="tg-0pky">78</td>
<td class="tg-0pky">37</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tg-0lax">Sub Total</td>
<td class="tg-0lax">432</td>
<td class="tg-0lax">391</td>
<td class="tg-0lax">344</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tg-0pky">Tellers Noe</td>
<td class="tg-0pky">2</td>
<td class="tg-0pky">2</td>
<td class="tg-0pky">2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tg-0pky">Total</td>
<td class="tg-0pky">434</td>
<td class="tg-0pky">393</td>
<td class="tg-0pky">346</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tg-0pky">Vacant Seat</td>
<td class="tg-0pky">1</td>
<td class="tg-0pky">1</td>
<td class="tg-0pky">1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tg-0pky">Speakers</td>
<td class="tg-0pky">4</td>
<td class="tg-0pky">4</td>
<td class="tg-0pky">4</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tg-0pky">Sinn Fein</td>
<td class="tg-0pky">7</td>
<td class="tg-0pky">7</td>
<td class="tg-0pky">7</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tg-0lax">Aye</td>
<td class="tg-0lax">202</td>
<td class="tg-0lax">242</td>
<td class="tg-0lax">286</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tg-0lax">Tellers Aye</td>
<td class="tg-0lax">2</td>
<td class="tg-0lax">2</td>
<td class="tg-0lax">2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tg-0lax">Grand Total</td>
<td class="tg-0lax">650</td>
<td class="tg-0lax">649</td>
<td class="tg-0lax">646</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
</blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">The Treaties SHALL CEASE to apply to the State in question from the date of entry</span><span style="font-size: large;"> into force of the withdrawal agreement or, failing that, two years after the notification referred to in paragraph 2, unless the European Council, in agreement with the Member State concerned, unanimously decides to extend this period.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Mrs May and the European Union have unanimously agreed that the period shall be extended to 31st October 2019. Therefore unless Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson requests a further extension AND the EU 27 UNANIMOUSLY agrees to such a request, the United Kingdom shall leave the European Union on 31st October 2019 with or without a deal.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I have little time for our Members of Parliament at present. The Conservative Party actually put in its manifesto (<a href="https://www.conservatives.com/manifesto" target="_blank">page 35</a>):</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">The negotiations will undoubtedly be tough and there will be give and take on both sides but we continue to believe that no deal is better than a bad deal for the UK</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Members of Parliament can't really complain. They either did not read the Article 50 and Withdrawal Acts OR they thought that if they voted against the deal Mrs May would revoke the Article 50 notification which to her credit she has declined to do.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">No Deal was in the legislation. All the House of Commons had to do to avoid No Deal was to vote through the Withdrawal Agreement. They declined to do so. The consequence of those three separate and deliberate actions is NO DEAL</span></div>
knoweurohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02488009205593815257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1947214310238689197.post-11449908865274193922018-10-14T04:40:00.002-07:002019-08-17T07:08:18.853-07:00Defeat your Conservative MP<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh834zyYw1p3dvqXhcsu0vwHzjn-1eDH6Nul1YRe3v7jtYXQTT_abbNhjLupM6-PrfoUgU1KfmGVeP8WNPVp-JcviCL8mLli8TeJCXXK2oLCtpJw19EuT_ZieFtNZzlMTRwi_49oCwBUgY/s1600/betrayal+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh834zyYw1p3dvqXhcsu0vwHzjn-1eDH6Nul1YRe3v7jtYXQTT_abbNhjLupM6-PrfoUgU1KfmGVeP8WNPVp-JcviCL8mLli8TeJCXXK2oLCtpJw19EuT_ZieFtNZzlMTRwi_49oCwBUgY/s320/betrayal+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #14171a; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 27px; letter-spacing: 0.27000001072883606px; white-space: pre-wrap;">According to the article linked <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2018/10/14/brexit-theresa-mays-terms-would-worst-worlds/" target="_blank">here</a>:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #14171a; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0.27000001072883606px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #14171a; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.27000001072883606px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 27px;">Daniel Hannan says:
</span></span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #14171a; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.27000001072883606px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 27px;">Under the proposed withdrawal terms, the United Kingdom would remain in the EU’s customs union. </span></span></blockquote>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #14171a; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.27000001072883606px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 27px;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #14171a; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 27px; letter-spacing: 0.27000001072883606px; white-space: pre-wrap;">"THE" Customs Union is defined in the <a href="https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:12012E/TXT&from=EN" target="_blank">Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union</a> (TFEU) (Article 28 onwards) </span></span></span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #14171a; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.27000001072883606px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 27px;"><span style="font-size: large;">FREE MOVEMENT OF GOODS</span> </span></span></blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #14171a; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.27000001072883606px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">Article 28</span></span></blockquote>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #14171a; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.27000001072883606px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #14171a; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.27000001072883606px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">1. The Union shall comprise a customs union which shall cover all trade in goods and which shall involve the prohibition between Member States of customs duties on imports and exports and of all charges having equivalent effect, and the adoption of a common customs tariff in their relations with third countries. </span></span></blockquote>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #14171a; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.27000001072883606px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">
<blockquote>
<span style="background-color: transparent;">2. The provisions of Article 30 and of Chapter 3 of this Title shall apply to products originating in Member States and to products coming from third countries which are in free circulation in Member States.</span></blockquote>
</span></span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Article 30</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Customs duties on imports and exports and charges having equivalent effect shall be prohibited between Member States. This prohibition shall also apply to customs duties of a fiscal nature.</span></blockquote>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #14171a; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 27px; letter-spacing: 0.27000001072883606px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thus if the PM and the Cabinet sign off on the UK staying in "THE" European Union's Customs Union then quite simply the United Kingdom will not have left the European Union and Brexit will not mean Brexit. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #14171a; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 27px; letter-spacing: 0.27000001072883606px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #14171a; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 27px; letter-spacing: 0.27000001072883606px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I very much hope that if Mr Hannan's prediction comes to pass and this Prime Minister and the Cabinet sign off on betraying the votes and will of 17 million electors that this will cause real problems electorally for the Conservative Party. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #14171a; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 27px; letter-spacing: 0.27000001072883606px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #14171a; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 27px; letter-spacing: 0.27000001072883606px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Put simply it is up to leave voters to vote tactically to unseat those Conservative MP's that have small parliamentary majorities. There are 57 Conservative MP's with majorities of less than 4000 votes.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #14171a; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 27px; letter-spacing: 0.27000001072883606px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #14171a; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 27px; letter-spacing: 0.27000001072883606px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Aberconwy, Angus, Ayr, Carrick & Cumnock, Banff & Buchan, Blackpool North & Cleveleys, Bolton West (Anna Soubry), </span></span></span><span style="color: #14171a; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(20, 23, 26); font-size: 27px; letter-spacing: 0.27000001072883606px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Calder Valley, Camborne & Redruth, Carlisle, Carmarthen West & Pembrokeshire South, Cheltenham, Chingford & Woodford Green (Iain Duncan Smith), Chipping Barnet (Theresa Villiers), Cities of London & Westminster</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #14171a; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 27px; letter-spacing: 0.27000001072883606px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #14171a; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 27px; letter-spacing: 0.27000001072883606px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Clwyd West, Copeland, Corby, Crawley, Derbyshire North East, Finchley & Golders Green, Gordon, Harrow East, Hastings & Rye (Amber Rudd), Hendon, Mansfield, Middlesbrough South & Cleveland East, Milton Keynes North (Mark Lancaster), Milton Keynes South, </span><span style="caret-color: rgb(20, 23, 26); font-size: 27px; letter-spacing: 0.27000001072883606px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Morecambe & Lunesdale</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #14171a; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(20, 23, 26); font-size: 27px; letter-spacing: 0.27000001072883606px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #14171a; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(20, 23, 26); font-size: 27px; letter-spacing: 0.27000001072883606px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Morley & Outwood (Andrea Jenkyns), Northampton North, Northampton South, Norwich North, Ochil & South Perthshire, Pendle, Preseli Pembrokeshire, Pudsey, Putney, Reading West, Richmond Park, Rossendale & Darwen, Scarborough & Whitby, Southampton Itchen, Southport</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #14171a; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(20, 23, 26); font-size: 27px; letter-spacing: 0.27000001072883606px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #14171a; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(20, 23, 26); font-size: 27px; letter-spacing: 0.27000001072883606px; white-space: pre-wrap;">St Ives, Stevenage, Stirling, Stoke on Trent South, Swindon South, Telford, Thurrock, Truro & Falmouth, Vale of Glamorgan, Walsall North, Watford, Worcester.</span></span><br />
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #14171a; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.27000001072883606px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 27px;"><span style="color: #14171a; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(20, 23, 26); font-size: 27px; letter-spacing: 0.27000001072883606px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #14171a; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.27000001072883606px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 27px;"><span style="color: #14171a; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(20, 23, 26); font-size: 27px; letter-spacing: 0.27000001072883606px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Since the Conservative Parliamentary Party is intent on holding the settled wish of 17 million voters in contempt, it is up to the electors to return the compliment.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #14171a; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(20, 23, 26); font-size: 27px; letter-spacing: 0.27000001072883606px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Please vote tactically and strategically for that candidate most likely to unseat the sitting Conservative MP </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #14171a; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(20, 23, 26); font-size: 27px; letter-spacing: 0.27000001072883606px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #14171a; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(20, 23, 26); font-size: 27px; letter-spacing: 0.27000001072883606px; white-space: pre-wrap;">#UnseattheTories.</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #14171a; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(20, 23, 26); font-size: 27px; letter-spacing: 0.27000001072883606px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #14171a; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(20, 23, 26); font-size: 27px; letter-spacing: 0.27000001072883606px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div>
knoweurohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02488009205593815257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1947214310238689197.post-8972115292063286772018-07-19T23:25:00.001-07:002018-07-19T23:25:23.682-07:00Deadly Earnest<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipar8ah_JGNK3UjKpBWAy6aS0TUEi_D6qXAuNkC5gzivNVHCLJnHk76qPwKjezqMiDz5bHu8V3Jsiq_lAg0Yh2p5e5WJBeH-ZwyQ7-d1C3htuaNVxfn41QgmTX9gR0v6L8qAxbOiPlE1M/s1600/deadly+earnest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="480" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipar8ah_JGNK3UjKpBWAy6aS0TUEi_D6qXAuNkC5gzivNVHCLJnHk76qPwKjezqMiDz5bHu8V3Jsiq_lAg0Yh2p5e5WJBeH-ZwyQ7-d1C3htuaNVxfn41QgmTX9gR0v6L8qAxbOiPlE1M/s320/deadly+earnest.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">If there was any doubt by anyone that the European Union is not serious in its Notices to <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/info/brexit/brexit-preparedness/preparedness-notices_en" target="_blank">Stakeholders</a> </span><span style="font-size: large;">then they should remove those doubts now. The European Union (EU) is most definitely serious. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The EU has published more documents such as this one on </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">"<a href="http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-18-4545_en.htm" target="_blank">Communication on preparing for the UK's withdrawal from the EU</a>"or this one on "<a href="https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/communication-preparing-withdrawal-brexit-preparedness.pdf" target="_blank">Preparing for the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union on 30 March 2019</a>"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman,bold";"><span style="font-size: large;">which again lay out the position in various scenarios. </span></span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Main consequences of scenario 2: withdrawal on 30 March 2019 without a withdrawal agreement </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">The United Kingdom will be a third country and Union law ceases to apply to and in the United Kingdom. </span> </li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Citizens: There would be no specific arrangement in place for EU citizens in the United Kingdom, or for UK citizens in the European Union. </span> </li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Border issues: The European Union must apply its regulation and tariffs at borders with the United Kingdom as a third country, including checks and controls for customs, sanitary and phytosanitary standards and verification of compliance with EU norms. Transport between the United Kingdom and the European Union would be severely impacted. Customs, sanitary and phytosanitary controls at borders could cause significant delays, e.g. in road transport, and difficulties for ports. </span> </li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Trade and regulatory issues: The United Kingdom becomes a third country whose relations with the European Union would be governed by general international public law, including rules of the World Trade Organisation. In particular, in heavily regulated sectors, this would represent a significant drawback compared to the current level of market integration. </span> </li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Negotiations with the United Kingdom: Depending on the circumstances leading to the withdrawal without an agreement, the EU may wish to enter into negotiations with the United Kingdom as a third country. </span> </li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">EU funding: UK entities would cease to be eligible as Union entities for the purpose of receiving EU grants and participating in EU procurement procedures. Unless otherwise provided for by the legal provisions in force, candidates or tenderers from the United Kingdom could be rejected.</span></li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">The legacy media has reported some of this but with no real analysis and with the sub text that somehow the European Union is being spiteful to the United Kingdom. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">As EUReferendum says in the latest <a href="http://www.eureferendum.com/blogview.aspx?blogno=86937" target="_blank">blogpost</a>:</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Hardly anyone in the politico-media nexus, it seems, is prepared to lay out with any clarity the full extent of the consequences of a "no deal" Brexit, the overall impression being that it is somehow tolerable, with maybe a few problems round the edges.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">The European Union is publishing these documents because Mrs Theresa May, the Conservative MP for Maidenhead, the Leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister said in answer to a Scottish Nationalist Party MP in the House of Commons recently "unequivocally" that the United Kingdom will leave the Single Market, the <a href="http://www.efta.int/eea" target="_blank">European Economic Area</a> (EEA). </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The Prime Minister is doing this because she has been persuaded by her former Special Advisor (SpAd) Nick 'Rasputin' Timothy that the <a href="http://www.efta.int/eea/eea-agreement/eea-basic-features" target="_blank">EEA equals</a> the European Union. It doesn't. Rather like the Tsarina Alexandra however, Mrs May cannot be persuaded that her 'Rasputin' is in error.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The European Economic Area (EEA) is a vast geographical area from Iceland to Greece and Portugal to Poland of which the European Union is part.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">In leaving the EEA, the United Kingdom leaves the regulatory union. Various Conservative Politicians like John Redwood, Peter Lilley and Jacob Rees-Mogg have said that this makes no difference because the UK will have the same standards on Brexit day as it did before.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">This is true. The point of leaving the single market (EEA) though is so that the United Kingdom can unilaterally deviate from those standards the day after Brexit day if it so chooses and it is that situation that the European Union wants to guard against. Thus it is enforcing the Non Tariff Barriers. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The blogger <a href="https://peterjnorth.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Pete North</a> has recently published a "Janet and John" tweet thread. It is superb and I reproduce some of it below:</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">A strange disease stalks the land. When a person is confronted by well documented consequences of leaving the EU without a deal they simply grunt "Project fear!". This is odd because we are not talking about Brexit economic projections... </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">
You see, at the moment we have a deal. We have EU membership. We are part of the treaties. And if we leave and we do not secure a withdrawal agreement and subsequent arrangements for trade then we do not have a deal. The Treaties shall cease to apply. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">For the hard of thinking, that means that we leave the treaties of the EU. No formal agreement exists between the EU and the UK. We will have left the EU. One turns to zero. On becomes Off. What was once permitted is then not permitted.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Mrs Theresa May who represents the United Kingdom has said the United Kingdom is leaving the Single Market</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Mrs Theresa May's "Chequers" <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/725288/The_future_relationship_between_the_United_Kingdom_and_the_European_Union.pdf" target="_blank">White Paper</a> states that the United Kingdom is "proposing the establishment of a free trade area for goods". Services are excluded from this imagined free trade area. As reported <a href="http://leavetheeuropeanunion.blogspot.com/2018/07/disaster-darling.html" target="_blank">before</a> this is cherry-picking by the United Kingdom Government and the European Union has continually said that cherry-picking is not on the table, it is not possible.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">It cannot be repeated often enough. The European Union is NOT doing this to the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom is doing this to itself. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The European Union is not unreasonably taking the White Paper as the UK Government's final position. The EU is consequently making contingency plans based on this position. The impact on the United Kingdom of its self imposed decisions are enormous. It is going to be a very bumpy and uncomfortable ride.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Be in no doubt, the European Union is in deadly earnest.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />knoweurohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02488009205593815257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1947214310238689197.post-10637151812125209142018-07-15T06:00:00.000-07:002018-07-15T06:00:20.567-07:00Disaster Darling<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMempl9BX8pMtZq2KPfNA4iDysTg_1cSeKmHn2CNLaX_PIqp160ZRMARsgInuWu0vCpqxQ6T6hRO8KK13wOKOVJXvrOM3jZApWTxx7v30AHX_ebL9S9pBTKC9TROUr764aFOOhcH927Ho/s1600/Future+Relationship.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1008" data-original-width="1600" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMempl9BX8pMtZq2KPfNA4iDysTg_1cSeKmHn2CNLaX_PIqp160ZRMARsgInuWu0vCpqxQ6T6hRO8KK13wOKOVJXvrOM3jZApWTxx7v30AHX_ebL9S9pBTKC9TROUr764aFOOhcH927Ho/s400/Future+Relationship.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The United Kingdom Government has now published its White </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/725288/The_future_relationship_between_the_United_Kingdom_and_the_European_Union.pdf" target="_blank">Paper </a></span><span style="font-size: large;">"The Future Relationship Between the United Kingdom and the European Union". In this document the Government states that it wants a new trading relationship that ensures </span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">continued frictionless access at the border to each other’s markets for goods.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">In order to deliver this goal;</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">the Government is proposing the establishment of a free trade area for goods. </span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">The White Paper does not mention services. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The only land border between the United Kingdom and the European Union is the Irish Border. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">EUReferendum posted a blogpost about this on <a href="http://www.eureferendum.com/blogview.aspx?blogno=86930" target="_blank">13th July 2018</a> quoting Michel Barnier, the European Union negotiator thus:</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">the UK "chooses to leave the Single Market and the Customs Union. It will be a third country in two years from now". And, by making this choice, the UK "will naturally find itself in a less favourable situation than that of a Member State". It will not be possible, Barnier said, "to cherry-pick and be a participant in parts of the Single Market".</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">By stating that the Government wants a free trade in goods, the Government is cherry-picking.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I find the diagram on Page 86 of the White Paper headed "structure of the Future Partnership" reproduced at the head of this post very troubling. Under 'The Governing Body' it states the following:</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">"The Governing Body would provide for leaders and ministers from the UK and EU to give direction to the development of the future relationship - making decisions about how and when changes to the relationship were necessary and ensuring accountability to our parliaments."</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">If EU leaders and ministers are on the Governing Body giving direction and making decisions, surely the United Kingdom is still subject to the EU. In what way is this "Brexit means Brexit" or the United Kingdom leaving the European Union?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I would like much more detail and clarity on what the Government is saying but I think that might be a deal breaker for some leave minded politicians. It certainly ought to be if the text means what I think it means.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">According to "The Sun"; 'Ministers draw up secret plans to stockpile processed food in case of 'no deal' <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/6747231/ministers-plan-to-stockpile-processed-food/" target="_blank">Brexit'</a>:
</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">The Sun can reveal that includes emergency measures to keep Britain’s massive food and drinks industry afloat - including stockpiling ahead of exit day on 29 March next year.
More than £22 billion worth of processed food and drinks are imported in to the UK - 97 per cent from the EU - in an industry that keeps 400,000 workers employed in the UK.
