A policy which is racist as anybody outside the eu has to pay a significant amount of money and jump through numerous hoops to gain a visa. there should be a level playing ground, all except tourists require visas and permits on a reciprocal basis.
So what happens in Med, and the Eastern borders do they get taken back from whence they came. The eu has not really taken any real role in illegal migration and left it to individual countries. If the eu said the borders are closed unless you have the proper paperwork, it gives countries confidence to do more.
Ironically one of the main precepts for the idea of the eu was to prevent nationalism, and war yet their MO has been fuelling nationalism.
1 Like
While I agree with you that the Eurozone has built in stress points and contradictions you seem to suggest that Quantitative Easing is a Eurozone disease. This approach has been used in the USA, UK and around the world to deal with a problem that seems to have its origins in the USA not in the EU or the Eurozone
The ECB is not a true bank of last resort, unlike the BoE or the Fed. The 2008 crisis started in the US because of a loosening of financial controls which led to Freedie Mac and Fanny Mae going to the wall. The UK side was when Northern Rock was nearly bankrupted and had queues outside secondary to their use of >100% mortgage lending to customers who could not service their debt. Lloyds were shotgunned into a marriage by Brown over a weekend much to the disgust of its chairnan Sir Victor Blank. The you had Fred Goodwin at RBS as well who also nearly went under. Barclays had to go to Qatar for funds. The UK problem was down to Brown in 1997 by removing regulatory control of the financial services industry and creating the ‘tripartate’ system between the BoE the FSA and the Treasury and nobody knew who was doing what or even what they were doing.
1 Like
#Muted!
Brexit will or won’t happen. But either way I don’t want to waste any more minutes reading about it. I’ve stopped watching the story tellers…sorry news boys and girls 
and I’m going to live a brexit free life as much as possibly possible 
1 Like
The undemocratic part is we were given a choice and no matter how slim the majority (given some elections 4% is not a slim majority) they should have been working towards leaving.
Then as has happened the unelected eurocrats sensing that the majority of politicians didn’t like the result put forward their plan / deal (Theresa May’s so called deal) which they knew full well wouldn’t be acceptable and chaos has ensued. There was no negotiation just this is how it is and we’re not changing anything, regardless. The sneaky sods created the Irish Border problem, which should be treated like the Swiss border, but wouldn’t have created any problems.
For me what this highlights is that our politicians and civil service have been little more than by-standers since 1973 in terms of negotiating anything with the rest of world. Now the idea of leaving the eu fills them with dread as they will have to do these things and be fully accountable if it goes wrong and or needs changing. Also they lose the default answer of “the eu made us do it” when it comes to taxes etc. We had to introduce VAT on things to stay aligned with the eu.
I liken remain politicians to the appeasers 80 years ago who wanted to cut a deal with the Germans. Thankfully it never happened.
This is a helpful opinion to have…
The EU is DEFINITELY comparable to Nazi Germany, no need to think that one over.
2 Likes
Of course, with our best deal of any member and most concessions…
The needs and desires of us against the needs and desires of 27. How did anyone ever think that was a negotiation with much room and in which we had any power?
This whole debacle has been a deluded fantasy from the start and has poisoned the entirety of UK politics and political discourse for at least a generation.
“we’re sick of experts”
“it’s undemocratic to hold a vote”
“it’s democracy to shut down parliament”.
“I voted for no Deal even though everyone telling me to leave said there would be a deal”
The mental gymnastics is astounding. We’re a mess. As an electorate, we’ve been lied to, conned, cheated, and lapped up spin… But the day people genuinely and unironically believe and expound that it’s undemocratic to vote and democracy in action to prevent our democratic machinations from working…
Well, we’ve gone from SNAFU to FUBAR.
1 Like
You could all try using the actual Brexit Thread rather than the Laugh Thread?
Oh yeah, just spotted.
In fairness though, if I don’t laugh I’ll cry…
2 Likes
In the reported words of Mikail Sergeyvitch, ‘the eastern european countries gained freedom from the USSR, wh do they want to join the EU’.
And, after the Miller womans case over A50, the MPs voted 2:1 to trigger A50.
Not to forget, 40 yrs ago this week - Mountbatten was murdered & Warren Point the same day. 
One of my best mates in the ATC survived Warren Point, but was later killed by a booby-trap bomb. His father was our Sqn WO.
May your friend rest in peace
Oh I have enjoyed the irony of John Major, he who prorogued parliament in 1997 to avoid debate on the cash-for-questions affair, but apparently Boris Johnson doing it isn’t right.
1 Like
The UK is unable to charge 5% VAT on solar battery storage.
Umm ok?
You asked for an example 
Even if they could I doubt any of the stealth taxes like VAT on fuel, insurance etc would be rescinded.