Similar stockpiles are also being prepared for medical supplies amid fears of chaos at British ports next year.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">This blogger has warned before about the possibility of </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://leavetheeuropeanunion.blogspot.com/2017/10/the-european-union-perspective.html" target="_blank">issues</a> at the channel ports and in my last post on Brexit <a href="http://leavetheeuropeanunion.blogspot.com/2018/06/brexit-preparedness.html" target="_blank">Preparedness</a> </span><span style="font-size: large;">about the possible dangers to air travel of No Deal.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Now EUReferendum <a href="http://www.eureferendum.com/blogview.aspx?blogno=86931" target="_blank">reports</a> that </span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">However, rather than examples of sensible planning, responses are being cast as gesture politics, to show Brussels that "no deal" is not a bluff. Yet, Brussels is way ahead of the game. With the White Paper being framed by some as the last and best "offer" from the UK government, the Commission is taking it as the most explicit confirmation that the Brexit negotiations are on the rocks.</span></blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">To illustrate that the European Union does indeed think the talks are in trouble, according to "<a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/brexit-eu-states-warned-to-step-up-no-deal-emergency-plans-1.3564339" target="_blank">The Irish Times</a>", the European Union </span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Despite an upbeat welcome in Brussels for the UK’s White Paper, the 27 EU member states have been warned to step up their contingency planning for a Brexit no-deal.</span></blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The arrogance of the Prime Minister surpasses all understanding however. Having been persuaded by her former Special Advisor Nick "Rasputin" Timothy (falsely) that the European Economic Area equals the European Union (it doesn't) Mrs May is determined to leave the EEA with all the dire economic consequences that presages. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">According to this <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/brexit/back-me-or-there%E2%80%99ll-be-no-brexit-prime-minister-warns-rebel-mps-and-pledges-she-will-not-let-brussels-water-down-the-deal/ar-AAA4s8r?li=BBoPWjQ&ocid=mailsignout" target="_blank">article</a> the Prime Minister</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">claims that rival Commons revolts by warring pro- and anti-Europe Tory MPs threaten to sabotage hopes of winning a post-Brexit deal for Britain. And in a hard-hitting message to Brussels, the Prime Minister says she will not budge an inch on the proposed Brexit deal she agreed with Cabinet Ministers at her Chequers summit.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">For instance does she really think that she is the only politician capable of delivering Brexit? In not budging an inch from her position what does she suggest if the European Union will not budge an inch from its position? </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">This does not feel very good at all. Quite the contrary actually</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">As Craig Revel Horwood might say in a different context:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">This is a Disaster Darling </span>knoweurohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02488009205593815257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1947214310238689197.post-74095909088273092492018-06-30T14:21:00.001-07:002018-06-30T14:21:35.947-07:00Brexit Preparedness<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii9_P04pMsXehGHsn_07xxB2LpxORTztOd1etCVLkeJauD7VdNCNGycFaMUx9XLxUcmxpT_FnOxvtECo6i7PXpAClgrKt6HOPjnRffmQsSZyiKIWeIAYh5i0sxpZLWfJFoPfZMkB8GASM/s1600/taxiing+aircraft+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="956" data-original-width="1300" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii9_P04pMsXehGHsn_07xxB2LpxORTztOd1etCVLkeJauD7VdNCNGycFaMUx9XLxUcmxpT_FnOxvtECo6i7PXpAClgrKt6HOPjnRffmQsSZyiKIWeIAYh5i0sxpZLWfJFoPfZMkB8GASM/s320/taxiing+aircraft+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The following article was recently posted on Twitter <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/eu-tells-eu27-to-prepare-airports-for-no-deal-brexit-report-2018-6?r=US&IR=T">http://uk.businessinsider.com/eu-tells-eu27-to-prepare-airports-for-no-deal-brexit-report-2018-6?r=US&IR=T</a> it says in part:</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">European Union member states should prepare their airports and aviation sector for a no-deal Brexit, the European Commission reportedly told diplomats earlier in June.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">
The warning was made during a June 12 meeting chaired by Filip Cornelis, the director of aviation at the Commission's transport department, <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/airlines-customs-commission-to-eu27-prepare-airports-cargo-shipping-for-a-no-deal-brexit/?utm_source=POLITICO.EU&utm_campaign=f34601ccf6-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_06_26_05_43&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_10959edeb5-f34601ccf6-190121793" target="_blank">Politico</a> reported. It was attended by diplomats from the EU27 countries as well as representatives from their civil aviation authorities. </span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">The European Union has published 66 Notices to <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/info/brexit/brexit-preparedness_en" target="_blank">Stakeholders</a>. Amongst <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/info/brexit/brexit-preparedness/preparedness-notices_en" target="_blank">these</a> is one on Aviation <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/transport/sites/transport/files/legislation/brexit-notice-to-stakeholders-aviation-safety.pdf" target="_blank">Safety</a> published on 13th April 2018. I quote part of it because it is so comprehensive:</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">CERTIFICATES ISSUED BY THE COMPETENT AUTHORITIES OF THE UNITED KINGDOM </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Certificates issued before the withdrawal date by the competent authorities of the United Kingdom on the basis of the provisions of the Basic Regulation and its implementing rules will no longer be valid as of the withdrawal date in the EU. This concerns in particular: </span> </li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Certificates of airworthiness, restricted certificates of airworthiness, permits to fly, approvals of organisations responsible for the maintenance of products, parts and appliances, approvals for organisations responsible for the manufacture of products, parts and appliances, approvals for maintenance training organisations, and certificates for personnel responsible for the release of a product, part or appliance after maintenance, issued pursuant to Article 5 of the Basic Regulation; </span> </li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Pilot licences, pilot medical certificates, certificates for pilot training organisations, certificates for aero-medical centres, certificates for flight simulation training devices, certificates for persons responsible for providing flight training, flight simulation training or assessing pilots' skill, and certificates for aero medical examiners, issued pursuant to Article 7 of the Basic Regulation; </span> </li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Certificates for air operators and attestations for the cabin crew, issued pursuant to Article 8 of the Basic Regulation; </span> </li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Certificates for aerodromes, certificates for ATM/ANS providers, licences and medical certificates for air traffic controllers, certificates for air traffic controller training organisations, certificates for aero medical centres and aero medical examiners responsible for air traffic controllers, certificates for persons responsible for providing practical training or assessing the skills of air traffic controllers, issued pursuant to Articles 8a, 8b and 8c of the Basic Regulation.</span></li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">If certificates issued by competent UK authorities are no longer valid then no UK authorised pilot will be able to fly after Brexit until their licence is recognised in some other international forum. Permits to fly will be invalid.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">If London Heathrow or Edinburgh or Cardiff loses its aerodrome certificate then I am sure their insurers will withdraw any insurance and thus not only will nothing take off, nothing will land either. No air carrier will risk landing on an uninsured aerodrome.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">This is massive. It is also entirely the fault of Mrs Theresa May MP, the Conservative MP for Maidenhead, the Leader of the Conservative Party and the Prime Minister. I am convinced that she is still advised and takes counsel from her former SpAd, Nick 'Rasputin' Timothy. He has persuaded Mrs May that the EEA equals EFTA. It doesn't. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The EEA (European Economic Area) is a huge geographical area from Iceland to Greece and Portugal to Poland of which the European Union is part. In the EEA/EFTA, the United Kingdom would be out of the Common Agricultural Policy, Common Fisheries Policy, Customs Union, Common Trade Area, Common Foreign & Security Policy, Justice and Home Affairs, Taxation and Economic and Monetary Union. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The UK would not be subject to the European Court of Justice (EFTA Court instead) or the Commission (EEA Joint Committee).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Unfortunately, the 'Tsarina' Mrs May is deaf to all persuasion and still seems to think that 'Rasputin' is right. He isn't. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">If the dangers that Mr Cornelis point out come to pass
</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">It would immediately ground flights between the UK and EU because EU-issued aviation licenses would no longer be valid.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">It really cannot be put more plainly. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">This is happening not because of the European Union's intransigence but because of catastrophic strategic decisions being made by Mrs May. The UK Government is doing this to itself.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Don't book a flight out of the UK for Easter 2019. It may well not fly.</span><br />
<br />
knoweurohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02488009205593815257noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1947214310238689197.post-59987509994153205542018-01-28T02:13:00.000-08:002018-01-28T02:13:49.091-08:00Brexit does not mean Brexit Mrs May<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggg8VMmbNwNK36saaugpn0AW3Lf6T6r6v06KoXMxmPkk7ueOwJzRPX7mScXxA3ltzifgoMrVrFo8irQvgS7xXJC6QT4xfW6RIT8a6FUh_rs_B-VzQYClA_WtIfmujt8fpd-MLdgqN9Nyg/s1600/Mayliar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="409" data-original-width="615" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggg8VMmbNwNK36saaugpn0AW3Lf6T6r6v06KoXMxmPkk7ueOwJzRPX7mScXxA3ltzifgoMrVrFo8irQvgS7xXJC6QT4xfW6RIT8a6FUh_rs_B-VzQYClA_WtIfmujt8fpd-MLdgqN9Nyg/s320/Mayliar.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Since my post of 27th January 2018, I have been pointed to another European Union publication (h/t "Britainsfish") which is on the internet here: (<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/resource.html?uri=cellar:e0727eef-e727-11e7-9749-01aa75ed71a1.0003.02/DOC_2&format=PDF">http://eur-lex.europa.eu/resource.html?uri=cellar:e0727eef-e727-11e7-9749-01aa75ed71a1.0003.02/DOC_2&format=PDF</a>) </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">This document has been amended for the Final Version which has been leaked (h/t "Sentinel") and which has been analysed by Professor Steve Peers here (<a href="http://eulawanalysis.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/phase-2-of-brexit-talks-annotation-of.html?m=1">http://eulawanalysis.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/phase-2-of-brexit-talks-annotation-of.html?m=1</a>)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Paragraphs 9 - 21 deal with "Transitional Arrangements". Paragraph 9 specifically says</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">the four freedoms of the Single Market are indivisible and there can be no "cherry picking"</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">which would not be the case if we had chosen the European Economic Area route and unilaterally invoked Article 112. Then there are paragraphs 12 - 18 which are so awful that I quote them in full:</span><br />
<blockquote>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:DocumentProperties>
<o:Template>Normal.dotm</o:Template>
<o:Revision>0</o:Revision>
<o:TotalTime>0</o:TotalTime>
<o:Pages>1</o:Pages>
<o:Words>189</o:Words>
<o:Characters>1081</o:Characters>
<o:Company>Home</o:Company>
<o:Lines>9</o:Lines>
<o:Paragraphs>2</o:Paragraphs>
<o:CharactersWithSpaces>1327</o:CharactersWithSpaces>
<o:Version>12.256</o:Version>
</o:DocumentProperties>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>
<w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>
<w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
<w:UseFELayout/>
</w:Compatibility>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276">
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "calibri";">12. In line with
those guidelines, which further specify and develop the core principles laid
out in the European Council guidelines of 29 April 2017, any transitional
arrangements provided for in the Withdrawal Agreement should cover the whole of
the Union acquis, including Euratom matters. Notwithstanding paragraph 17 of
these negotiating directives, the Union acquis should apply to and in the
United Kingdom as if it were a Member State. Any changes to the Union acquis
should automatically apply to and in the United Kingdom during the transition
period. For acts adopted in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice by which
the United Kingdom is bound before its withdrawal, Articles 4a of Protocol (No
21) and 5 of Protocol (No 19) annexed to the Treaties, which allow the United
Kingdom not to participate in an act amending a measure by which it is already
bound, should continue to apply during the transition period including the
possibility for the Union to determine that this non participation would make
the relevant measure inoperable and therefore that the measure should cease to
apply to the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom should however no longer be
allowed to opt-in to measures in this Area other than those amending, replacing
or building upon the above mentioned existing acts.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "calibri";"> </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:DocumentProperties>
<o:Template>Normal.dotm</o:Template>
<o:Revision>0</o:Revision>
<o:TotalTime>0</o:TotalTime>
<o:Pages>1</o:Pages>
<o:Words>44</o:Words>
<o:Characters>254</o:Characters>
<o:Company>Home</o:Company>
<o:Lines>2</o:Lines>
<o:Paragraphs>1</o:Paragraphs>
<o:CharactersWithSpaces>311</o:CharactersWithSpaces>
<o:Version>12.256</o:Version>
</o:DocumentProperties>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>
<w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>
<w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
<w:UseFELayout/>
</w:Compatibility>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276">
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "calibri";">13. During the
transition period, Union law covered by these transitional arrangements should
deploy in the United Kingdom the same legal effects as those which it deploys
within the Member States of the Union. This means, in particular, that the
direct effect and primacy of Union law should be preserved.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "calibri";"> </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:DocumentProperties>
<o:Template>Normal.dotm</o:Template>
<o:Revision>0</o:Revision>
<o:TotalTime>0</o:TotalTime>
<o:Pages>1</o:Pages>
<o:Words>59</o:Words>
<o:Characters>339</o:Characters>
<o:Company>Home</o:Company>
<o:Lines>2</o:Lines>
<o:Paragraphs>1</o:Paragraphs>
<o:CharactersWithSpaces>416</o:CharactersWithSpaces>
<o:Version>12.256</o:Version>
</o:DocumentProperties>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>
<w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>
<w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
<w:UseFELayout/>
</w:Compatibility>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276">
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "calibri";">14. During the
transition period, and in line with the European Council guidelines of 29 April
2017, the United Kingdom will remain bound by the obligations stemming from the
agreements concluded by the Union, or by Member States acting on its behalf, or
by the Union and its Member States acting jointly, while the United Kingdom
should however no longer participate in any bodies set up by those agreements.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "calibri";"> </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:DocumentProperties>
<o:Template>Normal.dotm</o:Template>
<o:Revision>0</o:Revision>
<o:TotalTime>0</o:TotalTime>
<o:Pages>1</o:Pages>
<o:Words>137</o:Words>
<o:Characters>785</o:Characters>
<o:Company>Home</o:Company>
<o:Lines>6</o:Lines>
<o:Paragraphs>1</o:Paragraphs>
<o:CharactersWithSpaces>964</o:CharactersWithSpaces>
<o:Version>12.256</o:Version>
</o:DocumentProperties>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>
<w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>
<w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
<w:UseFELayout/>
</w:Compatibility>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276">
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "calibri";">15. In line with the
European Council guidelines of 15 December 2017, any transitional arrangements
require the United Kingdom's continued participation in the Customs Union and
the Single Market (with all four freedoms) during the transition. The United
Kingdom should take all necessary measures to preserve the integrity of the
Single Market and of the Customs Union. The United Kingdom should continue to
comply with the Union trade policy. It should also in particular ensure that
its customs authorities continue to act in accordance with the mission of EU
customs authorities including by collecting Common Customs Tariff duties and by
performing all checks required under Union law at the border vis-à-vis other
third countries. During the transition period, the United Kingdom may not
become bound by international agreements entered into in its own capacity in the
fields of competence of Union law, unless authorised to do so by the Union.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:DocumentProperties>
<o:Template>Normal.dotm</o:Template>
<o:Revision>0</o:Revision>
<o:TotalTime>0</o:TotalTime>
<o:Pages>1</o:Pages>
<o:Words>53</o:Words>
<o:Characters>307</o:Characters>
<o:Company>Home</o:Company>
<o:Lines>2</o:Lines>
<o:Paragraphs>1</o:Paragraphs>
<o:CharactersWithSpaces>377</o:CharactersWithSpaces>
<o:Version>12.256</o:Version>
</o:DocumentProperties>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>
<w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>
<w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
<w:UseFELayout/>
</w:Compatibility>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276">
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "calibri";">16. In line with the
European Council guidelines of 29 April 2017 and the first set of negotiating
directives of 22 May 2017, any time-limited prolongation of the Union acquis
requires existing Union regulatory, budgetary, supervisory, judiciary and
enforcement instruments and structures to apply, including the competence of
the Court of Justice of the European Union.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "calibri";"> </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:DocumentProperties>
<o:Template>Normal.dotm</o:Template>
<o:Revision>0</o:Revision>
<o:TotalTime>0</o:TotalTime>
<o:Pages>1</o:Pages>
<o:Words>118</o:Words>
<o:Characters>675</o:Characters>
<o:Company>Home</o:Company>
<o:Lines>5</o:Lines>
<o:Paragraphs>1</o:Paragraphs>
<o:CharactersWithSpaces>828</o:CharactersWithSpaces>
<o:Version>12.256</o:Version>
</o:DocumentProperties>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>
<w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>
<w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
<w:UseFELayout/>
</w:Compatibility>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276">
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "calibri";">17. In relation to
the application of the Union acquis to the United Kingdom, the Withdrawal
Agreement should therefore, during the transitional period, preserve the full
competences of the Union institutions (in particular the full jurisdiction of
the Court of Justice of the European Union), bodies, offices and agencies in
relation to the United Kingdom and to United Kingdom natural or legal persons.
In particular, Union institutions, bodies and agencies should conduct all
supervision and control proceedings foreseen by Union law. In line with the
European Council guidelines of 15 December 2017, the United Kingdom will
however no longer participate in or nominate or elect members of the Union
institutions, nor participate in the decision-making or the governance of the
Union bodies, offices and agencies.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "calibri";"> </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "calibri";">18. During the transition period, as a
general rule, the UK will not attend meetings of committees referred to in
Article 3 (2) of</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "calibri";"> </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "calibri";"><span style="color: blue; text-decoration: none;"><a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=celex%3A32011R0182">Regulation (EU) No 182/2011</a> </span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "calibri";">or Commission
experts groups and other similar entities of the agencies, offices or bodies
where Member States are represented. Exceptionally on a case-by-case basis, the
United Kingdom could be invited to attend without voting rights such meetings:</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "calibri";"> </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "calibri";">– where the discussion concerns individual
acts to be addressed to the United Kingdom or to United Kingdom natural or
legal persons; or</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "calibri";"> </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:DocumentProperties>
<o:Template>Normal.dotm</o:Template>
<o:Revision>0</o:Revision>
<o:TotalTime>0</o:TotalTime>
<o:Pages>1</o:Pages>
<o:Words>114</o:Words>
<o:Characters>655</o:Characters>
<o:Company>Home</o:Company>
<o:Lines>5</o:Lines>
<o:Paragraphs>1</o:Paragraphs>
<o:CharactersWithSpaces>804</o:CharactersWithSpaces>
<o:Version>12.256</o:Version>
</o:DocumentProperties>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>
<w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>
<w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
</w:Compatibility>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276">
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<!--EndFragment--></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: large;">– where the presence of the United Kingdom
is necessary from a Union perspective for the effective implementation of the
acquis during the transition period.</span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">It is hard to state just how dreadful these proposals are. In effect, the Acquis, New laws and Directives, the Customs Union and EU trade policy (meaning the UK cannot conclude any trade agreements in its own right) will continue to apply whilst the United Kingdom will have no representation of any kind whatever (No MEP's, No Commissioner, No participation in any agreements or committees although we could be invited by the commission to various committees as it (the Commission) sees fit but without a say or vote). The United Kingdom will still be subject to the ECJ and European Law will have primacy (over UK Law)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">David Davis (h/t <a href="http://www.eureferendum.com)/">www.eureferendum.com</a>) made a speech in Teeside. Part of it reads as follows:</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">For such a period to work, both sides must continue to follow the same, stable set of laws and rules</span>. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Without compromising the integrity of the single market, and the customs union to which we will maintain access on current terms.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">
Maintaining the same regulations across all sectors of the economy — from agriculture to aviation, transport to financial services, as part of a new international treaty.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">
In keeping with the existing structure of EU rules that will allow a strictly time-limited role for the European Court of Justice during that period.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">
During this implementation period, people will of course be able to travel between the UK and EU to live and work.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">And as agreed in December, we will fulfil the financial commitments we have made during the period of our membership.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">
With Britain upholding its responsibilities during this period, it follows the European Union will need to respect our rights and our interests too.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">
And this means we must discuss how regulators and agencies can best provide continuity and clarity for businesses during this period in a way that benefits everyone. (<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/david-davis-teesport-speech-implementation-period-a-bridge-to-the-future-partnership-between-the-uk-eu">https://www.gov.uk/government/news/david-davis-teesport-speech-implementation-period-a-bridge-to-the-future-partnership-between-the-uk-eu</a>)</span></blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">So there you have it. We will not have left the European Union at the end of March 2019. We will not have any MEP's, Commissioner or any representation on any committee or any other body and be subject to the ECJ. The United Kingdom will become a Vassal State It seems the Cabinet, of which Mr Davis is a member, will sign up to this disgrace.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Everything has changed; Everything has changed</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Brexit does not mean Brexit Mrs May. The United Kingdom will not have left the European Union until at least 31st December 2020 and since Mrs May's 'deep and special' relationship (which she has so far been unable or unwilling to describe) with the European Union will not have been concluded by then (since Free Trade Agreements with other nations have taken the European Union many years to conclude) it may go on longer than that </span><span style="font-size: large;">taking us into the next Multi-annual Financial Framework (MFF) period and contributing to EU coffers for another SEVEN years. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">We would be a continuing Vassal State for far longer than 21 months.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">This is intolerable and the electorate must not accept it.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">There are local elections in May. All Leave voters must vote tactically to get rid of their Conservative Councillors or to ensure that the Conservative does not get elected. If the Conservatives are wiped out completely they might, just might listen to the electorate. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The United Kingdom is not leaving the European Union. Mrs May is misleading the people and Brexit does not mean Brexit.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>knoweurohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02488009205593815257noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1947214310238689197.post-19807276926020884642018-01-27T03:18:00.000-08:002018-01-27T03:18:24.468-08:00EEA (European Economic Area) not Vassal State<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLBNlUo7mDfJznoJXmadFsCJu2OV7P2iPsHahBlIFDbAM9lTMud8zBfd16mUCKBE1d-Dl9OZZwcteuZPAiqRF69IBdDaStjQoEwbyJYz3O-EsgX0dn1Nb7RLqtS9wDuMHmWuTmVCmIwZo/s1600/choices.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="501" data-original-width="575" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLBNlUo7mDfJznoJXmadFsCJu2OV7P2iPsHahBlIFDbAM9lTMud8zBfd16mUCKBE1d-Dl9OZZwcteuZPAiqRF69IBdDaStjQoEwbyJYz3O-EsgX0dn1Nb7RLqtS9wDuMHmWuTmVCmIwZo/s320/choices.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">The Conservative party position as presented by the Prime Minister is that the United Kingdom will leave both the European Single Market and The European Customs Union when it leaves the European Union.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The Labour party position is that, depending on who you are listening to, that the United Kingdom should stay in the European Single Market and the European Customs Union when it leaves the European Union.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The United Kingdom cannot stay in the European Customs Union when it leaves the European Union. The European Customs Union is defined in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) Article 28:</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">The Union shall comprise a customs union which shall cover all trade in goods and which shall involve the prohibition between Member States of customs duties on imports and exports and of all charges having equivalent effect, and the adoption of a common customs tariff in their relations with third countries.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">and then in the next article headed "The Customs Union" it states:</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">THE CUSTOMS UNION </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Article 30
(ex Article 25 TEC) </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Customs duties on imports and exports and charges having equivalent effect shall be prohibited between Member States. This prohibition shall also apply to customs duties of a fiscal nature. </span><span style="font-size: large;"> (<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:12012E/TXT&from=EN">http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:12012E/TXT&from=EN</a></span><span style="font-size: large;">)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Leaving the European Union NECESSARILY requires that the United Kingdom leaves the European Customs Union. Once the United Kingdom has left the European Union it will need to draw up a new Customs Agreement between itself (by then a third country) and the European Union.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">That is not the case however with the European Single Market. The European Single Market is the European Economic Area (EEA). The European Economic Area is a vast geographical space from Iceland to Greece and Portugal to Poland (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Economic_Area">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Economic_Area</a>). </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Theresa May, the MP for Maidenhead, Leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister says that if we stay in the European Economic Area then we have not left the European Union. She has apparently been told this by her former special advisor (SpAd) Nick Timothy who, it seems, she regards as talking sort of infallibly. This view of Mrs May's is nonsense. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">If the United Kingdom moved from the European Union to the European Economic Area that would not make the United Kingdom continuing members of the European Union. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">In the EEA, the UK would be out of the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) since in the EEA there is the EFTA court instead which does not necessarily follow the rulings of the ECJ although it takes account of them. The UK would be out of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), The European Customs Union, the Common Trade Policy (and thus be able to conclude our own bi-lateral or multi-lateral trade agreements), The Common Foreign and Security Policy, Justice and Home Affairs and Monetary Union (which we do not partake in anyway) (<a href="http://www.efta.int/eea/eea-agreement">http://www.efta.int/eea/eea-agreement</a>)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Moreover although it is true that the EEA countries subscribe to the four freedoms (the Freedom of Movement of Capital, Goods, Services and People) this application can be changed by the unilateral (that means you don't have to ask anyone else) invoking of article 112 of the European Economic Area agreement:</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">CHAPTER 4 SAFEGUARD MEASURES </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Article 112 </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">1. If serious economic, societal or environmental difficulties of a sectorial or regional nature liable to persist are arising, a Contracting Party may unilaterally take appropriate measures under the conditions and procedures laid down in Article 113. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">2. Such safeguard measures shall be restricted with regard to their scope and duration to what is strictly necessary in order to remedy the situation. Priority shall be given to such measures as will least disturb the functioning of this Agreement. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">3. The safeguard measures shall apply with regard to all Contracting Parties. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Article 113 </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">1. A Contracting Party which is considering taking safeguard measures under Article 112 shall, without delay, notify the other Contracting Parties through the EEA Joint Committee and shall provide all relevant information. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">2. The Contracting Parties shall immediately enter into consultations in the EEA Joint Committee with a view to finding a commonly acceptable solution. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">3. The Contracting Party concerned may not take safeguard measures until one month has elapsed after the date of notification under paragraph 1, unless the consultation procedure under paragraph 2 has been concluded before the expiration of the stated time limit. When exceptional circumstances requiring immediate action exclude prior examination, the Contracting Party concerned may apply forthwith the protective measures strictly necessary to remedy the situation.
For the Community, the safeguard measures shall be taken by the EC Commission. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">4. The Contracting Party concerned shall, without delay, notify the measures taken to the EEA Joint Committee and shall provide all relevant information. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">5. The safeguard measures taken shall be the subject of consultations in the EEA Joint Committee every three months from the date of their adoption with a view to their abolition before the date of expiry envisaged, or to the limitation of their scope of application.
Each Contracting Party may at any time request the EEA Joint Committee to review such measures. (<a href="http://www.efta.int/media/documents/legal-texts/eea/the-eea-agreement/Main%20Text%20of%20the%20Agreement/EEAagreement.pdf">http://www.efta.int/media/documents/legal-texts/eea/the-eea-agreement/Main%20Text%20of%20the%20Agreement/EEAagreement.pdf</a></span> )</blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">I think that the United Kingdom could successfully argue that it believes that "s</span><span style="font-size: large;">erious economic, societal or environmental difficulties of a sectorial or regional nature liable to persist are arising" because of Immigration and unilaterally </span><span style="font-size: large;">suspend Freedom of Movement (important observation: this would only apply to immigration of EU nationals I believe and not Commonwealth ones). </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The European Union has proposed its own solutions in a recent paper which this blogger continues to assert are completely unacceptable (<a href="http://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/32236/15-euco-art50-guidelines-en.pdf">http://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/32236/15-euco-art50-guidelines-en.pdf</a>). Paragraphs 3 & 4 state:</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">3. As regards transition, the European Council notes the proposal put forward by the United Kingdom for a transition period of around two years, and agrees to negotiate a transition period covering the whole of the EU acquis, while the United Kingdom, as a third country, will no longer participate in or nominate or elect members of the EU institutions, nor participate in the decision-making of the Union bodies, offices and agencies. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">
4. Such transitional arrangements, which will be part of the Withdrawal Agreement, must be in the interest of the Union, clearly defined and precisely limited in time. In order to ensure a level playing field based on the same rules applying throughout the Single Market, changes to the acquis adopted by EU institutions, bodies, offices and agencies will have to apply both in the United Kingdom and the EU. All existing Union regulatory, budgetary, supervisory, judiciary and enforcement instruments and structures will also apply, including the competence of the Court of Justice of the European Union. As the United Kingdom will continue to participate in the Customs Union and the Single Market (with all four freedoms) during the transition, it will have to continue to comply with EU trade policy, to apply EU customs tariff and collect EU customs duties, and to ensure all EU checks are being performed on the border vis-à-vis other third countries.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Mrs May has before her two choices: </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">She could sign up to a situation where the United Kingdom does what it is told without any representation until at least 31st December 2020. As her new 'deep and special' relationship with the European Union will not be completed by then, this Vassal status will be ongoing perhaps indefinitely. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">OR</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">She can stay in or rejoin an organisation which takes the United Kingdom out of the European Union. Inside the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom could have its own trade, fishing and agricultural policies separate from the EU but still retain all its regulatory alignment with the EU with these new policies</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">If Mrs May chooses the former, I think she will condemn her party to a generation of opposition. The electorate are not stupid. They will see the Vassal state for what it is and they will not stand for it.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Vassal state means continuing membership of the European Union without representation.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The European Economic Area means the United Kingdom has left the European Union.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">It must be EEA for the United Kingdom. </span>knoweurohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02488009205593815257noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1947214310238689197.post-59004353672352651642018-01-03T13:19:00.001-08:002018-01-03T13:19:55.965-08:00Playing the Game<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMz_spN1KWmaB0gDEdRgdnGMZAZuLrfcQojx08TY24ktWRmrEK0DZAP4ULlLtuvmOpibfg17MFvRdUkVhfBMmXojnId0sN86mgY8bnOsbc7FpEDACyAW7rVAgwwalNxE3SFTisrGINdM4/s1600/boardgame.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1114" data-original-width="1169" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMz_spN1KWmaB0gDEdRgdnGMZAZuLrfcQojx08TY24ktWRmrEK0DZAP4ULlLtuvmOpibfg17MFvRdUkVhfBMmXojnId0sN86mgY8bnOsbc7FpEDACyAW7rVAgwwalNxE3SFTisrGINdM4/s320/boardgame.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">When you buy a board game, the first thing you do is read the rules. The rules tell you the order in which you do things such as 'roll the dice, pick up a card from the deck, move your playing piece the number of spaces on the board, then carry out the instructions on the card'.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The same thing applies to the European Union. In order for a state to leave the European Union, things must be done in a certain order. Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty reads as follows:</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Article 50 </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">
1. Any Member State may decide to withdraw from the Union in accordance with its own constitutional requirements. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">
2. A Member State which decides to withdraw shall notify the European Council of its intention. In the light of the guidelines provided by the European Council, the Union shall negotiate and conclude an agreement with that State, setting out the arrangements for its withdrawal, taking account of the framework for its future relationship with the Union. That agreement shall be negotiated in accordance with Article 218(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. It shall be concluded on behalf of the Union by the Council, acting by a qualified majority, after obtaining the consent of the European Parliament. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">
3. The Treaties shall cease to apply to the State in question from the date of entry into force of the withdrawal agreement or, failing that, two years after the notification referred to in paragraph 2, unless the European Council, in agreement with the Member State concerned, unanimously decides to extend this period. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">
4. For the purposes of paragraphs 2 and 3, the member of the European Council or of the Council representing the withdrawing Member State shall not participate in the discussions of the European Council or Council or in decisions concerning it.
A qualified majority shall be defined in accordance with Article 238(3)(b) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">
5. If a State which has withdrawn from the Union asks to rejoin, its request shall be subject to the procedure referred to in Article 49.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">'In the light of the guidelines provided by the European Council, the Union shall negotiate and conclude an agreement with that State, <b>setting out the arrangements for its withdrawal</b>, taking account of the framework for its future relationship with the Union.' (My Emphasis).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">As Dr Richard North on EUReferendum (<a href="http://www.eureferendum.com/">www.eureferendum.com</a>) tirelessly points out, Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty deals ONLY with the withdrawal agreement. Thus in the 'rules of the game' analogy:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">1. The United Kingdom gives notice of its intention to withdraw from the European Union</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">2. The United Kingdom then negotiates with the European Council representing the EU27 the arrangements for its withdrawal</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">3. Once the United Kingdom has withdrawn from the European Union it can then negotiate a new deal which is NOT part of the withdrawal deal.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">4. As a third country i.e. not part of the EU, it then can negotiate deals with other non EU countries as well as with the EU27 (as one entity).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">It seems that the European Union is willing to let the United Kingdom have some kind of implementation period lasting until 31st December 2020 (i.e. 21 months from 'Brexit day') on very specific conditions:</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">3. As regards transition, the European Council notes the proposal put forward by the United Kingdom for a transition period of around two years, and agrees to negotiate a transition period covering the whole of the EU acquis, while the United Kingdom, as a third country, will no longer participate in or nominate or elect members of the EU institutions, nor participate in the decision-making of the Union bodies, offices and agencies. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">4. Such transitional arrangements, which will be part of the Withdrawal Agreement, must be in the interest of the Union, clearly defined and precisely limited in time. In order to ensure a level playing field based on the same rules applying throughout the Single Market, changes to the acquis adopted by EU institutions, bodies, offices and agencies will have to apply both in the United Kingdom and the EU. All existing Union regulatory, budgetary, supervisory, judiciary and enforcement instruments and structures will also apply, including the competence of the Court of Justice of the European Union. As the United Kingdom will continue to participate in the Customs Union and the Single Market (with all four freedoms) during the transition, it will have to continue to comply with EU trade policy, to apply EU customs tariff and collect EU customs duties, and to ensure all EU checks are being performed on the border vis-à-vis other third countries. (<a href="http://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/32236/15-euco-art50-guidelines-en.pdf">http://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/32236/15-euco-art50-guidelines-en.pdf</a> )</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">This blogger thinks that these conditions are completely unacceptable. In March 2019 the United Kingdom will not have any members of the European Parliament, nor any commissioner, nor any person on any European Body (committees, talking shops, negotiation platforms etc) and thus</span><span style="font-size: large;"> the transition arrangements will be</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">"In the interests of the Union"</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">They will NOT be in the interests of the United Kingdom; they will be in the interests of the (European) Union. In addition:</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">"All existing Union regulatory, budgetary, supervisory, judiciary and enforcement instruments and structures will also apply, including the competence of the Court of Justice of the European Union."</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">In other words, the rules of the game on the card we have just picked up from the pile say that we have to do as we are told with no say, no influence and no input and have to accept whatever it is that we are told to do without argument. The European Union has told the UK that the period will terminate at the end of 2020 which coincides with the current Multi-Annual Financial Framework period (<a href="http://ec.europa.eu/budget/mff/index_en.cfm">http://ec.europa.eu/budget/mff/index_en.cfm</a>)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">If this is not accepting orders via email and fax with no say, I don't know what is. This is what, falsely, "Grossly Incompetent" David Cameron said Norway did as an EFTA state. It doesn't. Norway has a say at the drafting stage and as the legislation develops. The United Kingdom will literally have no say. It will become a vassal state - the worst of all worlds (<a href="http://www.eureferendum.com/blogview.aspx?blogno=86705">http://www.eureferendum.com/blogview.aspx?blogno=86705</a></span><span style="font-size: large;">)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I am not a treaty expert nor an expert in Free Trade Agreements but the facts seem very simple. The United Kingdom will not have any kind of new trade agreement let alone a "deep and special relationship" of the kind that Mrs May wants (<a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-latest-talks-downing-street-theresa-may-jean-claude-juncker-michel-barnier-eu-a7704561.html">http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-latest-talks-downing-street-theresa-may-jean-claude-juncker-michel-barnier-eu-a7704561.html</a>) when it leaves the European Union because the rules don't allow for that.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">When the United Kingdom leaves the European Union it does so without a deal and THEN as a third country negotiations on a new deal can start. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Of course Theresa May could open negotiations to join EFTA today and negotiate to stay in the European Economic Area. As far as I am aware the United Kingdom can start to negotiate new arrangements whilst it is a member of the European Union - it just can't CONCLUDE them whilst it is a member of the European Union. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">We could negotiate that our accession to EFTA would be 2 minutes after we leave the European Union on Brexit day (thereby joining EFTA after leaving the EU and becoming a third country) and this would ameliorate many of the issues not least the issue of the Irish Border. On Brexit day we would leave the influence of the European Court of Justice and come under the influence of the EFTA court instead (<a href="http://www.eftacourt.int/">http://www.eftacourt.int</a>)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">It seems to me that the United Kingdom urgently needs to learn to play the game as cleverly as the European Union is doing. The United Kingdom needs to read the rules of the game in order to play it properly.</span>knoweurohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02488009205593815257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1947214310238689197.post-1118689729022504312017-12-31T05:43:00.000-08:002017-12-31T05:43:27.935-08:00Working with your hands.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJJ_l2EPH16HXXsMnbBdaTYO1EfragClOCI_1sYDea0g31EbQ0kMbagTZFhLbyfCdPTSsStPaadf4rB_Rm9qbpTEnmypcrEb2QMtGfn62x7Ielo2MugSuDoP-cW_PBcbp7UWq1wO0BRYQ/s1600/building+site+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJJ_l2EPH16HXXsMnbBdaTYO1EfragClOCI_1sYDea0g31EbQ0kMbagTZFhLbyfCdPTSsStPaadf4rB_Rm9qbpTEnmypcrEb2QMtGfn62x7Ielo2MugSuDoP-cW_PBcbp7UWq1wO0BRYQ/s320/building+site+4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">A person with the handle "Andy Hampton MP" has made the following tweet (as part of a series of tweets) on Twitter</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">"Most builders are self employed and don't want to work! Have you ever tried calling up an electrician in this day and age? Or don't you live in the real world yet?"</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">This tweet has annoyed me considerably. I work in an office in front of a visual display unit every day. It strikes me that people who work with their hands, who get their hands dirty if you like, are not valued by our political class at all. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">When the Labour party declared it their aim to get 50% of young people to go to university that was in my opinion a great mistake. What they effectively did was firstly to kick 50% of the potential unemployment problem down the road by 3 years, greatly enriched universities and in the process changed many colleges of further education into universities - another mistake in that it made colleges of Further Education seem less valuable than universities. (</span><span style="font-size: large;">I took two A levels and two 'O' levels at a college of further education as I did not work at school).</span><span style="font-size: large;">It also greatly enriched those colleges and universities.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">What they SHOULD have done (and what we could still do) is to have said that those who work with their hands have EQUAL value to those who work with their heads and sit on their backsides all day (as I do). Fully qualified builders, plasterers, painters, electricians and engineers should have their trades recognised by employers and others as 'degree equivalent' (why not?). SRN (State Registered Nurse) should have been recognised as degree equivalent by virtue of the training itself. Why not a degree in Painting or Brick laying?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">The fact is that the problem with calling up an electrician in this day and age is that good electricians are hard to come by and you generally have to wait for them. I recently had the internal downstairs of my home painted and I had to wait 6 weeks for a good reliable painter - the same applies to the qualified gas fitter who tests my boiler annually. I have to work around him as he is in high demand. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I think that the Government and Labour Party could do much worse than re-introduce apprenticeships and to give tax breaks to employers who train people to work with their hands. There could be a tax 'bonus' for every fully trained bricklayer, plasterer, plumber, electrician, painter etc that they produce. Once they had fully completed whatever the laid down training was they would be regarded as 'degree equivalent' by all employers. Who says that a plasterer is not equal to the person who works out that plasterers pay?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">This can still be done. Not everyone can work well with their 'mathematical' brain. I am hopeless at working with my hands and DIY and have to employ someone else to do it because I CAN'T do it. The painter I employed was just as valuable as me - maybe MORE valuable. Their work if well done also has great value. You would pay good money for a meal why not pay good money to have your walls painted well in the colour you want?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">There is massive housebuilding going on in the vicinity of where I live. Bicester, Milton Keynes, Buckingham and Aylesbury have all seen massive building programmes and we should value all the builders, plasterers, painters, ground work persons and others who make it happen. We might even reduce unemployment further. Look at the skill of making a muddy field into a housing estate with roads, drains, electrical and other infrastructure and ask yourself could you be a surveyor, builder, plasterer or painter.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">There is a very good case for bringing back colleges of further education and technical schools to produce the artisans and the tradespersons of tomorrow. The fact that they have the skill to work with their hands marks them out as important people. That is the message of this post.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Those who work with their hands are just as good as you and me - maybe better.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">People who work with their hands are important people.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
knoweurohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02488009205593815257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1947214310238689197.post-50855462272914799332017-12-31T03:08:00.001-08:002017-12-31T03:08:58.818-08:00Personal Thoughts on New Year's Eve<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6YoJ7iKi4qwZ-FeZd2SROmDlvJ11jf9g_Vtp005YatUbbRjZ7tbNhhxNUHHTNwRg6UfM43lCyps2jNkIZePaMAlVTnWQ9XaS_3-AwZVkalybSsN4n8riHgtrdv0F7UsLRQyM9Tio3T0Y/s1600/NewYear2018.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="437" data-original-width="700" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6YoJ7iKi4qwZ-FeZd2SROmDlvJ11jf9g_Vtp005YatUbbRjZ7tbNhhxNUHHTNwRg6UfM43lCyps2jNkIZePaMAlVTnWQ9XaS_3-AwZVkalybSsN4n8riHgtrdv0F7UsLRQyM9Tio3T0Y/s320/NewYear2018.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Having voted Leave I was hoping that the politicians would reassert their independence and leave in the best way possible to avoid harm to the economy. I have been disheartened I confess at what I perceive is the folly of a Prime Minister who seems only to listen to her special advisors, especially Nick Timothy, and no one else.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Then it suddenly dawned on me that if it is the case that I voted for decision making to be repatriated that, if MP's allow Mrs May to leave the Customs Union and Single Market (despite leaving the European Single Market being a bad decision) and do not hold the executive backside to the fire then that is what I voted for. I have achieved what I voted for and my vote has counted precisely because the elected House of Commons has decided to emasculate itself. Maybe the next generation of politicians will understand self government better and do a better job.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">What I have found especially difficult however is that 18 months after the referendum there are still arguments about the validity of the vote and how the campaigns were conducted and funded. Let us take it as read that both sides lied. I am especially concerned about all the fuss about 'the £350 million' bus. There were commentators at the time (before the date of the referendum), usually independent bloggers like Dr Richard North at EU Referendum (<a href="http://www.eureferendum.com/">www.eureferendum.com</a>) who said that the bus was a lie and he was a Leave champion. Some on the Leave side were horrified by what was done to promote the Leave cause.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">My response is that lying was not a Leave speciality. President Obama, Christine Lagarde, Mark Carney, Gideon (George) Osborn and David Cameron all lied. Mr Cameron started off with all the advantages. He was able to dictate the passage of the EU Referendum bill, he was able to frame the terms of reference of the referendum (the age of the voters, the majority required etc.), he was able to nominate the date and to stop the civil service from looking at even the possibility of a Leave win. Despite all this advantage, Remain lost.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">It now seems that there was overspending or at least spending manipulation by both sides and the Electoral Commission are investigating claims and counter claims of overspending. I would personally like to see some method of enforcing spending limits even if that means the electoral commission being able to enforce by-elections in constituencies of the worst offenders.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I am dismayed most of all by the personal nature of the attacks. Remain supporters seem to have been totally taken aback by the fact that Leave won and have spent the last 18 months trying to find reasons. The old outvoted the young. Even the irredeemably awful Nick Clegg has said this. How old is old? On a personal note I have had to reassess my own definition of old. Clearly I am no longer young and must count myself as an older voter. Leave voters were ignorant and were taken in by 'The Bus' and the regions decided to ignore the wisdom of the London Metropolitan elite.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I thought that growing older might give a deeper insight and wisdom to people like me whose young views have developed and changed over the years. Apparently not. I am an old fossil who has ensured that my heirs will be forever poor by my vote. I do not accept this.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I think the calling of a second referendum to validate or overturn the first would be disastrously destructive and I cannot believe any Government will countenance it. If we are to rejoin the European Union, a political party will have to put rejoining the EU in its manifesto and gain a majority Government for that manifesto in a General Election. My personal view is that I can't see that happening within the next 20 years (I could be proved to be wrong).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I would still like the Government to go down the EFTA route and hope that the European Union negotiators will urge the EFTA option on us. The fact that Iceland, the President of the EFTA court, Norway, the European Union have all suggested it is not to harm the United Kingdom in my opinion but to assist the United Kingdom in achieving the best possible result for its electorate as a consequences of the referendum decision itself.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">In the meantime, my New Year's wish is that we would stop name calling. Supposing that older voters did indeed vote to Leave the European Union, they did not do that because they were old necessarily. They might have done it because they realised the arguments about what the EU was. Let us please argue about what we SAY and not what we look like. Debate the argument and not the person. I happen to believe that some of what Diane Abbott or John Redwood say and write is rubbish on its own terms and not because of their gender or ethnicity. It is why I refuse to put my photo on Twitter or this site. I don't want to be judged on what I look like or my haircut. I want to be judged on what I say and write. I try not to attack people for themselves (although a couple of times I have been tempted). </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">My New Year's resolution is to try to blog more often - I really do admire how people like Dr Richard North do their daily output when there must be occasions when they are disheartened. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Positive feedback is always appreciated but I will also prominently correct any errors that I make or are pointed out to me. As it says in most books, any errors are mine and will be corrected whenever possible.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I will also try to maintain my position of not insulting people as individuals but for the incontinence or otherwise of what they say and write. Not all my blogs will be on the European Union but about my vision of what the United Kingdom should look like as it leaves that Union. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I have found that I love my </span><span style="font-size: large;">country more than I thought.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Happy New Year</span>knoweurohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02488009205593815257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1947214310238689197.post-44318789033713808332017-11-07T12:04:00.001-08:002017-11-07T12:04:55.337-08:00A Tribute to the Services Dead<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8nUWvSM8NqOSPs63jOcfy0nZU46Y6PleMH15uKMRBcqsXucKtjRHkId0WzwJbpeL52tahnk5Z1FbzAycjGv0Uwgg0zn2k17b2ikisfthe5gBfDq3KXTfPMMLcEwlctW21RlvH8b56moI/s1600/tyne+cot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="389" data-original-width="700" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8nUWvSM8NqOSPs63jOcfy0nZU46Y6PleMH15uKMRBcqsXucKtjRHkId0WzwJbpeL52tahnk5Z1FbzAycjGv0Uwgg0zn2k17b2ikisfthe5gBfDq3KXTfPMMLcEwlctW21RlvH8b56moI/s320/tyne+cot.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I am not brave enough to serve in the services and I am in awe and humbled that people do and sometimes risk their lives in doing so. I usually make a point of watching the Service of Remembrance at the Albert Hall and recording and then watching the ceremony from the Cenotaph in London on Remembrance Sunday. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">It is my opinion that it is to the eternal shame of our politicians that none of them seemed to go to Royal Wootton Bassett for the repatriation of the military dead (who went to die on their orders) that passed through there on their way from RAF Lyneham to John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">It is even worse that when RAF Lyneham closed the Government ensured that the repatriated dead were sent to John Radcliffe Hospital via a 'back door' (the Britannia Gate) from RAF Brize Norton. Anyone with any doubt should read this by Peter Hitchens (<a href="http://hitchensblog.mailonsunday.co.uk/2013/09/thoughts-on-repatriation-and-how-the-government-really-views-the-deaths-of-soldiers.html">http://hitchensblog.mailonsunday.co.uk/2013/09/thoughts-on-repatriation-and-how-the-government-really-views-the-deaths-of-soldiers.html</a>):
</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">‘HERE'S the truth about the Government's decision to route the hearses of soldiers killed in its various stupid wars away from any of the nation's High Streets.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">
This comes into effect very soon, when the bodies of the dead start to arrive at RAF Brize Norton, next to the Oxfordshire town of Carterton.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">
Junior Defence Minister Andrew Robathan stumbled a bit trying to deal with this in Parliament on Monday.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">
First, he disclosed that the back gate of the RAF base, through which the hearses will pass, is to be renamed the Britannia Gate. Who thinks of these things? The Downing Street cat? Were I to rename the back door of my house the Britannia Door, it would still be the back door.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">
Then he said that the route through Carterton was unsuitable for corteges because it has speed bumps. So does the bypass route that the processions will actually take, as Mr Robathan ought to know.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">
He added that Carterton's streets were 'very narrow'. I doubt that they are narrower than those of Wootton Bassett, and plan to check them myself, unless anyone has measurements to hand.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">
But he was rescued from his confusion by a fellow Unconservative, the North Wiltshire MP James Gray.
Mr Gray asked: 'Does the Minister agree that it might not be possible, nor indeed quite right, to seek to replicate the Wootton Bassett effect elsewhere, as that was a chapter in our history? I am not sure we necessarily want to see it repeated elsewhere.'</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Mr Robathan eagerly responded, saying Mr Gray had made 'a very good point'. Really? What was so good about it? I wonder who Mr Gray means when he says that 'we' do not want to see Wootton Bassett's spontaneous, unofficial, genuine expression of respect for courage, discipline and loyalty to be repeated. He certainly doesn't speak for me.’</span></blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">If you look at this piece of film from The Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance 2015 (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfhrDpErodY">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfhrDpErodY</a>) and watch from 44 minutes 46 to 49 minutes 16 to be greatly moved by this segment on the death of service personnel and the loss of the families too.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">For those who died at sea, the Royal and Merchant Navies there is often no grave, just the deep of the sea. I found this poem by Eileen Mahoney and think it is a wonderful dedication to them: <a href="http://www.iwvpa.net/mahoneye/index.php">http://www.iwvpa.net/mahoneye/index.php</a></span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">In ocean wastes no poppies blow, </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">No crosses stand in ordered row, </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Their young hearts sleep... </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">beneath the wave... </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">The spirited, the good, the brave, </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">
But stars a constant vigil keep, </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">For them who lie beneath the deep. </span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">There is this piece from Semi-Partisan politics (<a href="https://semipartisansam.com/2017/10/20/the-best-one-percent/">https://semipartisansam.com/2017/10/20/the-best-one-percent/</a>) about statements made in the United States and the first 15 minutes of this film deserves to be (and is just) 'must see' <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=158&v=Xt-s41Y-wgA">viewing</a>.</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Most Americans don’t know what happens when we lose one of soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, our Coast Guardsmen in combat. So let me tell you what happens:</span> <span style="font-size: large;">Their buddies wrap them up in whatever passes as a shroud, puts them on a helicopter as a routine, and sends them home. Their first stop along the way is when they’re packed in ice, typically at the airhead. And then they’re flown to, usually, Europe where they’re then packed in ice again and flown to Dover Air Force Base, where Dover takes care of the remains, embalms them, meticulously dresses them in their uniform with the medals that they’ve earned, the emblems of their service, and then puts them on another airplane linked up with a casualty officer escort that takes them home.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Young men and wom</span><span style="font-size: large;">en <i>volunteer</i> for the armed services and of course they take the risks that come with that decision.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> They must serve wherever the elected Government (elected by the electorate) sends them. Some will die doing what they have been told to do. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">In my view, whatever we think of the politicians and political decisions made in sending service personnel to conflict and war zones, it is my duty (yes duty) to remember that they died for the cause of the United Kingdom at that particular moment </span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">O valiant hearts who to your glory came </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Through dust of conflict and through battle flame; </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Tranquil you lie, your knightly virtue proved, </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Your memory hallowed in the land you loved.</span></blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Of Course I respect those who will not or do not want to wear a poppy. There should be no media or popular clatter against the choice of people like John Snow. That's the point really. Their personal freedom of choice was partly earned by those that died in order to obtain and defend it.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I went to visit the battlefields of the Ypres salient this year. Standing under the Menin gate and listening to the last post being sounded surrounded by the names of the dead with no known grave is deeply moving. Swallowed by the mud.</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">They shall grow not old as we that are left grow old. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Age shall not weary them; nor the years' condemn. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">we WILL remember them</span></blockquote>
knoweurohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02488009205593815257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1947214310238689197.post-5407054135439738102017-10-28T01:22:00.002-07:002017-10-28T01:22:40.239-07:00The European Union Perspective<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZQr-QlbII7rfHF6MpuYMHD1tfaFcMvYbTw_JahqKbpNkNCjBpmwC8iuXr2j2VOi1uTyysP3bvhFumg9TuAaqJkOJL1AgrNZgLhNzqarW27DbjutsJC4OW6O8V16UlxITe6vPmFd6ctRA/s1600/EU+minus+UK.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="909" data-original-width="1024" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZQr-QlbII7rfHF6MpuYMHD1tfaFcMvYbTw_JahqKbpNkNCjBpmwC8iuXr2j2VOi1uTyysP3bvhFumg9TuAaqJkOJL1AgrNZgLhNzqarW27DbjutsJC4OW6O8V16UlxITe6vPmFd6ctRA/s320/EU+minus+UK.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">It seems to me that this blog and other commentators have looked at Brexit entirely from a United Kingdom perspective. Take a quick look at this from the perspective of the remaining members of the European Union - the EU27.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Let us look at Southern Ireland. It has a great deal of traffic plying from Dublin to Liverpool and Dublin to Holyhead. This week there were two items of interest with regard to Dublin port. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The first is that the Irish State has started dredging Dublin Bay (<a href="https://afloat.ie/port-news/dublin-port/item/37526-dredging-in-dublin-port-begins-with-material-dumped-in-dublin-bay">https://afloat.ie/port-news/dublin-port/item/37526-dredging-in-dublin-port-begins-with-material-dumped-in-dublin-bay</a>) and the second is the introduction of the world's "largest Ro-Ro Ferry" (<a href="https://afloat.ie/port-news/dublin-port/item/37536-world-s-largest-ro-ro-ferry-to-be-introduced-on-dublin-routes-linking-mainland-europe">https://afloat.ie/port-news/dublin-port/item/37536-world-s-largest-ro-ro-ferry-to-be-introduced-on-dublin-routes-linking-mainland-europe</a>) which will:</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">make a maiden call this week to Dublin Port from Zeebrugge and is to be followed with an introduction on the Rotterdam route</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">The obvious reason for doing this is so that Ireland's goods and animal exports can avoid the island of Great Britain and ply from Dublin Port to Belgium (Zeebrugge) and Holland (Rotterdam). If the French berthing points are deep enough expect to see direct routes from Dublin to France. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">This will directly affect the ports of Holyhead and Liverpool. It would seem unlikely that unemployment would not be caused in Holyhead by such action. It is surprising that the Welsh Assembly and its leader Carwyn Jones has not picked this up.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">With regard to Border Inspection Posts or Points (BIP), there are three in Southern Ireland: Dublin Port, Dublin Airport and Shannon Airport. For the purposes of this blog, in France there is Brest, Dunkirk and Le Havre. In Belgium there is Ostende and Zeebrugge. In Holland there is Rotterdam. (<a href="https://ec.europa.eu/food/animals/vet-border-control/bip-contacts_en)">https://ec.europa.eu/food/animals/vet-border-control/bip-contacts_en)</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Note that Calais is not a BIP and neither is Dover.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Dunkirk has recently been extended and can cope with 5000 consignments a year. Nowhere near enough for the volume of traffic that will hit it in the event of a No Deal World Trade Organisation (WTO) only Brexit. Last time I travelled with Eurotunnel there was a plaque on the side of the train that said:</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">"Via the Channel Tunnel. Each year, Eurotunnel carries 1,600,000 trucks to and from the UK with a total trade of £91 billion"</span></blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Don't forget that the European Union is not leaving the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom is leaving the European Union.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Why should Ireland, France, Belgium or Holland expand their Border Inspection Posts to ameliorate the fact the United Kingdom is leaving the European Union? Why should any of these four countries employ more border force personnel or BIP personnel or Veterinary Surgeons because we are leaving? If you were a member of the Government of any of these states wouldn't you say:</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">"Look, you are leaving and need more BIP capacity, you are going to have to pay for it and their staff, salary and pensions."</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">I know I would be tempted to do so if I were them. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Returning to Ireland, there is the vexed question of the Irish Border. Whilst the Island of Ireland is not united the Irish Border CANNOT be ignored. It is 300 miles long. It undulates and crosses farms leaving some fields in the North and some in the South. The border posts have gone. I saw a tweet where it was stated that one post was now a boxing gym.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The point being that the Irish border is the only land border between the United Kingdom and the European Union. If Mrs May is true to her word, Antrim will not be in the European Single Market whilst Dublin will be. To ensure the integrity of the single market, the border will have to be enforced. </span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">In terms of scale, 91,000 Irish companies trade with the UK. After Brexit, their customs declarations will create an eight-fold increase in paperwork volume. There will be special permits, extra investment, more paperwork and potential delays. Ports and airports will need extra infrastructure, such as temporary storage facilities for customs clearance. The Revenue itself will need a big increase in staffing levels. (<a href="http://www.eureferendum.com/blogview.aspx?blogno=86630">http://www.eureferendum.com/blogview.aspx?blogno=86630</a>)</span> </blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The European Union has also got its own agenda to consider. Under the Treaty of Rome it is:
</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">"DETERMINED to establish the foundations of an ever closer union among the European peoples"</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Treaty_establishing_the_European_Economic_Community">https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Treaty_establishing_the_European_Economic_Community</a> and that is what it is intending to do. There has been in the press discussion of a new treaty amongst the Euro States and amongst the wider (European) Union having a single Finance Minister and diluting still further national states veto and increasing the use of Qualified Majority Voting (QMV). There is even discussion of a European Union Army. Why wouldn't they? </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The European Union is determined to retain the integrity of the European Single Market of which it is a part with Norway, Iceland and Lichtenstein and it will not allow the United Kingdom to become an ad hoc member whilst not following the rules of that market.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">There are those who say that the United Kingdom complies with all the rules now so it will continue to do that after it leaves. That's the point though. The United Kingdom is leaving.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The United Kingdom leaves and the European Regulatory Regime ceases when we leave because we are not a member so AFTER we leave the European Union can only ensure we obey the Regulatory Regime (the rules) of the market if we do the administration i.e. the paperwork.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">No Deal means a WTO regime as some politicians have said. If the United Kingdom has Memorandums of Understanding (MOU's) or Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRA's) or Free Trade Agreements (FTA's) that is NOT a WTO only regime. That's a deal or deals.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">After the United Kingdom leaves under a No Deal WTO only regime it will have to allow imports of goods which it would not have allowed if it were in the European Single Market and so the European Union will want to ensure that its market is not undermined by such goods entering the market.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I do not think this is unreasonable. I am a leave voter remember. I just think that's logical. There will be barriers to Trade.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">If we leave under a No Deal WTO only regime then access to databases and interfaces will cease. United Kingdom driving licences will no longer be recognised. This will impact on all who drive on the continent on holiday or on business. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">All this because the Utterly Useless Conservative Government led by 'President' Theresa May insists that the United Kingdom must leave the European Single Market. As Faisal Islam tweeted:
</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">... the need for this call rather goes to illustrate that being in the Single Market is not the same as being in the EU</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">The United Kingdom should apply for EFTA membership. Many of the above issues would be ameliorated if we did. We would stay in the European Single Market for a start. Iceland wants us to join. Norway wants us to join, the President of the EFTA court wants us to join, Michel Barnier has publicly suggested it. The European Union has even said that we can invoke Article 112 of the EEA Treaty if we do. Let's do it.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">No Deal is NOT a credible option. </span><br />
<br />
knoweurohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02488009205593815257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1947214310238689197.post-80465549371630896262017-10-21T03:36:00.000-07:002017-10-21T03:36:32.629-07:00The Queen<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh50FQOOny23tCIBfMIdKS77BAmxTRxmE7tuP_6zfzphs_5lI9lhyphenhyphenDGGTzPvo4ookHC4JrsixePNk2anuSvtkjvIOw3hlRj_jonagtUmgZxvM_U5CmQm0VREzNE9Pdb4hlodMfLuRQcjm0/s1600/the+queen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="678" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh50FQOOny23tCIBfMIdKS77BAmxTRxmE7tuP_6zfzphs_5lI9lhyphenhyphenDGGTzPvo4ookHC4JrsixePNk2anuSvtkjvIOw3hlRj_jonagtUmgZxvM_U5CmQm0VREzNE9Pdb4hlodMfLuRQcjm0/s320/the+queen.jpg" width="235" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Elizabeth Alexandra Mary, Her Majesty The Queen.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I am not a fan of memorial services to be honest. I think that you should tell people how wonderful they are whilst they are here to hear it. A friend of mine recently left the area and at a farewell lunch I told him what a good friend he had been.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Since it is highly unlikely that I will ever have lunch with The Queen it seems that the only way of lauding her is through the impersonal (but very personal) blog.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The Queen has recently said that she will watch the Remembrance Sunday parade from the Foreign Office building and that the Prince of Wales will lay her wreath as well as his own.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">It is sad that this decision has been made but The Queen is 91 and an age when most would be well retired or no longer with us so it is understandable.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9ZjGofAxkokMIurMzKmHCkXRmq7M3rX_spgIayKDzGT5MvKznN0782BVUkBD1PyS_O06B-1Bq30s5T_WSaHjqHSh4phpdfmbVwNQT216BOtTMJVG3rp_D5F5WZ4p8jkSBj9migEJYzUU/s1600/wreath+laying.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="483" data-original-width="634" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9ZjGofAxkokMIurMzKmHCkXRmq7M3rX_spgIayKDzGT5MvKznN0782BVUkBD1PyS_O06B-1Bq30s5T_WSaHjqHSh4phpdfmbVwNQT216BOtTMJVG3rp_D5F5WZ4p8jkSBj9migEJYzUU/s320/wreath+laying.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">"I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and to our great imperial family to which we all belong."</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">It is quite an achievement for anyone to have lived up to a pledge made whilst young for 70 years but the fact is that The Queen has done so and without complaint. It would be hell in my view to live under the spotlight all the time and whilst it would be fun to have people run around after you for a week I think it would soon pale.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The Queen is the only monarch anyone under 65 has known and she has fulfilled her role in an exemplary way in my view. Certainly I will not live to see any other monarch reign for 65 years.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">It is difficult to explain exactly what it is that she represents. All I can say is that she represents to me at least Country and feelings of patriotism and sometimes emotion. None of us is irreplaceable but I think I would echo what Kenneth Baker said about another female leader</span>
<br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">We shall not see her like again</span></blockquote>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipsowyBReGR-fRq9-iybD4GgKZCwWAm33L_z1XYD9jNrxQL9nBJxQfKvU1r_W2IlWPXxWZ82ww8jdYw3rJPzGcSm2PybtkHoKFDcozFuNB-y_vPfYXry_mmCXP8boaFmU4lLBn5UOlpQM/s1600/hoseback.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="326" data-original-width="236" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipsowyBReGR-fRq9-iybD4GgKZCwWAm33L_z1XYD9jNrxQL9nBJxQfKvU1r_W2IlWPXxWZ82ww8jdYw3rJPzGcSm2PybtkHoKFDcozFuNB-y_vPfYXry_mmCXP8boaFmU4lLBn5UOlpQM/s320/hoseback.jpg" width="231" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"> Perhaps this best describes my feelings </span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Thy choicest gifts in store </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">On her be pleased to pour </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">long may she reign. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">May she defend our laws</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">and ever give us cause</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">to sing with heart and voice</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">God Save The Queen</span></blockquote>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzu9rBK-oxBPRRLtQIe-B40_j6nBxgyn4kWQ2aYBbB-YfpOWkzNtgQl4RzwDrzwldqvAZBDTCKwP33TWHqc7Wos0GEuNnr8FdILo6w2R66JB066NsBOBzqTq165z_Ol0uahqvSgO0cPVU/s1600/QueenAnne.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="714" data-original-width="962" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzu9rBK-oxBPRRLtQIe-B40_j6nBxgyn4kWQ2aYBbB-YfpOWkzNtgQl4RzwDrzwldqvAZBDTCKwP33TWHqc7Wos0GEuNnr8FdILo6w2R66JB066NsBOBzqTq165z_Ol0uahqvSgO0cPVU/s320/QueenAnne.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
knoweurohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02488009205593815257noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1947214310238689197.post-8516245791614274212017-10-17T06:37:00.003-07:002017-10-17T06:37:59.724-07:00No Deal is NOT a credible option (A political reboot)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9bteN5cVVFTAvOIXlbJL3TUDBbfEDCxXRSaEFZ9IOQ8JOXDHfZ_0DvIBjmVN3k46-cIawQ2811re-L3cZbL9L5ebZHmRQQ0S-IHUeVPjUbVG19NLD7hotF8v9LqK69CrgUoB_GRkS9Zk/s1600/houseofcommons.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="651" data-original-width="1000" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9bteN5cVVFTAvOIXlbJL3TUDBbfEDCxXRSaEFZ9IOQ8JOXDHfZ_0DvIBjmVN3k46-cIawQ2811re-L3cZbL9L5ebZHmRQQ0S-IHUeVPjUbVG19NLD7hotF8v9LqK69CrgUoB_GRkS9Zk/s320/houseofcommons.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-large;">No Deal is NOT a credible
option</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br />
It seems quite clear to me that this Utterly Useless Conservative Government
is, despite all warnings and recommendations, going to go for 'No Deal' - a
Hard Brexit. In the view of many this would be a disaster. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br />
Richard North of EUReferendum has posted many articles of which this is an
example: (<a href="http://www.eureferendum.com/blogview.aspx?blogno=86636" style="color: black;">http://www.eureferendum.com/blogview.aspx?blogno=86636</a><span style="color: blue;">)</span> Pete North (<a href="http://peterjnorth.blogspot.co.uk/2017/10/brexit-stupidity-squared.html" style="color: black;">http://peterjnorth.blogspot.co.uk/2017/10/brexit-stupidity-squared.html</a>), </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Oliver Norgrove (<a href="http://www.norgroveblog.co.uk/2017/09/the-wto-threat-is-bee-sting.html">http://www.norgroveblog.co.uk/2017/09/the-wto-threat-is-bee-sting.html</a>)
and many on Twitter are queuing up with warnings. I have posted a few
myself: </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16.0pt;">(<a href="http://leavetheeuropeanunion.blogspot.co.uk/2017/10/a-letter-to-my-member-of-parliament.html">http://leavetheeuropeanunion.blogspot.co.uk/2017/10/a-letter-to-my-member-of-parliament.html</a>)</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16.0pt;">and yet none of this seems to be getting through. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br />
The principal reason for this is that the Westminster 'Village', the SW1A
bubble if you like only speak and listen to each other. It seem difficult if
not impossible for them to break the mould. I include in this group the BBC and
its commentators such as Laura Kuenssberg and Andrew Neil. When they speak to
the public, we seem to be used as filler between self reverential pieces to camera.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:DocumentProperties>
<o:Template>Normal.dotm</o:Template>
<o:Revision>0</o:Revision>
<o:TotalTime>0</o:TotalTime>
<o:Pages>1</o:Pages>
<o:Words>249</o:Words>
<o:Characters>1421</o:Characters>
<o:Company>Home</o:Company>
<o:Lines>11</o:Lines>
<o:Paragraphs>2</o:Paragraphs>
<o:CharactersWithSpaces>1745</o:CharactersWithSpaces>
<o:Version>12.256</o:Version>
</o:DocumentProperties>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>
<w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>
<w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
<w:UseFELayout/>
</w:Compatibility>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276">
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16pt;"><br />
We need to break this and reboot our politics. A good place to start would be
The Harrogate Agenda</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16pt;">(<a href="http://harrogateagenda.org.uk/">http://harrogateagenda.org.uk</a></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16pt;">)</span><!--EndFragment-->
</div>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Our six demands... </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">1. <b>Recognition of our sovereignty</b>:</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">
The peoples of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland comprise the ultimate authority of their nations and are the source of all political power. That fact shall be recognised by the Crown and the Governments of our nations, and our Parliaments and Assemblies </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">
2. <b>Real local democracy</b>:</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">
The foundation of our democracy shall be the counties (or other local units as may be defined), which shall become constitutional bodies exercising under the control of their peoples all powers of legislation, taxation and administration not specifically granted by the people to the national government; </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">3. <b>Separation of powers</b>:</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">
The executive shall be separated from the legislature. To that effect, prime ministers shall be elected by popular vote; they shall appoint their own ministers, with the approval of parliament, to assist in the exercise of such powers as may be granted to them by the sovereign people of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland; no prime ministers or their ministers shall be members of parliament or any legislative assembly; </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">
4. <b>The people’s consent</b>:</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">
No law, treaty or government decision shall take effect without the consent of the majority of the people, by positive vote if so demanded, and that none shall continue to have effect when that consent is withdrawn by the majority of the people; </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">
5. <b>No taxation or spending without consent</b></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">No tax, charge or levy shall be imposed, nor any public spending authorised, nor any sum borrowed by any national or local government except with the express approval the majority of the people, renewed annually on presentation of a budget which shall first have been approved by their respective legislatures; </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">
6. <b>A constitutional convention</b>:</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">
Parliament, once members of the executive are excluded, must host a constitutional convention to draw up a definitive codified constitution for the peoples of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It shall recognise their sovereign status and their inherent, inalienable rights and which shall be subject to their approval.</span> </blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Let us look at Point 3:</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">3. <b>Separation of powers</b>:</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">The executive shall be separated from the legislature. To that effect, prime ministers shall be elected by popular vote; they shall appoint their own ministers, with the approval of parliament, to assist in the exercise of such powers as may be granted to them by the sovereign people of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland; no prime ministers or their ministers shall be members of parliament or any legislative assembly;</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 16pt;">Anyone could stand to be
Prime Minister. They would have to campaign for votes locally and then
nationally to be elected. They would not necessarily come from any political
party. You could thus have an election between Nigel Farage, Nicola Sturgeon,
Theresa May and Kier Starmer. </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16pt;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16pt;">The winner would be Prime
Minister but NOT a member of Parliament. That Prime Minister would be able to
choose ministers from all walks of life (service chiefs, surgeons, nurses,
teachers, heads of companies etc.) to serve in their cabinets. Such ministers
would have to be vetted by and approved by Parliament either by a select
committee or by the whole House.</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16pt;"><br />
Those ministers would not be MP's but they (and the Prime Minister) would
answer questions on the floor of the House of Commons. These appearances before
the elected House would be mandatory. The legislature would thus have a
free hand in holding them properly to account without having to be answerable
to a party system or the whips.</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16.0pt;">I have written before about
local Government and abolishing the Department of Communities and Local
Government (DCLG)</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16.0pt;">(</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:DocumentProperties>
<o:Template>Normal.dotm</o:Template>
<o:Revision>0</o:Revision>
<o:TotalTime>0</o:TotalTime>
<o:Pages>1</o:Pages>
<o:Words>82</o:Words>
<o:Characters>469</o:Characters>
<o:Company>Home</o:Company>
<o:Lines>3</o:Lines>
<o:Paragraphs>1</o:Paragraphs>
<o:CharactersWithSpaces>575</o:CharactersWithSpaces>
<o:Version>12.256</o:Version>
</o:DocumentProperties>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>
<w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>
<w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
<w:UseFELayout/>
</w:Compatibility>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276">
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<!--EndFragment--></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://leavetheeuropeanunion.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/a-personal-vision-for-britain.html">http://leavetheeuropeanunion.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/a-personal-vision-for-britain.html</a>)
and it seems to me that point 2 in very important in this regard:
</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><b>Real local democracy</b>:</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16.0pt;">
The foundation of our democracy shall be the counties (or other local units as may be defined), which shall become constitutional bodies exercising under the control of their peoples all powers of legislation, taxation and administration not specifically granted by the people to the national government</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16pt;">The House of Commons should
not be discussing the local bus service in Newcastle Upon Tyne or the local
walk-in centre in Corby. This should be the responsibility of the County
Council or Local Council. I am in favour of abolishing all National Grants to
local authorities. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16pt;">Return the central tax to the taxpayer and make the County
Council raise their own local tax and be responsible for spending it and being
accountable to the people for their actions.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16pt;"><br />
If Scotland and Wales wanted more independence from England and a majority of
their peoples wanted it they would be allowed to have it except for Defence,
Security (MI5, MI6, GCHQ) and Foreign and Commonwealth Office and any taxation
powers essential to keep these services running. Everything else would be
devolved.</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16pt;"><br />
Turning to money there is Point 5:
</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16pt;"><b>No taxation or spending without consent</b>:</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16pt;">
No tax, charge or levy shall be imposed, nor any public spending authorised, nor any sum borrowed by any national or local government except with the express approval the majority of the people, renewed annually on presentation of a budget which shall first have been approved by their respective legislatures;</span></blockquote>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">It seems to
me that if you can confirm your electoral registration or vote for your
favourite celebrity on "Strictly Come Dancing" via telephone then it
is entirely possible to vote for (or against!) the budget via telephone.</span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: calibri; font-size: large;">The point of this post is that the political class seems not to be listening
or, if it is listening is not hearing the message which is this:</span></div>
</div>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">The Conservative Party can if it wishes for purely selfish party ends - to keep the party united, to placate its think tanks and to abase itself before its donors go for a hard Brexit which will mean in the short term: </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">
No flights outside UK airspace (because no flight plan can be logged because access to EU databases and interfaces will cease on exit), Dover which is not even a Border Inspection Point (Post) or BIP will become a car park, registration of medicines and chemicals will be compromised, live animal exports will probably cease (the nearest BIP in France is in Dunkirk which can manage 5000 consignments a year), Horse Racing and Formula 1 will be endangered and there may be food shortages. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">
If they do this however it will lead to an horrendous economic downturn and political wipeout for the Conservative party (the only bright spot in the whole landscape). They will not be forgiven in a generation.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">The British people have allowed their (our) political class a huge amount of slack and we must never allow them to have that much or anything like that much ever again. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Let the people reclaim THEIR power from the politicians.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: x-large;">No Deal is NOT a credible option</span></div>
knoweurohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02488009205593815257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1947214310238689197.post-66929624154051356332017-10-12T13:04:00.000-07:002017-10-12T13:04:12.536-07:00A Letter to my Member of Parliament<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyep5RA13GmNETfdDhRpcbRWnkVCxt4P7mPGUndGjCDgZ6h6dv8zpgzRkc0uxYjjR0arXJ-QX2b6-1CmB8IL8BfiTbDjAKELl39EO_66YlkBNXpoEN5nlcun9LLZuaF68WwI9h_Nr8aqw/s1600/letterwriting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyep5RA13GmNETfdDhRpcbRWnkVCxt4P7mPGUndGjCDgZ6h6dv8zpgzRkc0uxYjjR0arXJ-QX2b6-1CmB8IL8BfiTbDjAKELl39EO_66YlkBNXpoEN5nlcun9LLZuaF68WwI9h_Nr8aqw/s320/letterwriting.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I have become increasingly concerned about Brexit and the Prime Minister's statements about Brexit.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I telephoned your office today and spoke to one of your parliamentary assistants and thank him for his time.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Philip Hammond, the Chancellor of the Exchequer said in Parliament the other day that all flights between the UK and the EU could stop on 29th March 2019 if there were 'No Deal' (see <a href="http://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/864962/Philip-Hammond-Brexit-flights-European-Union-UK-airlines">http://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/864962/Philip-Hammond-Brexit-flights-European-Union-UK-airlines</a>)<a class="x_OWAAutoLink" href="http://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/864962/Philip-Hammond-Brexit-flights-European-Union-UK-airlines" id="LPlnk949587" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: calibri, helvetica, sans-serif, serif, emojifont;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: calibri, helvetica, sans-serif, serif, emojifont;">Today, Michel Barnier, the chief negotiator for the European Union and the other 27 states has said today that </span><span style="color: #2a2e2e; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont";">"I am not able in the current circumstances to propose that we should start discussions on our future relationship". (see </span><a href="https://ec.europa.eu/avservices/focus/index.cfm?sitelang=en&focusid=2687" style="font-family: calibri, helvetica, sans-serif, serif, emojifont;">https://ec.europa.eu/avservices/focus/index.cfm?sitelang=en&focusid=2687</a><span style="font-family: calibri, helvetica, sans-serif, serif, emojifont;">) </span></span><br />
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">We are being told that if the UK leaves the EU under no deal we can trade happily under WTO terms but in actual fact I have seen references to Mutual Recognition Agreements and Free Trade Agreements which are NOT WTO terms but different from WTO terms.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The United Kingdom voted correctly in my view to leave the European Union but we expected the Government to negotiate the best deal for the country which in my view they are not doing. Lord David Owen said on the radio yesterday that he thought it was incorrect of the Conservative Party to treat Brexit as solely a Conservative Party undertaking. He said he thought all parties should be involved and I agree with that.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont;">
<span style="font-size: large;">It is the United Kingdom's decision to leave 'The Club' and if we leave without a deal we will lose access to European Union databases and interfaces to which we have so far enjoyed access.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont;">
</div>
<ol style="font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<li><span style="font-size: large;">No airline company will be able to leave UK airspace as they will have no overflying rights and cannot log a flight plan. There will be no flights coming up to Easter 2019. Just think what the electorate will make of that.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Dover is not a registered Border Inspection Point (Port - BIP). <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/food/sites/food/files/animals/docs/bips_contact_unitedkingdom.pdf">https://ec.europa.eu/food/sites/food/files/animals/docs/bips_contact_unitedkingdom.pdf</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">The nearest Border Inspection Point in France is in Dunkirk NOT Calais. Dunkirk BIP was recently enlarged and can cope with 5000 trucks per annum. "Each year, Eurotunnel carries 1,600,000 trucks to and from the UK with a total trade of £91 billion". Lorries to France will effectively be stopped and there will be a log jam.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">France will not be eager to recruit more staff to ensure Dunkirk BIP is properly staffed and can cope with the traffic (why should they) unless, I suspect, the United Kingdom was willing to underwrite those costs.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Animal Products, Chemicals and other goods will be dramatically impacted by Brexit. Horse Racing and Formula 1 will be adversely affected. The British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) and the European Fresh Produce Association (Freshfel) have started to sound warnings and I expect there to be more.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">In a no deal scenario, the implications for the Irish border, the only land border between the United Kingdom and the European Union will be horrendous.</span></li>
</ol>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The Prime Minister has said that for a 2 year implementation period after Brexit the United Kingdom will effectively mirror the European Union:</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont;">
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">"<span style="color: #0b0c0c; font-family: "nta" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont";">During this strictly time-limited period, we will have left the EU and its institutions, but we are proposing that for this period access to one an</span><span style="color: #0b0c0c; font-family: "nta" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont";">other’s markets should continue on current terms and Britain also should continue to take part in existing security measures."</span></span></blockquote>
</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont;">
<span style="color: #0b0c0c; font-family: nta, arial, sans-serif, serif, emojifont;"><span style="font-size: large;">This in effect means that we will be under the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice until 2021</span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont;">
<span style="color: #0b0c0c; font-family: "nta" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont;">
<span style="color: #0b0c0c; font-family: "nta" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: large;">As this is the case, the United Kingdom will not have left the European Union on 29th March 2019.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont;">
<span style="color: #0b0c0c; font-family: "nta" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont;">
<span style="color: #0b0c0c; font-family: "nta" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: large;">The president of the EFTA court, and ministers of Iceland and Norway have all suggested that the United Kingdom should join EFTA and thus stay in the single market. The European Union has even said that it would let the United Kingdom invoke Article 112 of the EEA treaty which would allow the United Kingdom to MANAGE immigration once we were an EFTA state.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont;">
<span style="color: #0b0c0c; font-family: "nta" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont;">
<span style="color: #0b0c0c; font-family: "nta" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: large;">I know you are on the 'payroll vote' but I think you should warn ministers of the economic catastrophe that a 'No Deal' entails. In 2017, your majority was only 1915 votes. How many constituents are employed by Luton and Heathrow airports or trade with the European Union. Can your majority survive a No Deal conclusion?</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont;">
<span style="color: #0b0c0c; font-family: "nta" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont;">
<span style="color: #0b0c0c; font-family: "nta" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: large;">It is not an optimal solution but the safest solution is to join EFTA, stay in the European Single Market and work as an independent state intergovernmentally to develop EFTA and the EEA treaty in to something better than it is and work towards the final goal in UNECE (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe).</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont;">
<span style="color: #0b0c0c; font-family: "nta" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont;">
<span style="color: #0b0c0c; font-family: "nta" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: large;">I am sorry for the length of this email but I am seriously worried.</span><br />
<span style="color: #0b0c0c; font-family: "nta" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #0b0c0c; font-family: "nta" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: large;">Yours sincerely</span><br />
<span style="color: #0b0c0c; font-family: "nta" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #0b0c0c; font-family: "nta" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: large;">Notes:</span><br />
<span style="color: #0b0c0c; font-family: "nta" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #0b0c0c; font-family: "nta" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: large;">Much of the above is taken from the postings of EUReferendum.com (<a href="http://www.eureferendum.com/">www.eureferendum.com</a>) or The Leave Alliance (<a href="http://leavehq.com/default.aspx">http://leavehq.com/default.aspx</a>) or from Flexcit (<a href="http://www.eureferendum.com/documents/Flexcit.pdf">http://www.eureferendum.com/documents/Flexcit.pdf</a>)</span><br />
<span style="color: #0b0c0c; font-family: "nta" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #0b0c0c; font-family: "nta" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: large;">Not covered above is that if we left the Customs Union but stayed in the single market via EFTA/EEA, the United Kingdom will be outside the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice and subject to the EFTA Court.</span><br />
<span style="color: #0b0c0c; font-family: "nta" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: large;">(<a href="http://leavetheeuropeanunion.blogspot.co.uk/2017/07/european-free-trade-association-efta.html">http://leavetheeuropeanunion.blogspot.co.uk/2017/07/european-free-trade-association-efta.html</a>)</span><br />
<span style="color: #0b0c0c; font-family: "nta" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #0b0c0c; font-family: "nta" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: large;">The Irish border issue could be much better managed if we rejoined EFTA.</span></div>
knoweurohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02488009205593815257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1947214310238689197.post-14407337665360437142017-09-03T00:47:00.003-07:002017-09-03T00:47:27.196-07:00The EFTA/EEA First Stop Solution<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinq0tu9OpfW-xgZgPZOPiVHFg2cEidL3uTU6LCTceNexKVL1858sEWWfuLQXg3AF9JteMxYNeA9-6JgEQTCh0thsDQPkF1RW4LxQGbKTG8CslnfGC98qDZ-oXOK3KRng1LZ3UJ8xlKEHY/s1600/EEA_countries_A3_final.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="629" data-original-width="610" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinq0tu9OpfW-xgZgPZOPiVHFg2cEidL3uTU6LCTceNexKVL1858sEWWfuLQXg3AF9JteMxYNeA9-6JgEQTCh0thsDQPkF1RW4LxQGbKTG8CslnfGC98qDZ-oXOK3KRng1LZ3UJ8xlKEHY/s320/EEA_countries_A3_final.gif" width="310" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">The European Economic Area is the Geographical extent of the European Single Market. I had never thought of it in that way before. This is a far better definition in my view than regarding the European Economic Area as the European Union plus the EFTA (European Free Trade Area) countries.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I read this definition in EUReferendum.com (</span><a href="http://www.eureferendum.com/"><span style="font-size: large;">http://www.eureferendum.com</span></a><span style="font-size: large;">) which I read daily and which I heartily recommend.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The European Economic Area geographical area goes from Iceland and Norway in the North to Greece in the South and from Portugal in the West to Poland in the East. It is a vast area and a huge market. Although we need to leave THE Customs Union to leave the European Union, we do not have to leave the European Single Market if we rejoin EFTA. The Single Market would give the United Kingdom virtually frictionless trade which it enjoys now.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">If we rejoined EFTA, we could work with </span><span style="font-size: large;">the other EFTA states to amend the EEA agreement so that it was a better agreement for ALL the EEA states not just the EFTA ones. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The EEA agreement could be moulded as a 'first stop' to a final destination of an inter-Governmental village of equal sovereign states. An inter-Governmental </span><span style="font-size: large;">market not a supra-national one.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The following article appeared in '<a href="https://labourlist.org/2017/08/stephen-kinnock-we-can-have-single-market-access-and-progressive-reforms-to-free-movement/">Labour List':</a></span><br />
<div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: 'helvetica neue', helvetica, geneva, arial, sans-serif;">
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">On Sunday Keir Starmer used <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/26/keir-starmer-no-constructive-ambiguity-brexit-cliff-edge-labour-will-avoid-transitional-deal" style="border-bottom-style: dotted; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #ca0002; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">an article</a> in <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Observer</em> to call time on the ambiguity that had come to define Labour’s approach to Brexit since the referendum. It was an approach that had served us well on 8 June, but it was never sustainable. With the clock ticking, the economy tanking, the pressure from Brussels building and the country crying out for some political leadership, it was high time that we set out our stall.
</span></blockquote>
</div>
<blockquote>
<div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: 'helvetica neue', helvetica, geneva, arial, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">For several months I’ve also been arguing that our party and broader movement should adopt a clear, principled and pragmatic approach to Brexit that would enable us to: </span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: 'helvetica neue', helvetica, geneva, arial, sans-serif;">
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">leave the EU by walking calmly across a bridge, rather than by leaping recklessly off a cliff; </span></li>
</ul>
</div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: 'helvetica neue', helvetica, geneva, arial, sans-serif;">
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;"> recognise the reality of the EU’s non-negotiable position on the phasing of the Brexit talks (ie divorce details first, long-term trade and partnership talks second), and therefore focus on the resulting inevitability and centrality of the transition deal;</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: 'helvetica neue', helvetica, geneva, arial, sans-serif;">
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">commit to a transition deal that delivers as much certainty and stability as possible, and that can realistically be secured in the highly compressed timeframe available (ie has to be off-the-shelf, rather than bespoke);</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: 'helvetica neue', helvetica, geneva, arial, sans-serif;">
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">seek progressive reform of free movement of people and labour on the basis of sectoral quotas set through negotiation between trade unions, employers and government, as outlined here: <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/07/labour-must-introduce-fair-immigration-system" style="border-bottom-style: dotted; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #ca0002; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">People are worried about immigration – Labour must devise a fair system and reunite the country;</a></span></li>
</ul>
</div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: 'helvetica neue', helvetica, geneva, arial, sans-serif;">
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">acknowledge that a transition deal based on membership of the European Economic Area (EEA) and European Free Trade Area (EFTA) is therefore the only viable option, as outlined in <a href="http://www.stephenkinnock.co.uk/britain_can_use_eea_as_comfortable_waiting_room_before_brexit" style="border-bottom-style: dotted; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #ca0002; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Britain can use EEA as comfortable waiting room before Brexit,</a> <a href="http://www.stephenkinnock.co.uk/labour_should_reach_out_to_tories_on_brexit" style="border-bottom-style: dotted; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #ca0002; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Labour should reach out to Tories on Brexit,</a> and in my <a href="http://www.stephenkinnock.co.uk/real_choice_facing_us_an_interim_deal_that_truly_protects_the_national_interest_or_a_wto_brexit_that_will_have_a_catastrophic_impact" style="border-bottom-style: dotted; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #ca0002; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">speech</a> back in January in the article 50 debate.</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: 'helvetica neue', helvetica, geneva, arial, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The position that Keir set out on Sunday delivers brilliantly, both in terms of the emphasis that it places on the pivotal importance of the transition deal, and in terms of its unequivocal rejection of the government’s ‘fantasy politics’ insistence that it will be possible to negotiate a bespoke transition.</span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: 'helvetica neue', helvetica, geneva, arial, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">So far, so good. But in stating that a bespoke transition deal is a pipe dream, then we must, by definition, be saying that an off-the-shelf model is required. And the fact of the matter is that if we are looking for a ready-made transition model, then EEA/EFTA membership is the only viable option. As well established and well understood international frameworks the EEA and EFTA offer precisely the security, certainty and stability that our country so desperately needs, in these turbulent times. Therefore the sooner we can define and specify the type of off-the-shelf transition deal that is required the better, as doing so will demonstrate that we are the only political party that truly understands the devastating impact that further uncertainty and instability will have on the jobs and livelihoods of the very people that we were elected to represent.</span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: 'helvetica neue', helvetica, geneva, arial, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Committing to an EEA/EFTA-based transition would also provide much-needed clarity in terms of our position on the reform of free movement of people and labour. Twenty-four hours after the publication of Keir’s <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Observer</em> article, the <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Guardian’s</em> front-page headline was: ‘Backlash over Labour’s shift to soft Brexit’, and the piece quotes senior Labour MPs stating that the front bench’s newly clarified position risks alienating voters who support greater controls on immigration.</span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: 'helvetica neue', helvetica, geneva, arial, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">But the crucial point here is that EEA not only provides its members with maximum access to the single market, it also allows them to suspend and reform freedom of movement. </span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: 'helvetica neue', helvetica, geneva, arial, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Articles 112 and 113 of the EEA Agreement provide EEA member states with the legal base for managing the inward flow of EU citizens. EEA member states are entitled to unilaterally invoke article 112 safeguard measures, thus enabling them to suspend freedom of movement and replace it with a sectoral quota-based system. As Richard North points out in his highly informative paper, <a href="http://www.eureferendum.com/documents/BrexitMonograph001.pdf" style="border-bottom-style: dotted; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #ca0002; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">single market participation and free movement of persons</a>, article 112 safeguard measures were invoked in 1992 by no less than four of the then seven EFTA members, namely Austria, Iceland, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, all citing the need to protect real estate, capital and labour markets. </span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: 'helvetica neue', helvetica, geneva, arial, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Moreover, Martin Schulz, the former president of the European parliament and now the SPD’s candidate for the September federal election has spoken in positive terms about a “safeguard clause” that would “introduce quotas after a certain immigration threshold is achieved in specific regions and industries”. </span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: 'helvetica neue', helvetica, geneva, arial, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">This zombie government, led by an utterly discredited prime minister, is guilty of gross incompetence in office. The cabinet has spent far more time negotiating with itself than it has with Brussels, and the Brexiteers are seemingly intent on doing potentially irreparable damage to our economy, and to our broader national interest through the flippant, bombastic and childish way in which they think and talk about the EU. It is therefore absolutely imperative that the Labour movement unites around a settled position on Brexit, so that we can signal to the British people and to our European partners that we are the only grown-ups in the room, and that we’re ready, willing and able to negotiate a principled and pragmatic deal.</span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: 'helvetica neue', helvetica, geneva, arial, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Full membership of the single market is not possible without being a member of the European Union, but in shifting to EEA/EFTA membership we would be leaving the EU and becoming part of an internal market that is deeply integrated with the single market.</span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: 'helvetica neue', helvetica, geneva, arial, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">And this shift would also allow us to reform free movement and retain tariff free access to the EU via the EEA, and via EFTA we would have a customs arrangement with the EU27, ensuring frictionless trade while also being able to negotiate free trade deals with the rest of the world.</span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: 'helvetica neue', helvetica, geneva, arial, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Transitional EEA/EFTA membership would therefore enable us to fulfil not only the ideas outlined by Keir over the weekend, but also those of Jeremy and the manifesto upon which all Labour MPs stood and members campaigned, just a few short months ago.</span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: 'helvetica neue', helvetica, geneva, arial, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The next step must now be for Labour to commit to an EEA/EFTA-based transition. And it is a step that cannot come quickly enough. For well over a year now we have been grappling with the vexed question of how best to reconcile maximum access to the single market with greater controls on immigration, and the contrast between the front pages of Sunday’s <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Observer</em> and Monday’s <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Guardian</em> shows that these differences of opinion are far from settled.</span></div>
<div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: 'helvetica neue', helvetica, geneva, arial, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">And yet, whilst the debate has been raging, could it be possible that the opportunity to square our Brexit circle has been staring us in the face?</span></div>
</blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">This article is in the national interest and should be taken seriously. Its author is the Member of Parliament for Aberavon, Mr Stephen Kinnock.</span><br />
<br />
<div>
</div>
<br />knoweurohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02488009205593815257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1947214310238689197.post-75149240933636233582017-08-25T13:14:00.001-07:002017-08-25T13:14:13.706-07:00The National Health Service<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz6i54yhO04tnQTDCYbHWIB2Y1El7s4iz-jk040VbTZOULw5-yxncEAQpSMfXyvukEYJkwPs5glQtBLefv3brB37Qk200YbJfRhIQiVc2hy7XDjt78rgBqIYULZqviG2ako4Yb4fIVViA/s1600/NHS.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz6i54yhO04tnQTDCYbHWIB2Y1El7s4iz-jk040VbTZOULw5-yxncEAQpSMfXyvukEYJkwPs5glQtBLefv3brB37Qk200YbJfRhIQiVc2hy7XDjt78rgBqIYULZqviG2ako4Yb4fIVViA/s1600/NHS.png" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Recently I posted a blog entitled 'A Personal Vision for Britain" (<a href="http://leavetheeuropeanunion.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/a-personal-vision-for-britain.html">http://leavetheeuropeanunion.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/a-personal-vision-for-britain.html</a>)</span><span style="font-size: large;"> in which I wrote the following:</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">It seems to me that the National Health Service is unaffordable in its present form. What is needed are ideas on total reform of the NHS (a blank sheet of paper, start again) nothing should be off the agenda. Form a group of Conservative minded people, but it must not be party political, to look at, discuss and brainstorm all suggestions. With an ageing population and the probability of rocketing geriatric medicine costs everything must be on the table. This includes Mental Health, Care in the Community and Old Persons Care Home costs.</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;"> </span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">I then promoted the blog via Twitter and a person with the 'handle' of 'The Bald Colder' has been communicating with me on this subject. To be fair, 'Bald Colder' can only tweet in batches of 140 characters and we have had a healthy debate. Here is a flavour of the 'Bald Colder' tweets as if I included them all it would take too much space. I am going to send a copy of this blog to 'Bald Colder' and give this person the chance to response. Their response will be published here if it is forthcoming:</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Actually for the amount of money we put into the NHS, our patient outcomes trounce the American system.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The American system is horrifically inefficient because doctors over-prescribe because they are effectively on commission</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Wow a Brexiteer where the penny has dropped we're in a giant ponzi scheme. With birth rate 1.9 we have to rely on immigrants</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I'm more than happy to talk about healthcare in other countries but our problem is pure and simple: we don't put enough in.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">What I would like to see is a tax that is specifically for the NHS and the gov't to compare results on a GDP per capita basis to our peers.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">It was a quite a vibrant debate. I would like to see a national debate about what the NHS should look like now. I do not doubt its design was good for the 1940's but I am not convinced it is suitable for 2017.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I would like to see a committee set up to look at what the NHS should look like in the modern world. That committee should not include any elected politician (local or national) and be given a remit of 'here is a blank sheet of paper, what should the NHS look like?'</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The chairman of that committee could be elected by a telephone poll. If you can vote for your favourite celebrity on 'Strictly Come Dancing' why not vote for your favourite candidate from a list to chair the 'NHS committee'? It would probably have to be confined to 11 members so it was not unwieldly. The person chosen to chair it, representatives of the Royal Colleges and of Patients would be nominated to sit on it.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">On my blank sheet of paper:</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Take a deposit to book a doctors or outpatients appointment - a credit or debit card payment (just like a 'contactless payment'). It would be, say £5. If the person turns up to the appointment, the money would be refunded; if not the hospital or practice would keep the deposit. (This would in all likelihood reduce missed appointments)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Make patients buy their own walking sticks, crutches or wheelchairs. A wheelchair on Amazon is £119.99. Patients would be free to donate them to the NHS after they had finished with them if they wanted to.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Do not fund any cosmetic surgical procedures (except for body reconstruction following cancer treatments such as Mastectomy).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Allow Local Authorities to buy groups of houses or build groups of houses in little 'villages' for respite patients, care in the community patients and to relieve bed blocking.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Consider whether local or cottage hospitals are a possibility for simple procedures</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Is the current staffing structure fit for purpose?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Look at the salaries being paid to senior managers</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">It is already the case that those over 60 disproportionately take resources from the Health Service. It seems very likely that this cost will increase radically in the next 10 years or so - we have an ageing population.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">I do not know if any of the above ideas are good ones or even feasible. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">What I am advocating is a fresh look 70 years after the template was first designed to see if it </span><span style="font-size: large;">should have the same look. </span><span style="font-size: large;">If it needs to be reformed or re-engineered, let the "NHS Committee" report that back. Equally, if </span><span style="font-size: large;">the "NHS Committee" thinks the current model is the right way for the 21st century I would accept that.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Once the "NHS Committee" reports back and I envisage them having 2 years to compile their report, it would be published and a proper public debate of at least another year would follow. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">These are just my personal thoughts. If you are going to </span><span style="font-size: large;">comment please keep the comments polite. I have no power just a desire to discuss the NHS in order to change it if necessary to make it the best it can be.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="stream-item-footer" style="color: #14171a; display: table; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding-top: 1px; width: 506px;">
<div class="ProfileTweet-actionCountList u-hiddenVisually" style="border: 0px !important; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px) !important; font-size: 1px !important; height: 1px !important; overflow: hidden !important; padding: 0px !important; position: absolute !important; width: 1px !important;">
<span class="ProfileTweet-action--reply u-hiddenVisually" style="border: 0px !important; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px) !important; height: 1px !important; overflow: hidden !important; padding: 0px !important; position: absolute !important; width: 1px !important;"><span class="ProfileTweet-actionCount" data-tweet-stat-count="1" style="color: #657786; display: inline-block; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1; margin-left: 6px; position: relative; vertical-align: text-bottom;"><span class="ProfileTweet-actionCountForAria" data-aria-label-part="" id="profile-tweet-action-reply-count-aria-901048260839653377">1 reply</span></span></span><span class="ProfileTweet-action--retweet u-hiddenVisually" style="border: 0px !important; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px) !important; height: 1px !important; overflow: hidden !important; padding: 0px !important; position: absolute !important; width: 1px !important;"><span aria-hidden="true" class="ProfileTweet-actionCount" data-tweet-stat-count="0" style="color: #657786; display: inline-block; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1; margin-left: 6px; position: relative; vertical-align: text-bottom;"><span class="ProfileTweet-actionCountForAria" id="profile-tweet-action-retweet-count-aria-901048260839653377">0 retweets</span></span></span><span class="ProfileTweet-action--favorite u-hiddenVisually" style="border: 0px !important; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px) !important; height: 1px !important; overflow: hidden !important; padding: 0px !important; position: absolute !important; width: 1px !important;"><span aria-hidden="true" class="ProfileTweet-actionCount" data-tweet-stat-count="0" style="color: #657786; display: inline-block; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1; margin-left: 6px; position: relative; vertical-align: text-bottom;"><span class="ProfileTweet-actionCountForAria" id="profile-tweet-action-favorite-count-aria-901048260839653377">0 likes</span></span></span></div>
<div aria-label="Tweet actions" class="ProfileTweet-actionList js-actions" role="group" style="font-size: 0px; height: 18px; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-top: 10px;">
<div class="ProfileTweet-action ProfileTweet-action--reply" style="display: inline-block; min-width: 80px;">
<button aria-describedby="profile-tweet-action-reply-count-aria-901048260839653377" class="ProfileTweet-actionButton js-actionButton js-actionReply" data-modal="ProfileTweet-reply" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #657786; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px 2px; position: relative; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out;" type="button"><div class="IconContainer js-tooltip" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 0; position: relative; vertical-align: middle;" title="Reply">
<span class="Icon Icon--medium Icon--reply" style="display: inline-block; font-size: 18px; line-height: 18px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></div>
</button></div>
</div>
</div>
knoweurohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02488009205593815257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1947214310238689197.post-15013838278501668442017-08-24T13:26:00.001-07:002017-08-24T13:26:56.606-07:00A Defence of Free Speech<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYhVpHaHJLOVjHTM7I3549lWb96COBXcZyTCb2sVKBFr4oBXd-BWMmTVIp7jBNXMwKvJpoIGcLwyMnF6ta8tM0tdv-sQ-y2r9nQ2Ihi33y4n4oydL3n160HySQbwydpi18dr7BHpsC8w4/s1600/Free+Speech.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="843" data-original-width="1600" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYhVpHaHJLOVjHTM7I3549lWb96COBXcZyTCb2sVKBFr4oBXd-BWMmTVIp7jBNXMwKvJpoIGcLwyMnF6ta8tM0tdv-sQ-y2r9nQ2Ihi33y4n4oydL3n160HySQbwydpi18dr7BHpsC8w4/s320/Free+Speech.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">I have said on this blog before that I believe in Free Speech. Further than that, in my last post I stated my position as being that anyone should be able to say anything they like about anyone and that this right should be enshrined in Law.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I was not sure how much I actually believed in Free Speech until I realised how much Free Speech is under attack. This attack is mostly coming from those who are regarded as Social Justice Warriors and the Equality and Diversity lobby but also occasionally by agents of the State such as the Police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I would rather that phrases like 'stupid woman' were not used and that in politics especially we could refer to people in a genderless way, for example, 'what the person said was rubbish'. It really does not matter to me that Diane Abbott is female and not white. Some of her statements during the election were just rubbish on their own terms and if they had been uttered by a robot would still be rubbish. It appears that she may have been ill when she "misspoke" (sic) so maybe some allowance should be made for Ms Abbott on that point.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">This applies equally to people who are not women. Some of the statements of some senior male Conservative politicians in recent weeks have been equally nonsensical. Currently David Davis seems to be tying himself in knots. So let us all focus on WHAT is said and not WHO says them.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">All that said I am dismayed by the definition of 'Hate Crime' recognised by the CPS and police, is <i>“any criminal offence which is perceived by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by a hostility or prejudice”'</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I don't have any issue with the 'perceived by the victim' part but I DO have an issue with the 'any other person' part - that could be any of about 58 million people. I think it possible that the CPS is trying to cover Social Media and Internet communication but it is still far too wide a definition.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The following article appeared in "Commentary" and was written by Sohrab Ahmadi. (<a href="https://www.commentarymagazine.com/foreign-policy/europe/englands-online-speech-crackdown/">https://www.commentarymagazine.com/foreign-policy/europe/englands-online-speech-crackdown/</a>)</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Censors are always looking for fresh opportunities to censor. So they relish moments of ideological ferment, antagonism, and intemperateness. At such times, people are more susceptible to moral panic and likelier to silence opposing views. We are living through such a moment now, with neo-Nazis, Communists, and various other haters and cranks on the march, both in the streets and online. That’s why open societies should be doubly vigilant against efforts to restrict free expression. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">One such effort got underway this week in England, where the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) revised its guidelines to prosecutors regarding “hate crimes.” Director of Public Prosecutions Alison Saunders on Monday announced the new guidelines in an op-ed in the Guardian newspaper, and British civil libertarians have good reason to be alarmed. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Writing with that unmistakable tone of hauteur common to crusading bureaucrats, Saunders didn’t disguise the fact that prosecutors in England and Wales – Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own prosecution services – will now be in the business of going after people for airing unacceptable viewpoints. “People all over the world are questioning how those in positions of power can counter the kinds of extreme views that are increasingly being aired,” she wrote, “and how societies might do more to prevent such opinions from gestating in the first place.” </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">There is no easy answer to the problem, Saunders suggested. Then she went on to provide one: treating “online hate crimes as seriously as those committed face to face.” Put another way, the fellow who drunkenly throws racist barbs on Twitter may now face prosecution as vigorous as the neo-Nazi who vandalizes a synagogue or mosque with pig’s blood. The most senior prosecutor in England and Wales has expanded the definition of hate crime so far as to proscribe almost any disagreeable or uncivil statement. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">The country already has malicious-communication laws and other provisions against online harassment and abuse, and these are strictly enforced. Last month, for example, a British aristocrat was convicted of malicious communication and sentenced to 12 weeks in jail for offering £5,000 ($6,417) to any of his online followers who would run over anti-Brexit campaigner Gina Miller. In December an English blogger was convicted of racially aggravated harassment for helping direct a campaign of anti-Semitic abuse at a Jewish MP. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">The hate-crime laws are already broad. Authorities define as a hate crime “any criminal offence which is perceived by the victim <b>or any other person</b>, to be motivated by hostility or prejudice, based on a person’s disability or perceived disability; race or perceived race; or religion or perceived religion; or sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation or a person who is transgender or perceived to be transgender.” (Emphasis added. Note that the definition turns entirely on the subjective perceptions of alleged victims.) </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Under rules promulgated in 2014, moreover, police are required to investigate hate-crime allegations “regardless of whether or not those making the complaint are the victim and irrespective of whether or not there is any evidence to identify the hate crime incident.” That resulted in Home Secretary Amber Rudd being investigated for hate over a speech she delivered at last year’s Tory party conference, in which she railed against foreigners “taking jobs British workers could do.” An Oxford physics professor was so offended that he lodged a criminal complaint. The police declined to investigate, but they recorded the matter as a “non-crime hate incident.” (Ironically, Rudd, who represents the nannyish wing of the Tories, endorsed the 2014 rule change.) </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Now the CPS intends to take things further by applying the subjective definition embedded in the hate-crime laws to online communications. In her op-ed, Saunders pooh-poohed free-speech concerns. “There are crucial provisions in law to ensure we do not stifle free speech, an important right in our society,” she wrote. Which ones? </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Saunders didn’t elaborate. She went on: “Hate is hate, however.” </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Well, yes, but sometimes hate speech is also protected speech. And in an age of aggressive, and often aggressively stupid, political correctness, merely controversial or disagreeable speech can end up being framed as “hate.” </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">The law and CPS’s guidelines turn heavily on the concept of hostility, which is defined as “ill-will, ill-feeling, spite, prejudice, unfriendliness, antagonism, resentment, and dislike.” It is hard to see how people in England can debate, say, the hot-button issue of transgender bathrooms without running afoul of Saunders’s law against “dislike.”</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">It would be interesting to see the CPS definition of "Hate" and of "Extreme Views" as a start in this debate. What is a hateful statement or an extreme one come to that?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Under the "Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006" Schedule 29J it states:</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">"Nothing in this part shall be read or given effect in a way which prohibits or restricts discussion, criticism or expressions of antipathy, dislike, ridicule, insult or abuse of particular religions or the beliefs or practices of their adherents, or of any other belief system or the beliefs or practices of its adherents, or proselytising or urging adherents of a different religion or belief system to cease practising their religion or belief system"</span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/1/schedule/enacted"><span style="font-size: large;">http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/1/schedule/enacted</span></a></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">In my opinion people should be able to argue and debate freely, certainly free of a CPS intent on imposing its view of what is acceptable communication. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">What the CPS is proposing and doing could be used, despite their protestations, to constrain Freedom of Speech and we, the people and electors, must not stand for it. </span><br />
<br />knoweurohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02488009205593815257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1947214310238689197.post-48911484598790182472017-08-24T08:53:00.002-07:002017-08-24T08:53:29.897-07:00A personal Vision for Britain<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrfyM-pjLaI-KM97qCm1hSWrS1MdZZxMl-PaYufzlH92gl9nJxs3l5lgdNHmL_5O3M6a_hnr4NZ_cIzUgWFD-gXNPrue3azdDMzxgcSZcjwyajYJ7xTDoY-0A_RtCCJM5c4pM_sGgrGBQ/s1600/th.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="270" data-original-width="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrfyM-pjLaI-KM97qCm1hSWrS1MdZZxMl-PaYufzlH92gl9nJxs3l5lgdNHmL_5O3M6a_hnr4NZ_cIzUgWFD-gXNPrue3azdDMzxgcSZcjwyajYJ7xTDoY-0A_RtCCJM5c4pM_sGgrGBQ/s1600/th.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">This post is about the United Kingdom. It is about the kind of country I think Britain should be. I am not ashamed to say that I love my country and have discovered I love it more as I get older.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I am a Leave voter, I have campaigned and will continue to campaign to leave the European Union. I have recently begun to post lots of tweets on Twitter on this and about other issues which I feel passionate about. I read the blogs of other people and have learned from them and gained information and ideas.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Leaving the European Union is not the end, it is only the end of the beginning and so I hope that there can be a debate about what the United Kingdom should look like after we leave the European Union.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I like the blogs of Sam Hooper and he has some ideas about how those who are conservative should respond to the rise of Jeremy Corbyn, Momentum and the Left who are on the march and intend to gain power. This blog is an example of where he is coming from</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://semipartisansam.com/2017/08/21/winter-is-coming-for-conservatives-unless-we-wake-up-to-the-socialist-threat/">https://semipartisansam.com/2017/08/21/winter-is-coming-for-conservatives-unless-we-wake-up-to-the-socialist-threat/</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The problem, as far as I am concerned, is that the Conservative Party is not Conservative. It is at best a left of centre New Labour Bliarite confection. There was very little Conservative Policy in the last 'Conservative Party' manifesto.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">So this post is what I would like to see in a post-Brexit United Kingdom. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">First I would like to see Freedom of Speech strengthened. It is under massive attack and not always by the left. The right of anyone to say anything about anybody should be enshrined in Law. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">That would include defamatory attacks which would be taken care of in the Libel and Slander Laws. If it is the case that a correction needs to be published (in whatever form) then that correction should be published in the same form, in the same place and in the same typeface or programme slot as the item corrected. On the front page if that is where the error was printed.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">It seems to me that the National Health Service is unaffordable in its present form. What is needed are ideas on total reform of the NHS (a blank sheet of paper, start again) nothing should be off the agenda. Form a group of Conservative minded people, but it must not be party political, to look at, discuss and brainstorm all suggestions. With an ageing population and the probability of rocketing geriatric medicine costs everything must be on the table. This includes Mental Health, Care in the Community and Old Persons Care Home costs.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Abolish the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG). Return all Central taxes paid to local Government to the Taxpayer and make local authorities or regional authorities plan their own budgets, their own expenditure and make Local Government raise their own taxes. Make Local Government truly work. Chris Grayling has already suggested that the North should 'take control' of their own transport networks so why not for everything else? (<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41020391">http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41020391</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The local authorities would recruit the people they needed such as ex DCLG Civil Servants. Such policies and expenditure would come from the budgets they set and finance they raise. Make mayors such as Andy Burnham work for their money and their pay would be decided in local referenda by the people they represent. That should increase the turnout in local elections. It would also ensure that profligacy would stop. Local people would ensure that it did. Many of these ideas are influenced by The Harrogate Agenda (THA) <a href="http://harrogateagenda.org.uk/">http://harrogateagenda.org.uk</a></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">There would also have to be a root and branch review and rethink of how Edinburgh and Cardiff were financed too but i</span><span style="font-size: large;">magine a truly local tax where the budgets and the taxes were set and voted for by local people as set out in the Harrogate Agenda and where real power rested with the people. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Reduce Parliament to Defence, Intelligence and Foreign and Commonwealth affairs only and reduce the number of MP's at Westminster to 300. Consider ensuring that some of these do not come from any political party - 'Non Party' MP's. The Houses of Parliament would be for truly National issues only.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Devolve as much power, by which I mean with the exception of Defence, Intelligence and Foreign Office matters, to Edinburgh, Cardiff and the English regions. The competence or otherwise of the leaders in these parts of the United Kingdom would soon be proved. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Means test or target all OAP benefits such as Free bus passes. It is hard to defend wealthier old people getting free bus passes when they more than likely have their own transport and can afford to fund their own Public Transport costs. Abolish the commitment to the 'Triple Lock'. More and more company and private pension schemes are moving to increasing benefits by CPI rather than RPI - so should the State Old Age Pension.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Create a 'Graduation Tax' where, instead of loans, any graduate who agreed to get a paid job and work in the United Kingdom (and in the region in which they qualified if that was thought desirable) for 5 years and could prove that they had done so would not pay any tuition fees. One way of doing this would be to have a 'Graduates Tax Code' where the fees were deducted at source for those 5 years and then refunded in full in the 61st month and thus, as a bonus, be a Graduate Saving Scheme as well.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Any Doctor or Nurse for example who had been trained in the United Kingdom at the taxpayers' expense would repay that cost by working in the United Kingdom health sector (a reformed NHS or Private medicine) for 5 years.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The same rule would apply to other graduates; Solicitors, Social Workers and indeed anyone else who was educated at a United Kingdom University - who would repay their tuition by working in the United Kingdom for 5 years. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Think outside the box! Imagine all new graduates working and being paid in the United Kingdom for 5 years after their qualification and repaying their debt by work.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">It seems to me that the United Kingdom is going to change radically over the next five years and so let us have a debate to change it in a way so that the template we get after the UK changes is the template that we the electors want.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>knoweurohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02488009205593815257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1947214310238689197.post-78923856619000949842017-08-08T23:41:00.001-07:002017-08-08T23:41:40.065-07:00General Alarm<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjn6pxJ4NmttrnWfu3wWN6GTdA2CU1ofRaxjdla5iPj7iQ7VxCYuNR076OWZHJFxVHsO63F3X2W17urL-IPZMcTAPE8rX5P7Hyr4aoASTNHabJAfq90sUNGGwC4OdJIkVYkY3JhXk9RLs/s1600/Alarm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjn6pxJ4NmttrnWfu3wWN6GTdA2CU1ofRaxjdla5iPj7iQ7VxCYuNR076OWZHJFxVHsO63F3X2W17urL-IPZMcTAPE8rX5P7Hyr4aoASTNHabJAfq90sUNGGwC4OdJIkVYkY3JhXk9RLs/s320/Alarm.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">In recent days there has been some anger from United Kingdom travellers about longer delays because of tougher Schengen area border controls. The Schengen area is 26 countries of mainland Europe from Portugal to Poland and Sweden to Greece. It is a huge geographical area. As "The Guardian" reports:</span><br />
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Guardian Text Egyptian Web', Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; padding: 0px;">
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">The intermittent delays follow the introduction in March of new EU regulations in the wake of the Paris and Brussels terror attacks. The new rules demand both entry and exit checks on passengers from countries – including Britain – outside the 26-nation Schengen border-free zone.
</span></blockquote>
</div>
<blockquote>
<div color:="" egyptian="" font-family:="" georgia="" guardian="" quot="" serif="" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Guardian Text Egyptian Web', Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem;" text="" web="">
<span style="font-size: large;">Member states are not obliged to check every non-Schengen passport until October, when regulation EU 2017/458 comes into full force, but several airports are already doing so and others are carrying out spot checks on selected flights. (<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/01/passengers-facing-four-hour-security-queues-at-some-european-airports">https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/01/passengers-facing-four-hour-security-queues-at-some-european-airports</a>)</span></div>
</blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">In this same article, it is further reported that the delays are not everywhere but that <span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "guardian text egyptian web" , "georgia" , serif;">“unless Spanish border control puts in place an emergency plan to avoid queues and help passengers to get through faster, there will be a lot of devastating delays for passengers”</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "guardian text egyptian web" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "guardian text egyptian web" , "georgia" , serif;">It seems to me that this is a dress rehearsal for worse to come. The first observation is that it is up to Spain (or Greece or France) to decide how many border staff to put on their border posts. If there are insufficient staff for those seeking entry, queues and waits will be longer.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "guardian text egyptian web" , "georgia" , serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "guardian text egyptian web" , "georgia" , serif;">France, the Netherlands or any of the European Union countries will not necessarily increase their staffing levels at their borders to ameliorate United Kingdom travellers and that they will be even less likely to do so once the United Kingdom leaves the European Union, especially if we leave without a deal. The Conservative Government better wake up and smell the coffee on this before they see many angry electors as the queues get longer.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "guardian text egyptian web" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">If the United Kingdom leaves the European Union on 29th March 2019</span></span> without a deal then the </span><span style="font-size: large;">United Kingdom becomes a third country and EU databases may well be unavailable or 'switched off' to the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom will have left the Customs Union and the European Single Market as well according to 'President' Mrs May and so the United Kingdom will have left the European Economic Area (EEA) too. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The simplest thing is that United Kingdom passport holders (like me) will not be joining the European Union and EEA queue at European points of entry (such as Spanish airports) but will have to join the 'International Arrivals' queue. The same applies at points of entry in the United Kingdom such as Dover, Luton Airport and other Border Force entry points or these points of entry will have to create a 'United Kingdom nationals' queue.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I am also rather nervous about the Irish Border. This blog will not get into the issues around the terms of the 1998 Belfast agreement or on the state of political parties in Ireland. This is partially because I do not fully understand Irish politics. I am not interested in the Irish Border except as it is affected by Brexit. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">If the United Kingdom leaves the European Union without a deal, then the borders between the United Kingdom and the European Union have to be monitored properly. The sea is an effective barrier and border but the only land border between the United Kingdom and the European Union is in Ireland. That means border posts between the Republic of Ireland (ROI) and Northern Ireland. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">There was an excellent Twitter thread by "Shocko" on this subject, part of which reads as follows:</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">"There was a checkpoint UK at the top of our land, including a customs hut. Demolished in late 90s same as similar ROI one across the road". </span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">This customs hut is now part of a house and the ROI one is now a kickboxing gym.</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="background-color: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">"There are 300 miles of border in Northern Ireland. That's a lot of detached houses, kickbocking gyms, petrol stations, supermarkets."</span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">In short a hard border between the two parts of Ireland as they currently exist will have to be reinstated which will be logistically (let alone politically) difficult and the work has not even started yet and there is only19 month to go! </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The European Union has said it will not negotiate a new, deep relationship with the United Kingdom until the United Kingdom has left the European Union. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">We need a transition deal. At last the mainstream media and the political class is waking up to this fact. Even "The Sun" has now said that the United Kingdom should pay something to the European Union and so it seems likely that some kind of financial offer will be made. This blog has always argued that the United Kingdom should pay into the funds the amounts that it had already committed to or our word means nothing.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The clock ticks ever louder. There is no time for a bespoke UK/EU deal. I have argued before we should go for what EUReferendum calls an 'off the shelf' deal which is EFTA/EEA. There is no more time to be lost. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Unless there is some fancy footwork a hard Brexit look ever more likely.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">Mrs May has to look the 'hard Brexit' elements of her party who are influential and clearly a very large part of that party in the eye and tell them that a Hard Brexit is economically a non starter. Today. If the economy is wrecked on the altar of some 'over the rainbow' vision then the Conservative party will pay a very heavy political and electoral price.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I am alarmed. We need to start talking a sensible workable deal.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Now</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
knoweurohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02488009205593815257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1947214310238689197.post-47845932794820963032017-07-26T12:30:00.000-07:002017-07-26T12:30:01.310-07:00European Free Trade Association (EFTA)<blockquote>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvagkW6mPHfBFlV4Mg-5jePdpZBh9-G6ZWxC7JdR4-TYjaG8mfHNsb2sYNKJRVDOdcaJefpe_kteEyYe8vgd42sstFaDd_62xr9d8X-IeaZz4Lecx1Y-wt6eiY8NNFfAKFPkx9XVjtgx0/s1600/efta.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="216" data-original-width="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvagkW6mPHfBFlV4Mg-5jePdpZBh9-G6ZWxC7JdR4-TYjaG8mfHNsb2sYNKJRVDOdcaJefpe_kteEyYe8vgd42sstFaDd_62xr9d8X-IeaZz4Lecx1Y-wt6eiY8NNFfAKFPkx9XVjtgx0/s1600/efta.gif" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="border: 0px; color: #353535; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Geneva, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.4em; padding: 0px 0px 1em; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) is an intergovernmental organisation set up for the promotion of free trade and economic integration to the benefit of its four Member States: <a href="http://www.iceland.is/" style="border: 0px; color: #1462ad; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Iceland</a>, <a href="http://www.liechtenstein.li/index.php?id=54&L=1" style="border: 0px; color: #0065b4; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Liechtenstein</a>, <a href="http://www.norway.no/" style="border: 0px; color: #0065b4; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Norway</a>, <a href="http://www.swissworld.org/en/" style="border: 0px; color: #0065b4; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Switzerland</a>.</span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #353535; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Geneva, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.4em; padding: 0px 0px 1em; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The Association manages the <a href="http://www.efta.int/legal-texts/efta-convention" style="border: 0px; color: #0065b4; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="EFTA Convention">EFTA Convention</a>; EFTA’s worldwide network of <a href="http://www.efta.int/free-trade" style="border: 0px; color: #0065b4; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">free trade and partnership agreements</a>, and the <a href="http://www.efta.int/eea/eea-agreement" style="border: 0px; color: #0065b4; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">European Economic Area (EEA) Agreement</a>.</span></div>
</blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">The European Single Market comprises the 28 states of the European Union plus Iceland, Lichtenstein and Norway and Switzerland via bilateral agreements. The United Kingdom could leave the European Union and Customs Union but rejoin EFTA/EEA and thus stay in the European Single Market.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The benefit of doing this is that the United Kingdom would retain access to Single Market databases (such as Single European Sky) and thus the calamity that would befall the United Kingdom in the event of a 'Hard Brexit' (no deal scenario) would be lessened considerably.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">To take just one example when coming back into the UK from abroad by air, the traveller is invited to go through gates for nationals of the European Union 'and the EEA'. </span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There are two queues at passport control – one for European Union (EU)*, European Economic Area (EEA), British and Swiss nationals, and a second for all other nationalities.</span><span style="font-size: small;"> (<a href="http://www.heathrow.com/arrivals/immigration-and-passports">http://www.heathrow.com/arrivals/immigration-and-passports</a>)</span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">EFTA is governed by the EFTA convention (<a href="http://www.efta.int/sites/default/files/documents/legal-texts/efta-convention/Vaduz%20Convention%20Agreement.pdf">http://www.efta.int/sites/default/files/documents/legal-texts/efta-convention/Vaduz%20Convention%20Agreement.pdf</a>) </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> and the EEA by the EEA agreement (<a href="http://www.efta.int/media/documents/legal-texts/eea/the-eea-agreement/Main%20Text%20of%20the%20Agreement/EEAagreement.pdf">http://www.efta.int/media/documents/legal-texts/eea/the-eea-agreement/Main%20Text%20of%20the%20Agreement/EEAagreement.pdf</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The main objection to the single market and therefore to being in EFTA/EEA is the Four Freedoms. These are: Freedom of Movement of People, Capital, Goods and Services. Mrs May in her various statements that "Brexit means Brexit" (whatever THAT means) and in her Lancaster House speech said this:</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="color: #0b0c0c; font-family: "nta" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But I want to be clear. What I am proposing cannot mean membership of the single market.</span><br />
<div style="border: none; color: #0b0c0c; font-family: nta, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 1.31579; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">European leaders have said many times that membership means accepting the ‘4 freedoms’ of goods, capital, services and people. And being out of the EU but a member of the single market would mean complying with the EU’s rules and regulations that implement those freedoms, without having a vote on what those rules and regulations are. It would mean accepting a role for the European Court of Justice that would see it still having direct legal authority in our country.</span><span style="font-size: 19px;"> (</span><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/the-governments-negotiating-objectives-for-exiting-the-eu-pm-speech" style="font-size: 19px;">https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/the-governments-negotiating-objectives-for-exiting-the-eu-pm-speech</a><span style="font-size: 19px;">) Point 8</span></div>
</blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Dr Richard North of EUReferendum.com (to whom this post owes a huge debt) has found a clever way around <i>complete</i> movement of people in Chapter 4 (Safeguard measures) of the EEA agreement. Articles 112 and 113 of the EEA agreement:</span><br />
<blockquote>
<div class="page" title="Page 37">
<div class="layoutArea">
<div class="column">
<span style="font-family: "timesnewromanps"; font-size: large; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700;">Article 112
</span><br />
<ol>
<li style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;"><span style="font-size: large;">
If serious economic, societal or environmental difficulties of a sectorial or regional nature liable to persist are
arising, a Contracting Party may unilaterally take appropriate measures under the conditions and procedures laid
down in Article 113.
<br />
</span></li>
<li style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;"><span style="font-size: large;">
Such safeguard measures shall be restricted with regard to their scope and duration to what is strictly necessary in
order to remedy the situation. Priority shall be given to such measures as will least disturb the functioning of this
Agreement.
<br />
</span></li>
<li style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;"><span style="font-size: large;">
The safeguard measures shall apply with regard to all Contracting Parties.<br />
<span style="font-family: "timesnewromanps"; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "timesnewromanps"; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700;">Article 113</span><br />
</span></li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;"><span style="font-size: large;">
A Contracting Party which is considering taking safeguard measures under Article 112 shall, without delay, notify
the other Contracting Parties through the EEA Joint Committee and shall provide all relevant information.
<br />
</span></li>
<li style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;"><span style="font-size: large;">
The Contracting Parties shall immediately enter into consultations in the EEA Joint Committee with a view to
finding a commonly acceptable solution.
<br />
</span></li>
<li style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;"><span style="font-size: large;">
The Contracting Party concerned may not take safeguard measures until one month has elapsed after the date of
notification under paragraph 1, unless the consultation procedure under paragraph 2 has been concluded before the
expiration of the stated time limit. When exceptional circumstances requiring immediate action exclude prior
examination, the Contracting Party concerned may apply forthwith the protective measures strictly necessary to
remedy the situation.
<br />
For the Community, the safeguard measures shall be taken by the EC Commission.
<br />
</span></li>
<li style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;"><span style="font-size: large;">
The Contracting Party concerned shall, without delay, notify the measures taken to the EEA Joint Committee and
shall provide all relevant information.
<br />
</span></li>
<li style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;"><span style="font-size: large;">
The safeguard measures taken shall be the subject of consultations in the EEA Joint Committee every three months
from the date of their adoption with a view to their abolition before the date of expiry envisaged, or to the limitation
of their scope of application.
<br />
Each Contracting Party may at any time request the EEA Joint Committee to review such measures.</span></li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">"If serious economic, societal or environmental difficulties...." The United Kingdom could argue that virtually uncontrolled immigration satisfies the condition in Article 112 (1)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Even better though, it is now clear that the Cabinet or certainly some Cabinet Ministers are willing to accept Freedom of Movement of people in the short term. I have read two years in some press reports. Therefore Mrs May's objection to being a member of EFTA/EEA no longer applies. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">When we join EFTA/EEA we immediately invoke article 112 of the EEA agreement whilst negotiating with our EFTA colleagues a better deal. EFTA/EEA would be the fifth largest trading bloc if the UK were to join it. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Mrs May was incorrect in stating the "<span style="color: #0b0c0c; font-family: "nta" , "arial" , sans-serif;">European Court of Justice that would see it still having direct legal authority in our country". </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #0b0c0c; font-family: "nta" , "arial" , sans-serif;">I</span></span><span style="color: #0b0c0c; font-family: nta, arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;">f we were a member of EFTA/EEA, there is an EFTA Court:</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="background-color: rgba(255 , 255 , 255 , 0.8); color: #5c5c5c; font-family: "arial" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The EFTA Court fulfils the judicial function within the EFTA system, interpreting the Agreement on the European Economic Area with regard to the EFTA States party to the Agreement. At present those EFTA States are Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway ...</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">The United Kingdom in EFTA would have to deal with the EFTA court and NOT the European Court of Justice (ECJ). The EFTA court does not have to apply the rulings of the European Court of Justice</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #5c5c5c; font-family: "arial" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: justify;">The EFTA Court has jurisdiction with regard to EFTA States which are parties to the EEA Agreement (at present Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway). The Court is mainly competent to deal with infringement actions brought by the EFTA Surveillance Authority against an EFTA State with regard to the implementation, application or interpretation of EEA law rules, for giving advisory opinions to courts in EFTA States on the interpretation of EEA rules and for appeals concerning decisions taken by the EFTA Surveillance Authority. Thus the jurisdiction of the EFTA Court largely corresponds to the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice of the European Union over EU States. (<a href="http://www.eftacourt.int/the-court/jurisdiction-organisation/introduction">http://www.eftacourt.int/the-court/jurisdiction-organisation/introduction</a>)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">The important parts in the above introduction to the EFTA court are:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">'.... for giving <i>advisory</i> opinions to courts in EFTA states' and 'The EFTA court <i>largely</i> corresponds'. It would seem then that the ECJ does not have direct legal authority but that the EFTA court has advisory authority.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">There is then an Inter-Governmental organisation that the United Kingdom could join as an Independent Sovereign Nation free of the shackles of the Commission and the ECJ. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">In this Inter-Governmental organisation we could represent ourselves (as opposed to being 28th represented by the EU) and negotiate our position on an equal footing with other Sovereign nation states (Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland). We could even help the other nations negotiate a better Inter-Governmental Free Market which non EU member states in Europe might want to join.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The Article 50 clock ticks ever louder.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">We must instruct our Government that EFTA/EEA is what we want.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">It is least risky economically and avoids the cliff edge of the 'Hard Brexit' that this Government seems determined to deliver. </span><span style="font-size: large;">EFTA/EEA is the best initial stepping stone on the road to undoing 44 years of subservience to a supra-national body.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Let's go for it. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>knoweurohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02488009205593815257noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1947214310238689197.post-68118658038216908052017-07-24T13:44:00.002-07:002017-07-24T13:44:53.440-07:00THIRD Country<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuDpJ1fgQh63F6cUWv23oEouPZd93d-IKlT1tZIl0BUjF2qGwpZaAdZW3nPrNgM-uUI00mjh827-ZGnz7Kr3fkddKTicNIOvZd5BlyjGEh_LtH0A8s68OLeSsJ6GHW6UDqlxfZTcvZAm0/s1600/customs+post.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="953" data-original-width="1300" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuDpJ1fgQh63F6cUWv23oEouPZd93d-IKlT1tZIl0BUjF2qGwpZaAdZW3nPrNgM-uUI00mjh827-ZGnz7Kr3fkddKTicNIOvZd5BlyjGEh_LtH0A8s68OLeSsJ6GHW6UDqlxfZTcvZAm0/s320/customs+post.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri";">On 29th March 2019, the United Kingdom
leaves the European Union and becomes a third country. In the absence of a </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "calibri";">'new, comprehensive, bold and
ambitious free trade agreement' there will be a hard border between the United Kingdom and the European Union maybe on World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules.</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: calibri; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: calibri; font-size: large;">Although it is true that the United Kingdom complies with all European Union regulations and rules today, the day after we leave the European Union there is no guarantee from the European Union's perspective that this will continue to be the case. There are therefore administrative matters that need to be sorted out when we export goods: </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<blockquote>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: large;">Nevertheless, the EU will require as conditions for entry, compliance with EU production regulations, licensing of establishments and much more, in a graduated hierarchy of controls. But, to compensate for the inherent limitations of its power within the third country territories, the EU also imposes border controls. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif;" /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">When we thus turn to Article 229 of </span><a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32016R0429&qid=1486817283161&from=EN" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #996600; font-family: Georgia, serif; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">Regulation (EU) 2016/429</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">, we see a five-tier control system in place. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: large;">Firstly, goods must come from a country officially listed as permitted to export the relevant categories; secondly they must come from establishments which are approved and listed; thirdly, they must comply with all relevant animal health requirements laid down by the Union; and fourthly they must be accompanied by animal health certificates and by other declarations and documents as required. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: large;">Finally, the consignments must be presented to a Border Inspection Post (BIP) – now called Border Control Post (BCP) – where they must pass inspection. Only when the fees due are paid and the "Common Veterinary Entry Documents" are endorsed can the goods be presented for customs clearance. (<a href="http://www.eureferendum.com/blogview.aspx?blogno=86546">http://www.eureferendum.com/blogview.aspx?blogno=86546</a>)</span></blockquote>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;">The nearest Border Inspection/Border Control Post in France is not in Calais. It is in </span>Dunkirk (<a href="https://ec.europa.eu/food/sites/food/files/animals/docs/bips_contact_france.pdf">https://ec.europa.eu/food/sites/food/files/animals/docs/bips_contact_france.pdf</a>) and (<a href="https://ec.europa.eu/food/animals/vet-border-control/bip-contacts_en">https://ec.europa.eu/food/animals/vet-border-control/bip-contacts_en</a>) </span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">This post has recently been refurbished and can deal with 5000 consignments per year. (<a href="http://www.eureferendum.com/blogview.aspx?blogno=86393">http://www.eureferendum.com/blogview.aspx?blogno=86393</a>)</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">I recently travelled on Eurotunnel where the following was on the wall of the train: </span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">"Via the Channel Tunnel: Each year, Eurotunnel carries 1,600,000 trucks to and from the UK, with a total trade value of £91bn"</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">Assuming that half of these are outbound, that's 800,000 trucks. If 10% need to be inspected thats 80,000 trucks or 219 per day. 5,000/365 is 14 trucks a day. What happens to the other 205 trucks?</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">Then there are other conditions or requirements; non tariff barriers to trade: (<a href="http://exporthelp.europa.eu/thdapp/display.htm?page=rt/rt_SanitaryAndPhytosanitaryRequirements.html&docType=main&languageId=en">http://exporthelp.europa.eu/thdapp/display.htm?page=rt/rt_SanitaryAndPhytosanitaryRequirements.html&docType=main&languageId=en</a>)</span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">Dover will become a car park. Operation Stack on the M20 may well be in force indefinitely. That is just Dover.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">Then there is ferry travel from Holyhead and Fishguard. Here is the list of Inspection Posts in Ireland (<a href="https://ec.europa.eu/food/sites/food/files/animals/docs/bips_contact_ireland.pdf">https://ec.europa.eu/food/sites/food/files/animals/docs/bips_contact_ireland.pdf</a>)</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">There is no good reason why France or Ireland should increase their BCP capacity to suit the vagaries of the United Kingdom. Why should they? Even if they did undertake such an increase they would most likely want a UK contribution toward the cost of such an upgrade.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">As previously posted, once the United Kingdom becomes a third country access to European Union Databases may well cease.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">Moving on to flights Michael O'Leary of Ryanair </span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">has twice warned about the dangers of no deal to the operation of carriers to mainland Europe from the United Kingdom:</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: large;">Last week, Peter Fankhauser, the chief executive of Thomas Cook, colourfully predicted that unless our politicians wake up to these potential dangers, we risk being taken back to the "medieval age", echoing the rather plainer warnings of Michael O'Leary, the chief executive of Ryanair, that in Britain we could even find ourselves no longer entitled to fly our aircraft anywhere outside UK airspace. (<a href="http://www.eureferendum.com/blogview.aspx?blogno=86527">http://www.eureferendum.com/blogview.aspx?blogno=86527</a>) and (<a href="http://www.eureferendum.com/blogview.aspx?blogno=86486">http://www.eureferendum.com/blogview.aspx?blogno=86486</a>)</span></blockquote>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;">No flights to Spain, Portugal, Italy and other holiday destinations - imagine what that will do for Conservative Party political fortunes.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">There are implications for medicines and the European Medicines Agency which the Government has already said will move outside the United Kingdom to a new European Union based site (e.g. Madrid?) and which the European Union expects the United Kingdom to pay for the relocation of or at least contribute toward it.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">Veterinary issues are also a consideration (<a href="http://exporthelp.europa.eu/thdapp/display.htm?page=rt/rt_SanitaryAndPhytosanitaryRequirements.html&docType=main&languageId=en">http://exporthelp.europa.eu/thdapp/display.htm?page=rt/rt_SanitaryAndPhytosanitaryRequirements.html&docType=main&languageId=en</a>) (<a href="https://ec.europa.eu/food/animals/live_animals_en">https://ec.europa.eu/food/animals/live_animals_en</a>)</span></span><br />
<h3 style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #284f75; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, 'DejaVu Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 1.4em !important; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 16px; text-align: justify;">
<blockquote>
<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Imports</strong></blockquote>
</h3>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #464646; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, 'dejavu sans', sans-serif; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">
<blockquote>
For importation, additional animal health requirements are set out in specific Commission Decisions. These lay down health certificates which must accompany all animal imports. In general, these certificates must be signed by an official veterinarian of the competent authority of the exporting non-EU country guaranteeing that the conditions for import into the EU have been met.</blockquote>
</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #464646; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, 'dejavu sans', sans-serif; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">
<blockquote>
On arrival in the EU, the animals and the accompanying certificates must be verified and checked by EU official veterinarians at a designated <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://ec.europa.eu/food/animals/vet-border-control/bip_en" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #0065a2; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Border Inspection Post (BIP)</a></strong>. Further checks on the animals may also be carried out at the final destination.</blockquote>
</div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;">None of this is very palatable but it is a fact of life. Michel Barnier has said that he needs answers:</span></span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: large;">We now need to know the UK's position on each of these issues", he says, "in order to make progress". He adds, not unreasonably, "We need to know what we can do, and [then] we can negotiate in earnest". In a statement of the obvious, he went on to say: "We cannot remain idle as the clock is ticking".</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif;" /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">In this, the first phase of the talks, there are three elements – known to us all. The first is "rights of EU citizens" and the second is the Financial Regulation. On this, Barnier says: "It is essential for the United Kingdom to recognise the existence of </span><a href="https://ec.europa.eu/commission/sites/beta-political/files/financial-settlement-essential-principles-draft-position-paper_en.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #996600; font-family: Georgia, serif; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">financial obligations</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif;"> which simply stem from the period during which it is a member of the EU, and in particular from our current multiannual financial framework".</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: large;">Only once the EU gets this [formal] recognition, he says, can we "begin work on the methodology and agree in this first phase of negotiations on this methodology".</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: large;">Of the third - issues related to Ireland - " we want to start discussions quickly on the maintenance of the Common Travel Area between Ireland and the UK, defining precisely its various relevant aspects, and also on the protection of Good Friday commitments Agreement , in all its dimensions".</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: large;">In what might be a glimpse of the iron fist in the velvet glove, Barnier then says: "On subjects of such importance, it is essential to ensure that we are on the same political line before seeking technical solutions". He adds: "I want to be clear again on these issues: these three priority subjects for the first phase of the negotiations are inseparable". (<a href="http://www.eureferendum.com/blogview.aspx?blogno=86537">http://www.eureferendum.com/blogview.aspx?blogno=86537</a>)</span></blockquote>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;">The Cabinet of the United Kingdom seems impervious to all this. A Free Trade Agreement (FTA) will be easy to set up because we already comply with all the EU requirements they say. Yes we do TODAY but what about on 30th March 2019? It is not as simple as the Cabinet ministers make out.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;">The day after the United Kingdom leaves the European Union it becomes an external country (a third country) and the European Union has no alternative but to protect itself from what might be sub standard, rogue or unsafe imports. It is that simple.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: calibri; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: calibri; font-size: large;">The National Audit Office has suggested that there might be as much as a £34 BILLION hit to tax revenue if the new HMRC CDS (Customs Declaration Service) system is not ready in time as it might not be </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: calibri;">(</span><a href="https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/The-Customs-Declaration-Service.pdf" style="background-color: white; font-family: calibri;">https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/The-Customs-Declaration-Service.pdf</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: calibri;">)</span></span><br />
<div class="page" title="Page 8">
<div class="layoutArea">
<div class="column">
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "helveticaneueltstd";"><span style="font-size: large;">There is still a significant amount of work to complete, and there is a risk that HMRC
will not have the full functionality and scope of CDS in place by March 2019 when the UK plans to leave the EU. HMRC recognises this risk. The decision to leave the EU could
increase the number of transactions by around 200 million and more than double the
number of traders having to go through customs processes. HMRC faces some significant
challenges to deliver the programme within the current timetable. </span></span></blockquote>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: calibri; font-size: large;">This blog has hardly scratched the surface of all the issues involved.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: calibri; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: calibri; font-size: large;">The idea of 'No Deal' would be, in my view, madness. Farmers, Drug Manufacturers, Travellers, Airline Companies could all be seriously constrained by such a policy. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: calibri; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: calibri; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;">The United Kingdom needs to opt for a safe interim 'staging post' to protect itself from such a calamitous outcome. It needs to opt for EFTA/EEA membership where much of the danger can be avoided in the short to medium term.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: calibri; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: calibri; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;">This will be discussed in the next blog.</span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />knoweurohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02488009205593815257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1947214310238689197.post-50295765002315842612017-07-23T13:16:00.000-07:002017-07-23T13:16:03.528-07:00It does not have to be like this<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhCUoZ141aNwyRJaNiddZM4brcLNCSgPp9JdLD-NqbUmJIt1tnExuWi_tVweKMCn6wvzsHxrHBFG6k-_LDfo-5KXL6W7o3xhIMABMhyUduRWq3waa2jye6jiPR50Okvsg9wgabq8jzY4c/s1600/choices.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="501" data-original-width="575" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhCUoZ141aNwyRJaNiddZM4brcLNCSgPp9JdLD-NqbUmJIt1tnExuWi_tVweKMCn6wvzsHxrHBFG6k-_LDfo-5KXL6W7o3xhIMABMhyUduRWq3waa2jye6jiPR50Okvsg9wgabq8jzY4c/s320/choices.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">(I had intended my thoughts to be one post but it would be far too long so I have split it up into more than one.)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I am a Leave voter - I voted Leave and would vote Leave again. I voted Leave because I wanted to be out of the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and of the unelected Commission; so that MP's were answerable not to the Commission but to their electors in their constituencies, to the United Kingdom voter.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Mrs 'President' May said the following in her Lancaster House speech:</span><br />
<br />
<blockquote>
<span style="color: #0b0c0c; font-family: "nta" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 19px;">That starts with our close friends and neighbours in Europe. So as a priority, we will pursue a bold and ambitious free trade agreement with the European Union.</span><br />
<span style="color: #0b0c0c; font-family: "nta" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 19px;">This agreement should allow for the freest possible trade in goods and services between Britain and the EU’s member states. It should give British companies the maximum freedom to trade with and operate within European markets – and let European businesses do the same in Britain.</span><br />
<span style="color: #0b0c0c; font-family: "nta" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 19px;">But I want to be clear. What I am proposing cannot mean membership of the single market.</span><br />
<span style="color: #0b0c0c; font-family: "nta" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 19px;">European leaders have said many times that membership means accepting the ‘4 freedoms’ of goods, capital, services and people. And being out of the EU but a member of the single market would mean complying with the EU’s rules and regulations that implement those freedoms, without having a vote on what those rules and regulations are. It would mean accepting a role for the European Court of Justice that would see it still having direct legal authority in our country. (<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/the-governments-negotiating-objectives-for-exiting-the-eu-pm-speech">https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/the-governments-negotiating-objectives-for-exiting-the-eu-pm-speech</a>)</span><br />
<br /></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">The United Kingdom was therefore going to leave the Customs Union and "<span style="background-color: white; color: #0b0c0c; font-family: "nta" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><i>So we do not seek membership of the single market. Instead we seek the greatest possible access to it through a new, comprehensive, bold and ambitious free trade agreement.</i>"</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0b0c0c; font-family: "nta" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0b0c0c; font-family: "nta" , "arial" , sans-serif;">On the 29th March 2017, May then gave formal notice that the United Kingdom was invoking Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty. From what I have read it seems the Article 50 notification cannot be revoked. In response Donald Tusk wrote:</span></span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: large;">..While an agreement on a future relationship between the Union and the United Kingdom as
such can only be concluded once the United Kingdom has become a third country <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/31_03_17_eu_draft_guidelines.pdf">http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/31_03_17_eu_draft_guidelines.pdf</a></span></span></blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The reason given for leaving the single market was thus so that the United Kingdom would not be subject to the 'Four Freedoms' especially Freedom of Movement of people.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">On 29th March 2019 the United Kingdom will become a third country i.e. NOT a member of the European Union and only at that point can a new agreement be concluded - AFTER we have left. So what does third country ACTUALLY mean?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">It means basically that access to shared databases will probably stop in the 'No Deal' scenario. Access to the Single EUROPEAN sky, medicines, agriculture, customs and other databases may well be switched off. Not because the European Union is vindictive but because the United Kingdom is taking the Sovereign decision to leave the European Union. It is a United Kingdom decision not an EU one.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Michael O'Leary of Ryanair, of whom I am no great fan, has already warned that No Deal will mean that flights to the European Mainland will cease and has stated that Ryanair flights might stop as early as September 2018.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Between 29th March 2019 and the agreement of a 'new, comprehensive, bold and ambitious free trade agreement' the United Kingdom will be in a 'limbo' until it appears on the official 3rd Country list maybe six months after 29th March 2019.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Then the United Kingdom will be officially a third country with all that implies - which will be the subject of Part Two. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">It really doesn't have to be like this.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>knoweurohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02488009205593815257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1947214310238689197.post-12074644184430933532017-06-04T03:49:00.001-07:002017-06-04T03:49:24.175-07:00A meandering look at sexism and racism<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYlvyHUfg4jOTIXlgJt7yOGAszBxmlE1WOjCCBqPmqDm6yFVKDoPNIRVnFtIF8jx-ArWYzGNiMT9mbDT1OGERSWytJJx6ovk2weJRv1E_9wbRB6YnbcWl_GobyeGrXp3sqWCVlrK-OshA/s1600/Meanderings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="110" data-original-width="147" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYlvyHUfg4jOTIXlgJt7yOGAszBxmlE1WOjCCBqPmqDm6yFVKDoPNIRVnFtIF8jx-ArWYzGNiMT9mbDT1OGERSWytJJx6ovk2weJRv1E_9wbRB6YnbcWl_GobyeGrXp3sqWCVlrK-OshA/s1600/Meanderings.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">In order to look at the subject of sexism and racism this particular post will probably be used against me as sexist and racist. I hope it is neither. I hope it is an overview.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Turning first to the harder of the two, Racism. Diane Abbott has the following tweet attributed to her:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Raleway, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Desperate stuff by May. Claims I want to wipe DNA database clean. Never said that. Curious that she is singling me out for attack #BBCQT.” </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">There is no getting around this: Ms Abbott is not white and happens to be female. However both these are irrelevant and Ms Abbott should know it. It is deeply irresponsible in my view for her to suggest that Mrs May was being racist if that is her implication. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Mrs May is focussing on Ms Abbott because, well, Ms Abbott is the Labour Party's weakest link. Her interview on LBC was, from the Labour Party's point of view, a disaster and Ms Abbott has the unfortunate propensity to put her foot in it.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Looking at Sexism, it is my opinion that Mrs May should not be so easily acquitted. To suggest regarding Mr Corbyn naked is sexist and Mrs May should apologise to him. If any man were to suggest regarding Mrs May naked, then the Equality and Diversity lobby, not to say 'the sisterhood' of women MP's would be up in arms demanding that man's resignation.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">It is the case that when you look at adverts in a commercial break, many are aimed at women; mascara, lipstick, skin lotions of all types to try to entice the women to buy those products to 'look better'. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Politicians have said that women should be judged on what they have to offer, not what they look like. Incidentally the same applies to men although William Hague was ruthlessly lambasted for daring to wear a baseball cap.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Politicians like Harriet Harman who, perhaps more than any politician, is responsible for the breaking of the glass ceiling on behalf of women and for relentlessly pursuing the Equality agenda. She was ably supported, amongst others, by Theresa May before she became Prime Minister.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I happen to agree with these women.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">No one should be judged on their ethnicity, gender or sexual proclivities but on what they SAY. I suggest two questions initially: Is what the person said true? Does it make sense?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Unfortunately, all this work has been undone, ironically, by two women. First by Diane Abbott herself who, instead of defending remarks made 30 odd years before, said:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Guardian Text Egyptian Web', Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>“I had an afro. It was 34 years ago. The hairstyle has gone and some of the views have gone. We have all moved on,”</i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Guardian Text Egyptian Web', Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Guardian Text Egyptian Web', Georgia, serif;"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/may/28/diane-abbott-under-fire--afro-remark-questioned-about-ira"><span style="font-size: large;">https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/may/28/diane-abbott-under-fire--afro-remark-questioned-about-ira</span></a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The good work has also been undone by Theresa May who said the following:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Mrs May added: "Jeremy Corbyn's minders can put him in a smart blue suit for an interview with Jeremy Paxman, but with his position on Brexit, he will find himself alone and naked in the negotiating chamber with the European Union.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>"Now I know that's an image that doesn't bear thinking about. But actually this is very serious. We are approaching the end of a long campaign but it is crucial that everybody remembers this important fact."</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><a href="http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/theresa-says-jeremy-corbyn-would-13112915">http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/theresa-says-jeremy-corbyn-would-13112915</a></i></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Earlier in the campaign, Mrs May was talking about 'boy jobs and girl jobs' in the home:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/theresa-may-philip-may-husband-boy-jobs-girls-one-show-take-bins-out-bbc-prime-minister-marriage-a7727481.html">http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/theresa-may-philip-may-husband-boy-jobs-girls-one-show-take-bins-out-bbc-prime-minister-marriage-a7727481.html</a></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">All of this is sexist commentary by both these female politicians. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Which just goes to show that when next promoting the cause of equality and diversity, not only politicians, but all those involved should take a long hard look at what they are about to say before opening their mouths and destroying their argument. </span><br />
<div style="border: 0px; color: #141414; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 23px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>knoweurohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02488009205593815257noreply@blogger.com1